Chapter 33| A Blast From The Past

Chapter thirty-three: A blast from the past

O L I V I A

We all got up late the next morning. Despite the late night, we were all pretty chirpy. We all made lunch together and had fun doing it. It wasn't the best meal we had, but that was bound to happen. After all, we all know too many cooks spoil the broth. Too bad it didn't stop us.

George and Griffin left after that ridiculous lunch. We wanted them to stay but they had date plans since it was Sunday evening. Inspired by them, Josh and Sam decided to go out as well, except they left for Josh's place.

Alone with Kai in the apartment felt nice, but I wanted to go out, too. Kai seemed to sense that, because an hour into the movie, he took the remote and switched the TV off.

"Come on," he stood up, extending his hand for me to take, "We're going out."

"Hun?" I was surprised by the suddenness of his proposition.

"Your heart is not in that today," he said as he pointed at the TV. "Let's go have a night out."

A fucking book.

"Alright! I'd love to." I grinned. I took his hand and hoisted myself up. "But where?"

"I've been thinking for a while and I have a place in my mind," he replied, pulling me towards the door. He took my coat off the hanger and held it out for me.

"Don't I have to change?" I asked, looking down at my pajamas.

"Nope," he grinned, "You'll fit right in."

I chuckled, finally sliding my hands through it and tying it up. It felt thrilling to be this spontaneous and his obvious excitement was rubbing off on me.

"Lemme just grab my phone!" I laughed as I remembered, walking back to the table and picking it up. "And my wallet," I detoured to my room.

"You're with me, you don't need it!" He called back.

"Still!" I emerged back into the living room with it. "I'm ready. Let's go."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He did not disappoint. But then, Kai rarely ever did.

He took me to Ms. Suzie's. I couldn't believe it. The place had barely changed. It was still the small cozy café with small and numbered booths. It was minimalistic in appearance and made you feel right at home. The pastries were still mind-blowing and heavenly. We got two each along with some hot coffee.

"Mr. Brown -that's my coach- would freak out if he knew the amount of unnecessary calories I've been stuffing down my face these days," Kai had joked when we had placed our order. I, being the person who ate without guilt and restrictions, couldn't relate, and that had made him roll his eyes and stifle a laugh.

We met Ms. Suzie. She had actually recognized us in an instant and sat with us in our booth, giving us company as all of us sat there and reminisced our high school days. She even remembered Sam and Josh. I used to ship them with her. She was more than pleased to know that they were now a couple. She told us to tell them to visit. We agreed readily. She was so happy to see us, she packed us more pastries for later and wouldn't accept a penny in return. That woman could stand her ground.

By the time we left, it was almost dinner time. With the pastries stashed safely in the car, we walked around the streets that were once our whole life. It made me think. There was a time I believed that I would grow up and die there. I never thought I'd actually move out to California for four years and then come back to New York only to live on practically the opposite side of the city.

We keep changing so much. We make plans but they seldom go the exact way we think they would. It's an ever-changing life and it made me overthink sometimes.

"I wonder where we will be in the next ten years," I muttered, looking up at the sky. My view was obscured by the skyscrapers around us but I didn't care.

"You want to grow older?" Kai asked, looking down at me.

"Yeah," I said, looking up. "Don't you?"

"Meh, I don't know." He shrugged. "I'm perfectly happy right now."

"Really?" I asked incredulously. "So you don't want more from life? You don't want to settle down, start a family, see your kids grow up? Live? Travel the worl-"

He brought his lips down to mine, cutting me off. He kissed me tenderly and it still made my knees go weak.

"I do," he breathed when we broke off.

"Hun?" I asked dumbly, a little dazed. He chuckled, kissing me again. That didn't help me get my bearings.

"I meant," he said, kissing the corner of my mouth, "That I thought about it, and I do want to grow old."

"Umhmm?" I hummed. "That was pretty quick."

He chuckled. "Yeah, you did have some good arguments."

I giggled. "I did, didn't I?"

"Absolutely." He smiled fondly.

"What made you change your mind about Ms. Suzie's?" I asked Kai.

He caught on immediately.

"I don't know," he hedged, a smile playing on his lips. "Things seem to be falling back into place so I thought, why not?"

I grinned, kissing his cheek. "I love you."

"As I love you," he reciprocated with a smile.

I laughed as the memory formed a fleeting picture in my brain.

