2 ~ Olive

Settling in was not much of a hassle. Malik had outdone himself with the apartment and Arya's room was one of a kind. He made it all so much easier. He was such a blessing.

"Thank you so much. I love it here," I sighed as I plopped into my new comfy couch. "I love Arya's room too, you really outdid yourself on that one."

He grinned, "I told you to leave it to me."

"I'm glad I did." I smiled back. He pulled me up and held me in his arms and nuzzled my cheeks. I took a step back when I realized he was about to kiss me. "Malik..." I called out knowingly. We had talked about this.

"She's asleep." He pointed out, referring to my daughter.

"I know but she could wake up anytime soon."

"She's three, she would not even understand what's going on." He insisted.

"Kids of these days?" I scoffed. "Don't be silly," I said and walked into the kitchen to see if I could whip up something for both of us.

"I already ordered. Thought you'd be too tired to cook." He announced as he followed me closely.

"Oh that's so sweet. Thank you." I said, heading to the stocked up fridge to get something to drink. "Would you like anything?"

"Soda's fine." He said, still in that clipped tone of his that I was trying to not pay attention to. I handed him the drank and counted in my head; three, two, one...

"I don't understand you sometimes Olive."

Aha! I was right, this outburst was long overdue.

"What do you mean?" I asked, already opening a bag of chips because I knew this was going to be entertaining.

"You know that I like you. I really do." He emphasized every word.

I raised a brow, "Yes?"

"Why do you keep pushing me away? I'm willing to do anything to make you happy."

I let out a sigh, "Malik you're a great guy..."

He did not let me finish, "But?"

"I'm just not ready for a relationship. I want to focus on raising my daughter in the best way that I possibly can." I told him.

"She needs a father figure in her life." He countered smoothly.

I swallowed. "Um maybe. But it doesn't mean I have to shove one down her throat."

"This isn't about her. It's about you." He said, staring straight into my eyes. I looked straight into my bowl of chips.

"Malik, it's a lot more complicated than I can possibly explain."

"I don't care about the divorce. I don't care about the fact that you're a single mother either. You're doing a great job at raising Arya and now I want to help you." He said all these, holding my hands in his as he stared into my eyes. It was romantic and all but I just was not feeling it.

Thankfully the doorbell rang. Saved by the bell literally.

"I'll get it." He said and I sat back and waited for him, thrumming my hands over the grey marbled kitchen island that reminded me of...him.

I shook my head immediately. I was not going to think about that, especially not with Malik being present.

"Are you okay?" He asked when he came back into the kitchen.

"Yes I am." I smiled slightly.

"Why did you shake your head like that?" He asked, placing the takeout packs in front of me. Okay he caught me.

"Oh it's nothing. Just had a random thought. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow."

Quick thinking. I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back.

He looked stunned. "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Why did you say it like that?"

"I mean I thought you'd want to chill, look around LA before you know," he shrugged.

Malik had no idea I had lived in LA before and even though it would not hurt to look around because I had been away for a couple of years, I'd rather not. I just wanted to focus on work.

"Nah. There's time for all that. I need to get to work ASAP."

"Alright then."

We dug into our meals and that was that as far as the conversation was concerned.

~

I stared at my daughter as she lay flat on her belly fast asleep. It was going to be a long night for me because she had slept for the most part of the day and was going to be awake all night from the looks of things. There was no way I would sleep off knowing she was awake. Motherhood struggles.

I had looked at her face so many times but I could never get used to its beauty. She was the most adorable child ever, I did not care what anyone else had to say about that. But every time I looked at her, I saw a spitting image of her father. Why did she have to remind me of him all the time without even trying.

First of all, I felt cheated in the gene pool. Second, it was unfair because I had to take care of her by myself and it looked like he just took all the credit. Anyways, I loved my child regardless.

"Mommy?" She yawned as she came awake, stretching out her little hands so I could pick her up.

"Hey baby." I indeed picked her up with a groan. If only this girl knew how much she weighed, she would not make me carry her all over the place.

"I'm hungry." She said with another yawn.

I laughed at the way she said 'hungry' with a 'w' instead of an 'r'. Toddler talk would always be so funny to me.

"So what do you want to eat?"

"Cookie."

"Nice try." I said. She thought she could trick me into that one.

She smiled cheekily and I just wanted to squeeze those cheeks and plaster kisses all over them.

There was a pack of food left so I just made her eat that one. Of course she couldn't finish it. These toddlers ate so little but had the energy to do a lot of damage.

"We have work tomorrow baby," I mentioned like she was going to be of any help. All she ever did was run around the office but I was too protective to get a babysitter.

"Office?" She asked just before I held her sippy cup for her to drink from it.

"Yup." I nodded.

