Olivia
It’d been two years.
Two years since I started living with my father and Cindy. I thought I couldn’t fit in here but I had. And I loved my family. I learned more about my father every single day. He told me about his past. About his parents, what his family did, and I had to admitted it to him.
I hated his parents and he made the right choice for leaving them. There was no love there and it caused him to lose me and my mother. Well, almost. Because he had me now. My father and my grandparents cut off their communication for years after my father decided to abandon his family. They refused to acknowledge him as their son. I mean, what kind of parent would do that even though their children made a wrong decision? It’s not like I wanted to see them and asked them about it. It was for the best for them to leave us alone.
My father and Cindy were now a husband and a wife. I gained a younger brother, Eric. I loved that little peanut so much and he was such a lucky boy for having a complete family. Parents and a sister. Although he was my half-brother, I loved and adored him. I would protect him.
As for Cindy, she was a great mother. When she first came to live with me and my father after they got married, she tried her best to be a proper mother to me and she did a good job. And now she had Eric, her mother instinct immediately increased.
Both her and my father kept their promises.
They attended my school festival together. My father always came to my PTC, sometimes Cindy would do it if he was busy.
If I had to conclude everything, I gained myself a perfect family. I loved them. They loved me as well. I couldn’t be more thankful than that. I was just…missing something. Some part of me. My heart that he broke. My missing piece.
Two years after my separation from Blake, I rarely saw him. It was not like I wanted to either. That man broke my heart and he didn’t want me anymore. He said that to me.
I don’t need you anymore and I want you out of my sight! That’s what he said. How…cruel was that? At first, it was hard for me to accept it. I cried almost every night. Even Karen had to help me gain myself back to my feet. My parents helped as well and tried to keep me company.
But now I could do everything by myself. I understood Blake won’t be coming back anymore. I accepted that he didn’t want me anymore. Everything we did before he let me go, I tried to conceal it deep inside me. I wanted to show him that I was okay even without him around. I dyed my hair, some blonde ombre on the tip of my hair, and I liked it. Very much. It matched my olive skin. I changed my clothing style as well. I learned public speaking. Everything I did so I would be perfect. I wanted to show him that heartbroken didn’t mean I lose myself. I was shattered but I still survived. Even Karen said she liked the current me better although I still forbid her to go to the club because I didn’t want to face the drunken version of Karen again.
“Hello? Earth the Olivia,” Karen called out to me as I blinked in confusion. I turned to her and she was looking at me. “Where were you? You were daydreaming.”
I coughed out. “Sorry.”
“You’re okay, Liv?” Josh asked.
“Yeah.” Karen and Josh were currently in my house. They loved visiting me. Not just because Dad had a great house but they loved to keep me company. Sometimes they would have dinner together with my parents. I was glad because I could stay at my current school. Dad asked me before if I wanted to move but I said no. I didn’t want to lose both Karen and Josh.
I could accept losing Blake, but not them.
Speaking of them, Karen was doing great at her modeling job. She had decided to continue to work after she graduated so she won’t be applying to college. Her parents eventually gave up but I knew whatever happened to her, they would be by her side to support her daughter. Bailey was doing okay as well. Karen told me the other day that her four-legged boy may be in love with another Malamute when she was walking him at the park.
Josh has decided to go to Harvard. He was a smart guy and I knew he would make it. He said he wanted to be a Doctor for his father. He lost him at a very young age and he told me and Karen before that he couldn’t take it watching his mother cried almost every night before. He wanted to do his best for Paula and he didn’t want to disappoint her. Although I knew Paula would accept anything that Josh wanted to achieve in the future.
“Christmas is coming soon,” Karen stated. Oh, right. It’s just another two months. “What are you guys planning to?”
“Well, me and mom are planning to visit my dad’s grave, and then we’re going to Alaska for a short trip before New Year,” Josh said.
“Oh, wow. That’s nice. How about you, Liv?”
“Um, I haven’t heard anything from dad and maybe it will be the same like last year. We have Eric now and there’s no way we’ll be having a holiday with a less than a year baby. Maybe we’re just going to visit my mother’s grave and going somewhere close.”
“You’re right. That’s a bummer for little Eric but what can we say, right?”
“What about you, Karen?” I asked.
“Me? I’ll be working until Christmas Eve and then my parents wanted to take me on a Europe trip until New Year so I won’t be around like two weeks.”
“Really? That’s amazing. But how about Bailey?”
“Brad will take care of him,” she replied and sighed. She pushed her body away from the island. “It sucks for us to be single, huh?”
“Why don’t you look for someone to be your Christmas date?” Josh teased.
“No one could make me interested.”
“How about the models around you?”
“Nope.” She glanced at me and I looked away. Karen hadn’t told Josh about this. She was in love with her first man who had no idea about his identity. I didn’t want to tell Josh about this. I wanted to but that would be disturbing Karen’s privacy and it was best if she told him herself. “Say, one of my co-workers just returned to work.” My heart jumped. I knew who she was talking about.
“No, shit. Is it Stewart?” Josh asked and Karen nodded her head. “Ah, fucking hell! Is he bothering you?”
“Fortunately, no. I ignored him most of the time. I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold my tongue and claws. And he ignored me as well. Maybe he had sensed my murderous aura.” Although she tried to make it a joke; Karen was serious. I remembered two years ago I received news about Stewart. The agency refused to have him being discharged from the agency because he was a great model and an asset to the company. But since his face was in a complete mess and he needed months to recovered, he couldn’t work.
The Director gave him a break and a little punishment for pissing Blake off. He gave him time to heal and Karen told me he went back to Australia last year and never returned. Maybe he was searching for some clues about his deceased sister. I still remembered how shocked he was when he heard what his sister did to me.
I didn’t want to see him. I refused to see him until I could feel a warm touch on my hand. I looked at Karen and she smiled at me. “He won’t bother you anymore,” she assured.
“That’s right, Liv. We’ll protect you from that fucker,” Josh added.
I smiled at them. “Thank you, guys.” I was really lucky to have them as my friends. And I heard the front door was opened.
“I’m home! Olivia?” Cindy returned. I heard her footsteps as she stepped inside the kitchen. “Oh, hello, Karen, Josh. I bought some ingredients for tonight’s dinner. You two will be joining, right?”
“Of course, Cindy! I’ll help.” Karen slide down the stool and headed to where Cindy was. I jumped down the stool as well and went to Eric and carried him to Cindy. I saw Josh slide down his stool as well.
“Oh, your father is on his way home now,” she informed and took Eric from me. “Hi, my sweet boy. Is your big sister Olive taking care of you well?” He cooed when she did that. “I’m sure she did, right? After all, she’s your big sister.” And Cindy landed a kiss on his forehead. She turned her brown eyes to me. “You’re such a lovely sister, you know that? And possibly you will be a great mother one day.” I could only smile at her.
I was thankful I had these people with me. It didn’t matter what happened before. As long as I had them, that was all that mattered.