I sighed. "Two minutes," I spat at Ollie angrily. "Randi, go ahead, I will come in in a minute."
I turned back to Ollie and he was opening the passenger door for me.
"We can talk right here," I said, gesturing at her driveway.
"I want privacy," he said, picking me up by the waist and setting me in his truck, sliding me over to the middle before shutting the door. He came around and got in and I scooted back to the door.
When he put it in gear and started driving, I felt a little panic well up. "You said talk, not leave! Stop, Ollie!"
"I just want to go somewhere private so we can talk!" he yelled with a scowl.
"You said two minutes!"
"Two minutes when we get there!"
"Ollie, pull over!"
"NO! Just sit tight till we get there."
I crossed my arms and hunkered down angrily. He was getting ridiculous!
"Det," he said more softly, anguish in his voice. "I don't want you to go!"
"Ollie, my whole life is back there! I don't feel the same about you. We are too different, you aren't who I thought you were at all."
"Because the girls?"
"No. I mean, not just the girls. We are different."
"That doesn't really matter though, does it?" he said angrily. "Opposites attract and all that. And who is the liar? I was there when we kissed, remember? I know how you felt, I felt it too. And I know how you looked at me."
"Ollie, I was lost. I am still lost. I was grasping for something solid to hold on to. It was nice for a minute, but we really are too different. Please let this go? I don't like you like that."
"We'll see," he half snarled.
He was driving the opposite way out of town, passing by the trailer park where I thought he was taking me.
"Ollie? Where are we going?" I asked fearfully.
"I said we were going somewhere."
"I don't want to! Take me back home, please?"
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, turning to look at me like I had offended him.
"What are you going to do?"
"I told you, I want to talk to you."
"Ollie..."
"Just hold on," he grumped. "Wait and see."
I sighed and let my head fall back miserably. When he turned and started up a small gravel road up the side of the mountain, I got curious. It took twenty long minutes for him to pull off the road. He helped me out of the truck, took my phone and set it on his dash, then led me to a huge cliff overlooking the town.
I pulled back and stayed well back, feeling queasy and lightheaded.
"Don't like heights?" he asked, concerned.
"No," I answered, backing up even more.
He nodded, then moved closer and caught my hand. To my horror, he went to one knee and pulled a little box out of his pocket.
"Ollie, don't you dare!"
He looked at me with a scowl, not letting go of my hand. On his knee, he was only slightly taller than I was. "Odette, I think you are wrong. We are meant to be, you and me. That's why you ended up here in such a weird way. You came so we could meet. I fell hard, the second I saw you. You have to know that. You say you can't stay, but you could if you wanted to, and if you refuse? I'm eighteen. I can come to Atlanta with you. I wouldn't like it much, but I would do it. For you I would do anything." He flipped open the box with his thumb, still holding tight to my hand with his other hand. There was a little silver filigree ring inside, it looked like an antique. "It was my grandmothers."
"Ollie! Let me go! This is ridiculous!"
He snapped the lid shut angrily, then shoved it in his pocket. As soon as his hand was free, he pulled me against him and took hold of my face, kissing me. I pulled back and shoved with my hands, but he held me, forcing the kiss on me.
"Stop!" I pleaded when he finally pulled back, but he pulled me against him and held my face in his hand.
"Det, don't you see how much..."
"The girl said let her go," A deep voice rumbled.
I cried out in fear as Ollie stood up, still holding me against him. I couldn't turn and see where the voice was coming from, he was holding me tight against his legs.
"Let her go," the voice repeated.
"It's a misunderstanding, a lovers spat, that's all. She is about to become my wife!" Ollie said desperately, moving and shoving me behind him. "Get in the truck!" he hissed to me.
"I heard her say no. Let her go," the man repeated. The man... was monstrously huge. Taller even than Ollie, at least by a few inches, but he was wide and solid and huge where Ollie was skinny. He wore buckskin pants, a vest made of a darker leather and a fur cape. His hair was long, down to his backside and he had it pulled back with braids on the sides. There were feathers and beads and cloth braided into the braids on both sides. He was young, mid twenties, but had a beard long enough to cover his neck. There were bone necklaces circling his neck and down his exposed chest. He wore no shoes.
He was terrifying.
Ollie nudged me towards the truck, but I was frozen in place, staring in terror at the mountain man. "The truck," Ollie hissed.
"Step off the girl," the man demanded, moving in closer.
"We don't want any trouble! We were just leaving. We aren't on your mountain, not here. I come here all the time!"
"Always with a different girl. This one said no. Step away from her," he said dangerously, moving closer. "Girl, come over here. I won't let the boy hurt you."
I stepped away from both of them, the three of us forming a triangle.
"You can't take her man," Ollie said desperately. "I love her! I want to marry her."
The mountain man looked back at me, reconsidering me as he looked me over. "What age do I put to you?" he asked.
I blinked. What? "I'm eighteen?" I answered, thinking that was what he was asking.
"So you are," he said, turning back to Ollie. "Lady said no. Go back down to your rolling house. Go alone."
