"You're welcome," Olivia said with a slight smile. She sipped her tea, tried to focus on anything other than the ball of nerves she felt winding in her stomach. Setting down her cup she managed to tell Shawn, "I had a pretty good day. The water was fairly calm and I got a few fish," before he asked if she was comfortable or needed more tea, adding a polite, "I'm find, and no thank you." She still had plenty left and was taking her time and savoring it. It had been so long since she had had tea. Yet another thing today brought her memories of her childhood and the days before the Walkers.

Olivia could tell she was putting Shawn off somehow. Maybe he was nervous like she was because of how she was dressed--was the outfit too revealing?--or maybe it looked terrible and he didn't know how to tell her. Maybe she was coming off as forward and he was simply trying to be polite. Between worrying what Shawn might be thinking and slowly but surely starting to feel more and more awkward overall in the dress, Olivia felt maybe it was time to go.

An hour at most had passed since Olivia had come aboard Shawn's boat. During that time they hadn't played any games, instead whiling the hour away with tense silence and awkward small talk. Finally Olivia couldn't take it anymore. Standing up while unconsciously tugging down her dress and trying to hide her nervousness she announced, "I think I'm going to have to call it a night, Shawn. Thank you for having me over, and thanks for the tea. I'll leave the cookies with you too. Goodnight."

Olivia tried not to seem like she was hurrying off, but the moment her feet hit the dock she was doing a fast walk toward her own boat. She disappeared inside her cabin, all but slamming the door. She felt angry and disappointed and ashamed at herself.

"Stupid, stupid, I'm so stupid!" Olivia heatedly repeated to herself over and over. How could she have done that? Gone over to Shawn's all dolled up like some tart. She didn't even [i]like[/i] wearing the dress. It made her feel awkward and weird. Quickly she stripped out of it and changed into her regular clothes--jeans, long sleeve shirt. She pulled on her thick jacket, boots, and gloves, grabbed her bow and quiver, ax, and was about to head out the door. Olivia stopped to look at the dress lying in a heap on the floor and felt another wave of anger and humility surge through her. She snatched them up and walked out the door and down the dock.

Olivia knew she needed to cool her head and so she decided to put plenty of space between herself and Shawn by heading into the city. At the end of the dock there was a trashcan. She threw the dress and tights at it, but she had not bothered to look when she threw them and so she didn't see them miss the trashcan and land on the ground. Olivia disappeared into the night in a maze of buildings. She did not return to her boat until late the next evening when she locked the cabin door, crawled onto the bench, threw a blanket over her head, and fell into an exhausted sleep.