Love Won't Let You Get Away

A few days earlier, Olivia had promised Brittany Snow that she would go with her to an after-party following the red carpet premiere of a new comedy film. Olivia was not very fond of parties, but she could not resist the rare opportunity to spend some time with one of her best friends.

They had first met, a couple of years earlier, on a movie set and Brittany was the first actress, of roughly the same age as herself, that Olivia considered to be a real friend. But now their work schedules separated them to different parts of the world far too often; making it impossible for them to see each other on a regular basis.

From the moment Olivia had woken up, on the day of the premiere, she had been giddy with excitement. She was convinced that this would be a happy day!

“Hey, Jake?” Olivia called cheerfully as she came walking down the stairs; drying her hair with a towel. “Do you think these shoes are appropriate for the party tonight?”

Jacob lifted his head to briefly inspect her shoes, from his seat on the couch, before turning his attention back to the magazine in his hands.

“Seeing as you almost broke your foot the last time you tried to dance in those, I would say they are the wrong choice for tonight, babe,” Jacob smirked.

“Asshole!” she grinned as she playfully threw the towel at him.

“Hey!” he laughed; lifting the towel, away from the magazine in his lap, to place it on the couch beside him.

As Olivia walked behind the couch, Jacob reached back to grab her arm and pulled her into an upside down kiss. They were both grinning when they pulled apart and Olivia lightly patted his chest before stepping back and continuing on her way to the kitchen. She went to dig through her belongings in the handbag that was sitting on the kitchen island.

“Shit!”

“What’s the matter?” Jacob turned concerned eyes towards his girlfriend.

“Nothing…” Olivia sighed. “I just realised that I forgot my cell phone charger over at your place.”

“That’s alright. I’ll just go and get it for you,” he replied; getting out of his seat.

“No, that’s alright,” she shook her head. “I think I might have portable one upstairs.”

Jacob nodded before assuring Olivia that it would be no problem for him to go and get the charger if she changed her mind; an offer she declined with a smile. The room fell into silence for a moment as Olivia went to place her things back into the handbag.

“Isn’t it kind of lame that we’re not living together?”

“What do you mean?” Olivia asked; not turning to face him.

“I mean… We both have our own houses within a few minutes from each other. But there’s always one house that’s just sitting there empty since we’re practically always together? Isn’t that ridiculous?”

Olivia opened her mouth to speak as she turned around to look at Jacob.

“And a waste of money, I might add,” Jacob hurried to speak. “It’s not like either one of us is running low on it… But you see my point, don’t you, Ollie?”

“I guess,” Olivia shrugged slightly; struggling to find something more to say.

“Let’s move in together,” Jacob smiled widely. “We’re always together anyway and I want to keep it that way. Please? Let’s just make it official, Olivia.”

For a few moments, Olivia seemed to lose the ability to breathe properly. Her mouth hung open as she stood staring at Jacob with wide eyes; frantically trying to figure out what she was actually thinking and feeling.

“I love you, Jake. I love you so much. You know that, right?” she spoke softly.

Jacob’s smile faltered ever so slightly as he nodded hesitantly. Olivia studied his seemingly worried eyes and silently wondered if he somehow knew where their conversation was heading. Heck, Olivia wondered if she really knew where their conversation was heading.

“Good, because I really do love you… But I can’t move in with you,” Olivia’s voice was barely audible as tears fell from her eyes. “I would like to, but I just can’t. Not right now…”

“That’s okay,” Jacob said quietly; clearly embarrassed by the rejection. “We can just wait until you’re rea-.”

“I think we should break up.”

Olivia’s own mouth hung open in shock at the words that had tumbled out of it. The expression on Jacob’s face would come to haunt her for a very long time. It was a mix of hurt, anger, humiliation, and shock. He almost looked as if she had torn his heart out heart, stomped on it and rubbed it in dirt before sheepishly handing it back.

“But I love you, Olivia,” Jacob sobbed as tears left his eyes. “I love you and I want to be with you!”

“I can’t,” Olivia cried.

“So you’ve lied to me all these years? You lied when you said that you loved me?” he asked angrily.

“I didn’t! I do love you and that’s why I have to do this!” she raised her voice to defend herself.

“That’s why you have to do this?” he shouted; his voice filled with both disbelief and disgust. “You’re breaking up with me because you love me?!”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Well, guess what, Olivia? I love you, but I’m not breaking up with you because of it!” Jacob declared furiously. “Guess what I was going to do? I was going to ask you to marry me!”

“What?” Olivia whimpered; not bothering to wipe away the tears that kept sliding down her face.

