Instead, I pulled up Olivia’s name on my phone and messaged her. I needed to do something to keep me from falling at Callum’s feet and asking him to hang on a little longer.
Me: I got the internship. Can I come over?
Olivia: OMG! That is amazing! Yes, come over and we can celebrate. I have some dranks ?stashed in my room.
I finished up what I was doing and told Donna I wasn’t feeling well. I couldn’t run the chance of running into Callum again. The shining sun mocked my dark mood as I made my way across campus. Spring break was only a couple weeks away, but the nice weather was already starting. Had Callum and I already run our course in three short months?
Olivia opened her door and threw her arms around me.
“Oh, my god. Oh, my god. You did it! I knew you would,” she squealed rocking us back and forth. Her excited shouts died as fast as they came when she pulled back to see my eyes filling with tears. “Oh, my god. Oaklyn.” She gripped my hands in hers and tugged me into her room. The slam of the door behind us broke the wall holding back my emotions and I crumbled. All the tears I’d been holding back poured out. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“I’ve messed up, Olivia,” I said, sitting on the bed next to her.3
“Is it Voyeur?” Her back went ramrod straight, ready to go to battle for me. “Did something happen? Do we need to call Uncle Daniel?”
“No. No. Nothing like that.” I wiped at my eyes and took deep breaths, hoping she would forgive me keeping secrets from her.4“I—I have to tell you something.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve um…” I slicked my tongue across my lips and stared down at my fidgeting fingers. “I’ve been in a sort of relationship with Callum. Dr. Pierce.”
Olivia didn’t speak, and I was too damn scared to look up and see the judgement in her eyes. Hearing it out loud made it more real, which led to it being more painful since it was over. I took a deep breath to help control the panic that grew, taking up too much space, the longer her silence lasted.
“You lucky bitch,” she finally said.
I jerked my head up, my eyes wide. Not at all prepared for that response. “What?”
Her lips tipped up in a smirk. “If you’re looking for a reprimand, it’s not going to come from me. That man is sexy as sin, and if he even showed a little interest, I’d probably have a sexual harassment suit against me.”
A laugh sputtered from between my pinched lips. Of all the things I expected to happen when I showed up, I hadn’t expected to laugh.
“And you’ve been holding out the deets. How dare you. Now, that, I will give you shit over. When you’re boning one of the hottest teachers on campus, you tell your best friend.”
A barely there laugh escaped. “It’s not exactly a relationship status you can post on Facebook.”
“True,” she said, nodding. “But wait, what happened? Why are you here crying?”
“We broke up.”
“Sweetie,” she said, pulling me into her arms. “I’m so sorry.”
Burying my head in her shoulder, I got the rest of it off my chest. “He knew I worked at Voyeur.”
Her rubbing hands stopped on my back. “How?”
“He, uh…he went there.” Olivia gasped and tried to pull back, but I held her close, not ready to face her yet. “You can’t tell anyone. I’m breaking the NDA even talking about it.”
“I would never.” Her stroking hands continued, and I pushed on.
“He couldn’t handle it. He was jealous and tried to hide it, but it became too much. Eventually, he offered to pay for the rest of my school, so I could quit Voyeur, and I just couldn’t.” I pulled back from her shoulder and waved my hands animatedly. Mad all over again. “He said, that I was being stubborn for not letting him pay. That he already paid for my time, so why not just let him pay for my school and eliminate the issue of Voyeur all together.”
“Well, why not?”
My eyes shot to hers, completely unprepared for her response. She, more than anyone, should know why I wouldn’t take money from someone. “What?”
“I mean, it’s not a loan, so it’s not like you’d have to pay it back. It’s like he’s paying for your time up-front.”
“So, I can be his whore. He’d be paying me to perform just for him.”