"OK."

"Do you like your room?" I asked as I wiped her mouth.

She nodded eagerly, "It's pweety."

"So you'll say thank you to uncle Malik because he made it so pretty."

"I love uncle Malik."

"Of course you do." I chuckled. He spoiled her silly, there was no reason for her to not love him.

Maybe he would treat her like his own if I gave him a chance but I was not willing to consider it just yet.

~

The next day....

There's something about stilettoes and how they give a bossy vibe when you walk into the room and when you pair those with a drop dead gorgeous gray corporate fit, you get the whole boss lady look summed up in one. This was the look I went for on my first day at my new office.

The salutes were almost never ending. I even had to give a speech on how I was not an uptight boss and they did not have to start sucking up to me for favors. It was very much needed.

Interestingly, my personal assistant informed me that we were already getting some jobs even though we were fairly new in town. I did large scale event planning although with how successful the business had been, I did not have to do a lot of work anymore, I simply supervised and networked.

"This is great. So what's the event?" I asked, opening my laptop.

"It's some corporate dinner. The host wants my boss, which is you, to be in attendance. He believes if you network right, you'd have more deals rolling in." She said in that singsong tone that came with her narrating something to me. Chloe's sass was something else.

"That's very thoughtful of him." I commented even though I wondered why anyone would be concerned about my business like that.

"Nice people exist." She shrugged.

"So when is this event happening?" I asked.

"Tomorrow night."

I looked up from my system, "That's a bit impromptu."

"I'll watch Arya." She offered quickly knowing fully well that that was my number one priority.

"I know, thank you. But I haven't even settled in yet and I already have to go for events?"

"I'll contact Malik to take you there as your date." She said very quickly once again.

I paused. Something fishy was definitely going on.

"Chloe?" I called out in a knowing tone.

"Yes ma'am?" She responded, acting clueless.

"Is Malik the client you were talking about?"

"Umm..."

"Tell me the truth," I said.

"He referred the client who is a friend of his." She blurted it.

"And he wants me to be his date." That was a statement of fact, not a question.

"He knew you'd most probably say no so he had to get his friend who is a client to get you to come." She admitted.

I hummed in amusement, "Hmm, I see."

"So you'll go?"

I let out a sigh, laying back on my swivel chair as I spun around slightly.

"I guess I don't have a choice. Surely you already told them I'd be there." I said.

"And you don't want to make a liar. You see why you're the best boss?" She let out a low squeal.

I held up a finger, "Don't try this again though."

"Yes ma'am." She gave me a mock salute just before she slid out of the office.

"Oh Chloe," I laughed.

~~~

"You look amazing." Malik said to me as I came out of the house all dressed up.

"Thank you."

He held my hand and led the way until I was seated in the vehicle.

"So you couldn't just ask me to be your date huh?" I asked teasingly.

"A man's gotta do what he's gotta do." He shrugged.

"Oh you," I sighed softly.

"You look especially gorgeous my darling," he kissed my knuckles after he said that.

"Malik..."

He gave me an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I can't help it sometimes."

When we got to the party, I was impressed with how my workers had outdone themselves. For our first event here in Los Angeles, we did good.

"So how were you able to convince your friend to give us the contract even when we hadn't fully settled a few months back."

"I just knew your team could pull it off."

"And you left me out of it?"

"Jennifer knows her job and she does it well. I just needed you to see that." He said.

Jennifer was my former PA, now manager of my business outlet here in LA. I had sent her here a few months prior and she had outdone herself and just like he said, she does her job with determination and focus. I could completely trust her to handle anything.

"You seem fond of her." I teased him.

"You know I only have eyes for you."

I laughed but decided against responding to that statement. Fully focused on the early parts of the event, I finally let myself socialize and network since that was what I was here for.

Malik followed me around introducing me to people that mattered and it was all going well until I saw HIM.

I froze on the spot as our eyes met and lingered for a couple of seconds. In a matter of milliseconds, his eyes took my whole appearance in and I did the same.

"Malik I think we should leave." I said when I regained my senses.

"What? Is everything alright?"

I nodded, "Yes. I've networked enough and I need to get back to Arya."

"You're sure you're okay? You look shaken."

"I'm fine really." I said, pulling him with me. From the corner of my eye, I knew he was trying to approach me and I needed to be out of there before he got close.

I felt his brisk footsteps follow us as I half walked and half ran to get to the car.

Luckily I slid into the vehicle before he could reach me.

"Olive!" I heard him yell before I rolled up the tinted glass.

"Who was that?" Malik asked, still stunned at all that just happened.

"It's no one. Let's go."

It was not until the vehicle sped out of that premises and there was no sign of him following that the beating of my heart returned to normal.

He never should have seen me.