“Sorry…I can…” I try to get up when he tightens his grip.
“When did you hear me say that was a bad thing? I love that you taste like me, Olivia. It means you’re fucking mine.”
The sound of a stall door slamming breaks me out of my thoughts and a woman comes into view in the mirror. She gives me a concerned smile. “You okay?”
“Yeah…ummm…fine,” I tell her as I try to control my breathing.
She nods as she turns the water off and grabs a paper towel. “Well, if it’s about a guy, fuck him. You’re hot as fuck.” She giggles, as she puts a hand over her mouth. “In a total straight girl way. I’ve had a few mimosas.” She waves before she’s gone and I’m reminded of all the times I’ve bonded with drunk girls in the bathroom. I shake my head at the intoxicated stranger and make my way out of the bathroom when I hear my name from behind me.
I turn my head and I’m stunned as David moves closer. “Hi Olivia,” he says and I almost choke on my words.
“Hi…” I manage to get out despite being stunned over seeing him.
“I’m so glad I saw you.” He looks me up and down, pinning his eyes to my legs and my skin prickles for a very different reason than when Bennett did the same earlier.
I immediately look down the long empty hallway extremely grateful that he is nowhere in sight. “Did you follow me here? How did you know I was here?” I’d purposefully never brought him here because it felt like mine and Bennett’s place.
It is possible he just found the place on his own, Olivia. Don’t be dramatic.
“No. I saw you walking towards the bathroom and I wanted to see you. I’m here with some guys from work. Who are you here with? Alyssa?” he asks.
“It’s not your business who I’m here with, David. We aren’t together anymore.” I shake my head.
“Because of the other night? I’ll admit, I was a little taken aback that you didn’t respond to the flowers. Did you get them? You’re usually more polite than that.” He jokes and I roll my eyes at the passive aggressive comment.
“I got them, and they’re lovely, but it doesn’t change anything,” I say as direct as I can.
“Because of…him?” he spits out as he runs a hand through his blonde hair.
“Because of a lot of things, David. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain before you jumped all over me and determined that I was weak.”
I’m not about to tell him that I had already felt weak. That the walls I’d built around my heart are slowly crumbling under Bennett’s eyes and his words. My heart knows Bennett Clarke and is yearning for him on a level that my mind and body are trying to reject.
And failing.
I know there will be obstacles in giving Bennett another chance, and maybe I’ll keep him at arm’s length until he regains his memories, but I can see the potential for us in the future.
I just don’t know how far into the future.
“I was just angry, baby. I’m sorry.” His blue eyes don’t look quite the same as when I first met him. Blue eyes that were once filled with concern and compassion are now filled with ice and jealousy and betrayal.
But I hadn’t betrayed David. I hadn’t done anything!
Except fantasize about your ex-husband the few times he tried to fuck you.
I swallow, pushing those thoughts down further. “David, I’m so sorry. But you knew when you met me that I had baggage and…I was brokenhearted.”
“And now he’s back…”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t remember anything. The accident wiped away a lot of his memory and he doesn’t remember us being…estranged,” I finally confess, hoping that it clears up David thinking that we’re just back together.
He sighs and takes a step back. “So, what? How has anything changed on your end? So, he doesn’t remember? You do. How can you two reconcile when he has no idea what the hell he did in the first place?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your fucking concern.” A voice thunders behind me and I squeeze my eyes shut, sending a silent prayer above that this doesn’t become a huge scene when Bennett appears next to me.
“It’s my concern because you fucked up. You cheated on her and she left you. You don’t get a second chance.”
I go to interject, that it isn’t his choice when Bennett speaks the very words I’m thinking. “Don’t you think that’s her call to make? Whether she does or does not is none of your goddamn business. And what are you even doing here? Are you following her?” I note his hands are balled into fists and his shoulders are tense as he takes a step closer to David.