Olivia slid into the booth with a sigh.
“Bad day?” her cousin, Frieda, asked, look up from the menu.
“I finally quit my job,” Olivia said, with her head tilted back against the booth, eyes closed.
“Congrats!” Frieda said, putting down the menu. “You’ve been miserable for months. Now you can do something you actually want to do.”
“Yeah,” Olivia said, not moving, “but I don’t know what that is.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Frieda said, picking the menu back up. “You always do.” She grinned, “I do want to be there when you tell Grandma, though.”
Olivia groaned. “You just had to make it worse.”
“It’s how I show love.”
“Olivia?”
A new voice joined the conversation, one that Olivia hadn’t heard in years. Of course today would be the day he came back. She opened her eyes slowly, looking at the man standing next to their table.
Same sandy blonde hair, same mahogany eyes, same lean build. It was almost like four years hadn’t passed, although now that she was looking she saw an increased maturity in his face.
“Drew,” she said, pulling on her small talk persona. No reason for him to know that she was having a rough day, or that he still had an effect on her like back in college. “It’s been forever!”
“Yeah, like, three years, right?”
“Four, I think. But whose counting?” she smiled, and couldn’t quite suppress the butterflies in her stomach as she looked up at his handsome face, the smile that always made it seem like there was a joke between just them. She saw his eyes flick over to her cousin.
“Sorry! Frieda, this is Drew. We were friends in college. Drew, this is my cousin, Frieda.” They smiled at each other and murmured hellos, then Drew turned back to her.
“We should catch up some time! It’s great to see you. Are you still working in marketing?”
She looked at him blankly for a second, stunned that he even remembered her plan after college had been to go into marketing. She ignored the fact that she still remembered he had wanted to be a lawyer, but was going to do something with the family business instead. “Actually, I just quit today.” She ignored the look of surprise on his face. “It just wasn’t the right fit for me.”
“That doesn’t entirely surprise me, honestly,” Drew said with a smile, and she wanted to die. “You were always so passionate about your music. I didn’t think you’d last long in an office job.”
She smiled again, because that was what she did when she was uncomfortable – just keep smiling and make banal small talk, and eventually the person went away.
“How about you? Still working with your mom?”
He seemed pleased that she remembered, and she tried to ignore the feeling in her chest. She wasn’t likely to see him after tonight, so why bother getting all worked up?
“Actually, I’m back in town for law school,” he said, then glanced around the restaurant, as if looking for someone. “I am actually meeting someone from school tonight. I’m trying to find an apartment.”
Olivia,” Frieda cut in, and Olivia almost groaned aloud at the mischievous look on her cousin’s face. “Didn’t someone in your building just move out? And you’re right by Abbott Law School, which is where I’m guessing Drew is going,” she glanced at Drew for confirmation, and he nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah, Frieda, you are right,” Olivia said, straining to keep her voice light. “There’s a one bedroom open on the first floor.” She sighed, knowing what she had to do and dreading it. “Here, I’ll give you the manager’s phone number, and you can take a look. If nothing else pans out,” she added, and hoped she didn’t sound too hopeful.
“Olivia, that would be great,” Drew said, turning the full force of his smile on her, and she melted. She sent a silent message out to the universe that Mike, the manager, had already found a new renter as she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the phone number.
“There you go,” she said, passing the note to him. His fingers brushed hers as he took it, and again, she had to squash her reaction to him. It wasn’t fair.
“I really appreciate this, Olivia,” he glanced around the restaurant again, and waved at someone at a back table. “I have to go, but,” he turned to Olivia, and she wished he would stop looking at her like that, “we should really catch up some time!”
“Sure!” she said, and hated how forced her voice sounded.
He said his goodbyes, hesitated a second, then made his way to the back of the restaurant.
Olivia let her head thud back against the booth, then realized he might still be able to see her and sat up, looking at Frieda, who grinned at her.
“You should go for it.”
Olivia groaned. “Not now, Frieda.”
Her cousin looked at her in disbelief. “What?! The guy was cute, and totally into you. The way he looked at you, man, I want someone to look at me like that.”
“He’s like that with everyone. He’s just a charming guy.” Olivia busied herself with the menu. She hadn’t planned on getting a drink, but now she needed one.
“Yeah right. That man wanted to eat you up.”
“If he did, he would have four years ago,” Olivia snapped, glaring at her cousin. “He would have four years ago when I had a massive crush on him, and he knew. He’s just like that with everyone. I learned the hard way.” She looked back at her menu, a little sorry she had whisper-yelled at her cousin, but needing a moment to collect herself, pull her metal armor back up around her. How could he still break through it so easily?
Her cousin was quiet for a moment, which was unusual for her. Finally, Olivia snapped, “what?”
“Nothing. I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” she said softly. Which was almost worse than anything else she could have said. Olivia could have taken teasing, but pity?
“There is nothing to be sorry about.” She took a deep breath, and smiled. “I am fine.”
“Don’t do that with me,” he cousin said, hurt.
“What?”
“Don’t block me out like that. It’s not healthy to bottle up your emotions the way you do. You need to feel them; that’s why they are there.”
“Thanks, Frieda, but I’m fine. Really,” she insisted when Freida glared at her. “Let’s just move on. It’s not like I am going to see him again anyway.”
© The Lightning Tower, 2020