“Yeah, I’m working on that.”
“You better work harder. She’s horrible.”
“Don’t let Anthony hear you say that, he’ll drag your ass back here. We’ve been through three bartenders since you left.”
“That’s because I’m irreplaceable,” I giggle.
“No joking, you are. Sales are down and the regulars are getting cranky.”
“What happened to the girl I trained before I quit?”
“She quit the day after you left. And you know Anthony, he’s been on a tear ever since.” Yes, he can be a handful when he’s not happy.
“Sorry,” I mutter.
“Don’t worry about me. I can handle him,” she says with a wink. “I’ll drive. You want to drop off your car at your mom’s?”
“That’s a good idea.”
Sitting at The Tap Room bar, listening to some guy playing guitar singing I’ll Be, brings back memories of Evan. They’re good memories, even though he’s brought me nothing but pain.
Knowing this could get ugly, I make a decision to tell Brenda about the break in after we’re a few beers in. Brenda has her own demons, and this is a trigger. One of the reasons I put off telling her was so she wouldn’t relive one of the worst nights of her life.
I sip my beer and as nonchalantly as I can, say, “So, someone broke into my apartment a few weeks ago.”
Turning to look at me, she pauses before saying, “I’m sorry, did you say something? I could swear you said someone broke into your apartment a few weeks ago, but you couldn’t have said that. The Liv I know would have told me immediately.”
“It’s complicated.”
“How the fuck is it complicated? ‘Hey, Bren, you’ll never guess what happened? Someone broke into my fucking apartment.’ And how is it possible someone got in anyway? Don’t you have a doorman and state of the art security?”
“Like I said, it’s complicated.” She looks at me, tapping her fingernails on the bar.
“And?”
I slug down my pumpkin beer and take a deep breath. “Chase has reason to believe it was Evan.” That shuts her up.
“Evan? No way. Really?”
“Yeah, I know. My underwear were scattered all over my bedroom and a few pairs were missing.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“There was a surveillance video. Apparently, the guy had on a maintenance uniform.”
“That explains how whoever it was got in. How do you know it was Evan?”
“Did you know he has a tattoo?” She shakes her head. “Chase found out from a private investigator.”
“He doesn’t seem like the tat type.”
“It’s a Celtic cross with my name through it, and he got it after we split.”
“Shit.”
“The guy in the video had a tattoo, identical to the one the investigator said Evan had.”
“I have heard rumors of Evan not letting you go, but I never thought he would stoop that low.” She slams down her martini and waves for a new one. It’s then that I see the realization in her eyes. I was afraid of her reaction, and I’ve never seen Brenda this pissed. “That scumbag piece of shit! I’ll fucking kill him!”
“I can’t prove it was him or I would have had him arrested.”
“That cock-sucking douche bag!”
“Okay, relax.”
“No! This is not okay. I’m going to go to his apartment and cut his dick off!” It’s taking all of her strength not to jump off of her stool and hunt down Evan. I know this, and I can’t have it.
“Bren, don’t get yourself arrested on my account.”
“He shouldn’t be allowed to breathe after what he did to you.”
“It’s not the same . . .” I trail off. Brenda bites her lip, hard.
“Don’t.”
“It’s not. He wouldn’t hurt me.”
“Are you so sure?”
“Yes. He might be obsessed, but I don’t think he would take things that far.”
“You don’t know that.” She takes a deep breath, composing herself. “Stay far away from him. I didn’t trust him before, and now that I’ve heard this, I really don’t trust him.”
“I don’t plan on going anywhere near him.”
“Good.” She nods her head and sips her martini. “Now, I’ve been looking forward to their chicken sliders all night. Can we stop talking about dick face and order?”
Wednesday, I get a call from Justin. He wants to know how I’m doing with Chase out of town. I told him I’m okay, but he insists on taking me to dinner, to make sure. Obviously, Chase must have told him to check up on me, so I agree to meet him at an upscale restaurant near my apartment. Walking into the restaurant, I tell the hostess I’m meeting someone and find him sitting at the bar, sipping on a martini.
“Hello, Justin.”
“Olivia! So glad you could make it.” He gets up and gives me a friendly hug.
“It’s good to see you. Where’s Miranda?”
“She’s off in France doing a shoot for Victoria’s Secret. She’s flying home next week.”
“So, Chase asked you to keep an eye on me, huh?”
“Actually, no. This was all my idea. I thought you might be bored.” He motions to the stool next to him. “Sit, have a drink.”
“Okay.” I slide onto the stool as the bartender comes over and asks what I’m drinking.
“Let me guess,” Justin says, smiling. “I remember you having a taste for white wine while we were in Turks and Caicos. A sauvignon blanc, if my memory serves me right.”
“That is correct, but not what I’m in the mood for.” Turning, I give the bartender my full attention. “Do you have pumpkin beer?”
“Yes, we do. Tap or bottle?”
“Tap please, with a rim.”
Justin stares at me, searching for something. Giving up, he smiles and says, “Never pictured you as the beer type.”