Olivia studied Jacob as he dug his hand into the left pocket of his jeans and pulled out an engagement ring box.

“I was going to get down on one knee and beg you to marry me. Because I love you! And that’s what people do when they love each other. They get married!”

“Just because two people love each other doesn’t mean that they should get married! It just doesn’t work that way! People should be head over heels in love with the person they marry!”

Jacob took a stumbling step backwards as he gasped for breath; incredibly hurt and offended by this statement.

“So you’re saying that you’re not in love with me?” he questioned; his face instantly paling.

Olivia’s eyes grew wide as she realised what she had implied. Even if it might have been true, she did not want to hurt him anymore than she already had.

“No!” Olivia tried to backtrack. “That’s not what I meant at all. I just meant th-.”

“What you meant was that you’re a bitch,” Jacob spat. “Isn’t that what you meant to say?”

Even though Olivia believed, in that moment, that she deserved this kind of treatment from Jacob, she felt humiliated by it. She didn’t have to think about what to say in response as Jacob immediately continued on with his rant.

“I’ve loved you for years! And all this time you’ve fooled me that you loved me back.”

“I didn’t fool you!” she protested. “I have loved you and I always will!”

Jacob’s blood was boiling and before he could stop himself he had violently launched the engagement ring box at Olivia. She gasped in shock as it hit her temple and went to cover the spot with her hand.

“I can’t stand to look at you anymore,” Jacob stated calmly and began making his way towards the front door.

“Jacob!” Olivia shouted as she ran after him. “You can’t just leave!”

Olivia caught up to him, grabbed both of his arms and jerked him to a stop in the foyer.

“I don’t know if I ever want to look at you again…” Jacob breathed.

Olivia leaned her forehead on his back as she cried; letting her hands fall to carefully take a hold of his wrists. After a moment’s hesitation, Jacob turned around and gently pulled Olivia into a loving embrace. Neither spoke a word as they breathed each other in and relished in the comfort and familiarity of being in each other’s arms.

Suddenly Jacob stepped back and pushed Olivia’s arms away before walking out of the front door and slamming it behind him; not looking back once. Olivia stood in her place for several minutes; shocked and unable to process what had just occurred.

The sound of her phone ringing brought Olivia back to reality, but as she went to turn, in a hurry, to make her way to the phone, one of her ankles twisted slightly as she slipped and fell down to the floor. She rubbed the ankle gently before taking off the shoe to inspect if there were any damages to it.

“Oh, fuck it!” Olivia screamed as she launched the shoe at the wall.

Who would care if the shoes were alright or not? Jacob had been right. These shoes had only ever caused her problems. Olivia sobbed as she pulled the other shoe off and hurled it into the wall. Just as Olivia was about to lie down on the floor, something caught her eye.

It made her sit up straight and wipe her running nose with the back of her hand as she wondered how she could have forgotten about that box. How had she never come around to open the pristine box that sat on her foyer table?

Olivia slid herself across the floor until she could reach to lift the box down to her lap. She let her hands run across the surface of the box as she studied it. She almost blushed at the memory of the day when Seth had come over to return her lipstick. He had given her the box she was now holding her hands and they had kissed each other on the front door step.

The slight stir of butterflies in her stomach was quickly replaced by a heavy feeling in her heart. How could she ever have betrayed Jacob’s trust in such a way? How could she ever have become so entranced by another man that she had been unable to think straight?

The feeling of guilt did not manage to subdue her curiosity of what the gifted box might contain, so Olivia carefully removed the lid, only to find a pair of flat shoes.

^^^^^^^^^^

The afternoon was spent with Olivia confiding her sorrows to the make-up artist Mary Wilson. Their working relationship stretched back to the days when Olivia was working as a child model; prior to pursuing a career in acting. Mary had listened in despair while gently dabbing Olivia’s crying eyes with cold cotton pads; in an attempt to reduce the swelling that was bound to appear.

Following the film’s premiere Brittany had showed up at the house and when she heard about the breakup, she wanted the two of them to stay in and mourn the relationship; but Olivia insisted that the night should go on as planned.

Brittany wondered if Olivia was doing this out of fear that she would disappoint a friend by cancelling their plains, or if this was a way for her to deny what had happened. Either way, she figured it would be better if Olivia got her way today and therefore avoid a possible disagreement between them.

“Will there be a lot of photographers there?” Mary questioned; concerned that Olivia would be overwhelmed by too much attention in the emotional state she was currently in.

They stood in the foyer while Mary was putting some finishing touches on Olivia’s makeup.

“Probably not,” Brittany replied as she carefully studied the engagement ring. “I think it will be quite chill… I mean, it is a private party after all.”

