“Happy birthday!” Kiera and Mo shouted when Olivia walked into the living room. She stopped in her tracks, surprised. It was long past her birthday, but she had missed celebrating it with her friends.
They made up for it, carrying in bags of food. “Sorry. It’s all we could manage last minute,” Mo said as Olivia grabbed a piece of sushi. She looked at her friends and immediately started crying, feeling overwhelmed by their kindness.
“Thanks, guys.” Her friends pulled her close and the three of them stood in the living room, embracing. Sushi was her favorite thing in the world, except for oysters. But Alexander ruined oysters for her.
“I don’t know what I’d do if you two weren’t in my life.” Olivia looked at her two friends.
“Okay,” Kiera said, bouncing up and down. “No more crying. From now on, only smiles.”
“Don’t I wish…” Olivia said, giving her a sideways glance. She grabbed a glass of wine from Kiera and walked over to the large bay window, meeting Alexander’s eyes.
He gave her a weak smile, taking in her frail figure as Mo walked up to her and put his arms around her. Alexander thought how he wanted to be able to comfort her now, but it was Mo instead.
A tear fell down his face, wishing he could turn the clock back several weeks, or at least build up enough courage to face the woman he let walk away from him more times than he could count. But he was with Chelsea now, and she tried to make him happy.
“Come on, baby girl,” Mo said, leading her away. “Let’s get some food in your system.” He looked out the window, nodding in Alexander’s direction.
Olivia and her friends sat down at her dining room table and dug into the food, eating in relative silence for several moments. When everyone seemed to get their fill, Mo finally spoke. “So tell us. What’s going on?”
Olivia glared at him.
“Livvy, I’m not putting up with your shit so just spill it. You need to talk about it and I won’t give up until you do.”
“Fine,” she exhaled. She proceeded to tell them about going to Alexander’s office, pouring her heart out to him, bumping into Chelsea in the hallway, running out of the building, and Alexander finding her on Boylston Street to return her jacket. She left out the part about some weird guy chasing her, not wanting to worry her friends. Then she told them all about her exchange with Alexander outside of Johnny D’s that same week, when he all but said he wanted to be with her, but had to push her away to protect himself. And that he couldn’t admit that he loved Chelsea.
“You should give it one more shot, Livvy,” Mo said. “He's definitely not over you. You need to give him a reason to fight for you.”
“Mo, he made it quite clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. Apart from him telling me that I'll always be his ‘Eve’, which I have no fucking clue what that even means, he's shown no indication that he's not going to go through with that goddamn wedding.”
Olivia began breathing heavy, noticing her two friends exchange a look. “What? What is it you're not telling me?”
Mo sighed. “You're his Eve. Come here, baby girl. Take a look at this.” He grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and, after searching for a video, handed the phone over to her.
She hit play on the screen, not fully comprehending what she was seeing. She glanced up at her two friends as she watched Alexander sitting at the piano at Johnny D’s, starting to play a song she knew quite well. It was actually a band she had turned him on to.
“I don't understand,” Olivia said softly.
“Every week for about a month, starting right around Thanksgiving, he would show up at Open Mic and perform,” Kiera explained. “This is the song he chose to perform right before proposing to Chelsea.”
Olivia's heart sank in her chest. She could see the pain in his face as he sang about someone he loved leaving, making him empty inside. Then about finding that person, only for them to push him away again. “I'm his Eve,” she whispered.
“Exactly,” Mo said. “The one he'll always put above all others. The one he'll always care about. The one he’ll never be able to let go.”
Olivia stood up from her chair and walked over to the bay window, staring at Alexander. “I don’t know if I can put myself through that again.”
“The fight's not over yet,” Kiera said. “I mean, he’s sitting out there, keeping an eye on things over here. Apparently, he’s had round-the-clock surveillance on this place. He still cares about you, Libs. A lot! I don’t believe for a second that he’s going to go through with that wedding. Hell, he barely spends any time at his place anymore. Just the other night, we ran into him and his dog when he was heading to the office just to get out of the house.”
Olivia sat there, thinking. Maybe there was another way.
“Is there anything I can do, Livvy?” Mo asked, seeing the wheels turning in her head.
Olivia turned around and faced her friends. “Well, funny you should ask. Can you think of any way you could convince Alexander to go to MacFadden’s next time you guys play? There’s a song I’d love to do if you don’t mind, Mo. It’s a little slower, but I would really appreciate it if you back me up.”
“We’re playing Friday, as usual.”
“Well, good. Wait. What day is it?”
Kiera laughed. “It’s Wednesday.”
Olivia looked down. “What month is it?” She had completely lost track of time.
“It’s February thirteenth, jackass,” Mo sneered.
“Jesus. I’m sorry, guys.” Olivia straightened up, hoping to find her backbone to actually go through with her plan. “Well, let’s do it this Friday then.”
Mo stared at Olivia. “Really? You’re willing to get up in front of over five hundred people and pour your heart and soul out, all with the hopes that Alexander is actually there and listening?”
She thought for a minute. “Well, yeah. That about sums it up.”
“Let’s get to work then. I’ve got a song to learn,” Mo said, dragging Olivia upstairs.
“Oooohh. I’ll be your pretend audience,” Kiera said, leaping up from her chair and following them up the stairs. “Wait a second, guys,” she said as Olivia opened the door to the music room. “It’s the thirteenth. That means…”
Olivia’s heart sank. “That means he’s getting married this weekend.”