26. Olivia
OLIVIA
THE SHOE IS ON THE OTHER FOOT (AND IT’S A FLAT!)
Four days.
Four days until I walked down the aisle.
I couldn’t believe it.
Everything had been a wild rush for so long, it was hard to believe that in less than a week I would be flying off to Italy for a month-long honeymoon, which my father had insisted on funding.
It would be the longest time I’d ever been away from home, and although I was a bit intimidated by the idea, I was also excited.
Almost as excited as I was to marry the love of my life.
Not for the first time, I wished I could tell young, insecure Olivia how awesome her life would get. Especially once she was willing to stand up and allow herself to want, to fail, and to have things only for her.
“Olivia, dear, mio tesoro,” my mother’s voice drifted through the door. “Can we talk a minute?”
“Of course, Mama,” I said, making sure to save the pitch I was putting together for a freelance gig that would start after my honeymoon. “Is everything okay?” I asked as I opened the door.
“Sì, nothing to worry about. I know that your schedule is busy and I wanted to ask if you can pencil in helping me with baking for a fundraiser for del tuo cuginetto.”
“Ah yeah, Gunner, right?”
“You mean Giuseppe.”
“No, I mean Gunner.”
“He is named after his great-great zio! Is very honorable!”
“And he can be honorable when he grows up. Right now, he’s a kid who wants to be called Gunner.”
My mother sighed heavily but didn’t protest more, instead walking past me to cross to my computer, which was still on. “Here, I have the dates, will you check and let me know if is something you want to do?”
“If I’m free, I definitely want to help, Mama. Let me look right now.”
“Grazie, dear.”
Many, many things had changed since my thirtieth birthday party, but despite saying no more often and putting a whole lot more boundaries between me and my family, we were closer than ever.
Things were asked of me more now than demanded, I often received plenty of warning so I could plan my efforts appropriately, and few ever complained if I said no.
It was wonderful, especially because my mother and I spent less time rapidly trying to cook and set up for events and more time just being a mother and daughter.
“Looks like I’m free,” I said after checking my calendar. “Your backup baker is locked and loaded and ready to go!”
“And you are sure it will not be an issue that it’s two weeks after your viaggio di nozze with tuo amore?”
“It won’t be, I’m certain,” I said, standing and kissing the top of my mother’s head. “After being away for so long, you’re probably going to have to scrape me off your side with a spatula.”
My mother giggled, and it was such a sweet sound. “As if I would! Please, stick on your mama all you want! My baby girl is all grown up. When next we cook, you will be a signora! No longer my little signorina!”
“Ay, Mama, I aged out of being a signorina somewhere in my twenties,” I objected, although I didn’t take offense. “But no matter what, I’ll always be your little girl.”
Her eyes became shiny with tears, which had been happening a lot more during the lead-up to my wedding. “Sì. This is true.”
We hugged, and then my phone rang. Considering my nuptials were in less than five days, I hurried to check it to make sure it wasn’t some last-minute pull out or other emergency. Because with my luck, that was bound to happen.
Thankfully, however, I didn’t see any of the many new numbers I’d had to save for my various points of contact. It was Amanda’s name flashing on my phone screen.
She rarely ever called me unless it was urgent, usually preferring to text or even send voice messages over our online chat, so I figured it would be better if I picked up even if the timing wasn’t the best.
“Sorry, Mama, I gotta take this.”
“It’s okay! You are a busy, busy bee! I’m going to go start on dinner; will you be with us tonight?”
“I should be, but it’ll depend on what this call is about.”
“Sì, understood. Just let me know!”
“I will!”
My mother hurried out, no doubt to sniffle happily over whatever she was making in the kitchen below, and I hurried to answer the call.
“Hey, what’s u—”
“OhmyGodOliviaI’mSOgladyouanswered!”
Amanda’s words came as one solid rush that was so fast my brain lagged before it figured out what she’d said. Uh-oh, this did not seem like a regular check-in call.
“Is everything okay?” I asked uncertainly, fearing the worst.
“Oh my god, I messed up so bad! I just… I thought he was understanding! I thought he liked me for me!”
Amanda was crying, something I’d never heard her do outside of being kissed by Rosemary and Oregano, or during a character death in particularly well-done animated movies. Anger and concern ripped through me, all thoughts of my wedding vanishing without so much as a hint of resistance.
