Olivia woke up with a splitting headache, balls of perspiration trickled down from her forehead as she gently tried to get her breath under control. It had been ten years already, yet she was still haunted by the same nightmare. She had been to therapy countless times, and had bills to help her calm herself, yet the nightmares persisted.
It had been a while since she got one, but it wasn't a new experience. Why now? Could it be because of the call she had gotten a few days ago? She said it wouldn't let it bother her, but apparently she hadn't told herself the truth. It had been a prank call, some stupid hoodlum who thought that pretending to be her ex would be funny. Olivia was already used to these types of calls. Noah Grant was a well known figure, and their relationship hadn't been a private affair. It might have been ten years ago, but people still asked her about him in interviews and press conferences. While she would love to avoid speaking about her ex as much as she could, it had become inescapable. But it didn't matter, she wasn't a wimp anymore, she had her own empire, one that she had fought hard to build. Getting down from bed, she sauntered to the drawer close by to get her medication. She needed to calm her nerves before she could return to bed— Olivia turned towards the alarm clock, "it's morning already?!" She exclaimed after catching sight of the figures in front of her digital alarm clock; ten minutes past seven am. "Ughh.." A brief exhausted sigh escaped her lips. She had a press conference at nine, and another by twelve. Sometimes she wondered if being successful was worth it, she barely had time for her friends, and the relationship that was slowly brewing between her and her co worker, Michael Anderson. Michael was sweet and all, but Olivia was still cautious. She hadn't been in any significant relationships for ten years now, Noah had scarred her deeply, and that wound was yet to heal. Exhausted, she entered the bathroom and began preparations for the day. She lived alone in a two bedroom apartment, and couldn't for anything more than that. She could afford a mansion if she wanted to, but Olivia wasn't comfortable with someone making her meal and washing her clothes. Fame brought you friends, but also an equal number of enemies. The last thing she wanted was to get murdered by her own maid. A two bedroom apartment was perfect, she could handle cleaning, and didn't need to yell at anybody to do something. RINGGGGG* It was her phone, and as expected, it was Michael calling. "Good morning, Liv." His soothing baritone voice flowed from the speaker the moment Olivia answered. "Did you sleep well?" "I did, Michael, thank you.." Olivia returned shyly. She knew she wasn't the best at reciprocating emotions, but she still did her best to show Michael that his affection was appreciated. "W..what about you? Did you sleep well?" "Barely, but let's not worry about that. Are you ready yet? I'm on my way to pick you." Michael returned. From the background noises she could hear, Olivia could tell he was already on the way. She had taken an hour to get ready, and it would probably take her twenty minutes to prepare her breakfast. It should be enough time before Michael arrives. "Yes, I'm done already. See you soon." She replied before ending the call and hurrying to her kitchen to make her a cup of tea and toast. It was the most she could do at the moment, one step out of that and she might end up running late and wasting everybody's time. It took a while, but after five minutes of waiting, a black Mercedes finally pulled into the apartment premises, and Olivia's face immediately lit up with a smile. She grabbed her purse, and without caution, raced downstairs to meet Michael. They had barely twenty minutes to be at the office, and she didn't want to be late. Rock Enterprise was a big firm, one that she had been trying to collaborate with for a while now, and they had finally given her the opportunity of an interview, one that she absolutely planned to nail. "Thank you for coming to pick me up." Said Olivia before she threw herself into Michael's open arms. She seconded the gesture with a light kiss to his cheeks before lowering her purse on the passenger seat through the window. "The interview is in less than half an hour, are you sure we will be on time?" Michael arched a brow at the question, hadn't someone informed her already? He was sure he had done so, or had he forgotten as well? "The interview has been cancelled Liv, didn't you get the news?" He asked as he reached out to grab his phone. "I sent you a text last night, Rock Enterprise was bought overnight. There are rumors going around that their new owners are already in town, but there won't be any interviews today." Olivia's eyes fell, her disappointment almost getting the better of her. She might have gained mainstream success, but her business wouldn't last long if she didn't have strong firms backing her up. She had worked her ass off for this day, only for some bastard to ruin it for her. "Let's just get to the office." She replied, unwilling to continue the conversation. She would probably cry if she talked about it too much, and wanted to avoid that at all cost. Her makeup wasn't heavy, but tears would definitely cause a lot of damage to it. Michael took control of the wheel, and in half an hour, they were outside the office. One of the valets approached, and Michael handed the man his car keys to handle the rest of the parking. They hadn't taken two steps forward, when Olivia's eyes caught the large 'R' on one of the trucks parked outside the office. She would recognize that logo even on her deathbed, it belonged to Rock Enterprise, and from the look of things they were already here. Confused, she turned towards Michael who seemed to have caught sight of the van as well. "Didn't you say something about the interview being cancelled? What are they doing here then?" Olivia inquired, but Michael was just as confused as she was. She didn't waste time on questions, she raced into the building, determined to find a convincing excuse for her tardiness to the interview. However, as she stepped into the conference room, her heart leapt out of her body, and her jaws dropped to the floor. Before her sat a familiar figure, a large grin spread across his face as he recognized her. He was here, Noah Grant was here!Olivia froze in place, not sure of what she should do next. She didn't know if she should scream, or simply turn around and disappear from the office completely. However, one thing she knew not to do was act like a wimp she used to. "Liv, it's been a while—" "What are you doing here?" Olivia interjected sharply, her tone blunt and devoid of any sense of formality. Her arrogance only made Noah smile. Reaching into the depths of his pocket, he pulled out a badge and flashed it right at Olivia's face, "Noah Grant, CEO of Rock Enterprise, it's nice to meet you, Olivia Jones." Now Olivia was even more speechless, if that was even possible. She had heard that Rock Enterprise had been bought, but never in her life did she imagine that it was Noah who had bought it. What was he doing this for? To spite her? Hadn't he done enough already? "I want you out of here this instant. Leave while you still have the chance to avoid embarrassment." Olivia held her ground, her voice steady despite t
