Olivia's POV
"What?" I stare at Samuel, who is standing a step away from me.
We're still at the edge of the small park near the intersection from my accident and beside the bench where the boy, who refuses to give me his name, is lying sprawled over it.
"I didn't say anything." The boy opens one of his eyes and peeks up at me.
"Who's he?" Samuel takes a step closer to the boy, but I move before he can.
"Don't forget to visit the café," I say to the boy and then turn away from the bench.
Without stopping, I walk past Samuel, but I don't make it for more than five steps before my ankle begins to ache. Because I don't have the crutches with me any longer, I settle for putting most of my weight onto my right foot and only drag the left one behind.
"I told you not to strain your foot." Samuel signs and then widens his step to reach my side.
To my surprise, he doesn't just match my pace. He grabs my left arm, slings it over his shoulders, and wraps his right arm around my back. Luckily, I'm carrying the rest of the flyers in my right hand, otherwise, they would be scattered all around us right nowâjust like when I first met the old woman.
"What are you doing?" Despite my surprise, I don't hesitate to lean my weight onto him.
"I should ask you that. Who was that boy?"
"I have no idea." I shrug and point with the hand holding the flyers in the direction of the café. "This way."
"What are those?" Samuel nods at the flyers.
"I'm helping out an old woman by giving these flyers out to anyone I come across."
"I told you not to come back here."
"Of course, I came back. I wanted to see if I'd be able to remember anything about the accident now that I already know who the driver is."
For a second Samuel doesn't say anything, but then he quietly asks, "Did you remember anything?"
"No." My shoulders slump in defeat just as we reach the main road.
Because we stop at the edge of the road where there is no crosswalk, I'm about to steer us in the direction of the nearest one. Samuel, however, tightens his hold on me and prevents me from moving a single step away from him.
"You can't keep avoiding this."
Without as much as a second to spare, he pulls me onto the road. My heart thunders inside my chest with each step we take and my lungs squeeze tighter and tighter until I feel like I'm going to pass out. Yet Samuel continues forward, never glancing at me.
We reach the other side of the road without a single mishap, but the moment we step onto the sidewalk my legs give in. The weight of my entire body crashes onto Samuel, who stumbles to the side. For a moment I'm sure we're both going to tumble to the ground, but then Samuel catches his balance.
"Whoa. You okay?"
"Give me a moment." I close my eyes and force my chest to keep contracting. In and out.
I'm not even halfway calm when Samuel hisses under his breath and moves again. He drags me across the sidewalk and into the side alley beside the café.
"What are you doing?" My legs are finally sturdy again, so I pull my arm off his shoulders and take a step away from him.
"Too many humans." Samuel rests his hands on his thighs and takes in a deep breath. "You looked too unnatural with your arm over my shoulders.... Damn, I'm not used to carrying anything heavy."
He straightens back up and then rotates first his right and then his left shoulder. For a guy who's supposed to be protecting me, he looks dangerously out of breath by just supporting my weight for a few yards.
"Not why you brought me here." I force myself to ignore the part about me being too heavy for him. "I mean with the road."
"I told you. You can't keep avoiding it for the rest of your life."
"I'm not talking about that either. I mean why were you supporting me in the first place? You said you aren't allowed to help me."
"I'm already in trouble because you're able to see me, so there's no point anymore." He stops massaging his shoulders. "But I didn't expect you to be so heavy."
"I'm not heavy." I lift the hand with the flyers and prepare to smack him with them when I realize something. "Wait. Why are you here? You were with me yesterday, which means that you're supposed to be with the charge whose turn it is after Nick."
"He's at work." Samuel waves off my question. "I'm here in case you'd be stupid enough to return to the accident site."
"It's not stupid." I stab the edge of the flyers against his chest. "If anything it's brave. Not everyone would have the courage to return to the place where something terrible happened to them."
"You mean not everyone would be reckless enough."
Samuel takes a step closer to me, which causes the edge of the flyers to crumple. My eyes snap to his and I finally realize just how close we are standing. Just like yesterday in the doctor's office, I can feel his warm breath on my skin. Before my eyes can slide south from his eyes, someone clears their throat. And it's neither of us.
I snap my head around and find the old woman from two hours ago standing at the entrance of the side alley. She is looking right at me and despite her advanced age, I have a terrible feeling she heard everything I just said.
"Follow me." She motions for me to come closer to her.
"Don't be stupid." Samuel grabs my elbow and tugs me another inch closer to him. "She heard you talking to what she thinks is yourself and now she wants you to follow her. She's crazy."
"Come on," the old woman repeats and then rounds the corner.
"Let's go into the oppositeâ"
I tear my elbow out of Samuel's hold and follow the old woman before Samuel can finish his sentence. I enter the café a few steps behind the old woman, but to my surprise, she doesn't lead us to one of the tables. Instead, she heads behind the counter and motions for me to sit onto one of the empty stools facing the counter.
Wordlessly I sit onto one of the middle seats, while Samuel takes the one to my right. He is glaring daggers at both me and the old woman, yet I force myself to ignore him. I put the remaining flyers onto the counter and focus on the old woman.
"Are you sure this is allowed?" I ask.
She grabs one of the clean white cups, sets it under the coffee machine, and then fills the filler basket with grounded coffee beans. "I obviously forgot to introduce myself before." She presses the on button and then looks back to me. "My name is Ramona Pérez."
"Ramona? As in Ramona's Café?"
"The one and only." She pushes her thick glasses further up her nose. "I'm the owner of this café."
"I didn't expect you to be the owner." I shake my head and then silently watch her as she prepares the coffee. "Aren't you going to ask about what happened in the alley?"
"Are you going to tell me the truth if I ask?" She sets the coffee on the counter in front of me.
"I wish I could, but I don't think I'm allowed to." I wrap my hands around the cup and bring it to my lips, while I feel both Ramona's and Samuel's eyes on me.
"Then there's no point in me asking." Ramona shrugs.
I take a small sip of the coffee. "This is amazing."
"I know." Ramona grabs a rag and begins to wipe the counter around the coffee machine. "You managed to hand out more flyers than I expected. Are you interested in working for me?"
"You want me to continue to hand out flyers?"
"Don't." Samuel shakes his head. "Your ankle isn't well enough toâ"
"No." Ramona unknowingly cuts him off. "I just fired a very rude waitress, so I'm one short. What do you say about working here as a waitress?"
"Shouldn't you first ask about my working experience? Or at least my name?"
"I'm too old to remember everyone's names, so why bother?" She waves me off with the rag. "But if you want we can do the whole interview thing. Have you ever worked as a waitress?"
"I actually have." I nod and then take another sip of the coffee.
"Good. When can you start?"
"Don't answer that." Samuel shoots up from his stool. "Something is off with the old hag. Just pay for the coffee and let's leave."
I ignore Samuel's hard glare and focus on Ramona. "I can start tomorrow."
After all, if I start to work here then there will be nothing that could keep me from visiting the accident site every day before and after work. Because nothing, not even Samuel's nagging, is going to stop me from finding out what happened on the night of the accident.
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- E