The CEO

Chapter 9: Giving it a Try

I arrived at the company and many of the employees were welcoming me, however, the only thing on my mind was to go to Olivia’s office and see her. I had to talk to her about before and the discussion I had with my sister that morning.

I opened her door without knocking and saw her typing with a serious face on her computer. She raised her head when she felt someone enter the room and leaned back when she saw it was me stopping what she was doing.

I had my back pressed against her door and I just looked at her for a while.

“Stephen? Are you going to talk?” She asked

“I loved you?” it was almost a whisper.

Her facial expression fell down following all the pigment in her skin.

“What?” Her throat obviously dried.

“I loved you?” I asked again.

“Who told you?” she stood up and walked to the middle of the room.

“I talked to Lea. She told me, she told me you love me.” I approached her.

“Why would you talk to her about this? I told you it’s not time.” She sounded offended.

“Do you? Love me?” I approached her more.

“What?” She stepped back.

“I’ve been having these dreams, I’m remembering things and after our kiss, I-I knew you were more than just my co-worker,” I said

“And…do you remember…?” She said those few words slowly.

“Not everything, but I know now that…we had feelings for each other,” I told her the truth.

Olivia’s shoulders fell down in disappointment.

“Hey, but we can continue from here, continue what we had.” I held her shoulders.

“But Stephen there IS nothing between us. When we realized we had something going on we decided to set ground rules and not to move upon these feelings. You went back to your playboy habits and I returned to worrying about my job the next day. Then one night you get drunk, come to my house, and tell me you love me.” She was talking and while doing so she sat down on the couch in her office.

“Then the next day I get a call saying you got into an accident and the next thing I know is that you don’t even remember my name.” She continued and I stood there taking all of it in.

All the things she said were like a story instead of a memory I should know. I realized how hurt she was when she came into my room and instead of finding the man that confessed to her the day before, she found a man that thought she was a complete stranger.

I held her hand and helped her stand up and then I looked into her eyes.

“I know that our situation isn’t perfect, but I’m willing to try. I want to make this work and who knows? Maybe after spending enough time with you I remember everything.” I told her.

“I love you, Stephen. I’m not going to lie about it, but I can’t. I can’t because I have issues and these issues are there because I lost someone and I almost lost you too. And you know where it all gets ironic? It’s the fact that I lost him in a car accident and I lost you too to the same thing.” I saw the tears in her eyes and it hurt me.

I pulled her and kissed her.

I wrapped my hands around her hips until I felt the baby bump completely pressed against me and her hands went straight to my neck too.

My lips were pressed on hers and I only pulled away for air.

After our kiss stopped, I looked at her, and with every touch, I feel like I’m getting closer to her.

“I want us to work, at least, I want to try,” I told her and I wasn’t lying. After the accident, I knew that I have to move on with my life and I felt like a part of me was ripped off. I want to grow and if being with Oli could help me, then why not try, she clearly means a lot to me, so why not try to love her all over again, what if I never remember anything. I do not want to live with the regret that something could’ve happened between us and I chose to throw it away.

“Okay,... okay let’s try.” She said and I smiled faintly.

I gave her a quick peck on the lips and told her that I had to go to my office and start working and left.

-Olivia’s P.O.V-

It’s been two days since Stephen and I decided to give our relationship a try and till now we’re doing fine. No crazy accidents or whatever leading us to part ways again. 

Oh, and we found out the gender of the baby! It’s a boy!

“Hey,” Stephen said after entering my office. He had a smile on his face and gestured me to stay seated because my baby bump was very visible now, so he didn’t want me to stand up much.

He leaned on the arms of the chair I was sitting on and gave me a kiss.

“How are you?” He asked and rubbed my belly.

“Hey buddy.” He was talking to the baby now. He does that a lot actually, every time he sees me be more specific.

“We’re both doing just fine.” I put my hand on his and stood up to grab my bag.

We started going home together because Stephen didn’t want me to drive alone anymore, however, tonight was our first actual date and I had no idea where he was taking me.

“Are you ready?” He asked and I nodded. After that, I turned the office light off and we left.

We didn’t speak much in the car only a couple of words here and there and I still didn’t know where he was taking me but it seemed pretty far.

When Stephen parked the car, I was a little surprised by the destination.

“The cemetery? Are you going to kill me?” I asked while chuckling.

“No, I’m here to show you something.” He laughed as well.

“Show me something? What is there in a cemetery other than dead bodies that are worthy of a first date Mr. Malcolm.” I asked sarcastically.

“You’ll see. Now let’s go.” He took my hand a guided me inside.

We walked for a couple of short minutes and we stood in front of a grave. I looked at Stephen then turned my face to look at whose grave this was and I understood what was happening.

The tombstone read “Naomi Malcolm”; it was his mother. When I looked at Stephen’s face again, I saw his expression change from normal to sad and emotional.

“She died when I was 5, almost 26 years ago.” He explained.

“She was pregnant with Lea and she lost a lot of blood during labor and we had to choose between saving my unborn sister and my mother, and of course she chose Lea.” He continued.

I didn’t know how Stephen felt but I knew how his mother did.

“When Lea was born, I hated her. I always scolded her and held her account for everything bad that happened in my life, from losing my mother to failing a math test. When I grew older, I started accepting Lea and we grew closer, however, I had to replace my hatred with something else, and that was ever loving a woman because to me it felt like replacing the one woman, I should’ve loved unconditionally but she was dead.” He started again.

“I never knew you hated Lea,” I whispered taking in what he just confessed.

“I never kissed a girl before you. Sure, I had s*x plenty of times, but I never let any of them come close to my lips. Then came to a girl named Olivia and turns out, I kissed her and if she was good enough to take my first kiss before losing my memory, I’m sure she’s good enough to be with me.” He turned to me and looked into my eyes.

“I just shared a big part of my life with you Olivia, and I’m worried I might never remember everything again. So, let’s try to move forward from here.” He held my face between his warm palms.

Stephen just opened up to me and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy he did. When we first realized our feelings for each other, we both had restraints that kept us from being together, and when we finally decided to let them down, something happened that drew us apart.

Listening to him say he might not remember everything created a huge pit in me. Yes, we are trying to make things work between us but what if he realizes he didn’t love me the same way he did before? What if he found someone better since he is thinking of settling down? 

I had so many questions and thoughts that scared me, but, at the same time, standing here in front of him knowing he’s willing to work on us even though he didn’t exactly know me, made me feel a little better. I want to try as well.

I love him.

I looked at him a nodded showing him I agreed to whatever he proposed and he smiled and kissed me after it.

“Let’s go to our real date now.” He said the happiness coming back to his face and we left the cemetery.

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Will Stephen remember Olivia? Will their relationship finally begin? What about Dani?

Continue reading to find out. Don’t forget to like the story for more.

Stay Safe 

XOXO