23
LIZ
Liz, incensed by the continual interruptions, snapped up the remote and paused her favorite horror flick, John Carpenter’sThe Thing. With an aggravated grunt, she lumbered up from the sofa and shuffled over to her roommate’s forgotten phone. She intended to switch the phone off completely, but then she noticed that a few of the missed calls were from the same number. Robert’s, according to the caller ID.
Her eyebrows joined together above the bridge of her nose. Could there be an emergency? She felt it would be rude, answering a phone that didn’t belong to her, but what if something had happened to Olivia and this was the only way Robert could think to reach her? Putting an end to her waffling, she picked up.
“Olivia?”
“No, Robert, this is Liz. Olivia’s roommate.”
“Oh, I see. Hello Elizabeth. I hope this evening finds you well?”
“I’m okay.” She waited, but he remained mute. “So, you’re looking for Olivia?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry, she’s not here. I think she said she had a work thing. I actually thought she might be with you.”
“I’m afraid not.”
“She didn’t take her phone with her. That’s Olivia—she’s always forgetting the thing. I’ve been listening to it ringall evening,” Liz said with curt emphasis. “I saw your missed calls. Is everything all right?”
“Yes and no.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Robert sighed sullenly. “I don’t know if youcanhelp me, Elizabeth. Perhaps you can.”
“Try me.”
“Last night, I upset Olivia in a terrible way, and now she doesn’t want to see me. I told her I’d stay away, but I’d like to offer her an apology. I’ve had some time to think, and I can see now how right she was.”
“What did you do?”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“No. Olivia can be private about her personal life, but she’ll usually tell me things when she’s ready. You didn’t sleep with another woman, did you?”
Robert gasped. “I’m not a scoundrel.”
Liz had to laugh. The man spoke like he’d stepped straight out of a Dickens novel. “So?”
“Too many things to recount, but mainly I overstepped some boundaries that I shouldn’t have.” He paused. “I also punched her former lover in the face.”
“Whoa! You hit Nick?” Liz shrieked.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Awesome!”
“This pleases you?”
“Does it ever! He totally broke Olivia’s heart. He—” Liz bit her lip, worried that she’d said too much already. It wasn’t her place to tell Robert about her best friend’s failed relationships. “So, what couldIdo for you?”
“Perhaps some advice—you are her closet friend? I simply cannot bear that I hurt her. I must make things right.”
Liz rested a hand over her heart, touched. David was an amazing boyfriend, but they didn’t make men like Robert anymore, did they? Olivia was lucky to have found him. She deserved some joy in her life. He obviously made her happy, plus he was a billionaire to boot. And sexy as hell.