Brittany closed the ring box and placed it on the foyer table as she hurried her way out of the house. Olivia closed the front door and made sure it was locked before the three of them walked out on the driveway together.

Brittany hugged Mary goodbye who then went to embrace Olivia; giving her an encouraging smile as she pulled back before turning to get into her car. The girls waved to her one last time and hurried over to their own ride; not wanting to make the hired driver sit there waiting for them any longer.

The conversation topics, during the car ride, remained light-hearted, but as they neared their destination in Beverly Hills, Brittany wanted to make sure that her heartbroken friend was doing alright.

“Hey, Ollie?” Brittany spoke gently. “Are you sure you’re up for this right now? We could just go back home and eat ice cream all night.”

“Yes, I’ll be alright,” Olivia replied. “I’m not ready to deal with all of this tonight…”

“Okay,” Brittany said. “But promise that you’ll tell me if you want to leave and we can just go… No questions asked… Alright?”

“Alright.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise,” Olivia almost giggled.

“Good,” Brittany smiled.

The girls performed a final check to see that they looked alright before they stepped out of the car that had come to a stop in front of the residence where the party was held. They held each other’s hands as they walked up the driveway and were welcomed into the party.

“Whoa! Whose place is this?” Olivia marvelled at the house.

“The director of the movie,” Brittany giggled. “He’s like the highest pa-.”

Olivia frowned when she realised that going to a party perhaps was not what she actually wanted to do. A friend of Brittany’s, who Olivia assumed was another young actress, had interrupted their conversation to talk to Brittany.

Olivia could not help but feel annoyed and almost jealous that she would have to share her friend with other people at a time like this. Brittany looked at Olivia with apologetic eyes and shrugged her shoulders discreetly.

“Alexis, this is Olivia Bellamy,” Brittany tactfully interrupted her other friend’s ramble. “Olivia, this is Alexis Knapp. She’s in Pitch Perfect with me.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Olivia outstretched her hand.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Alexis shook her hand. “I really liked you in Mountains of Fire.”

“Oh, thank you…” Olivia smiled. “I’m really looking forward to seeing Pitch Perfect. I’m sure it’s going to be awesome.

“Thanks,” Alexis smiled before turning back to Brittany.

From what Olivia managed to snap up from their conversation it seemed like Alexis was very eager to gossip about the director of the film they had just seen at the premiere. Following the events of the days, the least thing Olivia wanted to do was gushing about how handsome a guy was looking, so she decided to excuse herself from the company.

“I’ll just take a look around,” Olivia smiled weakly.

“Okay. Come find me if you need me,” Brittany nodded.

“Alright,” Olivia agreed before walking away.

Olivia did her best to slip under the radar by ignoring her fellow party guests and devoting her attention to admiring the house. She stepped out onto the patio and made her way through the crowd until she found a more secluded spot.

“Wow!” she breathed to herself in pure amazement as she looked out at the incredible view.

Olivia took a seat on a tête-à-tête and put her feet up on it as she hugged her knees to her chest. She breathed in night air as she tried to think of anything other than her heartbreak.

“Hi there…”

Olivia snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Seth’s deep and gentle voice. She whipped her head to look at him and for a brief moment all thoughts of Jacob seemed to melt away.

“Seth!” Olivia exclaimed; both excited and nervous by his presence. “What are you doing here?!”

“I live here,” he chuckled lightly.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” Olivia apologized hurriedly. “You see, I promised a friend to come with her to this party as her plus one. I had no idea that it was your party. I really didn’t. I’m sor-.”

“It’s alright, Olivia,” Seth interrupted with an assuring smile. “Truly, it’s alright. You are more than welcome to be here.”

“But, I-,” Olivia spoke as she began to rise from her seat.

“Please, just stay.”

Olivia’s eyebrows furrowed together as she studied Seth for a moment. Was she mistaken when she thought that there was even the slightest tone of begging in his voice?

“Please,” he repeated softly.

His request seemed genuine enough for Olivia to nod in response before relaxing back into the seat. Seth broke into a wide smile and quietly wished that his excitement of her staying would not be too obvious or seem too pathetic. Olivia smiled sweetly as they looked into each other’s eyes.

“You avoided me on purpose, didn’t you?” Seth questioned. “After we met at the Guys’ Choice Awards, I mean… When I wanted to talk to you…”

“Yes,” she admitted sheepishly; realising that lying would not make her look any less immature.

“That’s what I thought,” he snickered.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me for everything you ever say or do,” Seth grinned.

