âItâs fine, Liv, donât get worked up about it.â Thomas said, perhaps sounding less reassuring than he wanted to. He didnât mind if Olivia wasnât Chloeâs fan, in fact, it was kind of funny to him. He wouldâve teased her more about it, but he could clearly see that Olivia was getting irritated with the topic. So they dropped it, like any other uncomfortable subject. âI know, I still feel like a teenager who has just been thrown into the grown up world and is expected to do everything right.â Thomas said, grimacing a little. He was still learning to get the hang of things, and that had to count for something. âI will trust your word because, letâs face it, we Sparks have good genes. We might all be asshole, but at least weâre beautiful.â he said, laughing a little. It was bittersweet to recall their childhood memories, especially because neither of them was as innocent as they had once been. All they had were these glimpses of their past lives when things had been much more simple. âI donât think we couldâve survived on our own. You and me, I mean.â Thomas said. He wasnât joking anymore, instead his tone was soft and nostalgic. Grateful, too, that he had found Olivia when he had needed her the most. âWe really gave our parents a hard time, didnât we?â Thomas chuckled, shaking his head a little. Truth be told, Thomas was ignored for the most part, but his parents always scolded him whenever he tried to make himself visible in their eyes. âBut not as much as our siblings did, thatâs for sure. Iâm kinda glad I had so much freedom to do what I wanted instead of having every one of my decisions carefully scrutinized.â Thomas shrugged when Olivia surrendered about letting him drive her home. âI donât mind being stuck in traffic with you.â he said, a hint of a smirk passing his lips for a moment. âYou talk too much, at least I wonât be bored.â he grinned.Â
Thomas wasnât surprised that the power went out, not really â they had the worst luck in the world. âI donât mind rain as long as I have, oh I donât know, electricity and warmth.â He walked over to one of the large windows of the penthouse to look over the city and found that a few other surrounding buildings were pitch black as well. Sighing, Thomas said, âIt looks like our entire blog is out of power. Which means it will take a while to get fixed.â Thankfully, improvising was one of Thomasâ talents. He rolled his eyes at her when Olivia said he complained too much. âI only complain when things donât go my way.â Which was quite often, he realized. Once all the candles gave the room a nice golden glow and Thomas was somewhat content with the situation, they could finally sit down to eat. No work would be done tonight, but at least he wouldnât be alone in a pitch-black apartment. And he wouldnât admit that he was a little glad he was stuck with Olivia of all people. He wasnât sure why he had to go ahead and ruin the moment by talking about a painful memory, but it was too late to take it back now. He couldnât take his eyes off Olivia as she talked about the stupid fort they had built in which they spent the entire weekend, rolling under the sheets, their lips never leaving each otherâs bodies. The simple memory made Thomasâ entire body heat, but what made his heart start to thunder against his chest was Oliviaâs confession â that she missed it all. Surely, he wasnât reading too much into it, she wouldnât have said it if she didnât mean it. He swallowed harshly, putting down the plate, his appetite gone. âIâm sorry, too.â Thomas said, looking at her. It took a lot of courage to meet those brown eyes, but he didnât want to back down now. âIâm sorry I wasnât there with you when you needed me the most. Iâm sorry I ran away instead of staying here and trying to fight for youâfor us.â Thomas knew this would backfire on him, that saying these things could potentially erase all the progress they had made in the last months, but he couldnât stop himself. He finally had the courage to say all of these things. âIf i could do it all over again, Iâd do things differently. I would be more understanding, more forgiving. Because thatâs what you do for the people you love â you try to understand them, you stand beside them no matter what, and then you forgive them, I know that now. I was just too hurt and too dumb back then to acknowledge it.â he said, taking in a deep breath as if he was lacking oxygen. His hands rested in his lap, his fingers fidgeting restlessly â it was a giveaway how anxious he was. âAll this time, I thought Iâd have to forgive you first in order to move on, but I realize now that I should be asking for your forgiveness for abandoning you when you were the most vulnerable.âÂ
Olivia was about to refute by saying that she wasnât getting worked up about it. Her temper was weak and she knew it would be a lie to say just that, and as she realised that, she finally let out a faint breath out of relief and chose to calm down instead. All this âChloe talkâ was taking itâs toll on her and making her uncomfortable as if it wasnât enough already that they were bringing this situation in between them. Moving on with the conversation, she smiled at herself by how similar their thoughts towards growing up were. It kind of reminded her again of when they were little and used to talk about not wanting to be old, angry and even worseâboring. âThereâs no better explanation for that,â she nodded, agreeing with him. âEveryday when Iâm on my way to work, I think to myself: âHow the hell did i end up here?â or âShould I just go back home and pretend Iâm not an adult today?â she explained with a chuckle. âThat goes on for about ten minutes and then I remember that being young means living with my parents, and we all know how that ended,â she finished with dark humor in her tone. âIâm much better nowâI think.