Two

Olivia:

I shattered under him, my climax tearing through me, and the way I clenched around him made him lose control too. He cursed, his rhythm faltering as he buried himself deep one last time.

For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of our ragged breaths, his body heavy on mine, his hand tangled in my hair.

I'm alive. For the first time in months, I feel alive.

We lay there together until exhaustion pulled us both under, and by the time I woke up the next morning, he was gone.

I sat up slowly, my body deliciously sore, and looked around the empty hotel room. There was nothing but the faint scent of his cologne and the memory of hands that had made me forget everything.

Of course he's gone. Nobody stays. What was I expecting, breakfast in bed?

For a moment, I just sat there, staring at the rumpled sheets, feeling something uncomfortably close to disappointment.

"It was one night," I muttered. "That's all it was ever going to be."

I gathered my scattered clothes from the floor.

My hair was a mess. My lips were swollen. My neck had faint marks from his mouth.

But for the first time in months, I didn't look quite so haunted.

My phone sat on the nightstand, and I grabbed it, checking the time. 6:47 AM.

My shift at Devil's Gear started at noon.

I stared at that notification for a long moment, my thumb hovering over the screen.

Then I opened my banking app.

Forty seven dollars. That's what I'd have to my name if I moved to a decent apartment and paid rent. Forty seven dollars to eat, to get to work, to survive until my next paycheck from a bar job that barely covered my expenses anyway.

I'm done. I'm done with barely surviving. Done with drunk men putting their hands on me. Done with living like this is all I deserve.

I had one shot at changing everything.

My finger hovered over my email app. Then, before I could second guess myself, I opened it and started typing my resignation to Devil's Gear management.

I stared at the draft for a while.

Then I hit send.

I had no safety net. No backup plan.

My heart pounded in my chest as I watched the email disappear into the void.

What had I just done?

This was insane. I'd just quit my only source of income.

But I was done living like this.

Mom told me to run. To build a new life. To be free.

Well, this is me being free. This is me betting everything on myself.

I grabbed my purse and walked away.

The interview confirmation email came two days later.

Hayes Industries

Second Interview

Monday, 10:00 AM

Please confirm attendance

I stared at my phone screen, my heart hammering.

This was it. My one shot at making the insane decision to quit Devil's Gear worth it.

I'd spent the last week living off cheap ramen and tap water, watching my bank account hover dangerously close to zero, second guessing every choice that had led me here.

But every time I thought about going back, crawling back to that bar, back to those hands, back to that life, I remembered my mother's words.

Run, Olivia. Don't ever look back.

So I didn't.

And now, standing on a New York street corner on Monday morning, I checked my reflection in a shop window I could never afford to enter.

I studied my effort to look professional in the reflection of a shop I could never afford to set foot in.

As I waited to cross the street, the mannequin in the window seemed to mock me.

I sighed in frustration, hoping no one could see through the facade of the wannabe fancy clothes and colored lipstick I had put on to hide my fear.

Straightening the sleeves of my perfectly white shirt and tucking it in properly, I took another deep breath.

I hoped it would fill me with the courage and determination I needed to survive this day.

I needed it all.

Hayes Industries was one of the biggest names in the world of luxury automobiles, motorcycles, and race cars.

They even had their own branded gear, run by the one and only Richard Hayes.

The man was a legend.

He had forged his way to the top with nothing but hard work and disruptive vehicle designs, setting himself amongst the biggest names in the industry.

Apparently, only his staff and close people knew his son, the heir to the empire.

There was more than the status of the man I was about to meet shaking my confidence, though that kind of self sabotage ran deeper than just the nerves that preceded a life changing interview.

There was this constant familiar voice I kept hearing.

Diminishing and degrading as always, it was far away now, but it still kept tearing me and my dreams to pieces, whispering my determination into oblivion.

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to remember I could be anything and do anything I wanted to do.

And that I passed the first round.

I had just moved back here yesterday, and moving to another city with nothing was not an option.

So saying today was a big deal was an understatement.

This was my new start, far away from ghosts that were still very much alive and well.

I held my head high, balancing the best I could on these heels, aiming for graceful but settling for not falling as I made my way through the busy streets of New York.

"Oh shit. Nine thirty already," I hissed to myself as I tapped my phone for the hundredth time in ten minutes.

Just as I was about to slip my phone back into my handbag, ice cold water splashed over my body, soaking straight through my shirt and part of my skirt.

I froze, blinking at the vintage red car that had just cut through a puddle like it owned the entire road.

"Hey!" I said, stomping my foot.

The driver slowed down for a moment, turning into the curb like he hadn't just destroyed my morning.

Of course it was some arrogant man who thought he was above traffic laws.

I had a photographic memory, so I immediately registered his plate number and also caught a glimpse of what he was wearing.

He zoomed off immediately.

This can't be happening.

I would never have time to go back home to change.

I couldn't go like this to a possible life changing interview.

I had to find a cafe around to do something to my shirt, at least to look presentable.

I tried as hard as I could not to let my tears fall at the possibility of losing this great opportunity because of some mannerless man.

I rushed into the nearest coffee shop.

"Good morning, bathroom please?" I asked the barista, who simply pointed to his left at a pair of black doors.

I saw the exact red car parked outside, and I scanned the room to see if he was there, and yes, he was standing in front of the counter.

"You!" I yelled. "You owe me an apology, mister."

He turned slowly at the sound of my voice, his deep voice calm but curious. "Excuse me, do I know you from somewhere?"

My heart skipped a beat. "Ethan?" I whispered, my breath catching before I could stop it.

His brows lifted slightly, surprise flashing in his eyes before a slow, familiar smile spread across his face. "Olivia?"

For a second, time stopped. The noise of the cafe faded, and all I could see was him, the same boy who used to wait for me after school, now standing taller, broader, impossibly older.

"I can't believe it's really you," I said, still trying to process it. "After all these years?"

He chuckled softly. "Guess the universe thought we should meet again, though maybe not like this." He gestured to my soaked shirt.

"Oh my God, you ruined my morning, Ethan," I said, half laughing, half annoyed. "And I have a very important interview to get to."

He smirked, leaning against the counter. "Still dramatic, I see. I didn't mean to splash you, Liv. Let me make it up to you."

"I don't have time for that right now," I said quickly, glancing at my phone. "I'm already late."

"Then let me give you a ride," he offered immediately. "You'll never make it on foot."

I hesitated. "Oh no, I can't possibly bother you like this."

Hell yeah, I needed the ride. I was never going to make it on time if I refused his offer.

"Come on, I insist. You can yell at me on the way."

"Fine. But only because I'm desperate."

He smiled, pulling his phone from his pocket and handing it to me. "Then save your number. We're definitely catching up later, Liv. It's been way too long."

I took his phone, our fingers brushing slightly as I typed my number in.

"Still beautiful as ever," he murmured under his breath before I could turn away.

I looked up sharply, but he was already walking toward the door, motioning for me to follow.

I blushed and followed him outside.

"Still can't believe it's you," Ethan said as he opened the car door for me. "After all these years, what are the odds?"

I slid into the passenger seat, watching the city blur past as he drove.

What are the odds indeed.

A week ago, I'd been a bartender getting groped by drunks. Now I was on my way to interview at one of the biggest companies in New York, being driven by my childhood crush who had materialized out of thin air like some kind of rom com miracle.

Maybe the universe was finally on my side.

Or maybe it was setting me up for the punchline.