The Witness

Olivia had never liked Leanne, hadn’t trusted her from the minute Brian had introduced them. Olivia had assumed her dislike stemmed from jealousy because if she were completely honest, she wanted Brian for herself. They’d met after Olivia had been arrested for the murder of her husband’s mistress, and her attorney had hired Brian to prove her innocence. They had struck up a friendship. When the real murderer had burned Brian’s house down in a feeble attempt to destroy evidence, Olivia had gladly invited Brian to stay with her until he found a more permanent place to live. She had been surprised at how well the two of them got along, how easy it was to be together and share the simple day-to-day moments that constitute the bulk of a relationship. But they had moved too fast and everything had fallen apart.

Leanne’s sudden appearance in Brian’s life had taken Olivia totally by surprise. With nothing else to do, Olivia had stepped away, knowing the best course of action was to give him room to navigate this new relationship without interference from her.

There was a part of Olivia – the seasoned litigation attorney who trusted her finely tuned intuition – that wanted to run a simple background check on Brian’s new girlfriend, if for no other reason than to lessen her anxiety. She’d only been around Leanne twice, but each time they’d been together, Olivia had felt like Leanne had an agenda, as though she were hiding something. Olivia hadn’t yet acted on her suspicions because it wasn’t her place and Brian would not be happy if he found out. She wondered if she should do a little digging into Leanne Stoddard’s background. No one would need to know. If she found evidence that Leanne wasn’t what she seemed, she would tell Brian. He might get mad at her for meddling in his affairs, but Olivia didn’t care. She was sure Brian would do the same thing if the tables were turned.

***

An hour later, Olivia sipped her coffee and stared out the café window at the Golden Gate Bridge, and the shimmering San Francisco Bay. Across from her, Lauren Ridley added a generous dollop of cream and sugar to her coffee.

“So what don’t you like about this woman, other than the fact that she’s got her claws into Brian Vickery?”

“I can’t put my finger on it. At the risk of sounding more than a little ridiculous, when Brian’s around her, it’s like she’s the predator and he’s the prey.” Olivia waited for Lauren to smile and tease. But she didn’t.

Instead, she put her coffee cup on the aqua blue Formica table and said, “Go on.”

“When she came to the office that first time, I got the distinct impression that she was casing the joint. And she’s hiding something. I swear, I can smell it.” Olivia picked at the flimsy paper napkin on her lap. “When I got to the office this morning, she was already there, going through Brian’s desk. She swore up and down that she was taking a photo of Brian’s calendar, so she could take him away for the weekend.”

“Ouch,” Lauren said. “Do you think they’re sleeping together?”

“I don’t know. Probably. Am I just being jealous? Remember, I’m the woman who couldn’t even see my own husband’s infidelity. Maybe I’m totally wrong about all of this.”

“Stop it, Liv. Just because you didn’t see Richard for the jackass he was, doesn’t mean you’re wrong about this Leanne creature. You’re not the first person who couldn’t see their own issues.”

“If you saw them together, you’d see what I mean. It’s like Brian shrinks when he’s around her. He literally looks shrunken and weak, like he’s ripe to be taken advantage of. When Brian was working my case, he was focused, had a purpose. Game on, if you get my meaning.”

“What’s different now? You’ve said he has more work than he knows what to do with.”

“The work he has now isn’t personal for him. It’s professional – corporate background checks and things like that. His heart’s not in it. And, despite Leanne Stoddard, he’s still mourning his wife in a big way.” Olivia sipped her coffee. “There’s a particular type of woman who is attracted to men like Brian – widowers, who are coming to grips with their grief. Some men – in my opinion – just want to be married. I think the pain of their loss softens them, if that makes sense. This type of woman wants to provide emotional rescue and save the man in need.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Other than people should save themselves, nothing at all. There’s also a sub-genre – for lack of a better word – in this group, the type of woman who likes to swoop in and exploit. I’m pretty sure Brian got a sizeable property insurance payout from his house fire.”

“Are you saying you think this woman is after Brian for his money?”

Olivia didn’t give voice to her thoughts. “I’m saying I don’t like her. And I’m saying – despite my utter lack of judgment as far as Richard was concerned – in this situation I trust my intuition.”

“Brian Vickery is a retired cop. He’s seen the dark side of humanity. There’s not a gullible bone in that man’s body. The question here, my friend, is why won’t you admit you want Brian for yourself?”

