Chapter 23

Brian's POV

"Liv, are you sure you're okay?" For the third time I asked as the plane sailed above with Paris lights far below us.

I was looking at her face to find a clue of how she really felt. Olivia just managed a nod and a tight-lipped smile.

"I'll be fine, Brian," she replied a bit softly, with some strain in her voice. "I'm… just… tired."

"We are going home directly,” I whispered, striving to level the tone of our conversation. "And when we get there, we're going to work all this out, believe me, Liv. You're not alone in this.".

She just gripped hard at my hand and made a motion of agreement, but no word came out. She didn't need to say one. Her eyes said it all. She said only one thing, that she was not falling apart in front of me.

It passed in maddening silence, the hum of the plane's engines loud against Olivia eardrums, which wouldn't let her enter the arena of sleep. I just sat, my mind racing, watching the slackness of her features. How did I let things get so mixed up?