Charlie

It's freeing to be riding a horse. The wind whistles around me as my body bounces up and down. Yet I'm not scared to fall. I trust Cookies even if I barely know him.

It's my eyes I can't trust.

Instead of focusing forward like they're supposed to be they trail slightly to the left where Olivia rides Cream. Olivia's bright red hair hangs out of a low ponytail just under her black helmet. And somehow it makes her hair even more bright. Which I never thought was possible. She stays so focused on the path in front of her and her horse that when Cream startles she's already ready for it.

Me on the other hand? Yeah, I'm not prepared.

Cookies goes flying up on his hind legs, causing me to slide off him and down to the ground. A sharp pain jolts up my tailbone. My breath gets knocked out of me.

A bright laugh cuts through the pain right as a shadow falls over me. "Are you okay?" I look up to see Olivia. God. She's so beautiful. The sun shines behind her, casting an outline around her that makes her look like an angel.

I rub my back. "I think so?"

"You'll be sore for a couple of days," Vanessa says. She has Cookies reins in her hands. "You should watch where you're going more. That'll prevent you from falling off and hurting yourself."

I get up and nod as I try to fight off the blush that takes over my face. "Thanks."

Vanessa nods. "Hop back on and let's ride back. I think you've both had enough for today."

I climb back on Cookies as Olivia and Cream trot around the little clearing we're in. Once I'm all setting up Vanessa leads us back to the barn. I try my best to focus on Cookies and the path but it's really hard.

I told myself I wasn't going to fall so soon. Not just from the horse, but for someone else. And I know that Olivia is different from Eva but part of me can't help but feel like this will end the same way. So these feelings just need to go away. But if that doesn't happen I'm going to have to bury them deep down. I don't want to ruin anything with Olivia.

Not that there is anything.

I'm just having such a great time with her. I know that this is only temporary and that we'll part ways after she's found the perfect job, but part of me can't help but hope that when that happens our time together won't be over. I just have to make sure I don't ruin anything with my feelings.

When we return to the barn Vanessa and another girl help us off and to put Cookies and Cream back into their stalls. Then they show us how we take care of the equipment we used and where to store them. After that they hand us brushes and show us how to brush them.

As I try my best to focus on Cookies and not Olivia I think I hear her mumble and whisper to Cream. But I don't catch any of it. When we're done, we hand the brushes back.

"Thank you for today and everything you've shown us," Olivia says. A smile on her face and excitement continuing to dance in her eyes.

Vanessa grins. "You're welcome. Thank you for taking an interest in horses, not many folks do."

Olivia's grin falls. "Really? I thought they'd be pretty popular."

Vanessa shakes her head. "Sadly not around here."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Vanessa shrugs. "It is what it is."

Olivia's frown just grows more.

"Well," I interrupt. "Thank you for today." Vanessa nods. I turn to Olivia. "Ready for our next stop?"

She doesn't appear to hear me as she continues to stare past Vanessa towards the stables. But before I can say her name again she turns to me and smiles. Her eyes flashing with more excitement? Something else?

"Yep!" she exclaims.

I grin. We wave goodbye to Vanessa and then head towards my car. Once we're in and buckled I start it up and head back onto the highway heading back into town. Olivia doesn't say anything. She just stares out the window with a look of longing on her face.

"So..."

"Don't," she snaps.

"What?"

"Just don't." She leans against the window again. "It isn't for me." Then, in a quieter voice, "I'm starting to think I'll never find my future."

I'm left speechless. I want to reassure her that she'll find something, that there's a job out there for her. But I understand how she's feeling. The deep despair of thinking you'll never find your thing, or your someone. I want to reach out and let her rest against me. Let her take all her anger and sadness out on me, but I can't. I'm only a friend, one she barely knows. So I leave it and let us sit in silence. Even though it pains me to see her in this state.

She's such a sweet and strong girl. She deserves to know her place in the world. And I want to be the one to give her that.

"Where are we going?" she mumbles.

"You'll see." Though now I don't know if it's such a good idea. Maybe I should just take her home. But who knows, maybe some food will help her.

Olivia sighs. Then she pulls her phone out of her pocket.

I try to keep my eyes and thoughts on the road, but what if she's texting Nick? I know there's something there. And I can't help the jealousy that appears whenever I see him.

"Do you just want to go home?" I ask.

Olivia shakes her head and tries to smile. "No, it's fine. Let's do the thing you have planned."

I grin. "I promise this is our last stop and then I can take you home."

Olivia nods. "So, where are we going?"

"We're stopping in at this tiny little diner called Sam's."

