Chapter 17
Two days later, Olivia was returning home midday when she happened upon a scene that looked straight from a movie—partly because there was an actual camera there filming it.
Chuck stood on the sidewalk outside her apartment’s living room window throwing pebbles at it two stories up and shouting her name.
“Olivia!” he called a second time.
The first time, she’d thought she was imagining things and her boyfriend couldn’t possibly have been hurling pebbles at her window like a lovesick teenager in an eighties film while Benny the cameraman stood by and Tyler the PA kept the sidewalk clear. But alas, that was exactly what was happening.
“Liv! Open up! I have to tell you something!” Chuck shouted again as she climbed out of her rideshare and he threw another pebble. Where he was even getting the pebbles, she had no idea because the only bits of nature around her apartment were stray leaves and the occasional empty Starbucks cup that the wind nipped from a trash can.
“What are you doing?” she asked when she approached.
He stopped and turned to her in surprise. “Oh! Hey. No wonder you aren’t answering.” He gave her his dimple-popping grin and eyed her outfit. She wore a businessy skirt and blouse with heels that had him eyeing her legs and looking like it was difficult to speak. “Did you have a meeting this morning?”
“Yes. But again, what are you doing?” She nodded at the camera and up at her window, which thankfully wasn’t chipped.
He eyed the camera and then pinched her elbow to lean in and mutter, “I’m grand gesturing . Parker thought it would play well for the end of the show.”
She narrowed her eyes and gazed around for the EP in question, wondering if he’d somehow beat her home. “I just talked to Parker, and he didn’t mention anything about filming a new ending.”
“Yes, well, it’s supposed to be a surprise. We’ve got Benny and Tyler here,” he said with a smile.
“Yes, I see that. But again, why?”
He threw out his arms and half squatted in excitement. “Because I have something to tell you!”
“Then tell me.”
“I will! But can you go upstairs and pretend you heard me down here calling you instead of finding me out here?” He looked at her like an eager puppy.
She arched a brow at him. “No.”
“Liv, come on. Play along.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Do it for Tyler!”
“For Tyler?”
“Okay, do it for me, then.”
She paused. “We’ve already done plenty for the cameras, Chuck.”
“True, but this is one last hurrah.” He made jazz hands and moved his hips side to side. That, along with his doughy little dimple still popped, almost got her, but not quite.
“You can hurrah me here in the street.”
“ Ugh. Fine! You have to act surprised, though.”
“If it’s surprising I will be surprised on my own.”
“It is. Trust me.”
“Oh god,” she muttered in dread right as Chuck turned to Benny and twirled his finger in the air like Parker even though he was already filming. Olivia took it to signal this is it .
Chuck cleared his throat and turned back to her with a huge grin. “I got the part!” he shouted, and threw out his arms.
Sheer shock—and then joy—crashed into Olivia. Her mouth fell open. “Wait, seriously?”
“Seriously! I told you the timing of your profile could change everything, and it did . Izzy Ramírez gave me a callback and hired me on the spot.”
Olivia happily punched him in the shoulder. “Chuck! This is incredible! I’m so happy for you!”
He scooped her up off the ground in a bear hug, and she wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you! It wouldn’t have happened without you, and I mean that, so thank you for the profile, again.”
She cupped his face in her hands and kissed his lips. “I’m so proud of you.”
“And the best part is,” he blurted like he’d never stopped talking, “I can pay for everything now—my rent, your rent, unless you want to move in with me—also, please move in with me? And I can take care of Willow Grove too, so Grandma Ruby doesn’t have to go anywhere. And I—”
“Wait, wait, wait. Slow down,” she said, and loosened her grip so that she slid down his body back onto her feet.
He paused to catch his breath. “Sorry. I know that was a lot really fast. I just want to fix everything so that we can be together, and so you don’t have to worry about anything, and—”
“I’m not worried,” she said.
“And I— What? You’re not?” He finally stopped talking enough to let her get a word in.
“No, I’m not,” she said with a soft smile. “Not anymore.”
He picked up on her smile and slyly smiled back. “Okay, what did I miss this time?”
She placed her hand over his heart, which she could feel thumping hard. “Well, while you were out landing your big part, I was out selling the rights to my parents’ story.”
This time his mouth fell open in shock. “Seriously?”
“Yes. Turns out, they’re just as hot of a commodity as we always suspected. I got Astrid on board to tell the story with me, which obviously drove up the price substantially, and Parker wants to turn it into a documentary. And we already have four publishers interested in a book deal. That’s where I was this morning. With Parker and Astrid.”
Chuck’s mouth continued to pop open and closed as if he couldn’t figure out which words to form.
“You look like a really sexy fish right now,” Olivia said, and squeezed his face.
“I’m a really impressed fish right now. Holy shit, Liv. This is incredible. How much—? I mean, what kind of payday—?” He cut off and cleared his throat, obviously wanting to know but not wanting to ask.
She smiled at him, still unable to believe the number herself. “Enough.”
He impishly squinted at her. “Like cover your basic needs enough? Or like let’s buy a yacht enough?”
She laughed and leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her. “ Enough enough, Chuck. But a yacht isn’t out of the question.” She quickly muttered the last part and buried her lips in his neck. He smelled so perfectly like him that she could have gotten drunk off it.
“So, what does this mean for us?” he asked, pulling back with an excited grin.
She pushed her hand through his tousled hair. “It means that money isn’t an issue anymore.” She looked over at the camera to make it clear that she was calling back to her declaration in the viral clip that instigated this whole journey and winked. Then she looked back at Chuck, the love of her life, and smiled. “And it means that I’ll be with you, always, for free.”