â Olivia frowned at her own last response. Did she sounded too unsure right then? âOh! We definitely agree on that,â she laughed. âSparks Enterprisesââbeautiful assholesâ Iâm sure your dad would love to have that underneath his companyâs name,â she added. âTo be fair with you, though, I donât think you will age too badly.  If anything the ladies will want you even more.â For some reason after saying just that, Olivia felt her face grow warmer as if she was starting to blush. Now is not the time Liv. Not the right time. She tilted her head to side after his response. âWhat do you mean?â she asked. âI always thought we could,â said Liv. âI remember I used to imagine all the time that if we had an entire place of our own we would eat pizza everyday and just play video games until it was time to sleep,â she laughed at the memory. âThinking about it now⌠youâre probably right. It wouldâve been chaotic,â the brunette agreed in the end. She then let out a huff out of her lips. âThatâs an understatement. We both got into trouble way too often for our own good, but at least we knew how to have fun. Like that time we tried to make a waterslide for the pool in your summer house, remember?â she said. âEither way, itâs not like they were around to much to stop us. We did have a lot of freedom in our hands. Perhaps too much.â After that she fell quiet for a second or two. âIf I ever have kids, I donât want them to grow up that way,â she said, biting her lower lip. âI mean, I would obviously approve of a proper waterslide in our pool, but I would never want them to feel lonely, or even worseâdesperate for attention,â she sighed.Â
âNoted,â Olivia said. âWell perhaps this is a sign from the universe that we shouldnât have business meetings in your place if the electricity is failing just when we are about to start,â she joked lightly. They both knew they were doing everything except for working right then. âOn the other hand, though, if you are going to offer me dinner every time I come⌠you know Iâm not one to refuse I nice homemade meal,â she smirked. Olivia rolled her eyes back at him. âAnd that happens often, doesnât it?â she teased him. âCome on, Iâm sure it will get fixed eventually. You already offered me a ride, which Iâm sure you wonât regret because Iâm so charming. Besides, you are not that bad of a company either. I think weâll survive.â Liv had to admit that despite everything, she was glad she was spending as much time with him as possible. She thought that they could never be together like this, talking, in a civilised wayâ or at least they were trying to, it seemed. Yes, every now and then it would get awkward, but Thomas and Olivia couldnât live in awkwardness for too long. They were extremely similar in that way.  And to think that the scene had turn into so much more than just a meeting surprised Olivia, but it didnât scare her. She could feel the unwanted topic arising little by little. A part of her wanted to dismiss it and disappear, but this was long overdue. It needed to happen. Again, they both knew that. The silence in between them was full proof of it.Â
Memories. They either ruined or fixed things, and in this situation in particular the line was too thin. Would they cross it? She had to admit it was probably wrong to make a comment like that, but she was being nothing but honest. She did miss being with him like they used to. It was evident in the way those memories warmed her heart instead of making her feel completely sad. After her candid confession, she didnât expect Thomas to say anything at first. Well, she did expected something, but nothing could have prepared her for what she heard next. Olivia almost didnât believe it. She knew her words were bold, but his took her by surprise in the most pleasant way. âWhat are you--â she mouthed as he spoke so freely, but decided not to interrupt him. How many times did he open up like this? Not many. The entire time Olivia just at there looking straight to him expecting him to avoid her stare, but he didnât for a long while and it only made his confession more powerful. Her mouth opened slightly as if trying to say something and blinked away any confusion. Olivia didnât know how much she wanted to hear him say that until now. She looked at him wanting to touch his hand that was only inches away from hers now. She wanted to grab it and hold it tightly tell him how painfully sorry she was and that it wasnât only his fault. Olivia wanted to say so many things, and yet she couldnât find a place where to start. âThomas no,â she breathed, softly taking the courage to come closer to him. âDonât say that, it wasnât your fault. I ruined everything from the very beginning. With my lies....and I never lied to you before,â she explained sadly. âIâll never be able to say how sorry I am for all the things I did that I shouldnât have. I lost more than I ever thought I would, and you have no idea how much I wanted you to be there, just as much as I wanted to be there for you,â she swallowed harshly. There was no other way to say it. âI gotta be honest, though. For a long time I thought it would only be a matter of time for us to move on, just like we always used to, but I made terrible mistakes and when you left I...â she looked down, not wanting to confess the evident mess that she was. The embarrassing mess that she became before she could even realize that there was no turning back. âI couldnât handle it.â Her tone lowered down significantly as she said those words. Shaking her head slowly, she encouraged herself to continue. âBut we were so young... we were kids. We thought we knew everything we needed to know, I know I did. I thought I had it all planned and figured out, what a joke,â she ended bitterly to herself. âI shouldâve fought a lot harder for both of us, but I didnât know how. I didnât even know how to fix myself. Iâm the one whoâs always going to be sorry for not really showing you how much I loved you.âÂ