A blush stained Olivia’s cheeks and she was thankful when their conversation was interrupted as a man came over to chat with Seth. She sighed and turned her head to look out over the view of Los Angeles. The pain of her broken heart returned as she thought about the fact that somewhere out there among the bright lights in the night was her Jacob. Only he was no longer hers and that killed something inside of her. She wondered what it would feel like to be without him for a year if it hurt this much just a few hours after losing him.

His friend urged him to come back to the party, but Seth simply shook his head and remained in his place. He could not bear the thought of leaving Olivia; not only because he had craved to see her and to be near her again, but also because she looked so sad. Her eyes were slightly puffy and he was certain that it had been caused by crying. The thought of Olivia being unhappy felt like a sting to his heart and Seth wished he could make her happy again.

“Olivia,” Seth spoke so softly that it was barely audible.

“You’re still here,” Olivia stated; unable to hide her surprise as she looked at him.

Seth nodded quietly and nervously looked down at the ground as he searched for something to say.

“You’re wearing the shoes,” he smiled widely as he looked back up at Olivia.

Olivia glanced down at her feet and blushed as she met his eyes again.

“I had planned on wearing another pair, but I slipped and twisted my ankle as I was getting ready to leave and I found your box… They seemed like a better option… I can pay you back for them. It wo-.”

“They’re yours, Olivia,” Seth smiled as he went to interrupt her ramble. “I bought them as a gift for you. You can do whatever you want with them. Though wearing them does seem to be the most reasonable use of a pair of shoes…”

“Are you sure it’s alright that I keep them?” Olivia questioned timidly as she placed her feet back onto the ground.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Well, then… Thank you, Seth,” she smiled.

“Do they fit alright?” he asked nervously.

“Yes. They’re absolutely perfect,” Olivia said. “How did you know my size?”

“I saw it in the shoe you couldn’t fit on your injured foot that night when I drove you home,” Seth explained as he tried to hide a blush by ducking his head.

“That’s very observant of you.”

“Yeah, or stalkerish,” he spoke under his breath causing Olivia to giggle lightly. “Anyway, I happened to spot those shoes in that same size and I just bought them on a whim for you.”

“Thank you,” she said; genuinely touched by the gesture.

“You’re welcome,” he nodded.

The pair studied each other in silence, for a few moments, as both of them tried to figure out what to say; neither one of them wanting to go their separate ways for the night just yet.

“You’ve got big feet for a woman,” Seth finally chuckled light-heartedly.

“I do,” Olivia laughed genuinely. “I might be Bigfoot, you know.”

“No, you couldn’t be,” he chuckled.

“I so could!” she exclaimed childishly with a grin. “I could be a shorter, less hairy and a bit lighter Bigfoot than what the creature is normally reported to be. But I’m still probably very much like the actual Bigfoot. In fact, I’m certain of it!”

“No,” he spoke as he turned serious. “You’re far too pretty to be Bigfoot.”

Seth’s words brought a blush to her cheeks and Olivia quickly looked down at her lap in an attempt to hide it from him.

“Would you…?” Seth began nervously; causing Olivia to shyly look back up at him. “Would you mind if I sat down with you?”

“It’s your house,” Olivia shrugged nonchalantly. “You can do whatever you want.”

“But I wouldn’t want to intrude on yo-,” he began to explain.

“You’re welcome to sit down with me,” she smiled reassuringly. “I don’t mind.”

“Alright,” he smiled weakly as he moved to join her on the tête-à-tête.

“The view is incredible,” Olivia said when her gaze returned to look out over Los Angeles.

“Yes, it is,” Seth breathed; keeping his eyes focused on her.

Seth knew that he should not keep staring at her but, when Olivia turned to look at him again, he still could not tear his eyes away from her. His eyebrows furrowed in concern as he studied the solemn expression on her face. Without thinking Seth gently placed his left hand on Olivia’s right cheek and slowly caressed her cheek bone it with his thumb.

“What happened?” Seth questioned.

“What do you mean?” she managed to choke out; shocked, yet thrilled, by his touch.

“Why are you so sad?”

“Uh… I… I…”

Olivia abandoned her attempt to reply and instead looked down at her feet before shaking her head quickly; willing herself not to start crying. When Seth could see how upset Olivia was by the subject he immediately decided to drop it. His curiosity was not enough of an excuse to make her dwell on something that was making her sad. He wanted to make her smile.

“Dance with me,” Seth smiled as he extended his right hand towards Olivia.

“I thought you said that you didn’t like to dance,” Olivia squinted as she looked at Seth suspiciously.

“When did I say that?” he chuckled; still keeping his hand extended.

“At Jared’s birthday party,” she replied.

