Chapter 33
OLLIE
Ollie wasn’t often stunned into silence, but right now all he could do was stare at Stevie and hope that he wasn’t having a Prosecco-fuelled hallucination.
‘Wellllllllll, I’m just going to make myself disappear and leave you two to it,’ Ginny said, confirming that it was real, as she went over, leaned down and hugged Stevie.
‘Ginny, thanks for today,’ Stevie said. ‘Are you good? Did you get the job on Judas?’
Shit. Ollie realised that he hadn’t even asked her that.
Ginny nodded, and Ollie immediately reacted to salvage being a shit friend. ‘That’s great. I’m so happy for you. You deserve this…’
‘And I’m going to knock it back,’ Ginny said with a sunny smile as she headed for the door. ‘It’s a long story. I realised it didn’t want it. And I didn’t want Caden either.’
Stevie sat forward, wide-eyed. ‘Noooooo. You ended things with Caden?’
‘I did.’
‘Oh, Ginny I’m so sorry. How do you feel?’
‘Relieved.’
Ollie saw Stevie do a cute nose-wrinkle thing and he knew exactly what she was about to say. ‘Me too. I never liked him.’ Yup, that was it.
Some people would have been upset by that, but Ginny laughed.
‘Okay, next time, can you both give me a heads-up before I devote years of my romantic life to someone you hate? And I’m just warning you – I now have no big break and no boyfriend, so you two are stuck with me.
Sooooo… it would be really nice if you figured your shit out so that you don’t need to fight over custody of me. That’s all. Love you both and goodbye.’
With that, she was gone, closing the door behind her.
Stevie was still staring at the door. ‘I fricking love her.’
‘I fricking love you,’ Ollie blurted, realising it was probably one of the most un-smooth lines he’d ever delivered, but he couldn’t stop himself.
Stevie sighed. ‘I love you too…’
Ollie sat down beside her on the couch. ‘How come I feel like there’s a “but” coming?’ This wasn’t good. This wasn’t a romcom ‘throw herself into his arms’ happy ending – this was something else.
‘Because I have something I need to talk to you about. There’s a reason I freaked out on you today…’
‘Look, babe, I know.’ How many times had they had the same discussion?
She didn’t want his life. Their visions for their futures were incompatible.
They were right for each other, but not for each other’s lives.
And that was before he even told her that he’d just signed away five more years to The Clansman after his current contract ended.
As far as she knew he was only committed to one more year. How could he tell her it was six?
‘I don’t think you do.’
It took him a moment to catch back up. What didn’t he know? Before he could ask, she reached into the handbag beside her and took something out.
She handed it over. ‘You don’t know about this.’
He stared at the white stick in his hand… then the two boxes in the middle… the one with the blue line… and then the other one that said PREGNANT.
‘You’re pregnant?’ He felt his gut drop to the floor.
She was staring at him now with those huge brown eyes. ‘Unless that one and fourteen others just like it are wrong.’
‘You’re pregnant!’ he repeated, but this time it wasn’t a question, it was an exclamation, a joy, a thrill, a holy shit, this is incredible.
‘Holy shit, this is incredible!’ he recycled the words in his head, as he jumped up, then gently tugged her up to him and wrapped his arms around her.
‘Did I mention I love you? I did. I definitely did. Both of you. Oh, shit, BOTH of you. But how do we do this? I thought you didn’t want…’
When it hit, the reality came right in like a wrecking ball.
Six more years in total. Their kid would be in school before he could be a full-time dad, unless Stevie decided to bring the baby on location with him.
And that was a lonely life for her. Even the most solid relationships struggled to withstand those pressures.
‘Fuck. I need to tell you something. Oh, God, I don’t believe this. Stevie, please don’t freak out. I thought we were over. I thought I was doing the right thing for everyone. We’ll work it out. I’ll get the lawyers involved. I’ll find a way to get out of it.’
She’d pulled back now and was staring up at him, totally confused, and he didn’t blame her. ‘Out of what?’
‘Out of…’
The door swung open and Calvin and his mum came in, followed by the return of a sheepish Ginny.
‘Out of nothing,’ Calvin said, with what, if Ollie’s head hadn’t been on ‘completely freaking out’ mode, he would have recognised as a slightly triumphant smile.
Ollie’s eyes narrowed. ‘Were you three listening outside the door?’
‘Nope. Absolutely not,’ his mum insisted, but Ginny broke first.
‘Okay, we absolutely were, but it was my fault, because when I made my dramatic exit earlier, I met them right outside and then I had to tell them you two were in here and we were about to leave and then we overheard the good bit and… you really need to get these doors soundproofed.’
At that point, his mum burst into tears. ‘I’m going to be a gran?’
‘You’re going to be a gran.’ As she said it, Stevie’s smile cut right through his heart and he knew he couldn’t keep this from her.
‘Babe, you need to know… what I was trying to tell you earlier was that I signed a new Clansman contract. Five more years after this current contract ends.’
‘You did,’ Calvin said sternly, and Ollie was already going through his mental rolodex to pinpoint which lawyer he was going to use to get him out of the contract, no matter what it cost. ‘However…’ Calvin was still speaking, as he went over to the desk and lifted a document.
‘I didn’t send it over, because just as I was about to do it, I got the call from Netflix to say they’re recommissioning The Academy of Dreams. Two more years, with an option for a third.
And we both know your heart wasn’t in this,’ he said, gesturing to the contract.
Calvin wasn’t wrong. Ollie’s heart wasn’t in it, because his heart was right here. Standing next to him. Carrying his child. And beginning to voice her objections…
‘I can’t let you do that, Ollie. Not for me. We’ll work out something else. I’ll stop work. I’ll get a different job. I’ll fly my pals everywhere I go and charge it to your credit card…’
‘Yes!’ That was from Ginny, before she clocked Stevie’s face and sighed, ‘Oh. You were joking about that bit.’
‘I was,’ Stevie grinned. ‘But the point is, I don’t want to change your life.’
In a split-second Ollie saw it all. Life here at the Academy.
Going home to Stevie and their child. Taking occasional roles on exciting projects.
His mum coming for Sunday lunch. His friends hanging out in the garden, barbecuing on a sunny day.
And he looked down at the woman who had just given him all of those things.
‘But the thing is, my love – I do.’