The Proverbial Mr. Universe (29 page)

He diverted his eyes across the street then quickly turned back to meet hers. “I was going to tell you I was across the street pawning my stuff, but as you can see there isn’t one to speak of.” He flashed her a knowing smile, referencing that time she sought him out at the gallery. She rolled her eyes. Nick looked her over. “I missed you,” he said matter-of-factly.

Olivia was bothered by her heart’s betrayal, allowing his words to affect her in some way. She could have declared she missed him too but decided to stay silent, letting him to squirm a bit longer. After all, it was Nick who walked out on her, refused to take her calls or see her. She was still very much hurt and angry with him.

“I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time?”

“No, I was packing.”

“Still?”

“Yeah, well, you know I come with a lot of baggage.” Olivia moved to allow the pedestrians through, but when she stepped forward, she almost tripped over herself, but Nick’s hand steadied her. She was too close for comfort, close enough to see his expression twinge with pain, like he wasn’t sure what to do next: pull her in or walk away. Either way, her feelings were battered, so she decided for them both and took a step back, creating a decent space between them.

“So I guess you finally sold the apartment?”

“No, but I got another reasonable offer.”

“Have you accepted it?”

“I would have, but Dario is purposely holding out.”

“You mean purposely holding on to you?”

She shrugged coolly, knowing he had a point.

“I wanted to call you … many times. I’m sorry I was such an ass …”

“Oh, you were more than an asshole, Montgomery, you’re a pompous prick.”

“I guess I earned that.”

She shrugged and brushed the hair from her face. “What’s this?” Her eyes fell on the bike, particularly on the gold-colored one.

“Call it a peace offering. It’s not new, but it does the job. I cleaned it up, gave it a new coat of paint, and greased up the chains. She’s all yours and ready to go.” He said as his eyes met hers.

“You did this for me?”

He cleared his throat. “You once told me about your gold bike. I know how bummed out you were about losing it. I can’t get that one back, so I got you this one instead.”

“But that was so long ago.” She smiled.

There was an overwhelming warm spot near her heart. Over the years during her time with Dario, he had surprised her with beautiful gifts, expensive gifts, but nothing ever moved her like this. Because it was more than just a piece of metal, more than a romantic jester. Nick had taken his time to listen, to figure her out.

She examined the bike and climbed onto the seat. “Thank you. That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” Olivia was deeply touched, and he smiled.

“Like I said, it’s not new, and it’s probably not exactly what you used to have, but I thought it might do the trick.”

There was no doubt that Nick Montgomery had found his way to her heart.

Her eyes gleamed at him. “It’s perfect. Where did you find it?”

“I found this darling at Notre Dame. I spotted it through a glass window and it made me think of you.”

Olivia laughed. “I’m glad a rusty old bike reminds you of me.”

“That’s not the only thing that reminds me of you.”

“Well, Mr. Montgomery, I should hope not.” She beamed the brightest smile, her eyes fixed on him.

“Look it even has a working bell,” he said, ringing it twice.

“Like I said, it’s not new.”

“It’s just perfect … I love it. I can’t believe you went through the trouble. I mean, I didn’t think you were listening.”

He frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because no one ever really cares what I have to say.” She laughed.

“I care.” He brushed another strand of hair from her eyes.

All her life Olivia felt nobody cared to take the time to know the real Olivia Montiano. The people Olivia surrounded herself were only friends with her because her father was rich, and then came Dario. He never made her feel like she had anything valuable to say, tuning her out when she wanted to share a part of herself. Nick came into her life and changed all that. That was the thing about Nick Montgomery: he was always listening.

“So, what do you say, Monti? Wanna test her out?” He got on the red bike and weaved onto the road and came back, creating circles around her. “Let’s get lost …”

“Now?” She said, looking up at the dark clouds rolling in overhead. “But it’s supposed to rain.”

“What are you afraid of? It’s just a bit of water, darling.” He smiled.

“But I haven’t ridden a bicycle in years.”

“Nobody forgets how to ride a bike, Olivia, You’ll be okay, and we’ll go slow.”

She wondered if he meant something more.

“Come on, Monti. Let’s hope you can ride a bike better then you drive a car,” he said as he zoomed past her on his own bike.

T
hey headed toward the park of Mount Royal and rode their bikes past Beaver Lake, past the Heritage building, the Smith house, and all the way up to the summit.

