Straight To You

Twenty Four

IRENE

Time passed so quickly, it had been two months since Stefan gave Irene the ring, they were still as usual without any changes, maybe the only thing that had changed was that they were no longer awkward when they met in person or just for a call and sent each other messages without having to think about will it be awkward or weird words. They always give short messages but often also interact on social media even though they don't know whether their fans will know about it or not, because they don't want to show their current relationship directly. Irene released her new song again which she wrote before the car accident happened. With the help of Andy and Joe, she was able to release the song without any obstacles even though she couldn't give the music video for this song to her fans. That afternoon Irene was at the beach to relax for a moment and thought about something that was on her mind with a notebook in her hands, the sound of the waves crashing and the sand being hit by the wind didn't make Irene stop thinking about this. 

"Should I discuss this with Stefan or wait for everything to settle down then talk to him?" Irene muttered while writing a few words in her notebook to distract her attention from the problem she was experiencing, then Irene opened Stefan's last message right before Stefan was busy again with his interview today in the Hollywood area, she smile at her cell phone screen and then her gaze fell on the beach in front of her with people busy playing volleyball and sound of laughter from people near the beach area. Irene's phone rang and when she saw the caller's name on the screen, Irene immediately picked up the phone.

"Yes Olivia, what's up?"

"Babe, where are you? I'm already at the apartment and there's no one here"

"Oh, I'm at beach near the volleyball beach court"

"Thank god, I thought you were lost somewhere" Irene can hear the sighs from Olivia

"I'm not lost, I'm an adult Olivia."

"Right, I'll get over there because I bought pizza for us, see ya" then the phone call is turned off, Irene just couldn't think what if she live alone without her best friend in another city far from here.

— — — — —

Irene spent time reading a romantic novel that she had just bought two weeks ago, the wind that afternoon was not too strong and it was very comfortable to linger on the beach, then suddenly someone hugged her from behind making Irene flinch a little and immediately looked behind him and it turned out it was Olivia with a large box of pizza and a liter of soda.

"Why are you alone here, poor you" said Olivia and immediately sat down in the chair next to Irene and then put the pizza on the table between their chairs.

"I'm just enjoying my day, beside I can read my new book here" while showing the book she was reading entitled Rewrite The Stars.

"What's that book about?" Olivia opened the pizza box for them to eat. It turned out she bought Irene's favorite cheese pizza and took one slice of pizza on a disposable plate that she brought from the apartment. Irene immediately took the bookmark and placed it in the last place where she read the book, then closed it and took the pizza that Olivia had prepared earlier, "this is about two people who have different paths in their life but the guy wants the girl to be together with him, a typical romantic story." 

Olivia, who was licking her finger because of the pizza sauce, immediately blurted out "oh, like the love life of someone I know." Irene, who heard those words without looking at the brown-haired girl, immediately bit the edge of the cheese pizza and devoured it. Irene was very focused on eating the pizza in her hand, leaning back against the chair and sighing, indicating that the pizza was delicious. "Where did you buy this pizza? It tastes like the one in New York" Olivia smiled while chewing her pizza, "It just opened near my campus, that's why I immediately bought it because I could become a regular there" Irene nodded happily, Olivia who saw Irene was very focused ate until he had finished one slice of pizza and then asked, "so, do you still want to move to New York alone?" Irene's gaze went straight to Olivia and their eyes met, she just sighed "I think so, but I'm not ready to leave you alone and Rachel also has to move with me, only she will live with her father in the suburbs of New York."

Olivia chuckle "hey, I'm not a teenager anymore, we're only a few years apart"

"yeah, you're right ​​but I've decided to keep moving to a new neighborhood and I've looked at several apartments that suit my money and the environment is quite nice, not to dirty like the previous apartment that we lived in for a week" Irene took another slice of pizza and ate it straight away.

"What about Stefan, have you told him?" When Olivia asked that, Irene was silent for a moment, "he doesn't seem to care about that either." Irene here hoping that her friend couldn't smell the lies in her words.

"What does that mean? He really cares about you. Did you forget that he changed his entire schedule just to wait for you at the hospital?" Irene actually want to say that they were already dating each other but Irene was afraid that it would make their relationship awkward.

"Did you already tell that guy, Irene? Did you?!" Olivia cornered Irene very easily, she continue, "I can smell your lies from here Irene, did you tell him already?" Irene looked worried and bit her lip then she told Olivia "actually, I've always chatted with him since the last two months and even sometimes meet him when he's in town." Irene glances over at Olivia and her mouth dropped completely when she heard those words come out of Irene's mouth, there was silence between them, even the sound of the waves crashing could be heard clearly, "and you didn't tell me about that?!" Olivia half-screamed and immediately adjusted her seat facing the wave-haired girl, "So you guys have been on good terms all this time, huh? Wait a minute, don't tell me that two of you already — ?!" Irene could only smile calmly at Olivia, "both of you?! Already dating each other! What?! How?!" Olivia was so passionate to say that word that her pizza almost fell off her plate.

Irene could only nod and say "hear me out, it was two months ago he asked me to make this relationship real, not just for the needs of the media and paparazzi, then he also gave me this thing" Irene showed me her necklace with a ring hanging like a pendant, Olivia's face was happy when she saw that, made the girl not say a word then she put the plate on the table and hugging her best friend tightly.

"Oh my god, finally my best friend has a boyfriend too, I'm very happy" he kiss Irene's cheek briefly. Irene, who knew that her best friend wanting to tell Robert, immediately stopped her. "Olivia, let Stefan tell his best friend about this, we agreed to not to tell everyone until we're stable with the paparazzi" Olivia pouted, "then when will it be, until you move to New York and Stefan tells Robert all about this news?" Irene just shook her head "maybe soon, just be patient and I'm ready to have a relationship with him and he's ready too, there's no more question" Olivia hugging her again and said "I'm very happy, that means I have a chance with Robert" Irene immediately let go of the hug "Hey, he's also my crush, don't forget that." Olivia rolled her eyes "Don't be greedy babe, you already have Stefan, don't take Robert too, he's mine babe." 

They both laughing and then continue to eating their pizza, Irene could only think about how to tell Stefan about this, whether they could date like other ordinary people without hiding like this. Deep in her heart, Irene also wanted to experience dating in a public place like other people. They could only meet in their apartment or in their apartment's swimming pool or even in their apartment's garden beside the pool. The sound of the waves crashing made Irene think more deeply about her relationship with Stefan even though Olivia was beside her but her thoughts were far from truly happy, she is very happy but that happiness was only temporary if she thought back to her relationship with Stefan which was just them and now Olivia was added who knows about all this. 

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-tbc

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