"Do you remember how Samantha used to be very annoyed because you would make me sit on your lap and then I wouldn't talk to her cause we'd always end up making out?"

"Well, in my defense, there weren't enough seats for both the football and cheer teams." He chuckled. "Also, it wasn't our fault that our best friends were crushing on each other without saying anything and were forced to interact with each other while we were busy."

"Tell me about it." I rolled my eyes.

"Mindless bozos," he elaborated, "When you like a girl, you ask her out in front of the whole cafeteria. And you don't not speak to her."

"Oh, I remember." I hit his shoulder. "You did that."

"You loved it." He raised his eyebrows at my show of fake disapproval. "I know you did. There is no way a sophomore girl couldn't like it."

"You're so full of yourself." I rolled my eyes but my lips twitched up. I did like it. I remember gushing to Sam about it. She had known then that she did not like that guy.

"Don't act like you aren't," he said airily.

"I am so not full of mys-"

"I never said you were full of yours-"

"Okay, got it. Stop." I colored up as he smirked. "Don't."

"Well, you we-"

"I said stop!" I mumbled in embarrassment.

He laughed. "Come on, mon amour."

"Kaison," I groaned.

"It's so cute to see you get all worked up about sex like that." He chuckled. "So we do it. Big deal. Fun fact, most people do. Also, that's how we're here."

"Kai!" I looked around in panic. What if by some crazy coincidence someone were to he-

"No one will hear me." He guffawed, reading my thoughts by my expressions. "They have better things to do than eavesdrop on strangers."

"Hello! Hotshot footballer right here!" I gestured at him.

"Yeah, why don't you make a neon sign advertising that," he said drily. "That should catch enough attention to get you out of the situation or change the topic."

I made my gestures more pronounced.

"Alright, that's enough." He caught my hands with a laugh, trapping my wrists with his hand. He smirked, turning left and walking into the mouth of a familiar alley.

Being the cheeky person I was, I protested. "But the neon-"

He shut me up with a kiss again. I stopped fighting and he successfully managed to back me up against the wall.

"We are not doing it here," I mumbled against his lips.

"Why not?" He asked, pulling back slightly and making a show of looking around. "It's called getting down and dirty for a reason."

"Kai." I glared.

"Why does sex make you uncomfortable?" He questioned

"It doesn't." I shrugged indifferently.

"Oh right, you love it," he smirked.

I glared at him, trying to push him off. He had me trapped. He didn't budge, but he did release a chuckle. With a huff, I folded my hands under my chest.

"Let me improvise," he said. "Why does talking about it make you uncomfortable?"

I didn't answer.

"Come on," he pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, "I'm really curious, Livvy."

"It's weird," I muttered.

"What? You don't know how it-"

"Okay, now you're just making fun of me," I complained. He laughed, touching his forehead to mine. "You're so cute."

"Right. So cute that you can't resist making me uncomfortable," I scoffed.

"I love you." He kissed the corner of lips again. Oh, he was teasing me alright.

"Umhmm." I swallowed, willing my head to not turn around and really kiss him. He knew I was struggling and he didn't move away, letting his lips hover there. His breath tickled my skin tantalizingly.

"I hate you." I groaned, grabbing his face and crashing my lips to his. He bent down so I wouldn't have to struggle to keep on my toes. I could feel his smugness radiating from him.

We jumped apart at a violent bark. A dog was snarling at us, showing us his teeth while his owner tried to keep a hand on his leash.

"Tom, heel!" He commanded, dragging him away. The dog was putting up a good fight. "Sorry!" He called from a safe distance when he was successful. I just smiled while Kaison kept his head down and turned towards the inside of the alley. He was not wearing his disguise and I'm sure he did not want to risk the owner being a fan. Neither of us wanted to be hounded by an unfriendly dog in case the guy accidentally let him free in his excitement.

"Where were w-" He began when the guy looked away, only to be cut off by his own phone. He let it ring and I gave him a reprimanding look. He ignored it. When it rang again almost as soon as it stopped ringing, he groaned. He flipped it out, glanced at the caller ID, and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Angeline?" He answered. "It's a Sunday, take a day off," he said almost petulantly after a pause. More silence as she spoke. "Can't we do this tomorrow? This is too last minute."

"Fine," he finally gritted out. "I'm on my way."

He hung up and looked at me apologetically.

