Meant to Be

January 10, 2006

Olivia looked up at the towering building where her dorm was. The winter break had come and gone too quickly for her, already feeling the homesickness sink in. She let out a heavy sigh as she made her way inside the warm building and an even louder one knowing she’d have to climb three flights of stairs to get to her room.

“Need some help?”

Olivia turned around and saw a guy she recognized. “Excuse me?” she asked.

He stepped forward and extended his hand. “I just thought you could use a hand. Your suitcase looks heavy,” he said, pointing towards her suitcase.

She looked down at her luggage, forgetting for a moment she had to trudge it up the stairs. “Oh, um…it’s fine. I can handle it,” she smiled.

He smiled back. “Really, it’s no trouble. I’m headed up to my dorm,” he insisted.

“But I’m on the third floor,” she said, following him up the steps.

“And I’m on the fourth, so it’s on my way.”

After about ten steps up, the silence started to kill Olivia. “So, what’s your name?” she asked, breaking the ice.

He turned his head towards her with a smile. “Jason. Jason Kurk. And yours is Olivia, right?” he asked her.

She was surprised he knew who she was. “Yeah… How did you know my name?” she asked curiously.

He scratched the back of his head nervously and bit his bottom lip. “I’m not some creeper or anything like that. You were in a few in my classes last semester and I just remember your name.”

“Oh, yeah. I thought I recognized you. You were in my English class.”

“And your math and polisci classes,” he said in a low tone.

“You were?” He nodded his head. “Sorry, there were so many people in those classes. Though I’m curious how you remember me.”

They were already at Olivia’s dorm; she waited for him to respond before opening it.

He blushed a little and smiled. “I never forget a pretty face or the name to that face.”

It was her turn to blush. “Thanks for helping me carry my suitcase,” she said, unlocking the door.

“You know, if you’re not busy, I’d like to take you out to dinner. You gotta be hungry,” he said, following her in.

She felt her stomach turn and heard it growl a little. She thought dinner couldn’t hurt. “Um…” she wasn’t sure if she should go with him.

“Would it help if I said that I’ve wanted to ask you out since last semester?” he said, a little embarrassed by his confession.

She smiled at his honesty. She figured it couldn’t hurt to have dinner with him. “Sure, why not?”

He smirked and it immediately reminded her of Brendon. In fact, a few things about him reminded her of Brendon. From that point on, without ever knowing, Jason had her.

October 2010

Jason’s jaw hung a little, unable to comprehend what was going on. Olivia felt the same way. Her mind clouded with thoughts that came like pouring rain. Why is here? Did he know I was here? He knows…He knows about Brendon and me and the baby. These thoughts consumed her as the staring contest ensued.

“Jason, how did you -,” she began.

“Olivia, what are you doing here?” he asked, walking towards her.

She flinched a little when he approached and walked passed her. He doesn’t know? She thought after hearing how calm his voice was when he asked his question.

“Jason-,”

She jumped when he hugged her, holding her lovingly in his arms. “I knew I’d see you again,” he murmured against her head as he put his lips to the side of her head.

Olivia shut her eyes tight and slowly opened them, hoping that it would all be a dream, but to her dismay she was still in Jason’s arms.

“I have to say Liv, this is a pleasant surprise. How did you know I was coming here?” he asked, pulling himself away from her.

She opened her mouth to answer, but he went on. “You know what? I don’t even care who told you, I’m just so glad you’re here. Is Brendon here too?” he asked, looking around the apartment.

Olivia shook her head. “We should go somewhere and talk; seems like we have a lot to talk about. Are you hungry?” he asked.

She nodded her head, completely forgetting Brendon was probably on his way back with food for her. Jason smiled and grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s go then.”



Jason and Olivia were seated quickly and both sat in silence for a bit. Jason kept staring at Olivia, smiling at her, until she became annoyed.

“Why are you staring?” she asked, feeling self-conscious.

“You just look so beautiful. But there’s something different about you too. I just can’t put my finger on it,” he said, studying her face.

Does he really not know? she thought. He couldn’t be that dense. She thought after he hugged her, he would’ve figured it out – the she was pregnant. However, he made no indication that he knew.

