Chapter 4 #2
I was now her own personal genie, ready to grant every single one of her countless wishes.
If it weren’t for the fact that she could make or break my entire career, or that the amount I was charging her was enough to finally repay the loan Fernando gave me, plus extra, I would have said no the second she sauntered into my office.
But everyone knew the Melnyks were among the elite families of New York’s high society.
People treated her social media accounts like the Bible.
One bad word from her and I’d never work again, and my mother would love to see that happen.
Whereas I’d rather use a cactus as a dildo than let that happen.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s about time you started focusing on your real priorities.”
“Like what?” I directed Ursula’s—speak of the devil—incoming call to Kellie’s work phone. “Let me guess? Planning Maya’s wedding?”
“I don’t understand why you’re being so difficult about this. It’s like you don’t even want your own sister, your own flesh and blood, to be happy.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look at her as the little contents of iced tea and lemon cake turned to battery acid in my stomach.
“This can’t still be because of Daniel. You said you had moved on, that you were better off without him.”
“I have moved on.” My words struggled to stay even. “I am much better off without someone like him.”
“Then act like it!” she snapped. “Honestly, sometimes I think your life would be so much easier if you hurried up and found someone new.”
What, and let another man manipulate and break me like Daniel? No-fucking-thank-you.
As cliché as it sounded, I’d sworn off men. I was happy on my own, and I wasn’t about to let another man come into my life and destroy me again.
It was all part of my new rules for life, with rule number one being never to be so foolish as to fall in love again.
“It’s about time you stopped the woes me act. You need to put yourself back out there.” She inspected her newest manicure. “I was chatting to a few of my girlfriends about this last night and we think we have found you the perfect man.”
She had to be kidding me.
My hands curled into white-knuckled fists beneath my desk, whatever it took to stop me from throwing the closest binder to hand at her.
“He’s a very suitable match for you. Comes from old money and has built a good business that would ensure you’d never have to work a day again, carino. It’s the dream.”
An email from Kellie flashed on my screen, urging me to ring Ursula back pronto.
“Shay will be the perfect way for you to—”
“Hold on,” I cut her off. “Please, and I mean please, tell me you are not sitting there talking about setting me up with Shay McDonnell.”
“Shay is a lovely man, Livi.”
A strangled laugh burst from me. This had to be a fucked-up joke; there had to be hidden cameras somewhere in my office recording this for a prank show.
“He’s thirty-two years older than me! I went to school with his son!”
“Age doesn’t matter.”
“I think a judge would beg to differ with that statement.”
She exhaled dramatically. “Being with someone like Shay is good for appearances. Think of him as a way to help you finally move on with your life, to stop you wasting all your energy on that ridiculous breakup—”
“With the man my sister is now marrying?” I said behind gritted teeth. “That breakup?”
Her plump lips thinned. “What matters is that you move forward so that you can be happy for your sister and help her with the wedding. You can bring Shay as your plus one.”
“There is a better chance of me pissing glitter than me dating that old bastard.”
“Livi, how many times do I have to tell you to speak like a lady?” she tutted. “Shay said he’d love to be your date and help you move on with your life.”
“I don’t need you setting me up with creepy older men. It’s fucking weird, and not to mention predatory that he would be interested in dating someone as young as his son.”
“Olivia, it won’t look good for your sister if you’re sitting there alone on her special day with a sour face.”
“I won’t be there alone,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
“Is that so?”
“I’ve actually been seeing someone,” I lied, turning to my screen and pretending to focus on Kellie’s email. “I’m going to bring him to the wedding, so you don’t have to worry about me being alone. There’s not much I can do about my sour face, though; it’s my natural look.”
Well shit. Why did I open my big freaking mouth?
I just needed her to stop talking, to get off my back for more than one freaking second, and to stop offering me up to old men like I some fucked up pimp.
“Then you should have no problem with planning the wedding, Livi.” Her lips curled into a soulless smile. “If you’ve moved on, and you want your sister to be happy, what’s stopping you?”
Deep down, I wanted my sister to be happy, I really did. But why did her happiness have to come at the expense of mine?
She never apologized for sleeping with Daniel behind my back. She took him away, made him hers, and expected me to be okay with it.
Everyone expected me to move on with my life, to swallow my truth and go along with the lies they created to keep up appearances. It didn’t matter that Daniel cheated on me with my own sister, or that my heart was left in fragmented shatters, because Maya’s wants always trumped mine.
“Considering the amount of money Fernando gave you to start this job of yours and has never asked for it back, you’d think you’d act grateful.” She drummed her fingernails on my desk. “And if you insist on being difficult about this, perhaps I need to remind you who you really work for.”
My office phone started to ring, the familiar number of Ursula lighting up the caller ID, at the same time as Meadowlands burst my mobile into life.
Something was wrong.
Dad. Mom. Maya. Daniel. Ursula. Dad. Mom. Daniel. Maya. Ursula.
The care facility only rang in emergencies.
Dad. Mom. Maya. Daniel. Ursula. Dad. Mom, Daniel. Maya. Ursula.
The shrill noise of the two phones ringing together blared through my skull as my mother’s voice faded into the distance.
Tightness wrapped itself around my ribcage until my breathing felt forced. My shaking hands grabbed at my chest as my own heartbeat echoed wildly between my ears.
“Olivia?” my mother’s voice sounded through my internal storm. “What’s going on?”
Sweat coated the back of my neck, my quickening pulse breaking into a freestyle uneven beat.
Death had clearly come for me.
What else could this be?
Oh fuck, I’m scared.
This can’t be my ending. I’m not done yet. I can’t go out like this.
My whole body fired off warning signals, but my brain wasn’t getting the memos.
“Olivia, look at me!” Hands encased my face, but I barely felt them. “You’re scaring me! ?Respira normalmente!”
The edges of my vision darkened. “My heart. Oh fuck, I think I’m having a heart attack.”