15. Olivia
CHAPTER 15
Olivia
“H ey, Holly. Can you get Alisha on my schedule next week for a checkup?” I ask, stopping at the front desk with the woman who was in for a consultation yesterday and came back today for a lip filler appointment.
“Sure.” Holly smiles brightly at Alisha.
“I’ll be right back.” I rub my client’s arm. “I’m just going to get you an ice pack.”
When I get her nod, I leave her and Holly and head down the hall to the storage room, catching a glimpse of the back of Julie’s head before she disappears into her office. Somehow, I’ve been able to avoid her all day, which is good since I haven’t figured out how I’m going to deal with her.
Returning to the front desk, I see Alisha sitting with an unopened bottle of water, and as soon as she sees me, she gets to her feet.
“She’s booked for next Tuesday,” Holly tells me as I hand Alisha the ice pack that is in the shape of a heart.
“Good, and if there are any issues at all, or if you have any questions, just send me a text at the number I gave you, no matter the time.”
“Thank you.” The words come out a little funny due to her lips being numb from the injection that has an anesthetizing agent in it that is similar to what dentists use.
“You’re welcome, and I’ll see you next week.” I hold open the door for her and listen to her mumble a goodbye as she leaves.
Letting the door close, I turn back to Holly. “I’m going to take off unless I have someone else on my schedule today.”
“Nope, you’re free for the rest of the day. Are you doing something fun?” she asks.
“I’m going to stop by my parents', and then I need to run some errands.”
“Your friend is coming to visit, right?”
“Yes, but she doesn’t get in until tomorrow evening around six,” I tell her as the door to the spa opens. I turn to look over my shoulder and watch a man carrying a huge bouquet of white peonies walk inside.
“Wow! Who are those for?” Holly asks in awe.
“Olivia Gannon,” the guy says, placing the bouquet on the front desk, and my heart starts to beat wildly. I haven't gotten flowers since I was in high school, and those were always from my parents.
“Thank you,” I tell him.
“Enjoy.” He smiles before turning and walking right back out.
“Who sent you flowers?” Holly asks, leaning in to smell one of the huge white blooms.
“I don’t know.” I pull the card from the holder and instantly feel my throat get tight when I open it.
Last night, when I watched Bax walk away after I so obviously hurt him, I realized that not only had I messed up, but I had also underestimated just how deeply he had burrowed under my skin. It was a wake-up call—one I didn’t know I needed.
Thinking about you.
XO Bax
“Who are they from?” Holly asks again, and I bite my lip. “Stop,” she whispers. “They’re from Bax, aren’t they?” I nod, and she presses her hands against her chest. “Oh my God, I need to take a picture for my grandma.”
“You’re not sending a picture to your grandma.” I laugh, putting the card back in its holder.
“Come on! I have to give the old ladies what they want. I’m their inside scoop.” She pouts.
“I’m going to get my stuff together. Can I trust you with these for a few minutes?”
“Of course,” she lies, pulling out her phone and I shake my head but leave the flowers where they are. After I clean up from Alisha’s appointment, I shut down my computer and gather all my stuff together before I put on my coat and grab my bag.
As I’m walking down the hall to the front desk, I hear Julie asking about the flowers and hear Holly tell her they’re mine. Turning the corner, I find Julie with the card in her hand and Holly with a look on her face that says she can’t believe Julie had the audacity to open the card and read it.
“Bax sent you flowers?” Julie asks with fake hurt in her voice.
“He did.” I pluck the card from her hand and tuck it back into the bouquet.
“Are you seeing him?” she asks, and Holly’s chair squeaks.
“Yes.” I don’t lie. If this situation with Julie will be an issue, I would rather deal with the fallout now and start looking for another practice to work at before I get too comfortable here. I’m already stressed about what might happen with my family, especially since my mom sounded concerned last night. And Liam has yet to find out about us, and I don’t know what his reaction will be. The last thing I want to have to worry about is how my relationship might affect my job.
“Even after what I told you yesterday?”
“I spoke to him about that situation, and he was honest about what happened.” I hold her stare and let her see I know the truth, that she was the one who messed around on him and also tried to sleep with my brother. How she thought that would all play out in her favor is anyone's guess. Unless she assumed that with the way my brother is with women, he wouldn’t care if he was messing with his best friend’s girlfriend or whatever she was.
“I see.” She presses her lips together, then looks at my coat and my bag. “Are you leaving?”
“I am.”
“It’s not even four.”
“I don’t have any other clients scheduled today, so I’m leaving a little early.”
“What if there is a walk-in?”
I’m not a hair stylist, a tattoo artist, or even an esthetician like her, who solely deals with facials and other treatments that can be done on a whim.
“I don’t take walk-ins,” I inform her as Eva walks around the corner and cries out.
“Oh my God, who got flowers?”
I like Eva. From the moment I met her, I felt a kinship with her. We both traveled the same path to get to where we are in our careers and share some of the same outlooks on dealing with clients. But her relationship with Julie has me questioning if she really is genuine, which sucks.
“Bax sent them to Olivia,” Holly stage-whispers, and Eva looks at me.
“The guy I saw you with on Halloween?” I nod, and she smiles. “They’re beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I murmur.
Julie tenses, then snaps at me, “When Eva hired you to work here, your schedule was set for nine to five.”
“What’s going on?” Eva asks, obviously confused by the change of subject, having missed what we’d been talking about before she came around the corner.
