Working.

chapter two

Ollie most definitely wasn’t big on perfection, but in that moment, she felt as though she had nothing to lose. Nothing screamed rock bottom quite like the feeling of despair he had begun to feel after the love of her life dropped such a bomb on her – all in front of strangers that would use her plight as a story for tea time. She began to hyperventilate and shake, blinking back her tears as she stared at her so called soulmate with a pained gaze.

The man who once swore he loved her had just called off her wedding, one which she planned for extensively, and had invested a lot of money into. She had even gone as far as inviting a broad selection of people she had met in different parts and stages of her life, ranging from her relatives to her high school classmates she had actually liked, and to her church members, college friends and co-workers alike. For half of the last year for her, her life exclusively revolved around her wedding preparation and thoughts on a blissful married life. Surely her reaction was justified, no?

“Look- this hurts me more than it hurts you. I promise you that. I just can’t see myself living such a life, and whether you hate me or not, you’ll be thanking me for calling this off before we actually get married, random bakery and all. I love you Ollie, and I don’t think its right to put us both in a situation where we’ll end up unhappy, because I know how I feel” Ryder ran his hands through his hair, a pained expression on his face.

Ollie cursed under her breath. He was right. So painfully right, and it hurt to admit it.

“Why do you have to be reasonable? You’re making it pretty hard to hate you!” she had whined in a croaky voice, tearing up. She folded her arms and looked away, accidentally locking eyes with and onlooker who had been working on his computer before. He shrank in his seat, quickly averting eye contact and raised his neck scarf higher on the lower portion of his face. Ollie rolled her eyes at this and stormed out, just as the manager came out front to try to escort them both out. Ryder awkwardly shuffled out too, not forgetting they had gone together.

“Wait up!”, he had called out. In response to this, Ollie had picked up her pace. She crossed to the other side of the street where she had parked her car, bleary eyed and disoriented. “I carpooled with you” he had heaved out, catching up with her.

“Get a taxi or something. I’m not responsible for you. Not anymore.” She had mumbled that last part under her breath, looking down to the ground.

“My car is at yours. At least take me there.” To this she had rolled her eyes, unlocking her car. He took her lack of a verbal response as one of affirmation, walking in front of the bonnet to get to the passenger’s side.

“I think it would be better for you to drive.” She said, just as he was about to get in. Ryder didn’t say anything; he only walked right back over to where she stood, took the keys from her, and settled in the car. Ollie sniffled and groaned at his thoughtfulness- not that he really had a choice anyway. He had no intention of getting into a car driven by someone temporarily blinded with tears. He waited until she had gotten into the car and silently buckled in her seatbelt, seeing as she was absentminded. She had almost muttered a thank you, but her mind brought her back to the reason for her tears- the man who was incessantly honking at the air whilst still parked. She smacked her lips and leaned her head on the door, and Ryder took note of that, locking the door. Ollie groaned.

“Stop it.” She had gruffed out.

“Stop what?”

“Stop being nice”

“Oh. Okay,” Ryder said as he pulled out from the street where he had parked. In their peripheral, the occupants of the bakery all heaved a sigh of relief, feeling the tension being lifted as they drove off.

Taking her request rather literally, Ryder stretched out one of his hands and turned on the radio, turning up the volume almost immediately too.

The random radio station that was on was a music station, and the song that was reverberating in her car was rather awful objectively, being from a youtuber that decided to venture into music. Ollie could feel her ears bleeding, and she began to sob, hiding her scrunched up and snotty face in her hands. Ryder, not wanting to disregard her request, neither comforted her not turned off the radio, making her sob even harder.

It was as though the ‘artist’s discography was the highlight of the day too. Three songs in, she wiped her face with the hem of her shirt, clearing her throat to finally speak.

“Seriously. Why didn’t you just wait till we got back? Why?” she had asked. Assuming he did, their ride wouldn’t have been as tense as it was, and she wouldn’t have to be forced to share a ride with her ex-fiancé. Maybe it would have saved her the embarrassment. Maybe it would have made her not want to swear off ever passing through that side of town again. His inconsideration for how it would play out pissed her off, but she was dealing with way too many emotions to solely focus on that anger.

“Oh. Uh. I don’t know. It felt right in the moment, I guess” he had responded, scratching his neck. Ollie scowled at this but held her tongue. She nodded forcefully, resting her head back on the car door window

They had eventually gotten back to her apartment, and Ollie wasted not time in collecting her keys from him without so much as a farewell. Ryder, resigned, got into his car and pulled out of her driveway, just as she slammed the door behind her.