VEGAS follows you home (6 page)

"Olivia, I don't…I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it. I just, I can't believe you did something like this to me. Why? I love you, why would you do this to me?"

"I drank too much and didn't know what I was doing. It's a horrible excuse and I would never intentionally hurt you this way. Never. I would never plan to do something like this. Things got out of control," I reply, my voice finally back to normal levels.

"I don't know what to say to you." He shakes his head and looks at the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Erik. I…" I trail off, not knowing what else to say to him.

"Goodnight, Olivia." Turning, Erik leaves my apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Olivia

Alfonso arrives right on time, his briefcase in hand. He stands next to Mercedes’ office, talking with her while he waits for me to finish the last detail on a Scooby Doo birthday cake.

Quickly washing my hands, I go greet my soon-to-be annulment lawyer.

"Hey, Alfonso. It's good to see you."

Straightening from his leaning position, he returns the greeting. "It's good to see you, too."

"How's Noelle?" I ask, referring to his longtime girlfriend.

"She's good." He smiles, but it looks forced.

"Good to hear." I motion toward the stairs. "Let's discuss this upstairs, if you don't mind?"

He nods and I turn to Ced.

"If you need me, give me a call, okay?"

"Will do." She smiles and pushes her chair so Alfonso can't see her. Then she mouths, "He is so hot," and fans herself.

I smile and shake my head.

"Oh, don't forget, I'm taking off early today for my date." Her grin grows, brightening her entire face.

With a nod, I pick Alex up from his play area and show Alfonso to my apartment.

He sits at my small kitchen table and I take my place across from him with Alex in his highchair on my right.

"So, tell me what happened." His fancy silver pen hovers expectantly over the yellow legal pad in front of him.

"Didn't Felicity tell you what happened?" I don't want to admit my stupidity out loud again.

"Yes, but I need your official statement regarding the occurrence." His tone is professional, but the small twitch at the corner of his mouth gives away his amusement.

"Fine," I huff.

For the next half hour, I recount what I remember of the sordid experience, leaving out the details of the amazing horizontal tango with Damon.

"Alright, well, I'm sure we can easily trace his information since you are acquainted with him. I'll get the annulment papers drawn up and sent over to him." He finally stops writing and drops the pen to the legal pad. "If he isn't on board with ending the marriage, as you mentioned, then we may have to go to court."

"How fast can we file?"

"I'll expedite it, but it will still take two days to process. Mr. Knyght will receive notification shortly after it has been filed. I would say three or four days, maybe." He shrugs.

"And if we have to go to court?"

"If he contests the annulment, he will have to go through a large process and get lawyers involved. Technically, you will need to sue for divorce in order to be heard by a judge, or a mediator, at the least."

He sighs and rubs the back of his neck.

"What?"

"Olivia, I'm going to be really honest. This isn't my specialty. While I can definitely have my paralegal work on the paperwork and get this filed, if you have to go to court, you're going to need someone with more family practice experience."

I nod and give a small shrug.

"No, Liv," Alfonso leans forward, elbows to the table, "you don't understand. If Mr. Knyght is as intent as you stated, he is not going to make this easy. I can assure you that a man of his wealth and business background will have top shelf lawyers at his disposal. Sharks that will chomp at the littlest bit of blood in the water. They'll make it an expensive endeavor."

"Fu…dge," I groan. At least I remembered not to say fuck in front of Alex.

I glance toward Alex in his highchair and feel the urge to smack myself for allowing this into his life.

"Let's hope he comes to his senses and agrees to the annulment," I say to Alfonso, but I don't take my eyes off Alex as he smashes cheerios in his hand and watches the remnants float to his tray.

"What does he want from you? Any ideas at all?"

"I have no darn clue, Alfonso."

The honesty of the answer is like a slap to the face. I have no idea what he wants or why he is so adamant about staying married to someone he doesn't know.

"Maybe you should find out," Alfonso murmurs.

"Maybe I don't want to know," I counter and then groan out loud. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. If I find out what he's after, maybe it will be the key to getting rid of him."

After saying our goodbyes to Alfonso, Alex and I go back down to the bakery.

With the morning behind us, our afternoon is just as crazy. Mercedes cut out early for her date, a guy she met while shopping for bakery supplies. Emily and Greg, the part-time baker assistants, have afterhours clean up duty, so it’s bath and play time for Alex.

After four rounds of peek-a-boo, ten games of hide and seek, and five stories, Alex finally yawns.

"Time for bed, baby boy." Sweeping him up into my arms, he lays his head on my shoulder.

