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I wasn't shocked on Friday morning when Eddie didn't speak a word to me. I introduced him to my second freshman class but he looked, well, more like sulking teenager than a thirty-four year old man. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face when he walked in without casting as much as glance toward me.
After the three hours passed he didn't stay behind as he did on Monday but left like he used to in my classes: fifteen minutes before class ended.
Back to, what I could class as, normal that quickly.
Was I that lucky?
Mack walked into my studio after class was dismissed with a smile. "How's Eddie?"
I smiled tightly. "He's great."
Mack smiled right back wistfully and smoothed her hair away from her eyes. "Isn't he though?"
"Careful now, I'm sure your husband wouldn't be happy to see you glassy eyed at our life drawing model."
"He'd probably agree with me." She shrugged. "Anyway what're we doing? You said you wanted to book a bar for Miranda's bachelorette party. Do you know where?"
"Yeah this place by my moms. She said she hasn't been there yet, but the reviews are apparently really good. You're okay with coming?"
"Sure. Did she veto a strip club then or did you veto it?"
I smiled sheepishly at her as I shrugged my coat on. "Why do we have to lower ourselves to that tradition. And isn't it more of a guy thing anyway? What's wrong with a night filled with music, cocktails and food?"
"I'm definitely not against a night with cocktails and food."
"Exactly. We better be going or we'll hit traffic over the bridge."
Mack followed me out to my baby. My Aygo. I loved my little forest green Aygo to pieces. The first thing I saved my first few paycheques for. It was perfect for the city, I didn't drive it as often as I'd like, the subway was easier but whenever I visit my mom or sister, I'd take my car. It was only a half hour journey to either of their houses from Park Slope anyway.
Halfway across the Brooklyn bridge and Mack started up on Miranda's wedding and how she went a bit funny on the flower arrangements last week. I was lucky to have Mack as another bridesmaid. Don't get me wrong I get on fine with Randy's cousin but it was great to be able to vent with Mack about some of the tidbits of being a bridesmaid. Knowing Randy's slightly anal cousin, she would have gone to the bride-to-be with mine and Mack's comments.
"She changed it back to orchids. Jake doesn't mind, the mans too moony eyed to even care. He'd be fine with dead leaves if Miranda said so."
"Is Jake even in the wedding?" I giggled.
Mack's green eyes sparkled with amusement. "I haven't seen him around, maybe she killed him."
"Nah, I saw him Wednesday he's still living. But I don't doubt that if Randy had a chance, she'd probably do the wedding by herself."
We continued to banter, sometimes turning serious on how the wedding was only six weeks away. Each day that goes by she gets more and more excited and so did I. It felt like yesterday when she turned up at my door at eight in the morning screaming that Jake Carpenter had proposed.
Five minutes to the restaurant, I almost swerved when she asked, "How's your sex life?"
"Mackenzie." I blanched, hiding my slight blush.
"Come on, Liv. You haven't said much about a man in your life."
My knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "What did Miranda say to you?"
I trusted Randy enough not to say anything about Eddie especially now that I work with him.
But that didn't stop the woman from mentioning my non-existent sex life.
"She asked me talk to you about it because she's to busy to latch onto it and poke you with the subject."
"Yeah, because you're hard to reason with." I said as I parked around the back of the restaurant/bar called, 'Chase'. It was almost five now and I nodded in slight approval at how packed it was already. Albeit it was a Friday night so I wasn't too surprised.
"Exactly." She replied as we exited the car. "So, I have a friend-"
"No. No blind dates." I halted her speech. "Both of you have tried to set me up with, and I quote, 'one of your friends,' or 'one of you husbands work buddies,' but nope. No more."
"But this one-"
"You're persistent but you might have to give up on this one."
She followed me through the double doors of the bar still trying to talk up this man from 'Kev's office' who 'is tall and handsome' but I ignored her completely. The place was nice, homely. There was a dance floor, a section of booths and tables where there were various family's eating dinner, music played above and their were men and women drinking at the car. Sort of reminded me of TGIFriday's.
"So that's a firm no?"
"That's a hell no, Mack." I smiled at the bar woman as we approached. "Hi there, I have an appointment with the owner,"
The older pretty woman looked around mid forties, probably the same age as my own mother. "That'd be my husband. You must be Olivia. He told me to take his appointments today, I hope that's okay."
"That's perfectly fine."
"So," She said as she lifted a section of the bar and approached us. She gave me a firm shake of the hand, same with Mack. "I'm Grace, my husband, Chase, is out in Manhattan at the moment, but he did tell me you're enquiring about booking our bar for a bachelorette party?"
"Yes, in five weeks; the thirteenth."
"That shouldn't be a problem, let me show you both around a bit."
For ten minutes, Mack and I chatted to Grace as she told us how the night would work and told us more about how her husband and her opened the place a few months ago. Half hour later, I'd worked out a payment method and Mack and I were on our way out the door. Grace seemed wonderful. She didn't stop smiling which was refreshing to see, especially in establishments like these nowadays.
"Oh, yes I forgot. If you girls want, um, extra acts to perform on the night, you'd have to sign off with myself or Chase."
For a minute I was confused until Mack said, "Oh, like strippers."
"We're not-"
"I'll contact you if we decide on anything like that." Mackenzie interrupted and I rolled my eyes. "Thanks again."
