Free Olivia by Donna Sturgeon Page A

Louise’s shopping cart. The cart shot out of Louise’s hands, and Olivia went flying over the handlebars and little basket on the scooter, landing face-first into a cardboard display of Doritos.
    “Olivia!” Louise cried out in surprise. “Are you ok?”
    “Yeah.” Olivia groaned. The display was totaled and Olivia’s ego was bruised, but other than that she was fine. Bags popped, and tortilla chips crushed and crumbled beneath her as she struggled to her feet amid a cloud of neon-orange cheese dust.
    “Why were you on the scooter in the first place? Did you get hurt at work?” Louise worried as she yanked Olivia upright.
    “Yeah?” Olivia sort of agreed.
    “Did you report it to Sam?”
    “No. It happened in the parking lot,” Olivia lied. “It wasn’t work-related.”
    “You poor dear.”
    “I’m fine.” Olivia dusted the cheese powder from her hands and face. “Well, see ya around.”
    She made a break for the scooter, but Louise stopped her with, “Did you hear about Stephie and Sam getting caught in Old Man Garretson’s office last week?”
    Director cues sound of needle on record— screech!
    Olivia spun around. “No! What?”
    “I guess they were both up in his office and the cleaning crew walked in on them.” Louise smiled a conspiratorial little smile and leaned in closer to whisper, “They were having sex.”
    “Holy shit! Does the old man know about it?”
    “I don’t think so,” Louise said with a shake of her head. “But even if he did, Sam probably wouldn’t get fired. His mother-in-law is like second or third cousin to the Garretsons. He’s family. He can do whatever he wants and get away with it.”
    It was the first Olivia had ever heard that Sam was married, but she played it off as if she’d known it all along.
    “Well, yeah, but wouldn’t cheating on his wife be grounds for termination?” Olivia asked as if it were obvious, because it was. “She’s family. He’s just the prick she married.”
    Louise shrugged. “All I know is, Sam’s been manager for ten years or so and Stephie is far from his first affair, and you know she won’t be his last. This isn’t even the first time he’s been caught. Just the first time he dared go in the front offices.”
    Olivia took a slurp from her McDonald’s cup of vodka and Dr. Pepper as she thought it over. “It’s like he’s trying to get caught… Like he’s rubbing the old man’s face in it.”
    “Exactly.” Louise nodded with Olivia.
    “Huh.”
    Olivia handed the cup to Louise, and Louise took a long suck off the straw. Her eyes grew wide in surprise, but she took another drink without commenting on the contents of the cup. When she took a third pull off the straw, Olivia frowned and snatched the cup away. Lush .
    “Well, I better get moving along. See you tomorrow,” Louise said with a wave.
    “Same time, same place,” Olivia said, and waved back.
    The two women still never talked while they worked, but the next time Olivia ran into Louise at Walmart, Louise had her own scooter and cup from McDonald’s. They scooted around the store together, gossiping and giggling like school girls. While Louise wasn’t looking, Olivia stole a sip from her cup and discovered Louise preferred wine spritzers to vodka. Cool.
     
    *  *  *
     
    For no apparent reason, the sex between Mitch and Olivia took a sudden and unexpected slump. Mitch simply lost interest. Olivia tried everything she could think of to get “Mr. Happy” happy again, but he stayed as excited as a spaghetti noodle left in a pot of water overnight.
    Mitch blamed Olivia’s slight weight gain for his condition, and started dropping not-so-subtle hints that she should start exercising and stop eating Twinkies for breakfast. Olivia flat-out told him to take his advice and shove it where the sun don’t shine. Izzie suggested they go back to the casinos to give hotel sex a shot at cheering Mr. Happy up. So, on the second weekend of May, Olivia and Mitch