Madeline smiles, but it seems a little bit forced. Next to her, Theo is looking down into his wine glass, but I can see him mulling over something.
Finally, he lifts his head and looks at me. “Do you love Oliver?”
The question takes me aback. For a moment I’m speechless, but then when I find my voice, I say, “It doesn’t matter how I feel about Oliver.”
“It does,” Theo insists.
I glare at him. “Do I have to remind you? He’s the one that left me.” Don’t they know how cruel this was?
Feeling raw with pain, I set my wine glass down and I stand, walking over to the window, wrapping my arms around me.
“You’re doing this all wrong, Theo,” Madeline chastises him.
“What?”
It tells me they did have something planned beyond bringing me cookies and wine.
I see through the window reflection as Madeline stands and walks over to stand by me. She rubs her hand up and down my back and I want to shirk her comfort off, but also don’t want them to know how much they’re hurting me more than I’ve already revealed.
“Charlotte, I know that Oliver’s leaving hurt you, and I know that it makes you angry, but I wonder if you understand why he left.”
“What does it matter? Gone is gone.”
She sighs. “Honey, he left because he loves you.”
My head whips around to look at her, because that makes no sense at all.
“Oliver has been having a situation with an ex who has been harassing him,” Theo says in a manner that suggests he’s trying to choose his words carefully.
I turn to look at him. “I’m aware of that. And I know that she showed up in New York. I told him that I would stand by him. And right after that, he left.”
Madeline looks at me with sympathy. “As a therapist, Charlotte, you must know that sometimes men get crazy caveman ideas in their heads about protecting the people they love.”
Her comment is a bit stereotypical, but often stereotypes are steeped in some truth. “I don’t need any protection.”
Madeline frowns.
“So when you saw the picture she took of you and Oliver together, that didn’t freak you out a little bit? Because Oliver went fucking ballistic,” Theo says.
It’s my turn to frown. “What picture?”
“After his run-in with the woman the other day, he got a text that had a picture of the two of you outside his office. It was threatening to reveal the video to you,” Theo explains.
“I already know there’s a video,” I say as a matter of fact, but actually I’m wondering about the photo. When did he receive it? Was it before or after we’d come back here to talk?
“The minute he got that photo, he packed his bags and told her that he would meet her back in California. His goal is to take care of you, which is what this check is for and I hope that you will cash it so he can fulfill his agreement with you about this condo.” He set a check on my coffee table. “He even made you dinner, because he knew he promised to do that. But then he did everything he could lure her away from you. And now I’m actually really concerned he’s going to do something reckless.”
I studt Theo for a moment. “What do you mean by reckless?”
“He knows how you were after Stephen left, and so by doing the same thing, he knows he’s burned his bridge with you. He’s essentially a man with nothing to lose,” Madeline says.
“He told me he was going to call her bluff,” Theo added.
I think about that for a moment, and wonder what that will mean for Oliver.
“In a regular world, nobody except perhaps somewhere Oliver wanted to work, would give a shit that he is having sex in a video,” Theo says. “But because I’m his brother, and I’m famous, it will probably blow up in the media. Now I don’t give a fuck about how this will hit me, because it won’t matter. But Oliver isn’t a guy who’s used to having his personal life made fun of in the media,” Theo explains. “He doesn’t deserve it but he’s going to face it if that’s what it takes to protect you.”
My anger at Oliver is still there, but now I’m understanding about the choices he made.