Page 29 of Love Under Construction

“Yeah, nothing,” he steps up beside me and shoves me toward our apartment. “Let’s go before you do something stupid.”

I huff. “Like telling her, I love her?”

“Jesus Christ, how much have you had to drink?” He questions.

“Not enough. That’s for sure.”

Harley opens the apartment door, ushering me inside. “I’m going to disagree with you. Drinking isn’t going to solve anything either.”

“Harley, it was six beers. I’m hardly drunk. Just delusional.”

“You might be right, there.” He grabs two bottles of water from the fridge and tosses me one. “When are you going to give up on her, man? Haven’t you had enough rejection?”

“Would you give up on the woman you love?”

Harley looks at me as if I’ve grown two heads. “If she treated me like shit? Pushed me away and said I made her miserable? Uh, yeah. I did; remember?”

I wince. He’s right. And I’m an asshole friend for bringing it up. “Shelia is nothing like Olivia.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But a man has got to know when to cut his losses. Trust me.”

“It’ll be better when I finish this job and get the hell away from here. Though I feel bad leaving you without a roommate.”

“Shit. Don’t worry about me. It’s been nice having you, and you’re not going anywhere any time soon. Maybe I’ll find a new roommate, or I’ll go back to living alone. You know, walking around naked, scratching my balls whenever I want,” Harley chuckles.

“And now that you’ve planted that image in my head, I’m going the fuck to bed. After I bleach my brain.”

Chapter 17

Olivia

Eight weeks later…

He’s not here.

The Mason Center’s public opening is today. And Jameson is not here.

There’s still time.

We have twenty minutes before local news cameras start rolling and the doors open. Leo Eastman is walking around greeting everyone and thanking the members of the construction crew that did show up, but there’s still no Jameson.

He knew how important this was to me and he saw it through until the end. Even after I treated him like absolute shit. But according to Harley, the minute he handed over the keys to Leo, he was gone. Moving on to the next project down in North Carolina.

I hoped that even though I don’t deserve his grace, that he would have shown up today anyway. Especially knowing how heartbroken I was about my dad missing out on this.

To add insult to injury, my mother couldn’t be bothered to attend either. It turns out she andUncleDevin are off on their honeymoon. I shouldn’t be surprised. My mother barely let my dad’s body turn cold before she hopped into bed with his brother. She claims they’ve always been in love, but Devin was too stupid to claim her back then. Either way, it repulses me.

Her lack of support for me and this project was the last straw. Between that and her demands that I come home and financially support her, I’ve had enough.

Maybe I should look at today as a new beginning. Next week, there will be students filling these classrooms. Children of all ages will be walking in and out of this place, gaining access to the services that they desperately need to thrive. And I’ll be at the helm of it all with a wonderful team that the board has worked hard to put together with my guidance.

I set my sights on something and made it happen. I should be proud right now. Instead, I feel heartbroken and sad.

“Olivia, are you ready?” Leo steps over to me and smiles. “This is it, your time to shine.”

Taking a deep breath, I plaster on my best smile, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

We use the employee entrance and walk outside, making our way around to the front of the building. Leo steps up to the podium with his wife, my friend and former coworker - Gwen, by his side and quiets the crowd.

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