"It's okay," I said before he could say anything. "I understand. It's your job."

"I'm really sorry," he groused. "I really wanted this to be just our night."

"It's completely alright," I assured him. "Go."

"Where?"

"Didn't you just-"

"Ah," he grinned mischievously, "I never said I would show up alone and leave my date hanging."

"Kai," I managed a glare even though I wanted to laugh. Trust Kai to find a loophole to suit his purposes.

"That's not even looking threatening." He laughed, bopping my nose as if I were a kid to emphasize his point. "Come on!"

"Are you sure?" I asked, dropping it. "It seemed important."

"It's just a person who's meeting with us to chalk out the details of some endorsement deal." He shrugged. "I've done it before. The guy just dropped by today for no reason, demanding to meet. It's a Sunday and I have a life outside football. I'm sure it's fine if I show up with my girlfriend. Unless you don't want to, though," he added almost reluctantly, "It's completely up to you."

"Okay, then," I agreed skeptically. "If you're sure, I'll go."

We walked back to where he had parked the car and we got in. The pastries were stashed in the compartment in the center console. I started the radio while Kai pulled out of the parking space and eased into the traffic. A few minutes of idle chatter and comfortable silence later, Kai pulled over near a huge building and showed the guard his ID. The guard let us in and Kai parked his car in the garage.

We both climbed out and met at the front. He laced his fingers with mine as he showed me around on our way, talking about random things that had happened with him in the building. He talked about his initial days here and how he found Angeline. He seemed very happy to share another part of his life with me and that in turn made me happy. The time we spent apart seemed smaller when we shared things like these. I loved how it seemed to work out.

" . . . and you see that blonde girl in that blazer?" He pointed at a figure standing in front of a door and looking right at us. "That's my manager slash publicist, Angeline. Now, she may come off as a little stiff, but trust me she knows what she is doing and is actually a great friend. She's just in her business mode right now. Don't let her throw you off."

"Okay," I breathed as my nerves started creeping in.

"You'll be fine." Kai squeezed my hand reassuringly as we neared her. I noticed she was holding a binder too.

"I hope," I exhaled.

"Mr. Jennings," she greeted him. Then she turned to me, not thrown off by my existence at all. She probably guessed I would come. "I'm assuming you're Ms. Davis?"

"I am." I smiled shyly. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine." She flashed me a smile. Then, she turned her attention back to Kai and said, "Mr. O'Malley is here personally. His employee had to fly back for some family emergency and so the meeting tomorrow was canceled. Since Mr. O'Malley had some other business he had to attend to tomorrow, he moved up the meeting. That's why I called you."

"It's fine," Kai sighed. "I'm here now. Olivia is coming with us, though."

"I'm not sure about that," she quipped. "She is not a business associate and her attire . . . "

I colored up. Right. I was in my pajamas. I cried internally.

"It's a Sunday, Angeline," Kai groaned, "I have a life, you know."

She took a deep breath.

"Of course," she replied reluctantly. "Fine, Ms. Davis will accompany us. Right this way."

She knocked on the door twice before pushing it open. She gestured us to get in while she stood there. Kai pulled me in front of him, silently urging me to walk. He still kept my hand in his and his hold brought me comfort. I took a deep breath and stepped in.

My eyes widened in recognition at the familiar figure sitting at the table in the room who got on his feet upon our arrival. Those blue eyes mirrored my emotions as they collided with mine and his mouth went slack with shock. Kai stood beside me and Angeline joined us.

"What are you doing here?" I blurted out without thinking. Kai squeezed my shoulder in warning and Angeline froze beside me. From the corner of my eyes, I could see her hurrying to react and apologize on my behalf but Kai stopped her by bumping his shoulder into hers, his eyes on me.

"I could ask you the same question!" He sounded. "But I guess I know. How're you doing, Liv?"

"You two know each other?" Kai frowned. It was probably meant to be a question but it sounded more like a statement.

"Yeah," I answered sheepishly. "About that. Gabe, meet Kaison, my boyfriend. Kai, meet Gabriel, my, uh, friend."

And ex-boyfriend.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A/N:-

Well, I give you guys a filler chapter. I hope you enjoyed a bunch of twenty-something people acting like they're still in their teens.

My mood today: Meh.

QOTD: How long have you gone without eating your favorite food?

Take care. I'll be back tom! :)

All my love,

xoxo.