It is only a quarter till 6am. Technically, we do have time. If he wants to meet the guys on time, we just need to be out of the house by 6:45am. He gives me that dimpled smile of his and crooks his finger at me – beckoning me back to bed.
__________________________
We don’t make it out of the house until 7am.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Isaac says before squatting down and giving me a hot and hurried kiss after I get into my car and close the door. Chewy is in the backseat and appears to be asleep already.
“Do you want me to wait up for you?” I ask, looking at him through my open window.
“Nah, you don’t have to. I will be in pretty late.”
He leans in and gives me a quick peck.
“Love you lots,” I mumble against his lips.
“Love you more,” he says smiling against my lips.
I feel ten feet tall when he says this.
Once home, I get busy with sorting laundry and working on my jewelry pieces. I’m also rehearsing in my head what I am going to say to Jacqueline and Taylor when I call them. A little before ten, I give Jacqueline a call. I am not sure what to expect, but she is pleasant, acting like nothing is amiss between us. She readily agrees to dinner tonight at six-thirty and asks if she can bring anything. I tell her no and we hang up with promises of seeing each other later. When I call Taylor, the call goes pretty much the same way. After I hang up with Taylor, I wonder if my behavior wasn’t that bad and I have been worrying for nothing.
At a quarter to four, I am back home, sweaty still from hot yoga with a healthy and good-smelling Chewy. After feeding Chewy, I rush through my shower and start dinner. Isaac calls me while I am cooking. We have been in contact all day via text and a few phone calls.
“So how are you feeling?” he asks. Earlier, I told him how nonchalant Jacqueline and Taylor were when I spoke to them.
“A bit nervous, but good. I’m really starting to think maybe I blew it out of proportion in my head.”
He’s quiet for a few moments then asks what I am cooking.
“I’m making your mom’s chicken spaghetti recipe.”
“Yeah? With extra mushrooms?” He sounds excited. His mom told me it was one of his favorite dishes.
I giggle softly. “Yeah, I’ll leave you a plate in the oven.”
We talk a few more minutes before he has to go.
“You’ll call me if you need anything, right?” he asks.
I frown and then shake my head. Isaac is always worrying about me.
“I’ll be fine Isaac,” I say softly. “I am a big girl, I’ll be okay.”
“I know, I know.” He takes a long pause. “Love you.”
I smile to myself as I disconnect the call. I place my phone on the counter and continue cooking.
At 6:30pm on the dot, my doorbell rings. I peer into the peephole and see a distorted view of Jacqueline’s head. I open the door to greet Jacqueline, but I am surprised to see someone who is not Taylor with her. Before I can say anything, Jacqueline speaks up.
“Taylor couldn’t make it. This here is my new friend, Claire.” She makes a gesture at the other woman as if she is a game show hostess showing off a prize.
Um, okay.
I look at Claire and she looks as uncomfortable as I feel. I am not sure why I feel this way, but I do.
“Please to meet you Claire. Why don’t you both come in?” I say, remembering my manners.
I usher them both into the house, softly closing the door behind me. Chewy trots up to see who is at the door. He gives a few sniffs in my guests’ direction and turns to go down the hall.
“I see you still have that dog.” She says ‘that’ as if my dog is a disease.
I choose to ignore her and ask if they want anything to drink as they take a seat on my sofa.
“No, we are fine,” Jacqueline replies. “Have a seat; I have something I need to talk to you about before we have dinner.”
I take a seat in my oversized gray chair and look at her expectantly.
“Because I am your dear friend,” she begins. “I think you should know what kind of person you are dating.”
“What?” I ask, completely perplexed.
What the hell is she talking about?
“Isaac Rossi is no good for you. He is a player who only uses women for sex. He is not the relationship type. I brought Claire along so she can tell all you about how she fell for his good looks and charming personality.”
I look at Claire and she has a ‘what the fuck’ look on her face – probably like the one I am sporting too.
