“Do you even hear yourself right now? You know damn good and well your sister is the one sending those emails. Daniel can hardly work his cell phone. Your sister is way more tech savvy than he is.”
“You think my nineteen-year-old jealous sister is sending blurry pictures of ‘not-you’ while she’s running a twenty-credit-hour course load at college?” I said.
“Yes, actually. I think she is. Because I think if she’s got time to call you up and ask to you a last-minute lunch before bitching at you about me, then she’s got the time to take some blurry picture while sitting in a restaurant in the middle of campus to try and pass it off as me.”
“Olivia, just step back and think about this for a second. Your father has dropped into your life at a moment’s notice and is going around sticking his nose in absolutely everything. Like he owns that part of your life simply because you came from him. You don’t think that’s a little odd?” I asked.
“And Brittany is a pathological liar and has given me the cold shoulder on multiple occasions. Plus, I heard her voice over your phone even as you walked away. I know she thinks I’m going to ruin your life again or something like that. You really think that someone who you claim is that jealous wouldn’t stoop to stuff like this in order to break us up? Again?”
“Again? What do you mean again? Do you really think Brittany was behind the reason we ended things in college?” I asked.
“She tried to convince you I was addicted to drugs after I got sick with mono, Brett!”
“She’s crazy, but she’s not conniving.”
“That is the very definition of conniving, Brett.”
She took another sip of her water before standing from her chair. I stood up with her, but she held out her hand and gathered her things. I felt people staring at us. I felt my gut sinking to my toes.
“Please, Olivia. Just sit back down. We’ll talk about anything else. The doctor’s appointment—we can talk about that,” I said.
“I don’t give a damn who you schedule it with. Just let me know when it is so I can take the time off with my boss,” she spat.
I had no idea what that statement was supposed to even mean, but I reached out for her as she stormed off. I clamped my hand down onto her arm, trying to stop her from storming through the restaurant, but she wasn’t having any of it. She yanked her arm from me and pressed onward, striding through the restaurant as she placed her purse over her shoulder. I stood there, watching as she turned the corner and exited the restaurant. As she walked away from me.
“Olivia, wait!” I exclaimed.
I pulled out my wallet and tossed some money onto the table. I picked up my things and started out of the restaurant. I’d let her walk away from me once, but I wasn’t letting it happen again. I strode through the restaurant, trying not to cause any more of a scene than we already had. I slammed out of the restaurant doors and looked every which way; then I spotted her on the curb with her hand in the air, a cab pulling up next to her.
“Olivia!”
She looked back at me before she slipped into the car. I raced across the parking lot, dodging people and zooming through cars. Holy hell, that woman could move. She slammed the cab door shut as I stepped out onto the curb. I lunged for it just as it pulled away from the side of the road, and then the cab driver sped up. I watched as he maneuvered his way into traffic, Olivia in the back seat, her head never turning around to meet my eyes.
Fuck. Why the hell couldn’t we escape this shit?
37
Olivia
“Hey! It’s so good to see you. I’m glad you called; I was hoping we’d get a chance to talk before this weekend,” Daniel said.
“Take a seat,” I said coolly.
He turned around to look at me with two steaming cups of coffee in his hand. He walked over to my desk and set one down for me, and the smell turned my stomach. I slid it off to the side, then set a folder over it. Anything to block out the smell. Things I once enjoyed in great quantities were beginning to make me sick. But at the moment, I was very glad Daniel didn’t know about my pregnancy.
“No coffee this morning?” he asked as he sat down.
“Already had a few cups. Listen, I wanted to talk before I got my day started,” I said.
“Well, I’m glad you called. It’s always good to see you. Though, I get the feeling I shouldn’t come over there and hug you.”
“No, you really shouldn’t.”