OLIVIA
I don’t stop running until I’m outside the cafe that Jess is at. I stop briefly to catch my breath before pushing the door open.
I’ve never been happier receiving a text from Jess and it was at the perfect moment, just as I was about to seal a deal with the dickhead.
I scoff, good luck was certainly on my side this time. I can’t even begin to imagine what becoming his wife would entail even if it was fake and just for a short period of time. With that attitude of his it is no doubt that no one wants to settle down with him.
When I step into the cafe there’s no one except Jess that is huddled in a corner. I can’t help the wide smile that makes its way onto my face, of cause I had someone I could always count on.
“Jess” I slide into the seat opposite hers. She raises her head but instead of the normal bright smile that is on her face there’s a certain sadness darkness.
“Are you okay? You don’t look so good and I’ve been trying to reach you since forever” I say all at once, taking her hand in mine but she gently pulls it away which makes me even more worried. She isn’t her normal self.
“Liv… I can’t…” she trails off, tears gathering in her eyes.
“Come on tell me what is wrong with you, we’ll fix it together like always” My voice cracks at the end, this was so not what I expected.
Jess breaks into a sob and I go over to her seat and throw my arms around her “Oh honey” I whisper as I rub her arm. She puts her head on my shoulder and clings onto me like her life depended on it.
I can feel my tears drop on my shoulders which makes me shed a few of my own. I never was able to control my tears especially when I saw other people cry, it was a weakness of mine.
We stay like that, hand in hand and cry. I cry because of Jess, I cry because of the pathetic contract that I almost signed and lastly I cry because of this sticky situation I have found myself in.
Maybe if my parents had not abandoned me then I wouldn’t be here struggling to take care of myself. It’s been ten years but it still hurt, that I had parents somewhere in this world that didn’t want me and left me for the worse.
Someone’s doorstep.
I feel Jess shove me gently as she wipes her cheeks furiously “Why are you crying? You don’t even know what happened” her voice is light now so I laugh and clean my own cheeks.
“What can I say? My bestfriend is crying and I have no idea how to make it better” I hold her hand again and this time she doesn’t pull away.
“I’m getting married” she blurts out after a few seconds of silence.
I drop her hand “What do you mean getting married?”
She sniffs “My father set me up with someone, he said it’ll be good for business” she says, avoiding my eyes “I’ve tried to get mum to talk him out of it but he’s not listening, you know how he is”
She’s playing with her fingers while a million thoughts are running through my mind. “But you don’t want to get married, everyone knows that”
Jess rolls her eyes “Everyone but my father. We’ve been arguing all morning that’s why I couldn’t pick your calls”
I but my lip “We have to do something about it…”
Her hand drops to my thigh “There’s nothing that can be done, we’re having dinner together during the weekend” she says, her voice so low I barely hear her.
“You rich people are scary”
She nods “What were you calling for? I never got to read your texts”
I scratch my cheek “Well…Uh…” How do I tell her this same thing for the thousandth time. At this point she must actually be sick of me.
“Are you late on your rent again?”
I sigh “Yes… and I missed my interview at the cafe” I let my head hang low, “I promise this will be the last time, I just need to take care of the rent then get a job”
“Let me get you one at my father’s company” she insists like she did everything my rent came up.
I look away from her “I don’t have all those fancy qualifications Jess, it’ll never work”
“I can talk to my father…”
“He hates me” I remind her “And it wouldn’t be fair to those that actually qualify for the job, you know how I feel about it”
She doesn’t answer “I can’t help you this time Liv” she fumbles with the hem of her gown “Dad blocked all my credit cards and I can’t go to the bank”
My heart drops to my stomach and the relief I felt when I saw her message turns into dread. “What do you mean he blocked your cards?”
“He’s just trying to teach me a lesson because I won’t agree to the marriage, and I don’t know what else to do Liv. I’m really sorry that I can’t help you now, I don’t even know when he’s going to unblock them”
I can tell from her watering eyes that she’s just as frustrated as me so I don’t say what is really on my mind “Don’t worry I’ll figure something out. I’ll talk to my landlady and tell her to extend the deadline”
She squeezes my hand “I’m really sorry Liv, I didn’t know this would happen”
I just nod as she fades into the background and the desperation starts to set in “Ms. Wang would definitely hear me out, I’ll get a job” I mutter to myself, trying to find a solid ground in all these, to find hope.
“What did you say?”. I barely here her question, all I want to do right now is go home and try to get some sleep. I’ll find a way tomorrow, and to think I almost got that twenty thousand dollars now.
I groan and put my head on the table, I should have at least taken the job then discarded it after I confirmed everything with Jess. Why did she even text me at that moment? I want to shake her shoulders and yell at her until all the anger in my system is out but I do none of those things.