Jacqueline shifts on the sofa some, crossing her legs elegantly and looks at Claire.
“What the hell are you doing Jacqueline?” Claire demands in an angry whisper. “I did not come here for this.” Her pretty face is a mask of anger. She gives me a brief apologetic look before directing her attention back to Jacqueline.
“Oh, it’s okay. Don’t be upset. You are here because I need you here. If it were just me informing Olivia about Isaac, she would never believe me. However, since you were one of his many sexual conquests, you lend credibility.” She gives Claire a beatific, yet fake smile before continuing. “Why don’t you tell Olivia here what Isaac put you through?”
Claire immediately stands up. “Jacqueline, you are crazy and out of line. I am not going to stay here for… for whatever this is.”
Before she can take two steps, Jacqueline responds – her eyes never leaving mine.
“Fine, I will tell Olivia. Claire and Isaac had a physical relationship last year. It lasted about six months.” Jacqueline looks over her shoulder at Claire as if asking for confirmation.
Claire looks utterly appalled.
“Anyway, forgive me for being so crass,” she says in a stage whisper. “But they fucked for six months and when Claire hinted that she wanted more, Isaac broke if off with her. You see, Isaac always tells the women he is seeing that it will only be a physical relationship. However, poor Claire here, fell hard and fast for him. She even had a threesome with him on two separate occasions, trying to entice him to stay with her. But of course that didn’t work because he dumped her on New Year’s Eve.”
She has a little smile on her lips. She is enjoying this and I feel sick. I look at Claire and realize that she is someone Isaac has had sex with. Someone he has had a threesome with. And she is standing in my house, looking like she wants to throw up and murder Jacqueline.
Claire shakes her head in disgust and heads towards the front door. I turn my attention back to Jacqueline and she is looking at me with a gleeful expression on her beautiful face.
I remember the words of my mama from when I was younger and Jacqueline wouldn’t be my friend at school. She told me then that real friends are your friends all the time and not part time. I remember the words of my sister, Paris, when Jacqueline started to talk to me at school again my senior year of high school. She told me that Jacqueline saw me as a threat and by having me as a friend, she could ‘control me’. Then I remember the words that Isaac spoke to me just this past weekend when I told him about my friendship dynamics. He said that Jacqueline liked being my friend only when it was convenient to her and seemed to find some sick pleasure in trying to embarrass/humiliate me for whatever reason.
Yeah, it sucks that I just met someone that Isaac used to have sex with – had a threesome with, but all that happened in his past. I can’t really get mad for something that happened before we met. I have a past sex life too – although not as colorful as Isaac’s it seems. Jacqueline is banking on me getting all emotional and breaking things off with Isaac because of this revelation.
HA!
Isaac has never told me that our relationship is just about sex. At the risk of sounding over confident, I know that Isaac loves me and not because he tells me, but because of his actions.
I guess I am quiet too long because Jacqueline speaks again. “I really hated to do this, but I had to let you know what kind of person you we
re dating.” She gives me a long appraising look – from head to toe before she resumes speaking.
“Olivia, what I’m about to say, I want you to know that I mean it in the nicest way possible; even if it is only just a sex thing, you are not Isaac Rossi’s type. You saw Claire - that is his type. You…,” she pauses, placing a perfectly manicured finger against her lips. “You are just too weird for a man like that.”
Yeah – I did notice that Claire is the complete opposite of me. She’s very polished and put together.
Jacqueline gives me a condescending smile.
“You know what Jacqueline,” I say in a very controlled voice. “You need to leave my house – now.” I stand and grab her by the arm, pulling her up from the sofa. I usher her towards the front door. She is sputtering and uttering nonsense, but I don’t care. I open the door and jerk my head towards her car.
“Leave,” is all I say.
I do a double take when I see Isaac’s truck parked along the street in front of my house. I do a quick scan and I see him talking to Claire in my driveway.
