I wasn’t much better. I’d lived with my parents well past the age I should have. I had let them feed me and put a roof over my head. And buy me a car, and buy my clothing . . . it was all on a much smaller scale but in comparison it was the same.
“Nate won’t be here much and I will need to travel once we get things going. So, it will be on you to handle everything soon. I believe you can do that. We will look into hiring two other employees to work under you before I leave for Spain at the end of the month. Nate will more than likely be back in Rosemary Beach or in Beverly Hills by then. But I feel confident I can trust you.”
Why would Nate be in Beverly Hills? He hated it there. Other than visiting his other grandfather he tried to go there as little as possible. I glanced at him and he was watching me again. I only met his eyes briefly before dropping them back to my salad.
“Thank you,” I told Octavia. “I’ll do my best.”
“Great.”
After we returned to the store I made myself busy in the front. Although my thoughts stayed on how odd Octavia and Nate were with each other. There was no connection of any kind. They seemed annoyed by the other. Did he realize that?
Just as I began to wonder if I should say something to him before he made a mistake and married her I heard laughter. I paused and listened. It was both of them. Their voices mingled as they laughed. Setting down the dress in my hand I walked quietly over to the door. It was wrong to eavesdrop but I did it anyway. They were laughing and that seemed so out of place after watching them together.
“I love your stories,” Octavia said with a hint of amusement still in her voice.
“It’s a gift,” he replied.
“Hmmm, one of the many reasons I love you,” was her response then the distinct sound of kissing followed. It wasn’t loud. It was just the sound of bodies pressed close. Breathing erratic and choppy, and silence when there had been talking.
I stepped back. Eavesdropping was never a good thing and those who did it deserved to be punished. This was my punishment.
Nate Finlay
I MADE EXCUSES to stay away from Octavia’s for three days. The more distance I could put between Bliss and I the better things would be for all three of us. Octavia was back and that was enough to remind me what I needed in a life. What fit me and was safe, because being near Bliss was not safe. Just being in a room with Bliss wasn’t safe. She tempted me with a life I didn’t want.
Each evening I listened to Octavia talk about Bliss’s ideas for the store. I took her out to dinner to the places she chose and was supportive without intervening. I did the things I normally did. However, when she asked to go listen to a band on Friday night at Live Bay I paused. That was a bad idea. More than likely Bliss would be there. Dating Octavia with Bliss watching wasn’t okay with me. If the situation were reversed it wouldn’t be easy for me to watch her with another guy. I didn’t think it was fair to Bliss. Even if she’d moved on and was over what we had or what we thought we had in the past, rubbing the other’s face in that history seemed cruel.
I tried talking Octavia into going somewhere else. She was dead set on Live Bay and checking out the local scene. Octavia said she needed some “down time,” like there was any real stress heaped upon her. Mixing with the “regular people” here would help her “release the tension that comes with being a success.”
There was a chance Bliss had other plans. That’s what I held onto until Octavia shot that to hell. We were entering Live Bay when Octavia stopped. She scanned the crowd like a Secret Service agent: “Bliss said her table was to the left near the bar and that she’s saving us a spot.”
This was one small piece of information that Octavia failed to mention. She must have not considered it important. I gazed at Bliss’s table and there she was, sitting in some guy’s lap, laughing with a drink in her hand. That was nothing like Bliss and he was older than me. What the fuck? Why was I here?
“There she is,” Octavia announced. She then slipped her arm through mine. Drug me towards the pair like a child.
I then tried to think of a logical excuse to get me the hell out of there. Trusting myself not to do something stupid wasn’t easy with Bliss flirtingly drunk and lap wiggling on older guys. Where was fucking Eli? Jesus!
“Y’all came!” Bliss beamed and jumped up. “I hoped you would but I wasn’t positive. Here, take those seats.”
She didn’t sound drunk, but was too damn happy about this unfolding before her. “Everyone, this is my boss Octavia and her fiancé Nate Finlay!” She then looked back at us. “That’s Jimmy,” she pointed to the guy whose lap she’d been perched on wiggling and laughing. I glared at Jimmy who returned a smug smile then drank from his whiskey glass. “That’s Micah, Daisy May, James and Crimson” Bliss said, going in a circle, like we were at a book study group. Oddly, none of them appeared to be couples, which was weird and wasn’t lost on me.
“I’m just here to take care of Saffron whenever she appears,” said the girl Crimson, with an annoyed look and a huff.
Bliss added “Saffron is a bit of a handful. What do y’all want to drink?”
“Grey Goose martini,” Octavia replied.
“Maker’s Mark is fine,” I told her.
She waved her hand towards the bartender. “Larissa, we need a Grey Goose martini and a Maker’s Mark, please.”
The red head shot her thumbs up and went to work. I knew she looked familiar the last time I was in here. Hearing Bliss say her name I remembered why that was. Larissa was the girl who brought Bliss to the beach that summer long ago. Glancing around at the others, I wondered if I’d met them before.