Chapter 28

"It was just an act of kindness."

June had told herself this severally over the weekend but when her mind drifted to the moment she spent with Ollie, she couldn't help but feel butterflies flutter in her stomach or her heart melting into a puddle at her feet.

The time she spent with Ollie was him being nice and kind given the state he found her—crying and in despair after she argued with John— so June was basically setting herself up for major disappointment since she and Ollie could never be that way at all.

It was making her anxious because she wished she could put a stop to it. She wished she could stop herself from being the way she was whenever Ollie was involved when she was sure he didn't even like her like that. He never would.

She sighed as her mind drifted back to reality to catch Aiden and Amy in the middle of yet another argument barely ten minutes after their arrival. She loved the twins so much but sometimes, just sometimes, she wished she could escape their constant bickering.

Aiden was the one receiving a scholarship award that would sponsor the rest of his academic years today. June didn't know the criteria for selecting the recipients but it was no surprise Aiden was among the twenty chosen students—he was a genius.

She'd thought having her and Amy with him would be nice, but now she was regretting it as they were at each other's throats in the crowded hall.

June squeezed the bridge of her nose.

When they were still kids, June'd thought they would outgrow this phase but how wrong was she? At sixteen, they still bickered like five-year-olds.

An ache bloomed at her temples as she watched Amy and Aiden talk over each other, trying to outshout the other. If only they stopped a minute to listen to the other party, they would have settled whatever argument was between them.

"Guys." June whisper-shouted so as not to draw attention to them. "Can you both for once, not do this right now? We are in public for god sake."

Instantly, they jumped to defend their sides of the story.

"He pushed me..."

"You stepped on my foot first..."

"It wasn't intentional..."

"But you do it every time. You do something wrong and claim it was unintentional..."

"You are just too full of yourself..."

She took a deep breath, trying to summon the calm she didn't feel. "Shut up both of you," June said, raising her hands. "I don't care what happened, I just need you..." she looked between the twins, "...both to be real quiet until we leave here."

Amy's chest heaved as she opened her mouth to argue but June cut her off with a sharp glance.

"Not another word from either of you until this event is over." She pointed a warning finger between the twins.

Amy crossed her arms, her lips pressed into a thin line. "When is this event going to start anyway?" Amy asked through her nose. "I can't wait to be out of here."

"I didn't ask you to come," Aiden muttered under his breath, a flicker of hurt flashing his eyes.

June sighed, not saying another word about it. She always restrained from taking sides whenever the twins argued like this, but it was exhausting.

Often, she wondered if she was doing a good job raising them. She longed for some signs, a pat on the back to tell her she was on the right track because most days it didn't feel like she was.

As a voice bloomed over the speaker, signaling the start of the event, they took their seat, June in the middle, and the twins on either side.

After a long opening speech, that last person she expected to see— but who had been on her mind no matter how hard she tried to push him out—stepped onto the podium.

Her heart skipped one beat.

Ollie looked like a living dream.

His grey three-piece suit clung perfectly to his broad frame and his hair was slick back. He could have stepped straight of the high-end men's magazine.

He was probably the guest of honor for the scholarship foundation, perhaps even one of the board members.

As soon as his deep, velvety voice bloomed over the speaker, drifting around the room, the room fell into silence so profound if a needle dropped it would be heard.

The authority and attention he commanded were out of this world.

Throughout his speech, June couldn't stop thinking about their interaction at the ice cream shop. The way he'd looked at her, the warmth in his eyes, the way he listened. It all replayed in her mind like a surreal, vivid dream, each detail more intoxicating than the last.

As Ollie finished his speech and strode back to his seat, June's eyes tracked him. As the presentation of the award began, other guests of honor circled him like a beacon. He had this air of indifference around him like he couldn't care less if someone dropped dead beside him yet people greedily hung on each of his words.

"Stop giving a stranger heart eyes, you don't even know him." Amy's girlish voice brushed behind her ear, tickling her skin.

She gaped, slowly turning to face her sister. "What did you know about heart eyes?" Amy was known for saying the most random, out-of-pocket things. She could imagine what a menace she would be when she grew older. She was like a carbon copy of Lola, personality-wise.

Amy rolled her eyes.