“I think it’s safe to say it would be safer for you if you took your bike to work.”

He winked at her.

“Ha, funny.” She looks at the people who gathered around, some were locals and some were tourists. What she enjoyed the most was the view of downtown Montreal.

Nick waited for her to get settled on the steps of the Chalet du Mont Royal before handing her back a vanilla ice-cream cone.

“Wasn’t that fun?”

“Yes, it was. But I don’t know how I’m going to get back. My legs are so tired.”

“What’s the rush?”

Olivia shrugged and smiled at him.

“Is there somewhere you have to be?”

“Do you?” She acted nonchalant, not wanting to give Nick the satisfaction that she was easily available.

He smiled appreciatively. “Great, we both have nowhere to be. So there’s no rush.”

He glanced down and frowned. “You better start working on that ice cream before it drips.”

Olivia licked her ice cream, making more of a mess of herself. She laughed and Nick handed her more napkins to help her clean off her sweater.

“You know what else I haven’t done in ages?” She looked up at Nick, who sat one step above her.

“What’s that?”

“Ping pong.”

He made a funny face, like she said something revolting.

“Come on, who doesn’t like ping pong?”

“Just to let you know, I’m silently judging you.”

Olivia glanced at his gray polo shirt with a happy faces scattered all over it.

“Don’t you dare be judging me, Montgomery. Where did you find this lame top?” She playfully ran her hand across his chest, feeling him stiffen under her touch. His smile slowly faded and out of nowhere there was a particular affliction overshadowing his face.

“Don’t worry, Montgomery, my hands are clean.” She put her hand up to show him.

“No, it’s not that.” His voice had become heavier. “There something I’ve wanted to tell you.” Something in his tone caused for concern. Then she thought maybe he didn’t want things to go back to the way they were. Maybe he realized during their time apart that he’d rather be just friends. Or worse … there was someone else. She was afraid of what he was about to say. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. She could feel the presence of it, this thick air hovering above them. Olivia didn’t know if it was the ice cream or this familiar feeling of complete disappointment, because the tugging in her stomach began to grow.

Aware of his stare, she glanced up to find his eyes on her, and for a moment Olivia wished he would kiss her to make it all go away. She wasn’t ready to lose Nick again.

Then, it started to rain … actually, it poured.

N
ick opened the door to his studio, and they both fumbled in, laughing, soaking wet from the rain.

“Didn’t I call it?” Olivia smiled at him as she took the elastic out of her hair, allowing the damp strands to fall around her shoulders.

He stood there watching for a moment, not able to move. Even with her mascara running down her face and her hair beginning to frizz, she was still by far the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on. It was quite simple, wasn’t it? This great affection he had for Olivia was so overwhelming he chose to walk away instead of being brutally honest with himself.

He loved her.

She was magic, a direct light—the kind that seeps through in places that didn’t exist inside him anymore. The light he thought he lost forever, but Nick realized we don’t lose the light, we absorb it, and with Olivia he wanted to absorb every small speck of it. He didn’t know how he did it … stayed away from her for so long. He managed to avoid her on the streets and at Café Orleans. He kept busy within the walls of his studio, putting her out of his thoughts, but it wasn’t easy to dismiss her.

Not a girl like Olivia.

It was a lot to swallow, his pride. Nick over-reacted. Maybe he should have handled it differently, but his actions reflected his fear. After Chloe left, he never wanted to give anyone the power to ruin him, but then he did. Nick opened the door wide, allowing Olivia to come in within the folds of his life. The thing was, she meant more to him than he could have ever imagined. Olivia was all he thought about, all he could have hoped for. So when she couldn’t be straight with him about what he meant to her, it seemed the music stopped and his heart instantly ceased to exist. Olivia wasn’t on the same page, maybe she never would be, so it was much easier to break it off then to be broken. Either way, he was mangled by his own demise.

A vicious circle indeed.

“F
uck, you look like shit,” Dan said when Nick walked into the bar a week before he saw Olivia again.

“Trust me, I feel better than I look.”

His brother looked at him suspiciously. “I take it you haven’t patched things up?”

“Nope.” Nick settled himself on the stool. “We’re no longer together.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Nope.”

“Look, Olivia came by looking for you.” Dan pulled something from his pocket. “She left you your keys.” His brother slid the keys across the bar.

“When?”

“Last night.”

“She was here … looking for me?”