Page 58 of Falling For The Billionaire Rockstar

“My day was good, but tell me, what’s for dinner?” I asked, running my hands through her silky skin. She laughed when she understood what I meant.

“You can have both for dinner, babe, but let’s start with pasta,” she said as she dished out the pasta.

We enjoyed the rest of our dinner over light-hearted conversation and a lot of laughter. I refused to think about leaving in a couple of weeks as I focused on the most beautiful thing in my life right now—Olivia.

Chapter twenty-three

THINGS BEGIN TO SETTLE

Olivia Sanders

Iwalked into my apartment with my shoulders slouched. For someone who loved the comfort of her own space, I wasn’t quite happy to be back. I had spent the whole week at Alex’s, enjoying quality time together and making the best out of the time we had left. However, as his departure date approached, anxiety started to weigh on me.

My emotions had been in disarray since he told me about his upcoming tour. Our relationship had just started to bloom, so the last thing I had expected was to have him move away for a long time. Though I couldn’t stop him from leaving, I didn’t want to burden him with my sadness.

I knew I had to find a way to conceal it. I feared that he would change his mind if he knew how sad I felt about it, and thelast thing I wanted was to stand in the way of his career. I had already cost him a dent once, and I hated myself for it.

I walked into the kitchen and made a bowl of cereal. I was too tired to cook anything, and I left before having breakfast at Alex’s. He had an early morning rehearsal, so breakfast at his place would give him an excuse to be late for it, which he had been keen on doing lately.

I knew he wasn’t eager to leave. I could tell from the way he ignored most of Layla’s calls or showed a lack of interest in meetings and rehearsals. As much as I wanted to be a source of inspiration for him, it wasn’t the easiest thing to do when I felt the same way he did.

I ate my cereal quickly before they got a chance to become soggy. I wasn’t a fan of soft and soaked cereals, as they always made me want to throw up.

I checked the time when I finished eating. It was already 10:00 a.m., and I had brunch with Samantha at noon. We hadn’t spoken since the last time I was at her apartment with Alex, so it was a pleasant surprise to have her suggest we had lunch later on.

She still wasn’t on speaking terms with Alex, and I wondered why she seemed more upset with him than she did with me. Alex, on the other hand, had made no effort to reconcile with her, and that even made me more worried. The last thing I wanted was to come between them, although that had already happened.

I quickly hopped into the shower and had a quick bath. The brunch place was just around the corner, so I had plenty of time to rest and get ready, both of which I needed.

The past seven days at Alex’s place have been a blast, but it also meant I barely got any sleep. Alex was a light sleeper, so he was almost always awake. I wasn’t a fan of sleeping in newenvironments, so I also couldn’t get as much sleep as I would have loved.

As soon as I moisturized my skin after my shower, I lay on my bed and closed my eyes for a quick nap. I woke up just in time to leave my house for brunch. The sun was scorching today, and I wished I could just stay indoors and cancel at the last minute. Knowing Samantha, she would definitely hold this over my head if I canceled at the last minute.

I took a cab to the brunch place. I felt relieved when I realized I had gotten there before Samantha. We still weren’t on good terms, so I couldn’t tell how she’d take it if I wasn’t punctual.

Samantha arrived five minutes later, and I waved so she could see and recognize me. She flashed a brief smile when she saw me and walked toward me.

“Hey,” she said as she settled down.

“Hi, Sam.”

The table fell silent afterward as we beckoned to the waitress walking past us. I ordered a tuna panini and orange juice while Samantha had a chicken breast salad and Greek yogurt. We ate quietly while my mind ran through a lot of things. Sitting here in this awkwardness was even worse than having her ignore me.

Thirty minutes later, we had both finished our meal, and Samantha looked ready to speak. I waited for her to speak, as she looked like she had something to say.

“I know you’re wondering why I asked us to hang out together. I’ll be very honest, I’ve missed you, Olivia. These past few weeks have been agonizing.” She leaned forward, and I did the same. “I was really hurt when I realized you were dating Alex, and I had absolutely no idea. Perhaps I’d have reacted better if you had told me before I found out on the internet, but you didn’t, and I felt extremely bad because I thought we were best friends.” She paused, and I fought back the tears that threatened to pour down my cheek.

Samantha was right. We could have prevented this dent in our relationship if only I had come clean and told her about the whole shenanigan with Alex from the start. It would have been very easy to open up about the feelings I had later developed for him along the line.

“You’re right, Sam, and I’m really sorry for not being transparent to you as my best friend. You’ve always been so supportive of me, and what I did wasn’t the best way to treat a friend. I hope you really can forgive me because I’ve missed my best friend so much.” The tears were trickling down both our cheeks now, and I didn’t resist when she pulled me into her arms.

“I’m sorry too, Olivia. I had been so engrossed in my selfish desires that I didn’t realize just how much you loved Alex and wanted to be with him,” she said, and I shook my head, unwilling to hear anything else from her.

It felt like a huge burden had been lifted off me when we walked out of the brunch place. Samantha and I were back on good terms again, and suddenly, the world felt better again.

After making sure she got her Uber to head home, I turned toward my apartment. With the sun now down, I walked back, my heart filled with joy.

It was a good fifteen-minute walk, but right now, it felt like five. I stopped when I got to my apartment and saw Alex waiting for me. He had flowers in his hand.

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