Page 69 of Left of the Slash
“It is,” Olivia replies, squeezing my arm tighter. “It’s right here.”
I look up and see a black and white sign that reads Docklands Riverfront above a wooden door covered in dangling fairy lights.
“Docklands?” I say. “I haven't been here in a minute. What made you choose this place?”
“I don't know,” she answers. “Stop asking questions and come on. We’ve got some celebrating to do. You only turn twenty-eight once.”
I chuckle at the opening she just gave me, then I exploit it. “True. Do you remember turning twenty-eight, or is that too long ago for you to remember?”
We stop at the door and Olivia lets go of my arm just to punch me in it. “I'm not too old to kick your ass, Mr. King.”
I rub the spot on my shoulder that she just hit, wincing. “Wow, you're an abusive old woman.” Olivia slugs me again, harder this time. “Ow! I'm just kidding. I love you no matter what. Even if you were wrapped up like a mummy, you’d still be my everything. But, you're also going to pay for hitting me.”
Olivia grins as I grab her hips and pull her body close to mine. “Oh yeah? I hope so.”
We kiss just as snow begins to fall from above. It’s not cold enough for it to stick, but it still gives the moment a magical feeling as our lips press together and snowflakes land in our hair and kiss our cheeks. When I open my eyes, I feel like I've just kissed an angel. Olivia smiles at me and I feel stunned by her beauty like it’s the first time I'm seeing her. I'm a lucky motherfucker.
I remember the day she walked into the conference room in the executive wing, sucking all of the air out of the room and leaving my lungs deflated as she stepped to her seat and shook every fragile ego to its core. From that moment to this one, Olivia has never failed to impress me. It’s all a stark reminder that I desperately need to ask this woman to marry me as soon as the time is right. Maybe not right now, but definitely in the near future. We make too much of a beautiful mess together to ever be apart again.
Olivia places a hand on my chest and gestures toward the door. “Come on. Let’s go celebrate your birthday, Sir.”
I smirk as she opens the doors, thinking about the moment I get her alone in her basement, but my thoughts are broken up and scattered as we step inside the bar and an enormous shout startles me to the point of freezing in place.
“Surprise!”
My eyes widen as I realize I'm standing in front of a crowd of people who are all staring right back at me with smiles on their faces and joy in their eyes. Slowly, I start to recognize them all. A handful of people from work fill out the back, a few friends from school stand in the middle, and Marcus, Rob, his wife Sandra, and Eden stand in the front, all of them clapping as Olivia pulls me into the bar she clearly rented out for me.
I look over at her in shock. “You set all of this up for me?”
“Of course I did,” she answers with a proud smile.
“How did you get everybody here?”
“That was easy. I just talked to Rob while we were at work one day, and he took care of contacting Marcus and everybody you guys knew from school. I did a little sneaking to speak to the few people we work with that you actually like, and the rest was history. Easy peasy.”
“Wow. You're incredible, baby,” I say as I pull her in for another hug that Rob and Marcus quickly break up.
“Alright, that’s enough of that,” Marcus’s hating ass says first. “Look, Olivia, I've only known you for a little over a month, and you're already killing me with the PDA. I'm going to need you to tone it down for me, please. Thank you.”
“Ignore this hater,” Rob interrupts as he and I dap each other up. “It’s good to see you, Miss Lucero. I can't believe we actually pulled it off without him knowing.”
Rob gives a half-hug to Olivia, then moves out of the way for Olivia and Sandra to hug, too.
“It’s so nice to see both of you—and would you please stop calling me Miss Lucero?” Olivia says playfully. “And I know. I can't believe he didn't figure it out.”
“I've been too focused on work to be paying attention to what y’all are doing,” I say. “And with the Del-One meeting tomorrow, I've been extra locked in.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Marcus says. “Enough work talk. Let’s go over here and get these drinks started, shall we? We’ve been waiting on you two for half an hour and I desperately need a sip of something strong.”
“Happy birthday, Quinn,” a new voice cuts in from behind me. I whirl around and give a big hug to Eden, who moves from me to Olivia before joining the group.
“Thanks for coming, Eden,” I say. “I know you all were here before us, so I don't know if you've met already, but allow meto introduce you to my childhood friends. This is Rob and his wife Sandra.” Eden shakes hands with Rob and Sandra as they exchange polite nice-to-meet-you nods. “And this is our crazy and single friend, Marcus.”
“Nice to meet you, Marcus,” Eden says with an extended hand.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Marcus replies as he shakes her hand and maintains strong eye contact. Eden doesn't look away, and the two of them engage in some very flirtatious smiling for much longer than is required for a usual introduction. Olivia and I grin at each other as the two of them release their hands but continue stealing glances at one another while pinching their lips together to keep from smiling more.
“Well,” I say with wide eyes and an all-knowing smirk. “I think this definitely calls for a drink.”