I just rub her hand “We’ll be okay”
“I’m really sorry Liv” she apologizes again.
I frown “Stop apologizing Jess, its hurting my feelings and its not like I’m entitled to your money”
“But still…” the door to the cafe opens with a loud thud and men on suits come in. Its clear that they’re here for Jess, her father loved to be dramatic.
“We’re here to take you home ma’am” the one in front says and Jess nods.
“Everything will be alright” She whispers before squeezing my hand one last time and leaving.
I let my head fall back on the table with a thud.
I’m not sure everything was going to be alright anymore.
By the time I drag my feet out of the cafe and into the street my tummy is rumbling heavily, I haven’t even had anything to eat all day. I walk all the way home because I spent my last money going for an interview to be someone’s wife.
And when I almost get the job I run out because I thought Jess was texting to give me the money for my rent. How pathetic of me.
My feet an entire body is hurting when I round the corner to my apartment, the weather is already freezing cold and my tank top is doing nothing to protect me from it.
It’s not until my apartment door comes into view that my world shatters. Everything I own is strewn on the dim lit corridor and although its not much I know what it means.
I’ve been thrown out.
I’m about to call when Ms. Wang when she suddenly comes out of her room.
“Why are my properties outside? I told you I’m going to pay!”
She scoffs, her wrinkled eyes glaring at me “You can barely call these properties…” she looks me up and down “And I’m guessing you still don’t have your rent” she leans on her door.
“I don’t have it now but I’ll have it by next week, I’m going to get a job…”
“You’ve been saying that since you moved here, I can’t take your word for it anymore” her words pierce me heart.
“Well you can’t kick me out now, its late and I have nowhere to go. I’ll leave tomorrow, just let me spend the night here at least” I beg but her stance does not even change.
“I really can’t help you…”
With tears now streaming down my face I slowly put my knees on the floor “Please…I really have nowhere to go”
She looks like she’s about to cave in for a second but shakes her head “I really can’t help you Olivia, you have to find somewhere else” she goes inside and bangs her door.
My entire body slowly falls to the ground, I curl into myself to keep off the cold but I stand no chance. Calling Jess was not an option and her father would never let me step inside his home.
I did the only thing I could.
I cried until I couldn’t anymore. This was really the end for me.
I pack up my bags that barely contained anything and left. As I walked down the street with no destination whatsoever my body became heavier. I was in dire need of food and warmth and especially a place to sleep.
I don’t hear the yelling until hard metal makes contact with my body and I find myself flying across the street before landing on the cold hard ground. I hear nothing but someone running towards me.
What just happened? I needed answers but the dark was calling onto me. There’s a face hovering over me and I recognize it right away before I let the darkness claim me with its cold fingers.
Dickhead.
OLIVIA A jerk to a stop the moment something hits the car with a thud. I turn to Kyle with wide eyes but his expression is blank as always. There’s a downpour and I can barely see as I step out of the car, my suit immediately drenched before I make it around the car. I hear a groan as a body takes shape lying in front of the car. I peer into their face, my heart hammering in my chest in the fear that I might have hit and killed someone. It’s then that I recognize the black eyes that is looking at me, finding it hard to remain open. She mutters ‘Dickhead’ before her eyes close and she goes limp. It’s Olivia. I’m about to scream for Kyle when I see him bending over her. He checks her pulse and sighs so I think there’s no much problem. “She has a bruise on her forehead, pulse is still breathing strong so I think she just passed out from the shock. He says impassively, standing up and regarding me with a stern almost annoyed look. “What do we do now?” I ask with a shrug “Why does it
OLIVIA White and Warm. That’s exactly how I feel when I finally come to. The bright light makes me groan and put my arm over my face. I snuggle into the duvet, a sigh of content falling from my lips at how comfortable I was. Its not until it registers that my room is usually cold not warm that I bolt up on the bed. In place of my peeling pain and frozen in place windows, all I see are white walls and a huge bed that I was just lying in. This is clearly not my room. I try to remember how I got here but my brain can’t seem to recall. It’s not until I look down and realize that I’m naked that the real panic sets in. As I struggle to get out of the bed, I pull the duvet with me and use it to wrap myself up. If I wasn’t in my room then where the hell was I? With quiet footsteps I snoop around the room, checking for anything that would give away where I was or whose house I was in. Someone I make into a walk-in closet that is much bigger than my entire apartment put together two time