"You're welcome girls. Olivia, don't hesitate to call prior to other arrangements like food. Whether you want catered or not."
"Will do."
"I'm excited already." She said once we were back in the car.
"No strippers, Mack. I mean it."
She tutted. "Come on, it's Miranda's big send off. We can't not have-"
"No."
"Such a spoilsport."
"Honestly," I glanced at her with a smirk. "I do try."
**
I glared at my portfolio sitting evilly in my coffee table.
I don't know why I even pulled it out. Probably because it had a certain someone plastered over four sections of my thirty page folder. Who knew why I'd included him in the first place.
Probably because whenever I worked with him I'd paid just a bit too much attention to detail and they were my best works.
I sipped on my red wine. It wasn't even a big deal that he was back in my life. He wasn't a big deal in the first place; I think I'm just making it a big deal because he was my first one night stand. And of all the places, in a fucking elevator!
I groaned into my hands.
Damn him for rehashing old memories.
I lifted my head at the sound of a knock on my door. I frowned. The only people with a key to my building were Randy, my mother and my sister. I tied my dressing gown tighter around my waist and made my way to door. I stared through the peephole and released a long sigh. "For God's sake. Cor, it's ten o'clock."
My younger sister smiled as she passed me to stroll into the living room. "I know but, I was just in the neighbourhood."
"You're never just in the neighbourhood, what'd you want?" I closed the door behind me and observed my sibling making herself right at home in my seat and picking up my glass of wine.
"I was out with a few friends and-"
"You need a place to stay. As usual. Because mom's house is so far away isn't it."
Her mouth curled into a frown, just as our fathers does, and she shrugged. "It was either come here or get the subway back to my house and we both know how unsafe it is to be on a subway at ten at night."
Corrine tucked her black hair behind her ear and leaned forward. My twenty year old sister was currently studying business and politics at NYU Stern on a scholarship. Yeah, she was crazy smart and yet here she was, almost wasted, drinking the remnants of my wine whilst attempting to open- wait.
"Corry, wait. Don't open- and you've opened it."
"Why've you got your portfolio out, are you moving jobs?"
I pinched my bottom lip between my fingers mumbling my no.
"Then why've you pulled this out. By the way have you seen mom lately?"
My eyes followed how she flipped through each sleeve pausing on a few of my fine art pieces from my last year.
"Liv?"
"What? Oh, no. I spoke to her on the phone earlier today though." flip.
"Well, I saw her last weekend. Told me she doesn't know whether she'll make an appearance at Randy's bachelorette party."
I perked up and sat beside her. "What? Why not?"
"She said it's something for us younger adults. She was complaining how having her there, you and I won't be ourselves or something."
"Randy wants her there."
"Talk to her she said she'll come for the beginning and she'd disappear when the stripper gets-"
"There won't be a damn stripper for crying out loud." I stressed for the hundredth time today. "Why does everyone want a stripper anyway."
"Because it's a rite of passage." flip.
"For somone that's smart, you're a bit of a moron."
"Har-har." flip. Crap. "Oh yeah, your life drawing pieces. Either you over exaggerate or this guy was really good looking."
I cringed, trying my hardest to avoid the drawn images of Eddie Marshall's naked body. Shouldn't have pulled it out.
"You can close that now." I reached across but she manoeuvred her body so she was blocking me. "Corrine."
"You did a few of this guy, wow. What I would give to be in class with him."
I relented and stared down at the detailed pencil drawings of Eddie's body. I compared his current self to the body from six years ago and released a womanly sigh of appreciation. How could God create someone like him? To think, I actually spent more than two hours in a room with him and examined every nook and cranny of his body.
You spent about half hour touching it.
I shook the thought away and inwardly scowled.
"They're dancer's not strippers anyway, I prefer calling them that. Ooo, what's this-"
"You can look at my portfolio in the morning, okay. Go to bed."
"Okay, alright." I gripped the edge and shut it before she could look at anymore. I grabbed her arm and helped her up. Stumbling slightly, she wrapped an arm around my neck and allowed me to drag her into my bedroom. Normal Friday night for me. Not every Friday but most Friday's. She grumbled how I looked after her too much and how she should be the one returning the favour from all the years I'd helped her during our parents divorce.
Flashbacks to their messy divorce was another thing I kept locked up in the special vault in my subconscious. When I was twleve and little Corrine was only six. Holding her crying body next to the door whilst they argued. Drowning out their pointless arguing with a Disney movie.
Corrine just about remembered it but I remembered it like it was yesterday.
I pulled off her shoes, jeans and blouse before throwing her one of my oversized t-shirts.
"I love you, Liv."
I settled into bed beside her after brushing my teeth. "Love you too."
"But I really do. Thanks." She sighed.
We both had our own issues as such. Corrine may be the smartest woman I knew but she sometimes drank a little too much. She may not notice but I knew when she did go out which was near enough every weekend, she ended up here in bed with me. Mom noticed and we talked about it but I'm not too ceratin our dad knew.
I admittedly had issues when it came to... commitment. I loved my mom, I loved my dad. But they were the reason for it. I grew up watching them tiptoe around each other for twelve years. I hated delving into the past, I really did especially when it came to them.
Corrine's hand landed on my upper arm as she began to snore away. I couldn't help but smile. She used to always touch or hug me. It didn't matter how old we were.
Same old, Cor.
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Dived into a small tidbit of Olivia's life :)
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