"No," he responds, yawning again.

Once Alex is settled into bed, I make my way toward my own room. A knock at the door stops me just before I reach my bedroom. "Damn," I whisper, so not to wake Alex.

I glance at the clock on the wall as I go to answer the door.

"It's almost ten. Who the hell…?”

Peeking out the window next to my door, I see Erik standing with a bunch of wildflowers in his fist.

I pull open the door. "Erik it's late."

"Liv." He steps into my apartment, causing me to take a step back.

"I am so sorry for how I reacted."

"You have every right to be angry. I understand." I cross my arms over my chest. Not in defense, but because I feel more uncomfortable with him than I ever have.

"I don't want to fight with you." He smiles, sheepishly.

"Neither do I, but I can't do…this." I motion between us.

"Liv, please, just give me another—"

I put my hand up, stopping him.

"It's not like that between us. For me, anyway." Placing a hand on his arm, I inch just a bit closer. "I'm sorry, Erik. I really wish things were different, but I can't force something that isn't there."

"You mean you can't force yourself to love me?"

His fist clenches, causing the flowers to rustle and the plastic paper around them to crinkle.

I bite my lip to stop my chin from wavering and simply nod.

"Is it him? You love this stranger?" His voice rises.

"Shh, Alex is in bed. And, no, I do not love this guy. I met with Alfonso today to resolve everything. I told you, I made a mistake. That's all, but it doesn't change things between us."

I remove my hand from his arm, taking a deep breath.

"I love you, Olivia. I love Alex and you. I've never loved anyone the way I—"

"Stop, don't do this," I beg.

"But I do!" he shouts, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I love you so much. I would take care of you. You don't have to be madly in love with me."

He surprises me by crushing his lips to mine — hard. The desperation of the kiss is a bitter reminder of how awful a person I am for this.

Pulling away from him and the kiss, I place a hand on his chest to prevent him from getting close again.

"I don't feel the same way and I'm sorry that it hurts you. It's the last thing I want to do, but it will only hurt you worse if I agree to be more than friends with you."

Softly pushing at his chest, he gets the hint and steps back from me.

"I'm just asking for one more chance. Can't you give me…give us, that?" His eyes search my face.

"No. I can't. It kills me to know that you love me and I can't return the same feelings. Because you deserve that. You deserve intense, profound love. I care about you and want to be friends, but I'm not sure it's possible. At least…not right now."

"Don't say that." He grabs my shoulders. "Don't ever say that. We're friends — always. If you would just give this a chance to grow, I know it could be the best love—"

"It won't," I groan. "I think you should go and take some time away from me. We both need time away from each other if there is any hope of being friends. Okay?"

Anger, hurt, and then defeat crease his face.

"I'm sorry, Erik."

"Me, too." Tossing the flowers onto the table by the door, he exits the apartment without looking back.

I press my head against the closed door and lock it as tears fall from my eyes.

My days have been full of regular baking, cake orders, and a large, high profile wedding we landed thanks to Felicity.

"She said no cakes, Olivia," Felicity whines from the other side of the restaurant booth after seeing cream puff cake on the menu plan.

"Its puffy pastry balls, not really a cake," I argue.

"It still says cake."

"Then change it to cream puff dessert," I sigh, tired of this Bridezilla's micro managing.

"Good idea." Her eyes light up.

"Seriously?" I ask, one brow lifted

"I don't want the word cake anywhere on the dinner menu." She points her pen at me. "You know how particular she is."

I nod.

"But she's marrying into money, so she's paid for the right to be a particular pain in my ass." She smiles.

"Ah, to marry a hometown hockey player, wouldn't that be the life." I grin.

She rolls her eyes.

"You're currently Mrs. Moneybags Knyght. You have access to enough money to buy the entire hockey team for Crepes sake," she laughs.

"That is being taken care of," I glower. "But nice with the 'Crepes sake'."

"Thank you, thank you." She dips her head, taking a small bow. "You talked to Alfonso, right?"

I nod.

"Well, looks like you won't be able to buy a hockey team much longer and are well on your way to being a rich divorcee."

"Still not funny," I grumble.

"Yes, it is."

We dig back into the details of the wedding for a few more minutes before Felicity changes the subject once more.

"I forgot to tell you about the hotel manager." She sits up straighter, and I swear sticks her boobs out a bit. "She asked me out." A small blush colors her cheeks.

"Really? So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Definitely good," she answers. "You should see how beautiful she is, and extremely nice."