Monique reappeared with the yearbook and flicked through. She wasn't quite sure what this Olivia was supposed to look like and was having to read all the names on each page. This was going to take forever she thought, so she handed it to Danny. He flicked through himself, much quicker, as he knew where he was looking. He got to the photo of them all sat on the grassy bank. Here it was he thought, this will stop this silly game. But the picture looked different. There was no Olivia in the picture. She should be stood on the end on the left next to David, her arm around his shoulder. But instead, there was no one there.
“Have you found her?” asked Emma.
Emma was white, with auburn hair, dressed more like she was going to a nightclub than a friend’s gathering, her short skirt, revealing top and wearing maybe a little too much make-up. This was Emma though, she liked to make a show and stand out however she could, and she had always been like it. She was a cosmologist in her day job, which was complex and demanding work that required a lot of concentration so her personal life was almost like a second life, the complete anti-version of her day role.
Danny was now completely bewildered and had to sit down.
“No” he said, “I don't understand”
Monique put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him; she was concerned to see him like this. She told him to relax and that whoever this Olivia was, she must have been bad news as she had really got under his skin. None of this was of any comfort to Danny, as he was now wrestling with so many conflicting thoughts in his head. He didn't know what to say other than apologise while he sifted through his memories, trying to figure out what could be happening. He had looked at that picture a hundred times, she was there, to the left of David, and he even remembers the day it was taken. Didn't he? It didn't make sense. The rest of them struck up a new conversation, leaving Danny sitting there quietly in his own thoughts. They were all concerned about him, but rather than carry on entertaining his fanciful thoughts, they decided it was better to let him process the breakup properly, if that's what it was. This Olivia must have been special to him to make him this crazed, they thought, they had never seen him quite like this before. The conversation turned to topical news, everyone liked to debate the issues of the day, it was a fun and sometimes frustrating part of the evening, depending on whether you could get your point of view accepted or not. About five minutes in, Danny stood up.
“Sorry guys, I need to go. Have a great evening, and I hope you've had a great day Sam” He said as he strode towards the front door, “sorry again”.
He left, abruptly closing the door, leaving the others looking at each other in slight bewilderment.
“I've never seen him like that before” said Emma
“No, me neither” said Mateo, “It's probably best to leave him for tonight, he looks like he has a lot to work out in his head”
“Yes, that's probably a good idea” said Mariam, “One of us should check in with him tomorrow though, just to make sure he's okay”
Mariam and Mateo were lovers, an unlikely couple, but their history went all the way back to College and there was a deep ingrained connection between them. Mariam was Arabic, brought up by a strict family that she had managed to break free from in her college years. She respected what her family and culture was but it wasn't for her, which was something that caused a huge rift between her and her relatives. Mateo had helped her through all that angst and that was part of the reason they were so close. She was a Geneticist, highly skilled, and highly methodical. She was quite a straight-faced looking woman, if it wasn't for her bursting into laughter more than anyone else, you'd think she was emotionless. Of course, she wasn't, but it was just the way she had grown up, to keep her thoughts and feelings inside so as not to cause shame. It was a habit she could never quite break.
Mateo was Hispanic, a genius software engineer. He grew up in a big family, they all competed for the attention of their mother, the father had left many years before and no one could trace him. His siblings all worked hard to bring more money into the house, and their mother was thankful. Mateo was the youngest and was the only one who ventured further than college; he gained a great foothold in one of the best universities in the state. So, they were an unlikely couple, and people often had to glance twice at them walking hand in hand, but that didn't bother them, it was their little world and they had shared a love that went deeper than most peoples.
They all tried to put Danny's strange state of mind to the side and enjoy the evening, as this was supposed to be a celebration for Samir. They were all obviously concerned about Danny, but they would check up on him tomorrow. They spent the rest of the evening joking around, playing silly games and drinking just a little too much. It was Friday tomorrow, so most of them had to be up for work, but the chances of none of them calling in sick was quite slim. They had complicated debates on the latest cutting-edge developments in each of their respective fields, from Engineering Physics, thanks to Jarrah to Robotics, courtesy of Gina. Gina, an Asian woman with a slight frame and an infectious smile was the oddball in the group, quirky and with a