“She’s leaving early.” Julie points at me.
“She’s not paid by the hour. If she wants to leave and doesn’t have anyone on the schedule for later today, she can.”
“What if someone comes in?”
“Then I’m here, or Holly can schedule an appointment for them to come back. I’ve never once had someone just walk in asking for Botox like it’s a haircut,” Eva tells her with a scoff, and I press my lips together so I can keep myself from smiling.
“It’s unprofessional to just leave in the middle of the day.”
Eva sighs. “What’s unprofessional is this conversation.”
I always assumed that in cartoons, when the character turns red with anger, it was just a comedic representation of rage for little kids. But as I watch Julie’s face get bright red, I see clearly it happens in real life too.
“I’m trying to run a business—a business I’m part owner of until you can get the money together to buy me out like you said you wanted to,” Julie says through clenched teeth.
I glance over at Holly to see if she knew Eva was working on buying Julie out of the spa, but she looks just as surprised as I am by this news.
“And I want to buy you out because when you’re here, there is always drama,” Eva responds calmly.
“Me wanting to make sure our employees are here during their scheduled hours is not drama, and until you have the money to buy my share of this place”—she waves her hands around to encompass the room—“we own it together. So if we go under, I’m fucked.”
“The business isn’t going under because Olivia decided to leave early one day with no one on her calendar.”
Without a reply, Julie glares at Eva, Holly, and then me before she storms off down the hall. A moment later, her office door slams so hard that the windows out here in the front rattle.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” Eva sighs, dragging her fingers through her long, dark hair. “I promise I’m working on things, so hopefully, she’ll be gone soon.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” I tell her softly as the bell dings, and we both turn toward the door.
“Hey, Ms. Jennings,” Eva greets the older woman, who looks around my mom's age, with a bright smile. “Holly’s going to get you checked in and settled with something to drink, and I’ll be right back out to get you.”
“Sure, darling,” Ms. Jennings tells her.
Eva looks at me. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Enjoy your evening.”
“Thanks. Have a good night.” I lift my flowers off the counter and look at Holly as Eva hurries out of sight.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say quietly.
“See you tomorrow,” Holly returns, and I turn to smile at Eva’s client, then walk out the door with a million unasked questions on the tip of my tongue.
* * *
“I think I might have to look for another job,” I tell Bax, and his fingers that had been playing with the ends of my hair stop their movement. Reaching forward but keeping ahold of me, he grabs the remote for the TV and presses pause on our show before he drops it to the arm of the couch. Then, with his hand now free, he cups my jaw and lifts my head off his chest, leaving me no choice but to look at him.
“Did something happen today?”
“Yes and no.” I quickly explain the situation that happened after Julie saw he sent me flowers, then the conversation that took place after that between Eva and Julie.
“So she was pissed I sent you flowers, got in her feelings about it, and threw a fit?”
“It seems that way.” I sigh, and his jaw clenches.
“Do you like where you’re working?”
“Yes, and I don’t think Eva would want to get rid of me, but I’m not sure she’d have much choice if Julie decided I needed to go. And this industry is small, so if Julie knows people and shares information about me, even if it’s not true, it could affect me getting another job.”
“Fuck her.”
“Bax—”
“I’m serious, babe. Fuck her. You’re not quitting. You need to sit down with Eva, see where she’s at, and let her know you’re worried and thinking about finding another job. Then, depending on what she says, you go from there.” He shakes his head. “Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?”
“The minute you walked in the door, you kind of distracted me,” I remind him, and he grins.
Tonight, I surprised him with dinner after not getting to cook for him last night, and he showed me with a make-out session that he was happy to find me in his kitchen. Then, after we ate, we took Gemma on a walk and stopped by Kourtney’s, so I could pick up the stuff I needed for tonight. When we got back to his place, we settled on the couch, and work was the last thing on my mind until one of the contestants on the show brought up getting fired from her job.
“How long did you and Julie date?”
“I’d guess three months.”
“Seriously?” My nose scrunches. “Three months is a long time.”
His gaze drops to my nose, and he smiles. “It was during the time Talon and I were getting our business off the ground, so I was distracted with work.”
“Well, you obviously left an impression if she’s still angry about you two breaking up years later.”
“Some women can’t handle what they consider rejection, even if they bring that shit on themselves.”
“No,” I disagree softly. “I think it’s just you. We’ve only spent a little time together, and I know you’d be hard to forget,” I admit, and his body pressed along the side of mine goes still.
“Come here.” He tugs my hand while untangling his legs from mine and drags me up his body until I’m straddling his lap. “Since your friend is coming in this weekend, I’m going to get a beer with your brother and tell him what’s going on.”
My stomach twists. I know we need to tell Liam. I know it will cause more issues if he thinks we’ve been keeping it from him. But I also hate the idea of one more person who doesn’t want us together.
“Today, when I went to visit my mom, she shared her concerns with me, and every one of them were valid.”
His muscles under my palms bunch. “She’s worried about me hurting you?”
“A little. She’s more concerned about Liam’s and your friendship.” I slide my hands up his chest to his shoulders. “I am, too.”
“Hey.” He grabs my face in both of his big hands, holding me and my gaze hostage. “It might take a little time for the dust to settle, but it will be okay. Liam will get over being pissed, your mom will come around, and things will fall into place.”
Leaning forward, I rest the side of my head against his chest and let out a breath as his arms wrap around me tight. I hope he’s right, but more than anything, I wish things weren’t so complicated.