We were never the marrying type, oh no,
We won't buy dishes or stained glass lights, oh no,
For a table we'll never sit at,
In the house that we won't ever get,
I won't wake up and pick out your tie, oh no,
You won't come home and kiss me at night, oh no,
We won't lie in this king bed for two,
Say goodbye to us saying "I dos,"
No more white picket fences,
No more lace veils or vows,
No more "You're the only one" 'cause that's all done with now,
This is the last love song I'll ever write for you,
This is the last love song I'll ever write for you,
- Last Love Song, ZZ Ward
AVA
I parked right in front of Hanna’s apartment building after our shopping trip. She hated me for being so glum the whole time, giving sarcastic comments every five or so minutes.
“God! If I knew you were going to be this difficult, I would have left you alone in your apartment to rot!” She bellowed at me while we were looking at dresses.
I simply kept rolling my eyes at her. Yeah, she could have done that but she didn’t, so now she has to put up with my foul mood.
I was thankful, however that she made great effort to remove me from my apartment; my apartment riddled with Oliver’s memories and scents among other things.
We were unloading her shopping bags when about six men surrounded us with large, high powered cameras.
“Ms. Baron! Is it true that you and Oliver Royce have broken up?” One guy whose camera was almost poking my face asked.
After the initial question, a storm of others followed.
“People saw you storm out of the gala last night and you went home with a bachelor that is NOT Oliver Royce!”
“Did he cheat on you?”
“Was it his past? You can’t take it, can you?”
“Did you think you could domesticate the wild playboy that is Oliver Royce?”
There were more questions that just flew past me and more photographers ambushed us
I stared at them, my mouth hanging wide open without anything to say.
Hanna tried to placate them but they were relentless. They kept asking questions, surrounding us closely like a hungry pack of wolves. We felt defenseless as the flashbulbs kept going off at our faces and I felt my knees getting weaker when a loud voice shouted over them.
“Excuse me! I don’t think Ms. Baron and Ms. Crest appreciate being hounded by you guys when they clearly just got back from a tiring shopping trip.”
The swarm of photographers parted and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Robb walked in the circle and gathered a couple of bags from the floor, even taking a couple from my hands. As he looked up at me, he winked and smiled before turning back to the photographers.
As we were about to make our way into the building, they started firing questions left and right once more.
“Mr. Madden! Did you steal away Oliver Royce’s lady love?”
The one question that was louder than the rest.
Right, he’s a mini celebrity too. Just like my brother.
Robb stopped and turned to them. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
He smiled at them and ushered us into the safety of the apartment building.
Once we were inside, he handed the bags to a waiting attendant.
“Are you two okay? I hope the paparazzi didn’t scare you all that much.” Robb asked.
“Yeah, we’re fine. Thank you so much Robb. We owe you.” Hanna smiled sweetly at Robb before handing the remaining bags to another attendant.
“Yeah, Thank you for saving my ass again. This is another thing to add to the long list of embarrassing moments by Ava Baron.”
He chuckled to himself after my comment.
“I’ll leave you two.” Hanna walked off to the elevator.
“Hey Han!”
She turned to me with a concerned look on her face. She wasn’t comfortable with leaving me on my own right now. But she’d have to trust that I won’t do something extremely stupid.
“Thank you. I needed today.” I continued.
She nodded and got into the open elevator and went up to her apartment.
I turned back to Robb who had a comforting smile on his lips.
“Don’t mention it. It wasn’t embarrassing, Todd’s the paparazzi favorite so it’s not a surprise that you’re not used to this kind of attention.”
I pushed my hands into my pockets and sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”
“I’d offer you a ride but seeing as you brought your own sportscar, I don’t see the need.”
He joked, a glint of mischief playing in his eyes.
A dry, forced giggle escaped my lips. “Thanks for your concern. I have to head home now, though. I still have to pick up my dog from my assistant.”
We said our goodbyes and I drove to Kelly’s to pick up Bandit.
When I arrived, Bandit rushed through the door and jumped into my open car.
I thanked Kelly for taking care of him and tried to reimburse her for anything that she may have spent on him but she refused. She said that Bandit was wonderful company and didn’t want any money.
On the drive home, I reminded myself to revisit the idea of giving my secretary/assistant a raise.