JAKE Olivia’s piercing eyes follow me around the bathroom and I can immediately tell that she’s not happy about this. I’m not happy about it too but I couldn’t risk my parents finding her now, they were bound to question her. It would be so easy for my dad to pick her apart with words and no doubt find out about our little arrangement. I couldn’t let that happen. Finally I pull out a towel and wrap it around my waist. At first I had forgotten she was there until she grabbed my junk from under the table and pulled hard. I had to clamp my palm over my mouth to stop the scream from escaping until she finally let go with a huff. I apologized furiously after that which brings us to the present moment. When I leave the bathroom she has her middle finger up in the air which makes me unsure why I’m putting up with her. I dry off and quickly put on my clothes, my door bell ringing at the same time I open my door. With quickened steps I rush to the door and open it too see the flushed fa
OLIVIAI hit my already hurt head as I try to stand up and the dickhead in front of me has the guts to open his big mouth and laugh.Okay, that’s a lie…his mouth is not big but still.I crawl out from my hiding place and growl at him, “There’s nothing funny about this situation”.He coughs before trying to put up a straight face “I’m sorry…it’s just”I dust my shirt, realizing that I’m still wearing nothing under “Are your parents gone? Or which ever people that was snooping around?”“About that…” he starts “Thanking you for not letting him see you. I don’t know how you knew you weren’t supposed to be seen but I’m grateful all the same”“It’s not rocket science, I heard you all arguing from under your sink” I say.His eyes go wide and he touches my temple “You’re bleeding again, come here” he takes my hand and leads me out of the storage room. We go back to his bathroom and I glare at the back of his head “You better not push me under the sink this time”He laughs “Relax, I just nee
JAKEThe moment we finally got back Olivia went straight to the room I prepared for her opposite mine and didn’t come out till this morning.I don’t blame her thought. It was clear she was pretty exhausted after all the shopping and makeover yesterday as Kyle had insisted.I liked it though. She now looked more like the kind of woman father would pick out for me.With her now waxed skin and new hair that had been styled into big shiny waves that cascaded down her back she even looked like someone I would pick up at the club just because our eyes met across the room.I glanced at my watch, any minute and we were going to be late for breakfast with my parents.The clicking of heels on the tiled floor had me turning and my mouth hanging open at the sight of Olivia.She was dressed in the red dress I had picked put for her and it still didn’t do justice to her body. The one I had the privilege of seeing in a lingerie.She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and stared at her shoes, “D
JAKEOlivia is crying.For the first time she lets me open the door for her and she sits quietly, leaning towards the door. Anything to be away from me.I wish I knew the things going on in her head. She sniffs back a time and wipes her face which only makes me feel worse.Swerving out of the parking lot I put on the radio at the highest volume possible but still no reaction from her.I half expect her to at least reach over and turn it off. She doesn’t. I put off the radio, letting us drown in silence.It was hard dealing with Olivia, she wasn’t like the other girls that threw themselves at me. Every other person wanted me with them but with her it was hard because she wasn’t trying to impress me. If anything she was only with me now because of money.My hands clutch the steering wheel tighter. And needed to get back on her good side because this is awful.“Look I’m sorry about what I said, I shouldn’t have…it wasn’t in my place” I say but she doesn’t even turn to me.“There is nothi
OLIVIA I wake up to warmth, a luxury that I couldn’t afford in the past and snuggle deeper into my pillow.For some reason the pillow had muscled arms that fit perfectly around me. It was comforting to say the least.I’d do anything to wake up like this every morning for the rest of my life.I try to roll over but my pillow holds me tighter, making me its captive.A smile breaks out on my face, my people doesn’t want me to leave. It felt nice but I’d have to get up one way or another.“What are you smiling about this early in the morning?” My pillow asks and I marvel at its deep voice that sends a vibration through me.I giggle “It’s about you holding me tighter, you want me to remain in bed”. There’s no reply from my pillow.“This feels really nice you know, you’re so warm and it makes me feel safe” I say to fill the silence between us.“We can sleep like this all the time if you want” It offers and I blush a deep pink.“I would love that” I say immediately before it changed its min
JAKEI’m having a good dream, it has Olivia in it instead of the red head that I got with last weekend at the club.The reaction my body has to dream is instant and its not a surprise. Her black eyes are drawing me in, threatening to drown me and put me completely under.My eyes linger down to her chest and the luscious curves that she hides all the time with her manly clothes.But I’m not one to complain because I alone can see her like this because she was comfortable enough to let me.Olivia leans towards me and I can instantly read her intentions so I lean towards her, our lips almost touching.It’s the perfect moment, so imagine my shock when there a loud bang that has my eyes flying open and the sweet scene in front of my eye disappears.But it is replaced with something even better.Olivia is standing in front of me in nothing but the black lingerie I had bought for her. If I thought the red one was the sexiest one then this it looks like I was clearly wrong.I don’t realize sh