Falling Forward Read Free Page B

single tear when my mother or father passed away. I actually tried to cry, but I couldn’t. My friends will bawl their eyes out when reading sad books or watching sappy movies, and they’ll check on me and think I’m some sort of cold monster as I’m sitting there, completely engrossed, yet stone faced. It’s become comical. That’s just who I am. Some people shine in chaos, and I’m one of those people. I’m a crisis manager. That’s what I do. And for the first time, I had my own crisis. This was no different, but the stakes were much higher personally. It was time to see what Dr. Garvin was really made of.
    I called Paul Perry, our attorney, and got his answering machine. I left a message. “Paul, Olivia Garvin. Richard was just arrested. I don’t know what to do next; I’ve never been in this type of situation. Please call me as soon as you get this.” Before I could hang up, Paul beeped in call waiting. I answered the call.
    “Olivia, listen, I need you to come to the office as soon as you can, and I’ll explain everything. Are you OK?”
    I was silent for a moment. “Paul, what the hell is going on?” I asked. It seemed he already knew about the situation, and that really infuriated me. How could I have missed this? “Paul, you knew about this? You actually knew he was going to get arrested?” Paul assured me everything was going to be alright. I realized the neighbors were still outside congregating, postulating about what horrible people we must be, so I went inside. I told Paul I’d be there in twenty minutes.
    As I looked around for something to wear, I noticed Richard’s computer was gone. They must have seized it for evidence. His cell was missing too. I guessed that was par for the course in a murder investigation. I went in the bathroom to brush my teeth. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked upset and insecure. I threw some water on my face and straightened my posture. For the first time, I noticed I was beginning to look older. I saw wrinkles on the corner of my eyes I had never noticed. People always joke about you looking older on your birthday. But on this birthday, in the mere half hour I had been awake, I felt like I had aged a decade. I put on my blue Florida Gators sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. My knee hurt a little as I put my pants on. I looked down, and noticed it must have been bruised by the takedown. I remembered the officers had their guns drawn, and it must have been pretty serious for them to tackle me like they did. The scenarios in my mind kept getting worse as my imagination ran wild. I put my running shoes back on and went to the garage.
    I noticed Richard’s car door was still open. I guessed the police went through it. I started to close the door without thinking. But then I stopped. There had to be an explanation for all of this. Maybe there was something in the car the police missed. I sat in his seat and paused for a moment in an attempt to sort all this out. My analytical side was finally suppressing the shock.
    I pulled the visor down, not really knowing what I was looking for. There were a few parking tickets that fell into my lap. I put them back. I looked through his cup holder and the small container that he usually tossed his change into, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. I opened the glove compartment, hoping a murder weapon or something worse wouldn’t fall out, but it was neat and tidy as always.
    I noticed what looked like a business card on the floor wedged underneath the floor mat behind Richard’s gas pedal. It looked like one of his. I bent down to pick it up and looked at it for a moment. I flipped it over, and there was a phone number scribbled on the back with one of those poorly drawn smiley face characters all the kids seemed to be drawing. I put it in my purse and decided to get going to Paul’s office. As I got out, I saw what appeared to be something pink under the passenger side seat. I went around the other side, opened