I thought she would have been gone by now and why is he here so early?
Upon further inspection, it looks like Isaac is pissed as he talks to Claire. I can’t be concerned about that now; I need to deal with Jacqueline.
“Really Olivia! Are you going to side with some man over me – we have been friends since childhood.”
I want to laugh at her fake indignation, but I don’t.
“Jacqueline, you haven’t been a true friend to me since we were eight years old.” In my peripheral vision, I see Claire walking to her car and Isaac approaching the house.
I turn my attention fully back to Jacqueline, knowing I am about to let my inner thoughts out. I give her my sweetest smile.
“Jacqueline, what I’m about to say, I want you to know that I mean it in the nicest way possible - go fuck yourself,” I say as I give her a little shove out my front door onto the porch. She stumbles but rights herself quickly.
“I need my purse,” she says through clenched teeth.
I hurry back to the sofa and pick up her gigantic purse. Instead of handing it to her, I chuck it out the door, getting satisfaction when I see it sail over the porch railing and land on the lawn.
She gives me a hateful look before she turns and runs smack dab into Isaac. He backs away from her. From the way he is looking at her, I am guessing Claire told him what happened.
I turn to go back into the house and I can feel him behind me. I wasn’t expecting Isaac so early. I need time to think and process what just went down and I can’t do that while he is here. Knowing that I need to get out of the house for a bit, I grab Chewy’s leash from the hook at the hallway entrance and cluck my tongue – calling for him. He comes ambling down the hall and when he sees the leash, he speeds up. I bend down and hook the leash to his collar. I stand and turn to face Isaac.
He has a confused look on his face - no doubt trying to figure out what I am doing.
“Olivia?”
“Isaac, I am going to go for a walk. I need to clear my head.”
A look of hurt briefly crosses his face before he masks it. I step forward and grab his hand, lacing our fingers together. I give his hand a little shake and he looks down at me.
“I am really angry right now, but I am not angry with you. I just need to clear my head of that anger and drama that just happened. I can’t stay here and do that because I am afraid that if I do, I may lash out at you and that is the last thing I want to do.” My voice breaks at the end. I take a few moments to compose myself all the while Isaac is holding onto my hand as if it his lifeline.
“I want you to stay and we can talk when Chewy and I get back. Will you be here when we get back?” I ask - suddenly afraid that I may have made him mad somehow.
He ducks down until we are eye to eye. “I will be here.” He moves his head forward until our foreheads touch. “I will always be wherever you need me,” he whispers before standing back to him full height.
“Good, because I have a feeling that when I get back, I will want nothing more than to crawl into your arms.”
He nods at me solemnly. I can tell he wants to do something to take away my turmoil – he has told me before that he doesn’t like to see me upset and that is clearly showing on his face right now.
“I won’t be gone long – maybe an hour.”
“Do you have your phone?”
I check my back pocket and I don’t feel it there, then I remember I left it on the kitchen counter.
I shake my head, “It’s on the kitchen counter.”
I start to move to get it, but he stops me. “I’ll get it.”
I nod and watch him head to the kitchen. Chewy tugs at the leash, because he is becoming impatient. Isaac is back, handing me my phone. He places a lingering kiss to my forehead – “Be careful and I will see you in about an hour.”
I nod again as Chewy and I head out the door.
__________________________
Isaac
I close the front door softly, wanting nothing more than to slam my head against it – repeatedly.
Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!
Who would have thought my time with Claire would come back to bite me in the ass?
When the location shoot ended early, I was actually glad. My plan was to hang out at Liv’s while she and her friends talked. I would be out of sight of course, but available if she needed me. Seeing Claire leaving Olivia’s house changed those plans.
Flashback to roughly ten minutes ago
Claire Barnett is the last person I expect to see exiting Liv’s house as I pull up in front of the house. My former sex partner leaving the house of my girlfriend is not a good thing.