I dropped off my shopping bags with an attendant that was waiting in the lobby and asked him to bring them to my apartment.
I continued to the basement parking and as Bandit and I got out of the car, my wolf-like companion started to growl and bare his teeth.
It was alarming as I’ve never seen him act this way before. I looked over my shoulder and the hooded man was in the basement again.
He was just standing there, observing me behind his sunglasses. I remained calm as I called Bandit to follow me to the elevator. He kept his attack stance as he walked, he was wary and ready to pounce.
The elevator opened to my apartment, revealing a disheveled man in a dirty black suit. Bandit ran towards the man and I felt a tinge of guilt when I recognized who it was.
“Oliver.” I whispered.
~**~
“AVA!” He cried out as he walked slowly towards me. When he was about two meters away, I could smell the alcohol on him.
“Oliver, what are you doing here?” I kept him at a distance by placing my hand on his chest, stretching my arm.
“I...came to apologize. And tell you the truth.” His words were somewhat slurred and his beautiful green eyes were bloodshot. His golden brown hair was messed up as if he’d run his hands through them a thousand times the night before. His shirt was untucked and his Italian dress shoes, destroyed by mud and all the mystery fluids he’d stepped on while he was trudging around the filthy streets of New York.
“You’re drunk and I don’t want you here.” I walked away, letting him lose his balance and almost falling to the floor.
I couldn’t let him get to me, no matter how much it pained me to see him like this. I had to stay strong.
I felt his arms capture my waist and his alcoholic breath on my neck.
“Please. Please hear me out.”
The tears pooled in my eyes as his words went straight through to my heart. I was so angry but it pained me to see him like this and I was fighting the urge to help him and take care of him. Tell him I forgive him, that I love him. But the fact that he kept something so important from me stopped me from forgiving or forgetting any of it.
“Please…” He pleaded once more, this time his voice cracked and I felt hot tears fall on my neck.
It took everything just to get myself to unclasp his hands from my waist. I walked away and turned to him. The sight broke my heart into a thousand pieces.
There he was, the great Oliver Royce. In a filthy suit from the night before, his hair a complete mess, and his beautiful green eyes filled with sorrow and despair, wiping out any trace of playfulness in them.
He was crying silently at the loss of contact and I had to stop myself from running to him and telling him everything was going to be okay; that WE are going to be okay.
But I couldn’t lie to him, even if I was furious.
“Oliver, I can’t do this right now. You have to go home.”
He inhaled deeply and nodded, as if he instantly became sober.
“You’re right. I’m sorry I bothered you… Can we talk about this? When you’re ready.”
I just nodded because if I said anything, I would definitely lose it.
I heard a whimper from Bandit, it was as if he knew exactly what was going on.
Oliver bent down and scratched under Bandit’s chin.
“It’s okay, bud. I’ll still see you from time to time.”
He walked silently to the elevator but he suddenly turned to me and asked,
“Are we really over?”
I bit my quivering lip and nodded.
“I’m really sorry.” He whispered before getting into the elevator.
The moment he disappeared behind the closed elevator doors, I sank to the floor and started crying again. Bandit lied down beside me, resting his head on my thigh.
OLIVER
I flagged a cab down to bring me home. I have no idea how I actually got to Ava’s without getting run over or mugged
She made it clear to me that she wanted distance from me and that we can’t be together anymore. No matter how much that pained me, I accepted it because I wanted to respect her decisions.
I could only hope that she will want talk to me again.
I wanted so badly to tell her everything, to let her know that I did what I thought was right but I couldn’t bring myself to smear Casey’s memory or reputation. The internal conflict was tearing me up inside.
When I was in her apartment, she didn’t seem so angry anymore but then, I made so many poor decisions that she probably just thought it wouldn’t be a fair fight if she embarked on a screaming match against a drunk man.
I showered before I got into bed and I thought twice about keeping my filthy suit or to just throw it away. I didn’t want it anywhere around me at the moment.
~**~
At work, I was unpleasant to everyone and I hated myself for it. I have been consistently unpleasant since my breakup with Ava. The staff has been walking on eggshells for two weeks now.
I decided to spare my staff from the monster I’ve become overnight, I slipped out during lunchtime to take a walk. I was sulking inside a coffee shop in one of its booths at the back when someone slipped onto the seat opposite mine.
