My Champagne Problems

17: Billecart-Salmon

"Of course I do." She rolls her tear-filled eyes at his egoistic answer.

"Mum's changed." She confides in him.

"How so?"

"She slapped me." This comes to him as a surprise.

"She what?" He frowns, thinking--hoping--he heard her wrong.

"We had a disagreement. Ryan kept interfering so I..." She trails off, confident in his ability to piece the rest together.

"That's an ugly bruise," he admits in light-hearted humor.

"Gee thanks." She rolls her eyes.

"On the bright side you get the perfect opportunity to practice your makeup stills," he suggests.

She rolls her eyes. Again. "I don't have any."

"YouTube is a thing," he replies dryly.

"Whatever."

"Why don't you go watch a scary movie or something, that away cheers you up," he suggests knowing that talking with him can only cheer the girl who hates talking in general, so much.

"I don't like scary movies," she shrugs.

"From when are you scared of scary movies?" He raises a brow.

"They're stupid," she concludes. He doesn't lower his brow.

"Like when the girl goes into the haunted house and asks is someone there?" She heightens her pitch to sound akin to the stereotypical movie girl. "What does she except the ghost to say 'hi there, welcome to my humble abode. Hope you enjoy your stay'?" She scoffs.

But somehow this exchange manages to pull her quivering lips into a small yet visible smile and evoke a full-blown laughing fit from Graham.

"Welcome to my humble abode? Seriously?" He laughs out. She shrugs smiling.

"Thanks," she acknowledges--once he has sobered up--knowing she could always count on him to cheer her up even in the gloomiest times.

"Anytime Olive," he chuckles. A slight disturbance in his background immediately catches her attention.

"You're not home," she states.

"Yeah," he scratches the back of his head nervously. "All of us are Charlie's diner, Jorden is being deployed tomorrow so it's a farewell dinner," he explains to her.

"Graham!" She admonished, now swamped in immense guilt. "Idiot, go back out there and spend time with your brother," she orders sternly.

"You could have told me that before," she whines, feeling responsible for pulling him away from his family.

"It's alright, that idiot is too busy being the center of attention to have time to spend with me anyway," he grumbles.

"Aw, are you feeling neglected?" She teases, now in a much better mood than before this call.

"Bye Olive," he rolls his eye with affirming or denying the allegations.

Not long after the call is disconnected, a knock is sounded in her room. She ignores it.

"Liv, I know you're mad, but just open the door and hear me out?" Kayden's voice appeals his case from the other side of the door.

Now no longer having tears blurring her vision and anger mixed with sadness clouding her mind, she concludes that in none of this does he stand at fault and so proceeds to open the door.