OLIVIA
“So, what do you think? You haven’t said anything to me. Wouldn’t that be nice?” Adrian asked again after not getting a response the first time.
“I honestly don’t know how I feel about this. Don’t you think it’s a bit of a rush? We should take it easy. I am still experiencing a difficult phase in life that’s taking almost an eternity for me to heal. Why do I have a feeling that talking about shopping is a bit frivolous?” I lamented.
“Frivolous? What do you even mean by that? I don’t understand why you keep seeing this as a big deal. It’s just normal shopping. What’s the big deal here? You are going to love it too,” Adrian added, doing everything possible to make me come with him, yet I was proving too stubborn.
“Ma’am, let’s do this. You don’t have to be worried about it. It might just turn out to be a relief from the stress you’ve been through lately. Think about it,” Kate chimed in. She made a good point, but regardless of what she said, I still didn’t see enough reason to abandon the company and go shopping with a man I barely even knew.
“You certainly don’t know what you’re talking about, and it’s not even a debate. Why should I take you seriously? It’s obvious you’re fighting for your best interest and not mine,” I aimed a dig at Kate, making her the scapegoat even when she’d done nothing wrong to me. At least I got her to shut her mouth. I can say I’m proud of that.
But what if someone takes a photo of us and sends it to the blogs to make catchy headlines about me? It’s quite unfortunate that Adrian and Kate weren’t thinking about this. All they cared about was the shopping that wouldn’t even make sense eventually.
“Are you still thinking about going shopping? The day is still eventful. Think of what we could accomplish today,” Adrian reminded me, unable to give up.
“I think I remember now.” I snapped my fingers, pretending as if I’d just thought of another excuse that might seem better than the former. This one would stop the shopping spree for sure.
“Do you remember that I’ve got a meeting with some top investors?” I said to Kate, doing everything to prevent this from happening.
“Do we have a meeting with investors? Why am I just finding out about it now?” Kate asked. The shock on her face spoke volumes.
“Yes, we do. That’s because you were too engrossed in going shopping when you should be worried about work. If you think I’m lying, check your schedule to confirm the date of today’s meeting with elite investors,” I challenged Kate.
Adrian just stared at us, trying to figure out what kind of show we were putting on. He could barely speak.
“I just did. We have no appointment today until the next two days. All our schedules for today and tomorrow are cleared,” Kate reported, ruining my plans.
While passing the information over to me, I tried signaling her to lie, but she wasn’t paying attention. It turned out she wanted the shopping more than I did.
“Here we go. You just heard from Kate. Can we go now?” Adrian pressed, clearly thrilled to have won me over.
“You win already. I’ve agreed to go shopping with you on the condition that we won’t spend too much time outside,” I finally accepted, not without issuing my terms to Adrian.
I’d exhausted all the lies in my head. There was nothing I could do anymore.
“Trust me on that one. I will make it quick so we don’t even have to spend ten minutes outside,” Adrian assured me.
Ten minutes? I knew that was an exaggeration. He only said it to convince me further. Driving to the location might have cost us thirty minutes.
“So, whose car are we going with? Mine or yours?” I asked just as we were about to leave.
“You’re free to come with yours. You can drive behind me while I take us shopping,” Adrian suggested. It was a brilliant idea.
Because I didn’t see myself sitting next to Adrian in the same car after bragging that I wasn’t going to come with him in the first instance. Anxiety would’ve eaten the best part of me.
My phone rang just as we were about to leave. Who else if not Cyril? He certainly knows how to ruin beautiful moments because he knows he can’t have one.
I ignored the call and frowned. “Let’s go. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“Hold on a second. Who was that? Why didn’t you answer the phone? You don’t seem too good about the call either. Is there something we should know?” Adrian asked, as though we were in a relationship. His level of selflessness couldn’t be explained. He cared about me more than my so-called husband.
“It’s Cyril. You should know he’s the only one that can get me into this mood. I don’t want to speak to him. He’s just bad news,” I frowned, feeling my pain bubbling beneath the surface, ready to force itself back into my life.
“But why don’t you want to speak to him? He’s your husband, regardless of what happened,” Adrian insisted, pushing for me to answer the phone as though his whole life depended on it.
“He is my husband? Of course, I know that. And what’s so special about that, huh? You don’t have to rub it in my face,” I snapped at Adrian before realizing I was wrong.
“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to yell at you,” I quickly apologized.
Adrian didn’t utter a word. He moved closer and patted my shoulder. “You don’t have to apologize to me. I completely understand what’s going on. You’re going through a lot, and I know how difficult it is to cope with everything happening lately. I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished so far. You’re a strong, resilient lady, and nothing is ever going to bring you down. That I can assure you,” he added.
“Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. No, I will call him back on the phone.” I agreed. Adrian’s calm words played a significant role in overturning my decision. Whatever Adrian did to me, it’s safe to say it worked.