"I am not staring at him if that is what you mean." She said cautiously, trying to mask her flustered face. She couldn't believe her younger sister ogling a man.

"Don't worry, everyone is staring at him too," Amy whispered, wiggling her eyebrows. "Even me." She giggled.

Amy wasn't exaggerating. Ollie made perfection look effortless. And everyone wanted to get a glimpse of him like he was some deity even with the indifferent, couldn't care less, bored aura.

Clearly, she was just one of the crowd. She wasn't special at all, she was like every other person.

Soon it reached Aiden's turn for his scholarship award. She and Aiden made their way to the podium. Where Ollie was surrounded by elites of the event.

As they approached, her heart pounded like a jackhammer, her palms sweating. For once June didn't know how to act. She always lost her coordination whenever Ollie was involved.

"It is fine if you don't want to come with me," Aiden said. "Maybe, you can stay with Amy."

"I want to," June furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would you say that?" She chewed her lips, and then suddenly, it occurred to her. Every other kid had their parents with them while she appeared to be closer in age to the twins. She looked oddly out of place and incredibly young.

Was he ashamed of her?

She felt a sting in her chest.

"Don't you want me to come with you?" She asked, her hand slowly sliding off Aiden's shoulder.

"I want you to," Aiden said, genuinely confused by why she would say that. "You seem so nervous that's why I thought..."

"Oh," a breath of relief escaped her mouth. If only Aiden knew she wasn't nervous about him or the award. "I'm not nervous." She laughed it off.

The moment they climbed into the podium, she loved eyes with Ollie. The world seemed to cease to exist as they held each other's gaze. It was barely seconds but it seemed like an eternity passed between them. Ollie's eyes did a lazy once over before flicking away with a dismissive indifference, with no hint of recognition in the depths of his steely eyes.

She felt a pang of disappointment as visceral as physical pain hit her.

His gaze was strange. It was almost like he didn't know her like he hadn't seen her before. It had her questioning if all the time he'd spent with her was just an illusion she built up in her mind.

She hadn't expected him to wave at her or embrace her into a hug but...this...icy indifference stung.

Get a grip, June. A sexual relationship was all it was. Nothing more. He didn't owe her anything.

She swallowed the bitter pill of disappointment and plastered a smile on her lips as they got to the person presenting the award. Her smile didn't waver throughout the presentation of the award and camera shots of Aiden and the presenter.

As she and Aiden walked off of the podium, June felt like something dim inside of her. This short, dismissive encounter with Ollie had tainted every other moment they had shared.

As she and the twins were about to leave, she caught a glimpse of Ollie from the corner of her eye, striding in the opposite direction from them with an older man behind him whose face was obscured from her view.

Her legs almost followed him like a magnet before she stopped it. What was going to do? Confront him about ignoring her? She had got to have some pride.

"Let's go." She said to the twins, draping her arms on either side of their shoulders before leading them towards the exit door.

At the last minute, June halted to her feet just by the entrance, throwing her pride out of the window. "Give me a minute. I'll be back soon." She lied.

The twins nodded and June made her way in the direction Ollie had gone. Turning a corner, she saw Ollie slip into a restroom.

June walked towards the door and hesitated, then knocked on the door. Once. Twice. Thrice.

When no response came, with hesitation, June slipped into the restroom. Ollie's tilted his head toward her, addressing her with chillingly empty eyes. It was almost as if he was looking through her and wasn't seeing her.

"What are you doing here?" He said in a dark, devoid-of-warmth voice that sent cold tremors down her back. She had never heard Ollie sound this scary.

She slowly approached him, her heart pounding "I didn't mean to intrude. I just...you were...I saw you..." Her words tumbled out, her tongue tied under Ollie's cold copper gaze boring into her. Her eyes dipped down on his hand clenched, by the sink, catching the red bruises on his knuckles. Her heart lurched into her throat. "Are you okay?" She said with concern, taking Ollie's hand without a thought.

Ollie's gaze stepped down to their hands and flickered back to her face, his expression deadly cold and unreadable. She hated how he was looking at her as if she was some stranger he couldn't make out.

"You are hurt—."

The words had barely left her mouth before Ollie wrapped his other hand around her neck with a steely grip.

The air whooshed out of her lungs as he slammed his lips against hers.