“What, did you go into hiding?!” Hanna barked at me the moment her butt hit the cushioned seat.
“What are you talking about?”
“I came into your office for the nth time and your staff said you just stormed out.”
I let out an exasperated sigh and said, “Well did they also tell you that I’ve turned into a demon boss?”
Her gaze shifted left and right. “They might have mentioned it.”
“There you have it.”
She reached over to me and placed her hand over mine.
“Olly, you’re both miserable. You’ve become terror Royce in a span of two weeks and Ava’s making bad decisions. Please reach out to her and talk this out.”
“She made it clear that she doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore. I think it’s best not to push the issue.”
“What do you mean she’s making bad decisions?”
“You’ll know it when you see it, Olly.”
Her shoulders sank and a pleading expression played across her face.
“Do you not love her at all?”
“What kind of question is that, Hanna? Of course I love her! She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me!”
Her expression turned stern, almost angry.
“Then why are you not fighting for her?”
“I--” I started on a reply but I couldn’t come up with any.
Her eyes softened as she squeezed my hand.
“Then go. Talk to her. Sort this out.”
“But there is apparently more to this whole tragedy than what I believed, Hanna.”
“So? She loves you, Olly. It won’t matter anymore, just tell her everything.”
“But what if it drives her even farther away from me?”
I muttered under my breath.
She sighed as she pulled her hand away.
“Isn’t that a risk you’re willing to take?”
At that moment, I decided that it was and I’m going to fight for her.
No matter what it takes.
I got up quick and gave Hanna a peck on the cheek.
“Thank you. You might have just saved my life, Hanna Crest.”
She shrugged. “It’s what I do.”
I ran out of the coffee shop and dashed towards my building.
“Get my car out here now.”
The valet was thoroughly surprised and scurried away to retrieve my car.
When my R8 came to a stop in front of me, I immediately grabbed the keys from the valet and sped off. I wasn’t going to waste any time.
I arrived at Ava’s building in record time. I expected security to throw me out the moment I came in, but instead, they welcomed me with warm greetings.
I suppose she hasn’t banned me from her office.
As I rode the elevator, my heart was going a hundred miles per minute. My nerves were getting to me and I didn’t even have a plan as to what I was going to say.
I reached her floor where both assistants looked at me as if they’ve seen a ghost.
“Mr. Royce, I don’t think Ms. Baron is ready for you just yet.”
Kelly said nervously.
I walked right past them and straight into Ava’s office.
“Ava, we need to talk!”
The sight that welcomed me made my blood boil and gave me the urge to go on a killing spree.
And then I understood what Hanna meant by bad decisions.
“Hello Oliver. You look well.” Robb cordially acknowledged my presence.
I was stunned for a while.
The nerve this asshole has to show up at Ava’s office when it hasn’t even been a month yet since we’ve broken up. Add to that his involvement in all of this.
“Yes. Well. Considering what you did to ruin my life, Robb. I do look extremely well.”
“Oliver, this is not the time or the place for this.” Ava interjected.
“Is it? Considering how fast you’ve gotten back on your feet and with Robb, I might add. The one who told you about all the skeletons in my closet, right?”
She was taken aback by my sudden outburst.
I stepped forward in their direction and continued, “And you asked me what they stood to gain from all of this.” I made a dramatic gesture of sweeping my hand around the room.
“Surprise, Ava Baron. It’s you. Robb Madden stood to gain you from ruining our relationship.”
“Oliver, please.”
“This is clearly between the two of you so I guess I should--”
“Leave? Is that what you were going to say, Robb? Why? Are you not enjoying your masterpiece right now? You’ve got everything you wanted. Enjoy the show!”
“Oliver Royce! Do not embarrass yourself even further, please.”
I took a step back and stared at her for a while.
“Right. I shouldn’t embarrass you in front of your new beau, I’m sorry. I will be on my way and I won’t bother you ever again.”
I turned to walk out of the door when Ava’s voice stopped me.
“Oliver…”
I kept my back turned to conceal how broken I’ve become.
“I just wish you didn’t believe them so easily, Ava. I thought you loved me enough to let me explain. There’s still so much you don’t know.”
I walked out before any of them could utter another word. I left with so much anger and hatred in my heart. I felt cheated and robbed of all those that were important to me.