“Amanda, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” And for that matter, who was he?
“Huh? Oh, no, it’s not anything like that. You remember that guy from the comic book shop? The one I wasn’t sure it was fair to date because I don’t know if I’m really into sex or ever am going to be?”
“I remember.” How could I forget? Amanda had come out to me with something that was sensitive to her, and I had never once taken that for granted.
It had really cemented to me that she saw me as her true friend.
Maybe one day, I would return the favor and tell her I was a wolf. “Did it not go well?”
A choked-off wail sounded from her, and I was already out of my door and thundering down the stairs. Thankfully, the few people who were in the house around this time of day knew better than to get in my way.
“That’s the thing, it was going well! Really well! I meant to tell you, but we haven’t had much time to talk outside of the wedding, and you know how I tend to focus now that we’re in the final countdown!”
“I do know that,” I said, grabbing my keys from where they hung by the front door and sprinting out to my car. “But please, Amanda, even if I am getting married, I still wanna know what’s going on in your personal life.”
“I knew you were gonna say that. And I should have. But I also think I didn’t want to jinx it.
Our first date was awesome. It was so chill, and he wasn’t rude or sexual and didn’t put any weird pressure on me.
I thought I was going to have a super romantic story like you and Keith, so I didn’t want to spoil it! ”
I would have been more flattered if my best friend didn’t sound like she was still fighting off her tears, so I quickly connected my phone to my Bluetooth and peeled out of the driveway faster than was probably advisable.
“I’m guessing by this call that it didn’t turn out that way, and I am so sorry. If you couldn’t already hear in the background, I’m heading to you right now. Do you wanna finish telling me the story when I get there? Or have me stay on the phone?”
“Oh God, you’re coming here? You must think I’m so fucking stupid!”
“What? No! Why would you think that? Why would I ever think that?”
“Because you’re so smart and put-together and mature, and I’m here crying because this guy I was seeing came over after our fifth date and tried to put the moves on me! Who does that? A moron, that’s who!”
I gripped the steering wheel so hard it creaked.
“Hey, that’s my best friend you’re talking about, so watch your language,” I said, hoping the slight bit of levity would make it stick better.
“And for the record, you’re not a moron for thinking that someone wanted to hang out with you just for you.
He didn’t... he didn’t try to...” Even trying to say the words made me nauseous.
Not because I didn’t think it happened, but because the idea that someone would hurt my best friend in that way had my inner wolf howling and pacing within me, waiting for the opportunity to attack.
No one harmed our pack!
“No! It wasn’t anything like that. I mean, he got handsy, and when we were making out he kept trying to slide his hand up my skirt.
He told me on our third date that he understood if I needed more time and that sex might not be a thing for me, so when I told him that we had gone as far as I was comfortable, I expected him to be cool with it.
Maybe have some questions, yeah, but he started like, almost debating me!
Like he could convince me that this thing I’ve been struggling with for a while isn’t a thing at all! ”
Scumbag!
“I don’t know, I was so taken aback, blindsided really, that I reminded him he told me he would be cool if we never had sex.
Then he told me it was ridiculous to expect that of any man.
So then I got angry, and I told him no, it wasn’t, and I had been transparent about things from the beginning, so if he had an issue, that was his problem, but then he called me a bitch and stormed out!
” At that, she started crying again, and my heart truly ached for her.
“I know it’s so stupid to get worked up about something that everybody does, but I really thought he was different.
I hate that people look at me and decide what I’m like and what I’m okay with just because I like fashion and makeup.
I hate how they feel that they can decide what I want to do with my body, and how I should feel about allowing someone to be inside of it! ”
“What an asshole!” Honestly, that was a nicer word than the other things that were floating through my head. I didn’t often think of using my shifter status against humans, but I was contemplating paying a midnight visit to that scumbag to put the fear of God into him.
My best friend was so headstrong that she wasn’t going to let that sort of bullshit sway her into doing something that she didn’t want to do, but the next girl might not be so lucky.
Men like that tended to prey on vulnerable people with a desire to please.
He had messed up by mistaking Amanda’s genuine enthusiasm for hanging out with anyone as desperation.