“Really? Well, Chase has been spoiling me, that’s for sure.”
“Now, why would you say that?”
“Justin, really?” I shake my head, not in the mood for an in depth discussion. Wisely, he drops it.
“So, how is work?”
“I love my job, and it keeps me busy.”
“That’s good,” he says, sipping his drink. Putting his glass down, he stares into the cup and moves the ice cubes around with the stir stick.
“How are things with you and Miranda?” I ask, trying to break the silence.
Lifting his head, he chuckles, a smirk crossing his face. “Great, when she’s home, which is never.”
“Justin, you knew she was a model.”
“Yeah, I know. This is just weird. I mean, I never cared about that before. In fact, it was great when a chick went away, since they were so clingy. But now, I find I’m angry.” Justin tips his head back, letting the liquid from his glass pour down his throat. Slamming the glass on the bar, he signals for a refill and shakes his head.
“I’m angry all the time,” he mutters.
The playboy Chase has always warned me about is gone and a scared, lonely man sits before me. “You really do love her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I think I do.” He takes a large sip of his martini. Placing his glass on the bar, he runs his fingers up the sides of his nose and across his forehead. “I’ve never been in love before, and it’s freaking me out. I didn’t know I would react this way to her constantly flying across the country.”
“I know what you mean. Chase being away is making me miserable, too.”
“Is is supposed to feel like this?”
“The missing part, yes. I’m not so sure about the anger.”
“I don’t like not knowing what she’s doing.”
“She’s working,” I say, signaling for another beer.
“It’s after work I’m worried about. She’s hot, guys will flock to her.”
“Justin,” I say, looking straight at him, “you need to trust her.”
“I don’t know how
to do that.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I can’t, because I know what I would do.” He fiddles with his fingers, obviously nervous with the direction of this conversation.
“So, you’re fighting your own demons?”
“It seems so.” He looks up at the ceiling, searching for the answer.
“You’re not going to find it up there,” I say, laughing.
“Find what?”
“I know what you’re doing.” I take a sip of my beer, carefully constructing my response. “She isn’t you. I’ve seen how she acts around you and I’m pretty sure she’s in love with you, too.”
“You think?”
“It appears that way, yes. You need to stop obsessing over what might happen and focus on your feelings.”
“Fuck, this is hard,” he murmurs into his drink.
“You need to trust her. Trust is everything. Without it, you’ll ultimately fail.”
“Trust,” he says, rolling the word on his tongue like he’s saying it for the first time. After a long pause, he says, “I’ve never really had to do that before.”
“It’s a must in any relationship.”
“I’ve never really had one of those either,” he says, chuckling.
“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” I smile and down the rest of my drink. “Can’t we eat now, or do I need to explain the concept of trust to you?”
“No, I think I’m good. Let’s eat.”
It’s been a crazy day and I have yet to speak to Chase. Between the bad connections and the time difference, I honestly think I’m going through Chase withdrawals, and I’m starting to get annoyed. I know it isn’t his fault, I’m just regretting not going with him. I’m lying on the bed when my phone buzzes. Looking at the caller ID, I’m overjoyed to see it’s Chase.
“Hey, beautiful,” Chase purrs into the phone.
“Hi!” I beam back. “The connection is so clear, it’s amazing.”
“I’m in Milan. The city has better cell service than where I was. How are you?”
“Missing you.”
“You should have come with me.”
“You know I couldn’t.”
Chase sighs into the phone. “I miss you, too. More than you know.”
“So, how is Italy?” I ask.
“Lonely without you.”
“Seriously,” I say, giggling.
“I am serious.”
“Is it as beautiful as I imagine it to be?”
“It would be more beautiful with you here.”
“Chase, you know I would have gone with you if I could.”
“Yeah, I know,” he sighs. “So, what have you been up to? “
“I’ve been working like crazy, trying to make up for the time I lost when we were in paradise,” I say, teasing him.
“I’d give you paradise every day if you’d let me,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.
“Oh, and Justin took me out to dinner last night.”
“He did what?” His voice jumps up an octave and an alarm goes off inside my head.
“Yeah, I met him over at the Cipriani Club.”
“Why the fuck are you having dinner with Justin?”
“Geez, Chase. Calm down. It was just dinner.”
“I’m out of town for what, not even a week, and you’re having dinner with my best friend? What happened to being a hermit in your apartment?” The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and a chill runs through me. I don’t like where this conversation is going.
“He needed advice about Miranda,” I say, trying to explain myself.
“He’s a man-whore, he just wanted in your pants.”
“What—”
“Did you meet Evan for dinner, too? Maybe you saw him first,” he snarls into the phone.
Holy fuck. He’s lost his mind. “What the fuck, Chase! What is wrong with you?”
“That’s not a denial. Did you fuck him?”
“What? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, I’m not,” he snaps, breathing heavily into the phone. “I can’t talk to you right now.”
“Chase—” Before I can get the first syllable out of my mouth, the line goes dead. That son-of-a-bitch hung up on me! On me! I should have hung up on him, after what he accused me of. How can he even suggest that I saw Evan, after everything that’s happened? He’s gone bat shit crazy.
