Always?

Chapter 14

Oliver had nothing but pure hate in his heart, hate and regret. He should have been at home, helping the others figure out what to do about the group known as ‘The Cleaners’. Because, as Damian had mentioned after the big reveal that they once again had a target on their backs, and this time a group said to be even the Romeros’ worst nightmare, they were screwed.

Little was known about the group, and their first order of business was to find out as much as they could about them, which they all knew would be a difficult task and would burn a lot of favours they had gained in this line of work. But it would have been worth it if they could have found something substantial enough to give them something, anything to work with, because right now, they had absolutely nothing.

But no, instead of helping them, here he was, backstage of some stupid f*****g show, glaring at Atlas. Ever since his announcement last week, because Oliver had eventually caved and let Atlas do things his way, he had been getting nonstop calls from people wanting to book Atlas. For some reason, all of those were coming to his cellphone. At this rate, he would have to lose his phone and SIM, and get a new number altogether.

Their schedule had been packed for the last week, and Oliver was doing his best to keep up. He had suggested they take a break today, but Atlas had looked at him as if he had grown two heads. Oliver quickly realized that even when he created their schedule somewhat more flexibly, Atlas would go out of his way to accept impromptu requests to fill up his calendar. So he was being smart about the whole situation, or trying his hardest, too. Doing hundreds of mini background checks on the people attending was draining him; he hoped that Thea’s father would come through with the program she had said he’d create for him.

“Hi, are you sure you're comfortable just standing there? Can I grab you a chair or something? Or lead you to somewhere where we have seats?” Oliver whirled around to stare at a young woman with pale hair in a messy bun, a navy blue polo shirt with the name ‘Gemma’ engraved in gold, some black pants and sensible shoes.

“I’m fine,” he replied, staring at her, before he realised he had to force a smile. “Thanks,” he added.

“Of course, I’m Gemma, I’ll be around if you need anything.”

He nodded, waving a little as she turned on her heel and left, walking up to a man who was standing off to the side, waiting for her. The man glared at Oliver a little before a smile appeared on his face as Gemma approached him, already talking about something. Oliver watched the duo leave, a sigh escaping his mouth.

He leaned against the wall. His feet were hurting. He had never been much of an active person, and all this running around every single day was driving him insane. He would be forcing Atlas to take a break soon because he could not protect the man if he were this exhausted. He really had to work on his stamina. Oh, Matt would have a field day with this. The man had been telling him to start up his workout routine again, that he had been slacking, but Oliver hadn’t been going on runs as much. He truly had slacked off, it had been months since he’d been to the gym and he had put on a bit of weight, nothing noticeable, but he honestly hadn’t cared if it had been. But now? Running around after Atlas like a headless chicken would require stamina that he no longer had.

His gaze found the man in question, who had dressed up, spending a ridiculous amount of time staring at his reflection at home, before dragging Oliver here, where he had been given a suit to change into, instead of the black one he had pciked out, now he was in a navy blue suit, the signature colour of whatever talk show this was. Then he had been put in front of a couple of make-up artists, who had done wonders for him. When he had turned around to show Oliver, Oliver swore his heart skipped a beat.

He had always been a fan of Atlas, the name, the brand, the actor, but the person he had spent a year and a little bit with, well, he couldn’t connect them as the same, but standing before him was Atlas, the brand. The inner fan came out in him, but he had nodded, saying he looked fine, and ushered him out of the dressing room, where they met with the talk show host, Kathy. Atlas introduced Oliver and Kathy, but, in all honesty, Oliver did not care about any of it; it was all so excessive.

He was now watching as the two sat on stage, doing lighting checks and whatnot, while Atlas essentially flirted with the woman. Oliver was so f*****g bored. He looked away, his eyes landing on Gemma again, and a thought ran through his mind: he could consider hooking up with her; it had been a while since his last one. If his memory served correctly, it was at the party where they had been looking for Rick and things had gotten out of hand, drinking a drink, not realising he had been roofied. He wasn’t sure he had ever told Helios about that part, but now, he never would. He would never tell anyone that mortifying little secret of his.

He knew it would change their perception of him. He would much rather have been branded a bastard, who had no empathy for others, than some poor little sad f**k who got his drink roofied, then decided to sleep with the first person he saw to get it out of his system so he could get back to Helios, without worrying about anything happening.

Oliver sighed, running a hand through his hair as Gemma walked over, a smile on her face and a water bottle in her hand. “Here,” she said, handing it to him. He eyed it warily; he had learned his lesson the hard wya. “Don’t worry, it’s not been opened. I just got it out of the staff freezer. You are Atlas’s manager, right?”

Oliver took it, scanning the bottle with his eyes. As she had said, it was ice cold to the touch, with condensation still visible on the bottle. It had been unopened, so he opened it and took a small sip. “I am, yes. He hired me pretty recently.”

She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. “Have you met any celebrities yet? I recommend staying away from Selene. I have a friend who worked with her, and she said she was a nightmare.”

“Thanks for the tip,” he said, forcing another smile. She smiled in return, tucking a strand behind her ear. She was flirting, right?

He could hook up with her, but then his eyes landed on Atlas, who was still talking to Kathy. He had leaned in, whispered something to her, and they both broke out in laughter. No, he couldn’t sleep with Gemma because they would have to go somewhere private, meaning the i***t on stage with the crazy stalker would be left alone.

“I’m sorry if I’m reading the situation wrong, but are you flirting with me?” Oliver asked, staring at her. He watched as her entire face turned bright red, before her eyes slipped to the ground, her bangs covering her head as she nodded. “I’m sorry, I have a boyfriend,” he lied.

Gemma’s head shot up, and she waved her hands around. “Oh, god, no,” she said, mortified. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“No, you’re fine.”

Gemma nodded, smiling a little. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Oliver. I really hope you don’t have to work with Selene; she’s a nightmare.”

Oliver watched her leave, rubbing his eyes as he yawned. He could find a couch, sleep for a little, right? He wasn’t sure how Atlas was so awake; they were both running on the same amount of sleep, but Oliver was struggling to keep his eyes open, while there he was, talking to the audience and Kathy as if he had gotten a good night's rest. No, he couldn’t. He had to keep an eye on the stalker.

He rubbed his eyes once more, yawning. He could do this. After that, he would force Atlas to cancel the photoshoot so he could go home and get some shut-eye; he could not protect the man if he were half asleep. Oliver stared at the audience, where they had left one seat empty in case he wanted to watch from the crowd. Standing here, staring at nothing, was making him sleepier, so he snuck out into the audience, smack in the middle, right at the front, and took a seat.

What he hadn’t expected was for Atlas to notice his presence in the crowd; he smiled. A bright and wonderful grin that had the audience screaming even louder.

Oliver stared blankly. Oh, for f**k sake. Maybe this had been a mistake, after all.

~*~