She takes her eyes off her phone and looks at me, an excited little grin on her face. "Is this a job opportunity? Because I know I don't want to be a server."

I laugh as I change lanes. "Nope. We're just going there for some food." I swear that her eyes light up even more.

"I am hungry after all that horse riding." She grins, which makes me grin.

A short while later I'm pulling into the parking lot of a building that looks like it could be a Denny's but with more of a hipster vibe to it. Once parked we make our way inside. The inside has the same vibe as the outside. There's a disco ball hanging in the middle of the room. Tables are scattered throughout the middle of it while booths that look like they came from the 70's line the walls.

We make our way over to one of the booths that sits besides the window. I'm on one side and Olivia sits opposite of me. This'll make it so much harder to not stare at her.

"So how'd you find this place?" she asks.

"One of my dad's clients works here now."

She nods.

A woman comes up to us and places two menus in front of us. "Hey there. How are you all doing today?"

"Good," we say together.

The server grins. "That's great! I'm Holly and I'll be taking care of you today. Can I get you something to drink?"

"I'll take an ice tea," Olivia says.

"A pepsi please."

Holly nods. "Awesome. I'll go get those while you two decide on some food."

I grin as she walks away. Olivia picks up her menu, her eyes scan it as her face scrunches in concentration. After a minute she looks up at me with a smile. "Are you going to look at the menu?"

I blink as my face gets hot and scramble to pick up the menu. "Yeah! Of course. Why wouldn't I?" I don't dare to lift my eyes off the page in front of me.

Olivia laughs. I sneak a peek and see her smiling at me.

"You need to learn to not stare."

My gaze zooms back to the menu. Her laughter fills the space between us. Slowly it dies out as I pay attention to the menu instead of her. The longer I look and read the items on it the more my mind and thoughts wander away from Olivia.

It isn't until a soft plink is heard that I'm taken out of my thoughts. I look up from my menu to see a drink before me and another being placed in front of Olivia.

"So, have you decided what you're going to get? Or do you need a few more minutes?"

This time when I look at Olivia it isn't just to stare. "Do you know what you want?" I ask.

She nods. "You?"

I nod.

Holly grins and grabs her notepad out of her pouch. "What can I get you then?"

"I'll just have a burger please." Olivia places her menu near the end of the table.

The server writes that down before turning to me. "And you?"

"A BLT please."

She nods and smiles as she writes it down. "All right." She picks the menus up and walks away.

As we wait for our food we talk about the jobs we've gone through. Not much has changed from the last time we went over it.

"I think I might be leaning more towards working with animals though," Olivia says as she swirls her straw in her cup.

"Really?"

She nods.

"Why?"

She shrugs. "There's just something about being around animals that's soothing. Plus, most animals are better than humans." She drops her straw. Her gaze drops down to her hands that she clasps together. "It's like this feeling that I can't explain that just... pulls me more towards animals than humans."

I nod. "So what kind of work with animals would you want to try? We can try the pet store, the animal sanctuary, the zoo." I list them off on my fingers as I go on.

Olivia shrugs. "That's the thing! I have no idea how I want to work with animals."

"Well maybe we can-"

"Charlie, just stop!"

"But-"

"No!" Her eyes are red rimmed. "I don't know, okay? I'm never going to know what I'm going to do with my life!"

"But we're getting closer!"

She groans and runs her hands through her hair. She shakes her head. "Close isn't good enough!"

"Then let's keep trying!"

She shakes her head. "I can't," she whispers so quietly that I almost miss it.

"Here's your- Oh. Is everything alright here?" I look up to find our server looking down at us with concern.

I nod. "Yep! Everything's fine."

She eyes Olivia with disbelief before setting our food down in front of us. "Let me know if I can do anything for you," she says before walking away. Somehow I feel like it's more directed at Olivia then me.

I watch Olivia as she starts to pick at her food. She starts with the fries before switching over to the burger itself. I don't say anything as we eat. I want to give her space to cool down, but sitting here in heavy silence is hard. Especially when all I want to do is see her smile again. But I let her be in her mood and eat my food quietly.

The next time the server comes around I ask for the bill. Olivia excuses herself as I pay for the meal. Holly doesn't say anything, which really just drives the point of how much I failed to make the end of the day good.

Once Olivia is back we make it out to my car.

"So, am I driving you home?" I ask right as I start the car.

She shakes her head. "Can you take me to Naomis?"

"If I knew where that was," I say to try and get a reaction out of her.

"I'll tell you the directions."

I sigh and pull out of the parking lot. So much for making today fun.