Chapter Two
The ice cubes clinked as Sammy picked up his drink with one hand and flipped through the menu with the other.
“I might skip the sushi and go for the udon,” he said. “I’m in the mood for noodles.”
Silence.
He looked up to find Jessica staring at him with a half-knowing, half-judging expression.
“What?”
“You know what.” The judging edged out the knowing by a smidge.
Tension crawled into Sammy’s shoulders, but he kept his expression neutral. “I do not, in fact, ‘know what.’”
“Olivia.”
The tension intensified, as it always did when he saw, heard, or so much as thought about Olivia Tang. Her name created knots that would take the city’s best massage therapist hours to undo.
“What about her?”
Jessica’s eyes narrowed. She was a beautiful woman, and Sammy could see several men in the vicinity throwing covetous glances in her direction. Too bad she’d never be interested in them. “Does she still think you and I are dating?”
“I have no idea what she thinks.” He refocused on the most important issue at hand. “Udon. I’m definitely ordering the udon.”
His dinner date let out an exasperated sigh. “Do you think it’s a coincidence she’s in town this summer? Maybe it’s a sign.”
“No, it’s not.” Sammy snapped his menu shut and set it on the table with no small amount of irritation. “She’s in town because she’s studying at Stanford. She chose Stanford because it’s ranked the number one MBA program in the country alongside Wharton, and sunny Palo Alto—with its proximity to San Francisco’s food scene—is more appealing to her than Philadelphia. She probably stayed in California this summer instead of going back to New York because she wants to expand her network for career-building purposes. So, no, I don’t think it’s a sign at all.”
The low chatter of other diners and the clink of knives and forks against porcelain plates were the only sounds punctuating the charged storm brewing around Sammy. He rarely got this riled up, but Olivia was, as always, the exception to all his rules.
Jessica appeared unfazed by his outburst. “For someone who claims he has no idea what she’s thinking, you possess a rare insight into Olivia’s reasoning.”
“When it comes to her career, she’s an open book,” Sammy said flatly. “Ambition above all else.”
He had no issues with ambition. It was one of the many things he’d loved about Olivia—her drive, her intelligence, her determination to succeed in an industry known for being a boys’ club. She was strong, smart, and loyal, and she loved the people in her life as fiercely as she did her work.
Or so he’d thought.
Perhaps that was why he’d been so blindsided by her actions after she realized his vision for his future—his,not hers—no longer fit into her neat, color-coded, perfectly planned-out life.
Love blinded even those with perfect vision. It was a lesson Sammy had never forgotten.
Their server took their orders, and Jessica waited until he’d left before she resumed her interrogation. “You must’ve known she was in town. Farrah must’ve told you,” she pressed. She’d only met Farrah twice, but she had a steel-trap memory. It was one of the reasons why she was one of the most sought-after lawyers in the Bay Area.
Sammy’s jaw flexed.
Farrah hadn’t told him, but he bet it would come up in their next conversation. She’d never given up on the hope that Sammy and Olivia would get back together, and her matchmaking attempts had intensified after she and Blake tied the knot. Blake and Farrah had had a nasty breakup in Shanghai, but they finally got back together after years apart. It took a lot of pain and heartache, but they got there. They were now so blissfully happy Sammy expected music to soar and spontaneous rainbows to arc over their heads whenever they were together.
He was happy for them, truly, but just because they sorted out their issues didn’t mean happily-ever-after was in the cards for Sammy and Olivia, too.
Blake and Farrah broke up because of a fucked-up lie from a third party; Sammy and Olivia had no one to blame for their relationship’s demise except themselves.
Besides, they’d ended things eight years ago. It was time for Farrah to let that shit go.
How about you try taking that advice yourself?A smug, unwanted voice in Sammy’s head whispered.
He batted it away and refocused on the blonde sitting across from him.