Olivia decided to ask the question that had been plaguing her since his arrival. “Why are you here?”

He looked away and then looked back at her. “I guess whoever told you I was coming didn’t tell you why, huh?”

Obviously, she thought. She just shook her head.

“After I got back from New York seven months ago, you seemed different,” he explained.

Olivia looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It felt like you were distant. You were here, but not really. And when I asked you to marry me, you weren’t as excited as I’d hoped. But I just kept telling myself you were working a lot and tired,” he went on.

“I still don’t understand how that ties into you being here,” she asked.

“Brendon was there with you for those two weeks…” Her eyes widened. She thought maybe he did know after all.

“…And I thought maybe he noticed something wrong with you. When he came up to Seattle a few months ago, I didn’t ask him, though he did say he hadn’t noticed anything. But I thought I’d just ask anyways.”

“So, you came here looking for answers?” He nodded his head. “Jason, I told you that I moved on and was happy. What did you think would happen if you found your answer?”

He paused before speaking. “Wait, if you said you moved on then why are you here? Why did you come to see me?” he asked.

Olivia rolled her eyes angrily. “Jason, why do you assume everything is about you?

Before he could respond, the waitress came by their table. “Oh, how far along are you?” she asked.

Olivia looked up at her, a bit startled by her question. “Excuse me?” Olivia asked.

“You look around seven months. That’s how far along I am,” she said, rubbing her baby bump.

Olivia smiled and nodded her head. “Just about. I’m twenty-seven weeks.”

After the waitress left to put in their orders, Olivia finally looked at Jason, who didn’t say much other than to say what he wanted. She became worried when he smirked at her.

“Is that what you had to come and tell me? That you’re pregnant!” he said excitedly.

“What?”

“Liv, you’re pregnant! I mean, you didn’t have to wait seven months to tell me, but,” he sighed, “Oh my God! We’re going to have a baby!” he exclaimed, getting up and walking towards her to give her a hug.

She stopped him before he reached down to put his arms around her. “Jason, we’re not having a baby. I’m having a baby,’ she corrected him.

He smiled and nodded his head understandably. “Right, right. You’re having the baby. I get it. But I mean we’re going to be parents Liv. Isn’t that exciting?”

Olivia bit her bottom lip nervously. Telling Jason it wasn’t his baby was going to be harder than she thought. He just didn’t get it. She just had to tell him bluntly about everything.

“Jason, please sit down,” she said.

He looked at her with confusion, slowly backing away towards his seat and sitting down.

She sighed heavily. “Okay Jason, this isn’t easy for me to say and I thought it would be…”

“What?” he asked.

“The baby isn’t yours.” She looked at him, seeing his expressionless face.

“Not mine?” She nodded. “Liv, how can that be? We were together seven months ago. I mean, the only time we weren’t together was when I left to New York and…” He looked up at her and she knew he had finally connected the dots.

Jason shook his head in disbelief. “No. You and Brendon?”

“Jason, let me explain,” she said, seeing how angry he was getting.

“Is that why you’re here? Because of him?” All she could do was nod.

“God, Liv. That’s my cousin. How could you do that to me? I mean, I knew you liked his band, but to sleep with him? I didn’t think you were that kind of girl.”

“Excuse me?” she said, taking offense to his comment.

He sat back in his seat. “You heard me. I didn’t take you as one of those girls who has sex with band guys just because. And then you gave me shit about that girl from New York,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Olivia fought every urge not to get up and slap him, but one kick from the baby stopped her. She licked her lips and took a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. And that girl from New York was someone you had been sleeping with for three years while we were together.”

“And Brendon was someone you fucked in the apartment we shared while we were together. Is that why you seemed so hesitant to say yes when I proposed? And why you left me? To run off with him?”

She stared at him angrily. “You honestly think I left you because of Brendon? God, you’re a fucking moron. I left you because I found out that for three years you were cheating me and that you weren’t the man I fell in love with –I wasn’t in love with you anymore. Maybe I was never in love with you…” she said, blurting out the last sentence.

“What do you mean you were never in love with me?”

She wished she could take back what she said, but maybe it was time to lay it all on the table. “I mean… I’ve always been in love with someone else – for years. That day you asked me out, you reminded me of him and now I know why.”