The interview had ended a lot faster than expected, and it was probably due to the fact that it wasn't even an interview. Olivia hadn't said much when Noah yielded and sealed the deal. He was here to impress her—to win her over, and not to listen to her beg for a partnership. "A moment, Liv—""Don't call me that! You don't get to call me that anymore!" Olivia snapped, her fingers pointed at Noah in a threatening manner. Noah raised his hand in submission, not wanting to anger her anymore than this. "I'm sorry, could you spare me a minute, Miss Jones? It's important for our partnership going forward, and I'd like to discuss it with you alone." His eyes slowly trailed towards Michael who had appeared right behind Olivia with a protective stance. Olivia knew very well that whatever Noah wanted to discuss had nothing to do with the just concluded interview, nor did it have anything to do with the partnership of the two companies. He probably wanted to discuss something different, one
Olivia did her best to remain calm, getting worked up wouldn't do her any good, and she definitely didn't want Noah Grant to be the reason for her foul mood that morning. She had better things to worry about, and Noah Grant was the least of them. So why then was she so invested in him? What exactly was his game? What could he be up to? Olivia needed to know. She knew Noah better than anyone, and she knew for certain that he hadn't just come around to play and have fun. He was definitely up to something, and she couldn't help but feel that she was at the epicenter of whatever master scheme he was cooking. She swallowed hard, trying to steer her thoughts away from Noah and focus them on the pile of paper before her. She had a lot of work to do, and thinking about her ex husband was not going to get the work done. Olivia hadn't finished with one of the documents when the door swung open to reveal her best and only friend, Lisa Brown. "You didn't tell me Noah is in town, what's going
It took Lisa a while but she finally managed to make it to Rock Enterprise. Without wasting any second, she hurried to the receptionist and immediately demanded for Noah's office floor. "Mr Grant is busy at the moment, I am unsure if he is willing to receive visitors." Those were the words the secretary blabbed to Lisa after she had gotten lost twice before finally making it here. She only needed one glance to tell that the lady behind the counter was threatened by her. She was likely infatuated with Noah as well, and clearly didn't want any competition."Noah is an acquaintance of mine, if you don't want to lose your job I'll suggest that you let me see him immediately!" Lisa fixed her gaze on the secretary, her voice cold and authoritative. The woman's initial confidence wavered a little, before she finally yielded."I—I need to call his office first," the secretary stammered, reaching for the phone. Her fingers trembled slightly as she dialed, her eyes darting nervously between Li
Only one out of the two things he had told Lisa was true, but Noah Grant couldn't care less. It was true, he hadn't signed the divorce papers from ten years, but Lisa wasn't the only person who knew of that. His lawyers did so as well, and the next person to find out would probably be Olivia. It didn't matter where she ran to, or whom she decided to be with, she was still legally his wife. "What? Why?!" Lisa inquired, pulling away from Noah's embrace. "You should have signed those papers years ago, what on earth are you waiting for?" "I got lazy, didn't really look at it until now." Noah replied with an air of nonchalance. It was definitely the truth. Olivia had left him after handing him the papers, and he never really bothered to even look at it after that day. He had tossed it into one of his drawers, and had only gone to pick it up a month ago, when he saw her on TV. "Sign them now!" Lisa thundered, angry and disappointed at the same time. "What do you even need them for?! She'
Olivia could sense that something was wrong the very moment she stopped in front of her apartment building. Something was different, the air seemed tensed, and every person around was staring at her as though she was a stranger. They knew who she was, she doubted anybody in the city was unaware of who she was. Yet, they glared at her with such an odd look on their faces. Her eyes scanned the surrounding, searching for something that could be the reason for the sudden attention. Her eyes fell on a few things she hadn't recognized, the most notable being a brand new sports car that rested by the far end of the building. The people who lived in this apartment weren't poor, so seeing a new sports cars wasn't exactly a big deal. Olivia only came to find out the reason why she had been getting those glares when she walked up the stairs and found Noah Grant standing in front of her door.Her heart had almost jumped out of her body, and she felt like turning around and leaving the moment he
A week had passed since Olivia encountered Noah in her apartment, and while they hadn't run into each other in a week now, she had managed to find out why exactly he had come back to taunt her after a whole decade.She hadn't really paid attention to his life after she had left him, but after a couple research, she finally fell upon Noah's problems. His half Brother, Damian Grant, was out to destroy his life. Olivia knew about Damian, the illegitimate son of the Grant family. He had been one of the few people who made life bearable for her while she had still been married to Noah. Since he hadn't been raised and spoiled as a child, Damian was a better human being than Noah, and while he had his own faults as well, he was a lot more tolerable than his half brother. From the article she had read online, she had come to know that Damian had contested Noah's ownership of the family's company. Ten years ago, Damian had been single, but had gotten married three years later, and had a daug
Michael glanced over his phone for the millionth time, expecting Amelia to call anytime soon. He was still going over everything in his head, and the more he thought about it, the more strength drained from his body. He had no idea how to break the news to Amelia or Olivia. But it was necessary he does, he wouldn't be able to cheat on Olivia, he cared for her and genuinely loved her with all his heart. After half an hour of waiting, the long awaited call finally came through, and Michael wasted no second in answering. "Where are you?" He demanded the moment he answered the phone, moving away from places where he could be overheard. "At the airport, you said you'd come pick me up, right? Or should I come straight to your office—""I'm coming to pick you up!" Michael interjected sharply, not letting Amelia finish her words, or the idea of ever visiting him while he was at work. Amelia wasn't the quiet type of girl, she always loved being the center of attention, and Michael was certa