Beach Side Romance

Chapter 4: Keeping Company

Julian POV

I kept on thinking of what Olivia said last night. Why would you treat her badly? Well, obviously what happened to her and her ex boyfriend was something but still, why. I was sitting outside having a cup of coffee at 6AM, my usual wake-up time, watching the kids at the resort do some stretching with Luca while Lizzie was taking pictures. I was joined by dad shortly after taking a few sips. “So, until when will you be staying?” He asked, concerned about being away for so long. “I’m planning to stay for a while, probably until I complete my current portfolio. The firm’s giving me a few days off after I’ve completed this project that I have that’s not too far from here.” I answered. “And?” He probed a bit more. He knew I wasn’t telling him something or some things. “ And… Karen’s been bat s**t crazy, and that being said it’s not helping me complete the project if I stay in the city, they need a fresh idea to put icing into the cake. I haven’t had that yet. Last week Karen cornered me in my office that I had to ask security to escort her out of the building” I sighed into my cup. “You know, I’m actually planning to drive up to visit your mom’s grave later this week. Probably after brunch on Thursday, so I’ll leave you and Lizzie in charge… oh and Julian?” Dad looked at me and smiled, “I like Olivia.” I was more than confused with what he said. But he stood up and gave me back my time to think again. The kids were running back and forth the flag poles now carrying a ball in their hands, and Lizzie was waving me over. I placed my cup and walked towards them with my arms folded because of the cold sea breeze.

“Any plans today?” Lizzie asked as she opened the ice chest of water bottles ready for the kids, and Luca. “No, not really. Why?” I asked with a knowing look on my face. “I was wondering if you could bring back Olivia’s car to her? I don’t know where she lives exactly and dad mentioned you brought her home yesterday.” She said, trying to fake an innocent look. “Liz, I know what you’re doing - and dad seems to be on the same boat. But, sure, I’ll bring back her car. Just ask Luca to pick me up later today.” I answered, and before she could ask again I’ve already had my back turned around walking back to the house.

Olivia POV

I was woken up by ringing sounds. I checked the time and it was already 10AM, s**t. I scrambled out of bed and checked my messages. 

Lizzie: Hey Olivia, your car’s still at the resort, right? I’m having Julian bring it over at around 12 or 1. Is that ok? He’ll probably also have lunch for you.

Me: Sure, Liz. Please thank him for me. See you Thursday at lunch.

I hit send and ran to the bathroom. My hair’s messy, but surprisingly when I got home yesterday, I managed to switch to some pajamas. I turned on the shower to its coldest setting, and hopped in. Thankfully I didn’t have a bad hangover, nor anything of that sort. I scrubbed, and shampooed idly just covering myself in suds and bubbles. Once I was rinsed off, I changed into some shorts and an oversized button-down shirt and let my hair down to dry. I opened my laptop while waiting for my coffee to check on some emails and possibly missed f*******: messages.

Those who know me well-enough, know that I’m not in the city but they’ve been checking on me here and there, and obviously my parents have also been informed almost everyday of my current state and whether I’ve eaten or not. 

I wasn’t a big breakfast eater really, but coffee or juice seemed to help calm my stomach down in the mornings. I rummaged through my fridge shortly after and pulled out ingredients for what looked like for Chicken Alfredo. I got some bread out to make into garlic bread sticks, and just lounged around the couch again waiting for things to thaw out. I promised Andrea I will call her every Sunday while I’m away and I wanted to keep my promise to her as much as I can. I quickly texted my mom to see if they were out:

Me: Mom, you guys busy?

Mom: No, on our way home from church. Why? Are you ok?

Me: Yup. Just wanted to check if Andrea remembers my promise?

Mom: Oh, yes she does. She’s been bugging about it all morning. I’ll call you when we get home. How was last night?

Me: It was nice. Met Lizzie’s boyfriend, Luca. He’s nice. Jerome, the dad, had me over for dinner also with them. Reminds me so much of our old man, lol. Oh.. and I met Lizzie’s brother. He seems okay.

Mom: Oooh. Hottie? Nottie?

Me:

Mom: I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll grill you about it some other time. We’re almost home.

I didn’t reply. Was Julian a hottie? Well, I guess? But telling my mom that? Uhm.. No.

I was in the Kitchen preparing my meal when mom rang me on FaceTime. I quickly set-up my laptop so I could cook and talk to them simultaneously. “Hi Owi-viyaaa!” I heard Andrea scream through the phone. “Hi Andrea, do you miss me already?” I asked. We talked about her summer activities, ballet and art. She was telling me all about her week, and how she was painting stars the last time, and finally being able to twirl in a ballet class. I spaced out for a minute thinking of yesterday when the doorbell rang. “Hold on, baby, let me see who’s at the door.” I quickly said. Running to the front door. I peeped and saw Julian standing outside with what seems to be like takeout.

“Hey,” I greeted as I opened the door. “Hi, I brought some pizza from Hale ‘Aina in case you haven’t eaten. Here are your keys” he said smiling. “Thanks, and sorry if Lizzie bothered you today.” I said taking the box of pizza and keys. “Nah, it’s okay, and I had nothing to do today anyway.” He answered. “Have you eaten? If not, I’m making some pasta, seems like it would work well with whatever flavor you got.” I offered. He nodded and stepped inside. I was guiding him to the open kitchen so he could take a seat while I finished up. “Drink?” I offered, “water’s good or if you have any beer that’s better” he answered.

