So, Shall We Get Married?
Chapter 17

She walked to the bus stop in the bitter cold, but at least she had that jacket on her to protect her from the icy breeze.

“jacket?

She stops in the middle of the street and takes it off.

-For God’s sake, I’ve brought Caleb’s suit.

She left the club in such a hurry that she completely forgot that the man was waiting for her. She puts her jacket back on and continues walking, not intending to turn around and give him back his suit. She would replace a way to give it back to him, besides; that was the least of her problems at the moment.

-Although it was almost his fault that I was out of work again.

[…]

He drove the car without taking his eyes off the pavement, he couldn’t be far away if he was on foot… then, in the distance, he spotted a woman walking, and immediately, he detected that she was wearing his jacket.

-That’s her! -he exclaims in excitement.

He parks the car at the curb, then gets out and runs after Olivia.

-Olivia! -He yells, to which she turns around. Caleb stops a safe distance away from her. I’m so sorry.

-What are you doing here?

-I was waiting for you.

-I’m… I’m sorry,” he says, taking off his jacket. I forgot to give it back to you, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to take it,” he adds, blowing white steam out of his mouth as he hands it to her.

-You’re freezing,” Caleb puts the garment back on. Why don’t you get in my car, I’ll take you home.

Olivia looked at him and felt a strong urge to cry. Things weren’t going well for her, and this man, even though he was the cause of some of her misfortunes, was helping her. She wanted to slap him, but she also wanted to k**s him.

-He nods and walks towards his car, at which point he notices a black van parked behind Caleb’s car.

-She comes with me, don’t worry.

He opens the door and she gets in….

A few minutes later, Caleb arrives at Olivia’s building. He turns off the car and looks at her, she was staring straight ahead, looking very thoughtful and worried. He wasn’t sure it was a good time to remind her that his job proposal was still on the table.

-I know you’re out of a job, the owner is an idiot.

-I’m sorry for the trouble of making you come to my house,” he takes off his jacket and leaves it in the back of the car. I think I should go home now, it’s very late.

-Of course! -Caleb purses his lips. Olivia, I…

-I know, her job offer’s still on….

-I’d like to invite you to dinner,” he interrupts. Tomorrow night. Would you like to join me?

-What would be the reason?

-If you don’t want to work for me, at least accept dinner as an offering of apology for all the trouble I’ve caused you.

She flattens her lips, looks down at her clasped hands. She wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do to accept dinner from this man, but she thought that if she did, he wouldn’t bother her any more.

On the other hand, she would have dinner alone with him. Olivia looks at him, it would be a unique experience she wouldn’t forget. It was interesting for her to have a night out with him, nothing was going to happen. Caleb wasn’t looking at her with eyes other than pity.

-Okay, dinner.

-All right, I’ll pick you up at six.

-Sure, I’ll see you tomorrow.

She gets out of the car and walks to the front of the building, Caleb got out of the car as well, but stood in the doorway of the car. He watched as Olivia entered the residence, suddenly she turns her face and sees him, out of nowhere Caleb’s heart started beating frantically.

Olivia is lost inside the building and Caleb is still standing there like an idiot. Something wasn’t right with him, not right at all, she thinks as she gets into the car.

[…]

-Dinner, I must be losing my mind. How did it occur to me to say yes, what was I thinking? Good heavens, now I have to go eat with that man.

Olivia throws her purse on the table, she had been caught up in the moment and accepted like a fool. Now she couldn’t get out of it.

-All right, I’ll have dinner with him and that’s it. Then I’ll get him off my back and this is all over. I’ll never see him again.

She stands for a moment in the middle of her flat thinking about this event. She would never see him again, was that what she wanted, no, of course not. But it was for the best.

-Oh, God, what a fool I am!

[…]

He had been anxious all day for the afternoon to arrive, and when it was just a few minutes before Olivia was due, Caleb began to feel nervous, and this behaviour was quite unusual for him.

As he left the office, his personal mobile phone began to ring. Looking at the screen he frowned, he thought it wasn’t possible, not right then and there. He continued to walk forward as he took the call, it was about time to pick up Olivia.

Meanwhile, the brunette kept looking at the time on her watch.

-The longer she intends to keep me waiting, she’s already more than an hour late, does she think I have all night?

She stands up, feeling anxious, nervous, sweaty. Caleb being late was getting on her nerves. She paused for a moment, and thought something crazy.

Did he mean to stand her up?

That would be the last straw, although, on the other hand, she could say it was a relief to be stood up. A half-smile tugged at her lips; she wouldn’t have to see him, at least not for the night. When, suddenly, a light knock on the door catches her attention, her heart immediately races and her cheeks burn.

She walks to the door and opens it to replace Caleb standing in the doorway.

< ouch,=”” no,=”” always=”” yes=”” came=””>

-I’m sorry for the delay, it’s just that I ran into an inconvenience. I got here as fast as I could,” Caleb looks Olivia over from head to toe, noticing that she’s not wearing shoes and looks pretty casual for a dinner party. “Aren’t you ready?

-I thought you weren’t coming.

-But here I am, you don’t want to go to dinner with me anymore?

-She bites her lips, her heart beating faster than before.

-I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but we can still go out.

-Maybe we shouldn’t…

Caleb feels a tightness in his chest that he can’t quite figure out, she was refusing to go out with him. And all because she was late, but she needed to answer that call…

-Won’t you come in? -The CEO looks up in surprise. If you want, we can have dinner here, well, if you don’t have a problem.

-None.

< what are you doing olivia? my god, what the hell are you doing inviting him to the house. it was the perfect opportunity to get rid of him. I’m late, it’s the perfect excuse to tell him that you don’t want to see him any more. Why the f**k did you invite him in?

-We can order something, I think it would be quicker,” he suggests once inside the house.

-Yes, that’s fine with me.

Immediately, Olivia saw Caleb pull out his mobile phone and make a call. It no longer seemed strange to her that the man was in her house, he had been to visit her so many times that it was no longer unusual to see him hanging around her flat.

However, her heart was still pounding. Especially when he was giving her those furtive glances. She didn’t deny it, it unsettled her a little.

-Dinner will be here in 20 minutes,” he says, putting his mobile phone away.

-Well,” she answers, hugging herself.

-Olivia, I know I told you we wouldn’t talk about my job offer, but I’d like to.

She swallows, she’s never been pushed so hard to take a job before. Apart from that, she couldn’t turn a blind eye, she needs an income as soon as possible. And it could take a long time before she found another job, and the end of the month’s rent was coming up. Maybe, maybe, well… she needed to take the job Caleb was offering her.

-I agree, I agree to work for you, Mr. Palmer.

She would have to learn to separate the attraction she felt for him from the professional. It wasn’t right to be drooling over the boss, it was crazy to even think about it.

Out of nowhere, Olivia’s eyes widened as she imagined something she hadn’t thought of before accepting the job offer.

A thousand things went through her mind, and each one was crazier than the next. Suddenly she felt uneasy, because she felt she had made the worst mistake of her life.

Caleb didn’t expect her to answer with an “I do”. He was quite surprised, but since she had given him her answer, he wasn’t going to waste it. Olivia would be working for him, all that was left was to explain to her what the job was all about. But for that, he would have to take her home.