By the way she storms down the porch steps, I can tell she’s pissed. I immediately park on the street and jump out of my truck to meet her before she can get in her car and leave.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.
“That bitch –”
Before I can catch myself, I snatch her up by her arm and pull her towards me.
“Be careful who you call a bitch,” I say coldly.
She wretches her arm away from me and shoves me in the chest – hard - looking like she wants to punch me too– I wouldn’t blame her if she did. I never should have put my hands on her.
“No - not Olivia! I’m talking about Jacqueline.”
“How do you know Olivia?” I ask because I don’t understand why Claire is at Liv’s house when Liv is supposed to be having dinner with Jacqueline and Taylor.
“I don’t…I know Jacqueline and she invited me along to meet an old friend of hers. I thought, why not, but I never expected an ambush.”
I cross my arms across my chest. “Explain.”
“Basically, Jacqueline just told your girl that you are a player who only uses women for sex and that it is only a matter of time before you dump her. Apparently, she brought me along as ‘Exhibit A’.”
I must give her a confused look, because she lets out an exasperated sigh and continues.
“Somehow Jacqueline figured out that you and I use to hook up. She and I have had girl talks where we discussed past relationships, but I never said names.”
“How much did you tell Jacqueline about us?” I feel nauseated all of a sudden.
“I never said your name,” Claire reiterates.
I let out a humorless chuckle. “That is not what I asked you.”
She doesn’t say anything. She just looks at me. Her look lets me know that she told Jacqueline everything.
I close my eyes and shake my head.
Fuck!
“And she told Olivia?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
She nods.
“Look, Isaac – I am really sorry this happened. I had no idea that Jacqueline was going to do this. You know I don’t do drama. Please tell Olivia that I am sorry this happened.”
“I’m sorry too – for grabbing y
our arm the way I did.”
She just nods at me again and walks to her car while I turn to walk to the house.
End Flashback
I have no idea what is going to happen when Liv gets back. I know she said she isn’t mad at me, but she can’t be too happy with me right now about one of my ex-sex partners showing up at her house. I don’t know how long I lean against the front door when I shake myself from my mental fog and wander into the kitchen. I see the evidence of Liv’s careful planning of this evening. Her small kitchen table is set for three, with dishes, silverware and wine glasses. The smell of my mom’s chicken spaghetti recipe permeates the air. I feel my mouth lift in a faint smile, thinking how Liv was going to put a plate in the oven for me.
Just for something to do, I put away the table settings, storing the items back in their proper place. I remove the chicken spaghetti from the still warm oven and cover the glass pan in foil before storing it in the refrigerator. I also wash the few dishes she has in the sink and tidy up the kitchen. When done, I glance at the clock on the microwave and notice that forty minutes have passed. Liv said she would be back in about an hour – I am hoping she is back sooner than that. I go back into the den and sit in the big gray chair, picking up the TV remote and clicking the TV on. Not five seconds later, the front door opens and Liv enters, sweaty and out of breath. Chewy is tugging at his leash as if trying to get away.
“We did some power-walking,” Liv states slightly out of breath. “I think Chewy might be a little upset with me because he had to run to keep up.” She bends down, unhooks him from the leash and he immediately runs towards me. I scoop him up, depositing him on my lap as I scratch behind his ears.
She gives me a sheepish look before speaking.
“I’m gonna go take a shower. I won’t be long.”
I watch her disappear down the hall and I wonder again for the second time today what the fuck is going on. She is acting as if the last few hours didn’t happen. I rise and take Chewy with me, intent on getting him some water and food. Once he is taken care of, I head back to Liv’s bedroom and sit on the bed waiting for her as she showers.
When the shower is still running after five minutes, I enter the bathroom. Through the glass shower door, I see Liv leaning against the shower wall as the water beats down on her back. Without thinking, I strip out of my clothes and join her in the shower. She turns around when I close the shower door behind me.
When Sparks Fly (Sexy Secrets Book 2) Page 14
