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My jaw hardened.

“You know Sierra?”

He nodded once, and the waitress returned, putting his burger in front of him without a smile or any acknowledgment. He began eating straight away, that smug look on his face that he got when he knew he just fucked with my head appeared.

He got a sick thrill out of it.

All these years, and I could still pick up on that subtle expression.

“Is that how you found out I was working at the shop?”

He nodded again, and was obviously trying to hide his smile.

Now.

Now, Sierra had gone too far.

I stood, pushing the chair back with a clang.

I leaned across the table, pointing my finger into his face, “you never contact me again. If I see you again, I’ll fucking kill you, Evan. You’ve been talking to Sierra, so obviously you know exactly what it is that I do now. So hopefully you understand how serious I am. I see you again, you’re dead.”

The smirk on his face only grew as he chewed into his burger like the pig that he was. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned on my heel, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

“Watch yourself, Ol,” he said in a sing-song.

I looked back at him, and couldn’t contain the rage I felt at the stupid proud expression on his face.

Once again, he thought he had won.

I looked down at my near full mug of coffee and picked it up, throwing the hot drink directly onto his face.

He let out a cry of pain and I turned and hurried down the street.

I heard the murmuring of other customers as Evan’s whines and groans echoed down the busy road. I kept my pace quick, heading towards a taxi or a bus stop, some way to get me out of here and away from him as fast as possible.

I didn’t have to look back to know that he was following me.

I could hear the sound of his shoes hitting the pavement getting closer and closer, and as I turned a corner, I felt his hand on my shoulder. I spun around and my fist connected with his nose, and he stumbled back, but only a little.

“Leave me alone, Evan!” I shouted, and he only laughed.

I should have known that this was a trap. I should have known that it was a stupid decision to even go near the man.

What I didn’t expect was that Sierra would stoop so low.

Someone who was supposed to be my best friend, or who once was.

Even with everything that had happened between us, I knew that I would never do anything like this to her.

For the first time, I was nervous.

I knew that I could handle myself with most people, but Evan was different. He wasn’t a rowdy customer at Lilith’s, or an annoying guy on the street. The memory of him clouded everything that Livie knew, and extracted Olivia from deep within.

When I looked at him, I was that scared little girl.

I dug deep, trying to find the brave woman inside, but she was being pushed down and down with every step closer that Evan moved. I closed my eyes and just hoped that it would be over quickly.

I didn’t know what he had planned, but I knew that it wouldn’t be pleasant.