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However, I just graduated from college, and I didn't have a job, and I didn't have many prospects. I guess that was what happened when you studied English literature for a major. My parents had given me two options. I could go and live with them in Sarasota, Florida, which I really didn’t want to do, or I could move to New York City and live with my brother and his best friend, Oliver. Neither one of the options had really been something I was interested in, but I figured New York City would give me a new start in life. Maybe I'd find a good job and, hopefully, could afford to move out of the apartment as soon as possible.
"Hey, Rosalie," Alice said, her voice sharp in my ear.
"Sorry, what?"
"You’re not daydreaming about him already, are you?" There was a tinge of amusement in her voice, and I frowned.
"Why do you ask me that?" I asked sharply.
"Because I was speaking to you for the past couple of minutes, and you didn't respond."
"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about what I'm going to say to Oliver when I see him..."
"I thought you just told me you were going to say hello."
"I mean, I can't just say hello, though." I started to feel agitated. I hated him. He was a jackass. He didn’t deserve me at my friendliest self. "Oh my God," I whispered into the phone. "I see him." And there he was, tall and muscular, his dark brown hair long with a slight curl. I could see his blue-gray eyes looking around, and my heart thudded as I stared at the profile of his handsome face. He hadn't shaved in a while, and I could see a beard and mustache growing. Oliver was no longer a boy. He was a man and a very sexy man at that. "Oh, shit. Oh, shit," I whispered into the phone. "Oh my God, Alice, what am I going to do?"
"I don't know. I wish I was there." Alice’s voice sounded sweet and calm. More than anything, I wished she was taking this journey with me.
"Me, too. Why couldn't you move to New York?"
"Because I don't have a brother who's going to let me stay there for free," she groaned. “And my parents want me to work at Dad’s laundromat.” Alice was my best friend, and we'd gone through elementary school, high school, and college together. We’d both studied English literature. She also didn't have a job, and she was back home in Sarasota with her parents, hoping to find a way to get out as soon as possible. She was lucky, though. Her parents lived near the beach, so at least she had a great view.
"Oh my God. He's looking around. Oh my God. I think he just saw me," I said and swallowed hard. Oliver was heading toward me. "What am I going to do, Alice?"
"Just put on a brave face. Don't let him faze you," she said quickly. "Okay? Remember, you’re beautiful and kind, and he only wished he could be with someone like you.”
"Okay. I've got to go." I hung up quickly and put the phone into my handbag. I sat there and waited for Oliver to approach me. I wasn't going to jump out of my seat. I wasn't going to make this easy for him.
His eyes met mine, and he gave me a small smile. I didn't smile back at him. I looked up again a couple of seconds later, but he was no longer walking toward me. I frowned slightly. Was he pissed off that I hadn't smiled back at him? What was his game? And then confusion entered my brain as I watched him walking up to a girl sitting a couple of rows away from me.
"Hey," he said. "What's going on, Rosalie?"
The girl blinked and looked up at him. "Sorry, what?"
"Aren't you Rosalie?" He gave a wry smile and shrugged. "It's me, Oliver."
"Um, I don't know who you are. My name's Barbara." She jumped up, and I held in a giggle. Now that I looked at her, she did resemble me slightly, but she resembled a teenage me, the me who had been slightly overweight with bleached-blond hair. I no longer dyed my hair, so I had my natural brunette locks. I'd slimmed down in college, but I guess Oliver didn't know that as we hadn’t seen each other, and it was unlikely Foster had told him anything. It was unlikely that Foster had even noticed that I was now fifty pounds less than I’d been when I started college. I wasn’t exactly a model now, but I was happy with my womanly figure. I would never be a rail because I liked fries and cupcakes way too much.
I watched as he blinked and looked around. "Oh, sorry. I thought you were my best friend's sister. I'm picking her up from the airport."
"Well, I'm not, but if you want to take me home..." The girl flirted with him, and I just rolled my eyes. Typical! Women always fell all over Oliver. Life was so easy for good-looking men.
"Um, sorry. I better look for her. Her parents will kill me if I don't find her." He continued to look around then, a small smile on his face as he surveyed the crowd. I could tell that he had absolutely no idea who I was. I let out a deep sigh and stood. I walked over to him. He gave me a warm smile.
"Hello," he said, his eyes twinkling. There was a flirtatious smile on his face and I smiled back, loving the way he was looking me over. Then I remembered that I hated him and didn’t care if he was looking at me like the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life.
"Oliver?" I said coldly, ignoring my beating heart.
His face froze for a second, and he looked at me, blinking in surprise. "Rosalie?" His silky voice sounded so familiar to my ears, and I felt butterflies in my stomach as our eyes connected.
"Yes, it's me." I shrugged my shoulders and held my head up high.
"Oh, wow," he said, and I watched as he looked me up and down. He ran his hand through his hair and licked his lips slightly.
"Well, I never…" he said. He shook his head as he gazed at me, a devious glint in his captivating eyes.
"Hello, Oliver. My bags are over there." I nodded back to my previous seat. "I'm ready to go whenever you are. You're ten minutes late." I wasn’t going to let myself fall under his spell again. I would not do that to myself.
