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“Because it is intimate, and private. Where private things happen,” Olivia surmised with a slight snort, wanting to say ‘duh’ out loud. Feeling like she just told him the most juvenile thing possible.
For not the first time, she wondered how old he was. “Well, I mean I guess all bedrooms have private things happen in them, huh?” she tried to joke, correcting herself awkwardly, knowing she was blushing. Which was made even worse when he tilted his head once more to look down at her, making a little scoffing sound in the back of his throat.
“Some bedrooms desperately need to be more private than others for obvious reasons. Some maybe not so obvious as well,” he whispered, his eyes flicking down to her lips before bringing his mug up and drinking from it. “Is yours private? Is that why you locked yourself in there just now?” he dared to press, probing, trying to see an in.
Olivia pursed her lips in shock before flushing, her eyebrows furrowed.
“May I have some more?” Olivia asked dismissively. Turning and walking the small area back to the peninsula and waving at the wine bottle.
He joined her again, and she freshened both of their cups before recorking the bottle with effort, making him chuckle at her antics. She turned to open her fridge, wincing at the eerily empty sound it made as she placed the bottle on the bare shelves and closed it quickly. Hoping he didn’t notice.
“So, why’d you never finish? There’s got to be a story there,” he pressed, wanting to know details.
“Not one I wish to discuss, and not one you need to know,” Olivia snapped, trying and failing not to sound mean.
She bit her lip and closed her eyes briefly before opening them once more. His eyes were on hers intensely. She pressed her fingers against her hips awkwardly, digging in. Wishing she had something to do, perhaps an amazon echo dot to be able to put music on in the background. The silence stretched uncomfortably between them.
She quickly gleamed this was a man who did not subject himself to coddling social cues. If a faux pas was made, he expected it to be addressed. He also didn’t seem to shy down from intensity, rather seemed inclined to revel in turning it up. She pouted her lips slightly, wishing he would say something to break the tension between them. She realized after a second, he wouldn't be coming to save her in that way.
“I’m sorry that was rather rude of me. I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did,” she apologized, feeling her face heat up as she blushed. He just stood there in that stance, regarding her quietly.
“Apology accepted. If you don’t wish to talk about it right now, I understand,” Colin said, tipping his mug and finishing his wine and handing it to her.
He waited silently as she rinsed out the glasses and dried them before placing them into a yet again bare cabinet. Again, inwardly wincing at the loud echoing bang her bare cabinet made when she closed the door.
She grabbed up her purse and her phone and walked him to the front door.
Olivia took a second to slide on some matching green heels, using her side table to support herself as she stood on one foot and slid them on. He watched her, amused.
“Oh, wait,” she said breathlessly, touching his arm absentmindedly. She glanced at him before walking back to the kitchen, her heels tapping loudly.
Colin watched quietly as Olivia maneuvered around the small space and turned on the light above her stove, then walked over to the lamp in the living area and switched that on. She then hurried back to her bedroom, not caring that he’d see her purple room and the cheap frame of her bed as she walked inside.
Olivia busied herself turning on a small lamp by her bed and a nightlight in her bathroom, not wanting to come home to a dark apartment. Attention diverted; she missed the look that passed over Colin’s face at her actions.
He walked her out and kindly put a hand on her elbow to escort her up the stairs that led to the parking lot. Olivia only pulled away once, when she tried to divert to her car, he steered her purposefully and efficiently to his vehicle instead.
After a small tussle in the parking lot in which he told her sternly that “under no circumstances” would he let her drive herself, she relented and let him place her into the passenger seat of his car.
When Colin closed the door, Olivia placed her purse on the floor and took a second to take in the soft leather seats, the muted lighting of the car and the smell.
God. Who knew a car could smell rich, her lips twitched slightly as she tried to reign in her feelings. She was in wealthy people’s company a couple times a week with her clients. However, she was busy focusing on inflicting pain in those scenarios, and not worrying about her surroundings other than her safety.
“Do you have any music preference?” Colin asked, hooking his phone up to the system and her eyebrows hit her hair line once again as ‘Sex’ by Sticky Fingers dominated the car, even flashing the title on his fancy computer system.
Colin didn’t seem embarrassed to Olivia, and she rolled her lips as he turned the music down and stared at her intently, waiting for a response, not bothering to change the music.
“Oh, uhm…. how’s Aaryan Shah?” she said gently, as he handed her his phone to put the artist in. And appropriately in her case, ‘Is this The Life I Chose’ came on as he pulled out of her parking lot and into the street as the sun went down, not needing GPS to guide him, which she didn't catch.
She also missed the look he gave her at the mention of the artist.
Oysters and 'O' playlists
They rode in almost complete silence, apart from the music. Colin occasionally broke the silence by telling her gently which songs he liked as the phone ticked through playlists. Putting her eyes on the clock, she’d noticed they’d been driving for almost an hour, and her eyebrows raised in shock.
“Okay sooo...are you kidnapping me or what’s up?” Olivia said hesitantly.
Reaching into her purse she nervously checked her phone to make sure her location was still on. She sent her location to her friend Aliyah as well who she affectionately called Beau. Aliyah replied with a “?” and Olivia’s brows furrowed as she hurriedly sent a short text to her.