“Owiviyaaaa?” I heard the sound from my laptop. s**t. Andrea was still on FaceTime and my mom was somewhere out of frame I feel like. Hearing. Julian. She was staring directly at Julian who looked at Olivia. “Andrea?” He asked me, I nodded and he walked nearer to the laptop. “Andrea, this is Julian. He’s a friend of mine.” I said. She was smiling widely, and my mom (finally) took a look. “And.. that’s my mom, Amber Mason” I said trying to face away from the camera and concentrate on finishing the pasta. “Hi Joowyan! You’we pweetty!” Andrea greeted. “Hi cutie, you’re pretty too! Hi Mrs. Mason?” he trailed off and my mom quickly spoke, “Amber, dear. Just Amber.” She smiled. I heard my mom telling Andrea she needed to take her afternoon nap already, and she was about to throw a fit when Julian helped my mom out. “Andrea, you need to listen to your mom about naps. Have you seen how beautiful Olivia is? If you take your naps like what mommy tells you, one day, when you grow up, you’ll become as beautiful as Olivia!” He enticed her with the thought. She quickly agreed to take her nap and mom said her goodbyes. “It was nice meeting you, Julian and thank you for that. Olivia, sweetie? I’ll talk to you soon.” She said and ended the call. She quickly sent me a text that would make me glare at her for a good minute:

Mom: Definitely not a nottie

Julian POV

I wasn’t expecting to be here today, really. But the offer of getting to know Olivia more seemed too enticing that I wanted to stay. I offered to help set the table as she placed a new bottle of beer in front of me and popped one open for herself too. “Thanks” I said as I opened the box of pizza. Four-cheese could never go wrong and when you top it off with Prosciutto it’s the best. I texted Lizzie where I was and asked her to tell dad too in case he looks for me, where I just got a winking face as a reply.

“Andrea seemed to have taken a liking towards you. But thanks for doing that for mom. It’s difficult to get her to nap on weekends since she does less and has more energy.” She shared as she twirled her fork around the pasta. Seeing her a bit laid back made me realize that she didn’t need make-up to look beautiful in her own right. “She was very sweet, and she called me pretty.” I joked which made her laugh a bit. “But seriously, though, no big deal.” I said, taking my first bit of pasta. Damn. This woman can cook! “Wow this is good pasta.” I commended her, which made her look at me with disbelief. “Really? Some people said that it was too creamy. But then duh, it’s Chicken Alfredo.” She uttered with a bit of spite. “Whoever it was, doesn’t deserve to be blessed with this delicious meal.” I confirmed. 

It took a while for the conversation to pick-up. It’s as if she was debating with herself on something. We cleared out the dishes and she washed, I dried. We were talking about movies, rom-com, drama, comedy, and horror, rating it from favorite to least favorite. “You wanna stay to watch a movie or two? I could use some company,” she asked. “Sure, what do you want to watch?” I asked. “Why don’t you pick a movie and I’ll get us a bottle of wine and some blankets and pillows to make ourselves comfortable?” She offered. I nodded and sat on the couch as she went inside a room. She emerged with two throw pillows and two blankets. She placed them on the couch and got a bottle of red vino and 2 glasses.

I quickly picked a movie from the Top Lists on Netflix and got comfortable. We were on opposite edges of the couch but she was sitting more on the mid-seat with her feet propped to the edge. “A Walk to Remember?” She asked inquisitively with a smile. I nodded and hit play “always a classic.” I chose The Notebook as the second movie. It was halfway done and I needed to pee. “Hey, can I use your bathroom?” I asked. “Yeah sure, the door right there, near the entrance is a restroom” she said and focused her attention again on the movie. I got up and walked to the bathroom, quickly locking the door and taking a deep breath. I don’t know what’s gotten into me since I arrived yesterday. 24 hours ago, I was thinking of just getting away from the city. From Karen. Now here I am, getting to know a girl who I feel like I’m fairly attached to despite the short time I’ve known her. 

Finishing up by washing my hands, I quickly dried off and opened the door. I haven’t missed much. Approaching the living area, I saw Olivia who drifted off to a nap. It was already past 4, and I bet she was still tired from yesterday. I sat back on the couch, and fixed the blanket covering her and placed a pillow gently under her head. s**t. I think I was staring at her sleeping figure for a good while. I was pulled back into reality when she squirmed a bit. That ended up with me just frantically making it seem like I wasn’t minding her at all.

The movie ended, and she was still asleep. I quickly shot Luca a text to come pick me up. And wrote a note to Olivia when I found a paper on her kitchen counter. I didn’t know how I'd tell her that I already left, so the note was the best option. I was trying my best not to wake her up but before I could place the note down on the table, her eyes fluttered. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.. I fell asleep.” She said shyly, hiding most of her face inside the blanket. “Hey it’s okay I was just about to leave since I asked Luca to pick me up around this time. I didn’t mean to wake you.” I said crouching down on my knees to meet her eye level as much as possible. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “You wrote me a note?” Eyeing the paper below her wine glass. 

Olivia,

    Already left for the night, didn’t want to wake you. Pass by the resort or the house anytime you need company.

Julian

“Yeah, I didn’t want to wake you. So I thought I’d write you a note.” I said, hearing Luca’s honk outside the door I stood up and she quickly did too. “I’ll see you soon?” I asked her. She smiled and gave a firm nod. “Thanks for keeping me company.” She said and saw me out. “Anytime,” I answered before heading inside Luca’s car. Luca waved at Olivia and drove off. “How was your Sunday?” He asked. “Don’t be an ass, Luc. She asked me if I could keep her company, and who was I to decline. Right?” I defended, but I had the right to decline and I didn’t. “Keep telling yourself that, bruh. But seriously though, what’s up?” Luca asked. I shrugged not knowing how to explain or where to start. I just knew Olivia was special to me, that was it.