“I did?”

“Yes,” she nodded with a slight smile. “Did you lie?”

“No, no,” he hurried to speak. “I’m not much of a dancer… I don’t like to dance… Dance with me.”

“You just said that you don’t like to dance, Seth,” Olivia chuckled.

“I know,” he smiled. “But I can make an exception.”

Olivia could feel herself blush slightly as she shyly looked away from Seth; contemplating whether to accept his offer or not.

“Come on,” Seth grinned as he extended his hand even further. “Don’t leave me hanging. Dance with me…”

A light chuckle escaped Olivia’s throat when she met Seth’s encouraging eyes. She quietly looked down at Seth’s outstretched hand. It was a beautiful hand, she thought. Olivia could clearly remember the way his hand had felt when she had held it in her own. She also vividly remembered how soft it had felt when he had held her face when they had kissed. His caress from just a few moments earlier still seemed to burn on the skin of her cheek. Their eyes met again and Olivia knew that she was unable to resist the opportunity to be nearer to him.

Olivia carefully placed her right hand on his palm and Seth tenderly enveloped her hand in his own. Seth kindly pulled Olivia with him as he stood up. He guided her around the tête-à-tête to his side before leading her to the dance floor. Seth reluctantly let go of Olivia’s hand, but quickly scooped it back up with his left hand. Olivia looked at Seth nervously who, after a brief moment of hesitation, placed his right hand on her left hip and softly pulled her closer to him. Olivia allowed her free hand to caress its way up Seth’s right arm before placing it on his shoulder. They both blushed and briefly looked away from each other as they slowly began to sway along with the music that was playing.

“It’s a nice house you’ve got, Seth,” Olivia quipped nervously; desperate to break the silence. “You’ve even got a pool… I don’t have a pool…”

Seth chuckled genuinely as he shook his head in humoured disbelief.

“What?”

“Is that your attempt at polite small talk, Olivia?” Seth smiled.

“No, I… I… Yes,” she smiled. “Was it awful?”

“No, not awful,” he replied. “But don’t you think that we’ve passed the point where nonsensical small talk is needed, quite a while ago?”

“I don’t know… Maybe,” Olivia blushed as she stepped closer to Seth; letting herself relax against his body.

“I think so,” he said softly.

Seth’s right hand slid to the small of Olivia’s back and he tenderly hugged her closer; wanting to truly feel her against his body. They sighed contently as Seth moved to rest his nose against her head to take in the smell of her hair.

Neither one of them considered how inappropriate this could seem to be for two people who barely knew each other. It was purely affectionate cuddling; something that felt more intimate to both of them than the physical closeness that would come with a random one night stand.

Their moment of comfort was interrupted by an awkward misstep caused by falling off the beat of the music. Their little stumble caused Seth’s chin to clonk, quite violently, with Olivia’s temple.

“Ah!” Olivia breathed in pain and her head quickly left Seth’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” Seth asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” she replied as her right hand left his hand to gently rub it against her temple.

“Let me see,” Seth instructed kindly as he removed Olivia’s hand from her temple with his left hand.

“You don’t have to,” Olivia protested. “We just bumped a tiny bruise from earlier. I didn’t even realize th-.”

Olivia was silenced the moment Seth’s gentle fingers began caressing her temple while inspecting the small bruise.

“How did you get it?” Seth asked warmly. “Did you walk into a cabinet door or something?”

“No,” she replied.

“What did you get it from then?” he smiled as he pulled back to look her in the eyes.

“An engagement ring box,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“An engagement ring box?” he almost chuckled; raising his eyebrows in question. “How did you get a bruise from that?”

“Jacob threw it at me,” Olivia admitted simply.

“I sure hope that wasn’t his way of proposing,” Seth replied as he grew more serious.

“It wasn’t,” she said as tears escaped her eyes. “We broke up.”

“I’m sorry,” he stated quietly.

Olivia only nodded in response as she scrunched up her face and avoided his eyes. Seth let his right hand caress her lower back softly in an attempt to comfort her.

“I should go,” Olivia sobbed as she tried to step out of Seth’s embrace.

“Let me drive you home,” Seth begged as he held onto her even tighter.

“No!” she sniffled as she looked at him. “It’s your party.”

“I don’t care,” he state honestly. “I want to drive you home, Olivia.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine,” Olivia assured Seth as she managed to move away from his hold.

“It wouldn’t be a problem. I’ll drive you home,” Seth insisted.

“No,” she responded. “But thank you for the offer.”

Seth was not given the chance to reply before Olivia had lightly pushed him back and made her way through the crowd; away from him and away from his party.