Jason arched his eyebrow waiting for her to continue. “Why?”

“Because he’s your cousin.”

“God, Liv, could you just be blunt and stop tiptoeing around the truth?”

“Brendon! I’ve always been in love with Brendon. We’ve known each other for years, been together for years and then broke up. And I never got over him. That’s why I got so mad at you when you didn’t tell me who your cousin was…”

“Oh, so this is all my fault, right?”

She looked at him in disbelief. “I don’t even know what to say to you anymore. Can you please just take me home?” she asked, suddenly feeling exhausted from their conversation.

He smirked and scoffed at her. “No, I don’t think so. But I’m sure your boyfriend can come get you,” he said getting up. “Oh, and Liv? You can be damn sure that when that baby’s born, I want a paternity test.”

She had to let what he said sink in for a moment before understanding him. “Jason, this isn’t your baby. There’s no point in a test.”

“Sure there is. There’s a possibility that that’s my kid and if it is, I won’t hesitate to take full custody of it.”

“You’re not coming anywhere near my baby,” she said through gritted teeth.

“We’ll see,” he smirked one last time before leaving.



The door to Brendon’s apartment opened slightly as his hand touched the doorknob. He looked at it curiously, trying to remember if he had locked the door before he left. Shrugging it off, he walked right in, setting the food on the kitchen table.

“Liv! I got you three different orders just in case you get one of your weird food cravings again,” Brendon said as he took out the boxes from the bags.

When Olivia didn’t come, Brendon checked the bedrooms thinking she’d fallen asleep. But to his surprise she was nowhere in the apartment. He went back to the living room in panic and saw her purse was still on the couch.

He quickly reached into his pocket for his phone and found her number to call it. As soon as the first ring came he heard the familiar song that she claimed was theirs coming from her purse. Brendon walked towards it, still holding his phone to his ear and saw the light coming from inside her purse.

He hung up the phone and sat down on the couch trying to figure out what to do next. After a few minutes of going through his options, he grabbed his keys and started to head out the door. Just as he started to lock it, he heard her cell phone go off from the other side.

Brendon unlocked the door and ran towards her phone and answered it. “Hello?”

“Brendon?” A sense a relief washed over him when he heard her voice.

“Liv…Are you okay? Where are you? What happened to you?” he asked.

“Can you come get me? I-I’m at this café near your apartment,” she said, holding back tears.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a couple of minutes. But are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, just please hurry.”



Olivia quickly walked past Brendon and made her way towards the bedroom. When Brendon picked her up, she hugged him tightly and cried into his shoulder, but the ride home was completely silent. He couldn’t get a word out of her.

Brendon followed her and saw her lying in the bed, staring at the ceiling while she rubbed her stomach. He wanted to know what happened and why she was so upset when he found her.

“So, are you going to tell me what happened or am I gonna have to guess until I get it right?” he said, sitting on the foot of the bed.

“We need to leave. We need to go home tomorrow,” she said.

He looked in her direction with bewilderment on his face. “What are you talking about? Liv, why are you avoiding my question? Did someone hurt you?”

There were tears forming in her eyes. “Jason,” she whispered.

Anger replaced his worriment. “Jason? What are you talking about? He came by here?” he asked.

She sniffed back the tears and nodded, reaching out to him for a hug. He reached down and wrapped his arms around her and she clutched to his shirt. He rubbed her back soothingly hoping to calm her down.

“Liv, please, tell me what happened,” he begged.

She nodded and wiped away the remaining tears before she started to tell him about what happened between her and Jason. He was furious half-way through it.

“That son of a bitch. I can’t believe…Argh!” he yelled.

“Brendon, what if it is his? What if he does take the baby from me?” Olivia said in a sad tone.

“Liv, that’s not going to happen. He’s not taking our baby away. I know in my heart, that this baby is mine. He’ll have to go through hell to take custody of him.”

“We just need to go home. We need to go tell your family about everything before he does. Please, can we leave tomorrow?”

He nodded his head. “Yeah, okay. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

He felt her cold hand grab his and squeeze it. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I promise Liv, I won’t let him take the baby away. I won’t let anything bad happen.”