I went home after that unfortunate encounter. Drowned myself in loads of work, parties, and alcohol. I wanted to numb myself to the pain that was eating me inside.
Accepting the fact that I lost Ava because I still felt the need to protect Casey’s memory was a tough reality to live with everyday.
~**~
AVA
What did he mean, there’s so much I didn’t know? What else is there?
“Ava?”
Robb spoke, interrupting my current train of thought.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. I just need to get some work done but thank you so much for checking up on me, Robb. It’s really quite nice of you to do so.”
He took a step forward and caressed my arm. “Don’t mention it. It was my pleasure.”
The way those words rolled off his tongue made me feel a bit strange and not in a good way. The tiny sparkle in his eyes didn’t help either.
“We should have dinner sometime. Just give me a call.”
And with that, he left my office.
As soon as he left, I went right into my work and when I was out of papers to review, sign, etc, I became extremely frustrated because I had time.
Time to dwell on what Oliver said.
I opened the laptop that was sitting idly on my desk and typed in Casey Hartley. Photos of a beautiful brunette popped up on my screen. Attending premiere parties, shopping, and then the unfortunate tragedy that took her.
She was unconscious inside a wrecked sportscar that was unrecognizable due to the amount of damage. I clicked on a random article that discussed the accident. It said that in the police report, Casey wasn’t in control of the vehicle she was in but an unknown driver.
I’m guessing that unknown driver was Oliver.
There were a couple of random things in the article, such as her worsening alcohol dependence. It was feared that acquiring such a dangerous vice would cost her her life in the future, but then she died in the hands of another, putting speculations to rest.
People expressed their condolences to the family and friends of Casey who mourn her passing on the website in which the article was published. Oliver was not mentioned in any of the articles, it looks like his father did a good job in covering his son’s tracks. He got away scot-free and didn’t even have to do time for taking two lives because of his recklessness.
Just as I was about to click on another article to feed my burning curiosity, my doors flew wide open. In comes my seriously blond and furious best friend, Hanna Crest.
“Kelly said Oliver was here a while ago.”
“He dropped by for a visit, yes.”
Her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped.
“And?!”
I felt tears sting my eyes as I recalled our brief encounter early today.
“We’re done.”
“You’re what?” She spat out in disbelief.
“Done. We won’t see each other again. I guess we weren’t really meant to be after all.”
She exhaled loudly as her shoulders sank. She looked heartbroken to me.
“Did you two talk properly, at least? Get a clean break?”
I shook my head. “No. He got here and saw me with Robb. He thought I’ve moved on with him. Oliver was extremely upset because he still saw Robb as the villain in all of this. He just left.”
She took a step forward and placed her bag down on one of the chairs in my office.
“He just left? Did he say anything to you before he bolted?”
Shaking my head I said, “No, just that there’s much more to all of it that I didn’t know. He said he wished I didn’t believe Cam and Robb so easily. I don’t know what all of it meant, Han. And I’m not sure I wanted to know either.”
She sank into my couch and looked forlorn.
“It’s as clear as day, Ava. How could you not have understood?”
I lost it. All these vague, mysterious statements pushed me over the edge.
“Then make me understand! Why am I the only one in the dark?! Why can’t anyone just be honest with me?!”
“He tried to pull you out of the dark but you refused! I wished you listened to him, Ava.”
I shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do about it now. He’s gone and I doubt that he would want to come back.”
“Alright, then. Are you satisfied with your decision?”
I looked out my window, the weather seemingly a reflection of my mood with its dark, gloomy skies. “I don’t know.”
Then she asked the million dollar question.
“Do you still love him?”
“Yes.”
~**~
Two months passed without any kind of communication with Oliver. I would never admit it but I missed him terribly. He would occasionally pop up on TV with a new super model girlfriend everytime and they could not keep their hands off each other. Whenever I saw him with a new woman in his arms, I would feel a tinge of jealousy and anger.
I once had this beautiful man and he loved me more than anything but I lost him.
Oliver would look at the cameras and show off his signature smile but it was a smile that never really reached his gorgeous green eyes. There would be times when I’d catch a glimpse of sadness in his eyes, too but I would never let myself assume that at those times, I crossed his mind.
He’s clearly over me now, I would always tell myself.