The waitress approached with two plates piled high with food. “Salmon omelets, extra avocado and extra potatoes.” She set the plates on the table. “I’ll circle back with coffee shortly, ladies. Flag me down if you need anything else.”

After the waitress was out of earshot, Olivia leaned forward and said in a low voice so no one could hear, “All right, I admit it. I’m fond of Brian. But he is not over his wife. And I don’t want to get involved with someone who isn’t capable of reciprocal feelings. I already had a long-term loveless marriage. If I get involved with Brian, it will be when he is good and ready.”

“Right. You see what you did there?”

“What are you talking about?” Olivia shook the ketchup bottle and doused her potatoes.

“You’re making these judgments and decisions about a relationship without consulting the other party. You should express this to Brian, not to me. It’s obvious you’re missing him. Why haven’t you talked to him? Don’t you think you should tell him why you pulled away after your illicit physical … whatever it was? At some point, you’re going to have to talk to him, if for no other reason than to clear the air so you can move on. He’s renting an office from you, Liv. You’re going to be around him. You need to deal with this.”

“I know. I know. I need to talk to him. I’ve tried, really I have. Just the other day we were in the office together, unpacking his work stuff. Every time I opened my mouth to broach the subject, the words wouldn’t come.”

They ate in silence for a moment before Lauren said, “When the time is right to talk to him, you’ll find the words. Meanwhile, what are you going to do about the new girlfriend?”

“I don’t know,” Olivia said. “Maybe a little background investigation wouldn’t go amiss, given what I saw this morning.”

“Agreed. But you need to be careful if you go down that road,” Lauren said. “I’m sure Brian wouldn’t appreciate knowing you’re investigating his girlfriend behind his back. And now that you’re sharing office space, the relationship is professional and personal.”

Olivia waited while the waitress refilled her coffee. When she was gone, Olivia said, “My life mantra right now is ‘Proceed with caution’. When the time is right, I’ll talk to him. But a quiet little background check wouldn’t be harmful. Would it? Leanne’s a nurse. I could start by looking up her record at the California nursing board. They have a website. No harm there, right?”

“Just be careful,” Lauren agreed. “On to a new subject. What’s the latest on the job front? Last time we talked you were going to start looking for some pro bono work?”

“I’ve gone on two interviews at family law firms in the city. Both times I got into the managing attorney’s office, and all he wanted to do was grill me about the situation with Richard and the events of last October. One of the firms didn’t want me at all. They wanted me to persuade Richard to come to work for them.”

“That’s awful. I’m sorry, Liv. Have faith. You’ll find something,” Lauren said.

Olivia finished the last of her breakfast and pushed her plate away. “From the Olympian vantage point of hindsight, I realize that I shouldn’t have been so quick to get rid of my practice.”

“But you didn’t have a choice, did you? And you could go back to practicing if you wanted to. Can’t you just take a case or two, get your feet wet slowly?” Lauren arranged her knife and fork on the right-hand side of her plate and pushed it away. “Take your time and ask the universe what you’re supposed to do with your life. I swear, if you ask the question and open your mind, the answer will reveal itself.”

The two women had been friends for decades, so Olivia was well aware of Lauren’s new-age view of the world. Lauren regularly had her tarot read and she was adamant that no contracts be signed during a Mercury retrograde. Olivia had learned to love Lauren for her quirky way of looking at the world and had always humored her. But now, for the first time, Lauren’s words made sense. For it seemed the harder Olivia pushed herself to make some decisions, get a job, just do something, the more elusive the joy of a productive life seemed to be. Maybe Lauren was right. Olivia should step back, clear her head, and see what the universe had in store for her.

“It’ll be okay, Liv. You’ve got a lot to be grateful for. You’re going to be a grandmother, for crying out loud. How is Denny?”

“Doing extremely well. She’s still decorating her friend’s bed and breakfast in Tahoe. She loves it there so much, she may just stay. The morning sickness has passed, and it looks like she’ll deliver on June 16th.”

After they paid their check, the pair headed out of the restaurant for a walk along Bridgeway, the shimmering water of the bay on one side of the street and the shops, with the houses nestled into the hills above them, on the other. Olivia realized that although her life was full of uncertainty and that she had no idea what to do with her time or energy, Lauren was right. She did have a lot to be grateful for.

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