CHAPTER 8—Jake
The 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, “Do I look alright?”
I want to tell her that she looked stunning and beautiful wouldn’t even do justice to how she looked but I remained quiet. I didn’t want to scare her off, so I managed a “Yes” before heading to the door.
When I pull into the parking lot I cuss under my breath, my parents are already there judging from the black Camaro sitting pretty in one corner.
I move quickly to open the door for Olivia but she’s already out of the car.
“I can open my own door, there’s no need to act like my prince in shining amour” she says, anger evident on her face, but she’s not my concern at the moment.
I place my hand on her back and lead her into the restaurant, knowing that my father’s piercing eyes will be on us the moment we walked in.
I bend my head close to her “Act like a princess would you and we’ll probably leave this place unscathed.”
She gives me a tight smile before I open the door and we walk in.
Just like I said, my father is already glaring at me from across the table. His eyes already accessing, looking for a crack in our demeanor that he can use to tear me down.
When we get to the table, I ‘m about to pull out a chair for Olivia but she huffs and pulls it out herself.
She sits down and I can already see my mother’s face tightening in horror. I sit down beside her.
“Hello everyone” she greets before picking up the menu from the table.
This is not going to be bad. It’ll be worse.
Olivia gestures to the waiter and orders before turning to my parents with a smile “I’m sorry about that, I haven’t eaten in two days and it’s taking its toll on me” she apologizes.
“It’s okay darling” my mother says but I can tell she’s trying to lighten the tension in the air. She orders for her, and my father and I order mine.
The table falls into silence, so my mother takes it upon herself to keep a conversation “What’s your name dear, Jake here hasn’t told us much about you.”
“Oh” Olivia says as she blinks uncomfortably “My name is Olivia and I’m twenty years old.”
It’s my turn to blink, I had no idea she was that old. That made me five years her senior.
My father must have realized it too because his mouth tips downward and my mother sinks deeper into her seat.
“Who are you parents?” My father asks and I stiffen, he wants to know just how much more she has and how it can benefit him and keep his company going.
Olivia hesitates for a while, and I know I’ve made a mistake. I should have come up with a lie or story that we would stick to.
She looks at me with panic in her eyes, asking for my helping before turning to my crazy parents like she called them.
“I don’t have parents” she says, her voice so low I barely heard her.
“What?” I don’t even recognize my voice as when I ask the question.
“I don’t have parents” she repeats bolder this time, her eyes cutting to me sharply.
The waiter comes in with our order and saves the day. It’s not until my mother’s eyes looks wearily at Olivia’s plate that she resumes talking.
“Are you going to eat all that darling?” She asks. Olivia shrugs with no intention to answer her.
I find myself feeling bad, I’d been so absorbed in getting her to sign that contract that I had neglected her well-being under my own roof.
Even after the strenuous make over that Kyle made her go through we just went straight home. I sigh, I wasn’t cut out to take care of another person let alone take a wife.
It’s not until she is done eating that she pays attention to her environment.
“You’re not going to eat your food?” she asks me when she takes in my half-eaten omelet. I’m about to push it over to her when I see my father’s disapproving gaze and stay put.
My mother cleans the corner of her mouth after taking a bite of her food “How did you two meet?”
That is when I panic, my father was going to see through this. Olivia turns to me, “Why don’t you tell your parents how we met, Jakey?”
“Uh…” My palms are starting to sweat and clamp together in my lap.
Olivia must have sensed my unease because she touches my arm lightly before answering “We met at the gym.”
My mother’s brows are raised so high I fear it might disappear into her head “You work out?”
I follow her cue “She does, the membership is pretty exclusive” I add the last part so it can impress my dad.
It does.
“I’m not sure that is what he means…” I cut Olivia off my grabbing her hand.
“If you’ll please excuse us” I nod towards the restroom and luckily she gets the memo and follows me.
When we’re safe behind the door I turn her towards me “What the hell are you doing?” I hiss.
“What do you mean what am I doing?” she sounds clueless.
“You’re embarrassing me Olivia, that’s what you’re doing!” I don’t mean to yell but I do, and I see her fist tighten.
“I’m embarrassing you? I think you’re doing a fine job all by yourself” she crosses her arms over her chest.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, I’m not the one in front of my parents pretending to have a girlfriend” she sneers.
I scoff “It’s not like you can understand my need to” I say and regret the words immediately when I see her flinch.
It’s hard not to see the tears pooling at the corner of her eyes. I move towards her but steps away from me.
I don’t know what happened with her parents, but I can tell it’s a painful topic for her. And I just rubbed that in her face, what kind of terrible person was I?
What she is, was right that my attitude was so bad that nobody wanted to stay with me.
“Look…” I want to apologize but she holds me off.
“I’m not doing a good job, is that what you want to say” she taunts, “Go ahead and give me a one star, then lecture me on how I can do a better job”
I pinch the bridge of my nose “That’s not what I mean”
She shakes her head “It’s exactly what you mean. What are you going to do if they run a background check on me?”
“My father won’t ever go that far.”
“And what makes you think he wouldn’t? He looks like exactly the kind of man to do that” she fires back.
“We’re not some mafia family so I don’t know where you’re getting these ideas, it’s probably too much television.”
She swipes a palm across her eyes “Let’s get this over with.” She takes a deep breath and leaves me standing there alone.
When I get back she’s in a conversation with my mother. I sit down abruptly, listening intently to make sure she wasn’t spilling the truth.
“Do you think a wedding in two weeks is too much?” my mother asks and Olivia smiles politely.
“I’m sure it’ll be alright; I can’t wait to be part of the family.”
How she says this with a genuine smile is beyond me.
“What will you do with the company?” my father asks out of the blue, speaking for the first time directly at her.
“I’ll help Jake here expand and take it to greater heights, I’ve shared a couple ideas with him already” she sweetly, touching my arm lightly.
My mother beams at me “She’s not like the other airheads you’re with all the time, I like this one. How soon do you plan to have children?”
Olivia laughs nervously “Children are not really in the option for now.”
That’s not the answer mother wanted, and it’s written all over her face, she just simply nods and asks nothing else.
“What do you do?” my father speaks up.
“I don’t have a job at the moment” she answers. Her eyes are firm and looking straight at father, there was no shame in them. Almost like she got off from knowing that she just disappointed my father.
I do damage control “What she means is that she took a break from work to start her own business.”
“And what business will that be?” My father is not letting up and neither am I.
“She hasn’t figured it out yet. Liv here plans to take off after our wedding so her entire focus can be on us.”
It’s not what he wants to hear but he nods and drops the subject.
“Let me know when you have a plan ready, I’ll be willing to invest in my future daughter-in-law.”
Or not.
Standing up abruptly, my father glares at her “I’ve lost my appetite.” That’s the only explanation he gives before leaving, my mother smiles at us before following him.
It could have been worse.