Pacing around the room, I try to figure out what’s going through Chase’s deranged head. I contemplate calling him back to give him a piece of my mind, but it will only make matters worse, and I sure as hell don’t want to continue that argument. Instead, I pull up my contacts and text Justin, feeling the need to give him a heads up in case Chase calls him next.
Liv: It’s Liv. Heads up, Chase has lost his shit.
The response back in almost immediate.
Justin: What the fuck just happened?
This is going to be a lengthy conversation, so I call him. He answers on the second ring.
“Liv, what the hell just happened? Chase just flipped out on me.”
“I’m not really sure. What did he say to you?”
“He accused me of wanting to fuck you.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. I told him we had dinner and he went ape shit.”
“I couldn’t make out most of what he was saying, every other word was fuck.”
“He called you a man-whore, and then accused me of sleeping with Evan.”
“Shit,” Justin whispers. “I’ve never seen him this worked up before.”
“I’m glad to hear this isn’t normal,” I say, relieved.
“No, this definitely is not. I couldn’t even get a word in before he hung up.”
“Yeah, he did that to me, too.”
“I know he has a jealous streak, and I am, or was, a man-whore, but this is different. He’s worried about something.”
“He didn’t want to leave, saying he had a strange feeling something bad was going to happen. Maybe he thinks this is the bad thing?”
“I don’t know, but he has to know I would never do that to him. I mean, bros before hoes, no offense.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “None taken.”
“Fuck, I’m not sure what to do.”
“Well, after the way he just spoke to me, I’m waiting for an apology,” I say with conviction, but I know I’ll eventually cave.
“I’ll call him tomorrow. Give him time to come to his senses.”
“Okay. Let me know when you do.”
“No problem. Talk to you later,” Justin says before hanging up.
Staring at the ceiling, I pray this is all some sick, twisted joke. He’s never raised his voice like that to me, and I don’t know how to take it. I understand he’s on the other side of the world and he misses me, but to accuse me of cheating?
I flash back to the conversation I had with Justin yesterday. Trust. How ironic that I had that discussion with Justin when I clearly needed to have it with Chase.
Friday morning, I’m called off a site for a meeting in Bohemia. Turns out, all of the field agents were brought in. Something about training on how to use some specialized equipment.
I finally get to meet all of my colleagues. With a company as big as the one I work for, you rarely see everyone you work with.
We all sit in meeting after meeting until finally breaking for lunch. Informal introductions are made, since we’re sitting in the same room. There are twenty of us all together. One of the guys makes a suggestion that we all go to a local bar after the meeting, so we can really get to know each other. Normally, I would excuse myself, but since Chase is away, I’ve been lonely. Having a conversation with someone other than myself sounds like a fantastic idea, so I agree to go.
After lunch, we’re brought down to one of the labs and shown the new equipment. It’s supposed to make our jobs easier, but I’m not so sure. The devices look complicated, and I’m apprehensive to even look at it in fear of br
eaking it.
The lab technician shows us how it works and for the next hour, we’re shown every possible way it can be used. The overload of information causes my head to spin. After sitting through this, I’m really glad I agreed to go out.
Once we’ve played around with it for a bit, we’re finally dismissed. As we exit the building, someone calls out the name of the bar we are meeting at, which happens to be one of my local haunts. I smile as I get in my car and head over to Public House. Driving through the parking lot behind the bar a few times, I finally find a spot. The bar is in the middle of town and I forgot how fast the lots fill up, especially during recital season with a theater right next door.
Before getting out of the car, I shoot Chase a text. We haven’t spoken or texted since our fight last night, and while I’m reluctant to be the first to reach out, I also don’t want to hide anything from him.
LIv: Going out with some friends from work. Text you later.
I hit send, not expecting an answer, and get out of the car. As I approach the door, a chill runs down my spine and I shudder. I look around before shaking it off and entering the bar. I walk toward the bar and when Kris, one of the guys from the meeting, spots me, he waves me over. “Hey, Liv, whatcha drinking?”
“Umm, I’m not sure yet,” I lie.
“Let me know when you do. Your first drink is on me.”
“Thanks, Kris, but I’ve got this.”
“I insist,” he answers with a smile.
“Okay, thanks. I guess I’ll have a glass of pinot grigio.”
“Hey, can I get a glass of pinot grigio over here!” he yells down the bar. A subtle nod from the bartender and a few minutes later, the drink is in my hand.
“Thanks, Kris.”
“Hey, no problem. Consider it a thanks for helping me out with that new GPS today.” I chuckle. He had absolutely no idea what to do with the mini-computer. Lucky for him, I had to use something very similar when I was doing my grad work.
“That, I can do,” I say, smiling, and lift my glass to air toast him.
The large size of the bar allows everyone to move around freely and chit chat with different groups. I start my way at one end of the bar and two drinks later, I’m at the other end. It’s so nice to see so many people I work with, but never really had a chance to meet.
Lost Without You: Book 2 in the Chasing Olivia Series Page 18
