Exclusively Yours - Episode 12
Subtitle; {Please, Love Me}
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Olivia's POV
I stared at Riccardo, then at Axel, and back to Riccardo. "You two know each other?"
"Oh, I know him," they both replied in strained voices, the tension between them evident as they engaged in a glaring contest.
Clearing my throat, I stepped in between them, facing Axel. "How do you know him?"
"I could ask you the same question, peach."
"I'm sorry, what?" Riccardo's voice came out shocked and angry. "He calls you peach?"
Ignoring him, I pressed on. "Axel, I can explain."
"Why is he here in your house?"
"The important question here is, why do you know her passcode? You can't just go around entering people's fiancée's house like you own it."
Axel's eyes snapped to me and I gulped at the expression they carried. "Did... did he just say... fiancée?"
I let out a shaky breath and nodded my head. "Yes."
"You're engaged? To him?"
Riccardo's hand circled around my waist possessively. "Exactly, Morris."
How the héck do they know each other?
And why does it look like they hàte each other so much?
"You síck piece of shít."
"Such unfortunate language. Only those who cannot express themselves intelligently will resort to such crude substitution in vocabulary. Is it because I intimidate you, Morris?" Riccardo stepped forward towards him, and it was obvious from a mile away that he was a few feet taller than Axel. "Am I making you nervous?"
Damñ.
Axel scoffed, brushed past me, and walked up to me. "Peach, I know you wouldn't lie to me. Tell me, why is he here?"
"Yes, yes, I am. I'm engaged to Riccardo." I looked down at the ring he practically forced me to wear yesterday in the jungle.
"But, how?!" He exclaimed.
"I will leave you two to it," Riccardo said loudly enough for Axel and I to hear as he took his coat. However, he strolled back to me, leaning in towards my ear. "Personal space." After pulling away, he pecked me on the forehead. "Bye, sunshine."
To héck with personal space!
Axel is my best friend, and I know for a fact that he wouldn't cross his boundaries with me.
I tried to offer my best friend the sweetest smile I could muster up quickly, but he wasn't having it. His lively face held betràyal and sadnéss as he refused to look at me.
"I don't believe you, Olivia."
Me neither.
"I..."
He turned to me, his eyes blazing with anger. "No! No excuses."
"This isn't an excuse, Axel," I muttered as I sat down on the sofa, hugging my legs tightly. "It has been going on for a while now."
It's amazing how easily the lie breezed through my mouth like a pro.
"How long is 'a while' to you?"
"Like, three years..."
"What?! Three years?! You've been seeing that síck bastàrd for three years and you didn't tell me."
"I didn't think it was important. I also didn't want to make a big deal out of it because I didn't know we'd last this long."
Seriously, I could be an actress.
"I can't believe you. You hid this from me and City for this long. We are friends for fúck's sake!"
I winced, dropped my legs, and hugged my stomach. "I know, I know, I know, but you need to understand my part." I stood up and walked to the kitchen for a bottle of water. "Riccardo is this big shot architectural celebrity, and there's me, an editor whose name isn't known. I didn't want to announce it to the world, even when he wanted to."
Axel sighed and walked to me. His annoyance slowly faded from his face. "You still should have told us. We are besties, and besties share everything with each other, right?"
"Right. I'm sorry."
"It's fine." He opened his arms, and I entered, sighing in his warm embrace. "It's totally fine."
After seconds of hugging, I pulled away and looked up at him. "How do you know Riccardo?"
"Never mind that." The way he dismissed it only made me more curious to find out what the deal is between them.
"Okay then."
You know what they say, 'curiosity kílls the cat.' It's a good thing I'm human, isn't it?
I'm not going to rest until I find out what happened between my soon-to-be husband and best friend.
☆☆☆☆
"What?!" Felicity exclaimed, her hand clamped against her mouth as Axel narrated the incident to her. "Are you serious? Is this a joke? Or a prank?"
"No." I winced, rolling on the bed in pain. My stomach felt like it was being ripped in two. "Why would this be a prank?"
"How did you two meet? Why didn't you tell us that you were dating The Riccardo Torrence?"
I rolled my eyes and sat up, preparing myself to tell both of them the lie I've made up. "Okay, listen. Three years ago, I met Rick..." I paused momentarily when I realized what I just did.
No. I will not call him that. I'll call him by his name. Riccardo.
Felicity nudged me to continue. "Yeah?"
"We met at a fundraising gala. He kind of bumped into me and spilled his drink on my dress..."
"I remember that day. You came home with a ruined dress. You were so mad." My first best friend interrupted, her eyes glistening with excitement.
"Exactly. He didn't apologize and was extremely rude. Well, we met at a café the very next day, and he apologized for being rude. He said he had a bad and long day yesterday and offered to buy me a cup of coffee. I thought we would never meet again after that day, but we did, again and again and again." I looked between their faces. Felicity's was filled with excitement, and Axel's was filled with boredom. "Am I boring you? Should I stop?"
"No. No, no, no." He immediately said, waving his hand. "I just.... really do not like him, not one bit."
"What happened? Why do both of you know Riccardo Torrence and I don't?"
I shrugged.
Axel, however, didn't seem like he wanted to answer any questions about it. He turned his head to me. "How is your stomach?"
Nice way to change the conversation.
I should even thank him. I was already getting bored of my own 'love story.'
I pouted sadly and sighed. "Bad. I hate this feeling so much."
I just realized something. After Riccardo came into my life, I've started sighing almost every time, and it needs to stop.
From the corner of my eye, I could see my phone light up with a notification that I didn't even want to look at right now.
Felicity leaned over to pick it up from the nightstand and stretched it over to me. "Who is 'Psych Runaway'?"
"Riccardo," I muttered under my breath, and she snatched the phone from right out of my hand. "Ouch."
She pouted. "Awwn, he calls you sunshine. That's so cute."
"Yeah, sure." I took my phone from her to read the text, hoping that he had sent something meaningful. My eyes went over the message.
PSYÇH RUNAWAY: How is your stomach? Does it still hurt a lot? Should I come over? I'll drop whatever I'm doing right now if you say the word. So, are you okay, sunshine?
I'm okay.
My cramps will only be worse if he comes here.
I forced a smile on my face for appearances' sake. I couldn't let them figure out that it's all a charade, especially not with the tension between Riccardo and Axel.
ME: I'm good. No, don't come over.
I looked up from my phone to see my two best friends staring at me, both of them with smiles on their faces. Internally, I sighed, grateful that they fell for it.
Two down, many to go.
I need to get paid for this.
It isn't easy to be a good liar and actress.
Yep, he must definitely pay me for this.
TBC 📖✍️
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