Gunmetal Mama

Olivia woke up with a splitting headache, balls of perspiration trickled down from her forehead as she gently tried to get her breath under control. It had been ten years already, yet she was still haunted by the same nightmare. She had been to therapy countless times, and had bills to help her calm herself, yet the nightmares persisted.

It had been a while since she got one, but it wasn't a new experience. Why now? Could it be because of the call she had gotten a few days ago? She said it wouldn't let it bother her, but apparently she hadn't told herself the truth. It had been a prank call, some stupid hoodlum who thought that pretending to be her ex would be funny.

Olivia was already used to these types of calls. Noah Grant was a well known figure, and their relationship hadn't been a private affair. It might have been ten years ago, but people still asked her about him in interviews and press conferences. While she would love to avoid speaking about her ex as much as she could, it had become inescapable. But it didn't matter, she wasn't a wimp anymore, she had her own empire, one that she had fought hard to build.

Getting down from bed, she sauntered to the drawer close by to get her medication. She needed to calm her nerves before she could return to bed—

Olivia turned towards the alarm clock, "it's morning already?!" She exclaimed after catching sight of the figures in front of her digital alarm clock; ten minutes past seven am.

"Ughh.."

A brief exhausted sigh escaped her lips. She had a press conference at nine, and another by twelve. Sometimes she wondered if being successful was worth it, she barely had time for her friends, and the relationship that was slowly brewing between her and her co worker, Michael Anderson.

Michael was sweet and all, but Olivia was still cautious. She hadn't been in any significant relationships for ten years now, Noah had scarred her deeply, and that wound was yet to heal.

Exhausted, she entered the bathroom and began preparations for the day. She lived alone in a two bedroom apartment, and couldn't for anything more than that. She could afford a mansion if she wanted to, but Olivia wasn't comfortable with someone making her meal and washing her clothes. Fame brought you friends, but also an equal number of enemies. The last thing she wanted was to get murdered by her own maid. A two bedroom apartment was perfect, she could handle cleaning, and didn't need to yell at anybody to do something.

RINGGGGG*

It was her phone, and as expected, it was Michael calling.

"Good morning, Liv." His soothing baritone voice flowed from the speaker the moment Olivia answered. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did, Michael, thank you.." Olivia returned shyly. She knew she wasn't the best at reciprocating emotions, but she still did her best to show Michael that his affection was appreciated. "W..what about you? Did you sleep well?"

"Barely, but let's not worry about that. Are you ready yet? I'm on my way to pick you." Michael returned. From the background noises she could hear, Olivia could tell he was already on the way. She had taken an hour to get ready, and it would probably take her twenty minutes to prepare her breakfast. It should be enough time before Michael arrives.

"Yes, I'm done already. See you soon." She replied before ending the call and hurrying to her kitchen to make her a cup of tea and toast. It was the most she could do at the moment, one step out of that and she might end up running late and wasting everybody's time.

It took a while, but after five minutes of waiting, a black Mercedes finally pulled into the apartment premises, and Olivia's face immediately lit up with a smile. She grabbed her purse, and without caution, raced downstairs to meet Michael. They had barely twenty minutes to be at the office, and she didn't want to be late.

Rock Enterprise was a big firm, one that she had been trying to collaborate with for a while now, and they had finally given her the opportunity of an interview, one that she absolutely planned to nail.

"Thank you for coming to pick me up." Said Olivia before she threw herself into Michael's open arms. She seconded the gesture with a light kiss to his cheeks before lowering her purse on the passenger seat through the window. "The interview is in less than half an hour, are you sure we will be on time?"

Michael arched a brow at the question, hadn't someone informed her already? He was sure he had done so, or had he forgotten as well?

"The interview has been cancelled Liv, didn't you get the news?" He asked as he reached out to grab his phone. "I sent you a text last night, Rock Enterprise was bought overnight. There are rumors going around that their new owners are already in town, but there won't be any interviews today."

Olivia's eyes fell, her disappointment almost getting the better of her. She might have gained mainstream success, but her business wouldn't last long if she didn't have strong firms backing her up. She had worked her ass off for this day, only for some bastard to ruin it for her.

"Let's just get to the office." She replied, unwilling to continue the conversation. She would probably cry if she talked about it too much, and wanted to avoid that at all cost. Her makeup wasn't heavy, but tears would definitely cause a lot of damage to it.

Michael took control of the wheel, and in half an hour, they were outside the office. One of the valets approached, and Michael handed the man his car keys to handle the rest of the parking.

They hadn't taken two steps forward, when Olivia's eyes caught the large 'R' on one of the trucks parked outside the office. She would recognize that logo even on her deathbed, it belonged to Rock Enterprise, and from the look of things they were already here.

Confused, she turned towards Michael who seemed to have caught sight of the van as well. "Didn't you say something about the interview being cancelled? What are they doing here then?" Olivia inquired, but Michael was just as confused as she was.

She didn't waste time on questions, she raced into the building, determined to find a convincing excuse for her tardiness to the interview. However, as she stepped into the conference room, her heart leapt out of her body, and her jaws dropped to the floor. Before her sat a familiar figure, a large grin spread across his face as he recognized her. He was here, Noah Grant was here!