Here, together

Bloom - Chapter 5

Sam arrives at Olive's apartment five minutes late. She didn't want to look to eager, so she waited in the car a few minutes before getting out. The elevator took her to the fifth floor, and she didn't know if she should knock or just text Olive to tell her she's here.
She knocks.
Olive opens, and welcoms her in. She looks radiant, even with her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail and wearing sweats. Sam is wearing a short skirt and a preppy blouse with high heels. There are always paparazzis waiting downstairs of her appartement lately, and she'd rather look as polished as possible on the pictures that end up everywhere on the internet and magazines afterwards.
"So this is my place." Olive says, spinning around the living room, arms open. "Or our place I should say."
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"You live here with ...?"
"My roommate, Beatrice."
Strangely, Sam is relieved it's not with her boyfriend.
"Is she here?" Sam asks.
"No, she's in Milan this week. I think, I can't keep up with her schedule, that girl is in demand. "
"Is she a model too?"
"Yeah, we met during my first New York fashion week. She's only a year older than me, but she was like my mother, telling me everything I needed to know."
Olive walks towards the kitchen.
"Can I get you anything to drink? Water, tea, coffee, vodka?"
"Vodka sounds great." Sam says with a mischievous grin.
"Wow, hard day, right?"
"Hard month, actually."
Sam leans on the counter while Olive prepares their drinks. Olive glances at her.
"Yeah, I guess I heard. Are the rumours true?"
"Depends what you heard."
"I heard you and that boy band guy called it quits."
The image of Andrew kissing a model at the back door of a London club, merely a week after they broke up comes back in Sam's mind.
"It was mutual." Sam says.
Olive raises an eyebrow.
"You can tell me that, but your whole face tells me something else."
"What ? My face is talking to you?" Says Sam, joking.
"Oh yeah. And your face is like, that boy fucking broke my heart and I won't talk about it."
"Wow, my face is really conformable sharing very deep secrets very soon."
Olive shrugs, then hands Sam a martini. An olive sits at the bottom of the glass, and Sam realizes that at four in the afternoon, this olive would be her first meal of the day. She's really been following her diet strictly these days.
"Oh you know, I've always had this gift with faces." Olive says. "They open up easily to me."
Sam laughs and takes a sip of her martini. The saltiness of it reminds her of potato chips, fries, chiken nuggets.
"Well, I guess my face is telling the truth."
"Did the boy hurt you ? Cause I have friends that dabble in sorcery, they'd be happy to execute revenge. Nothing creepy, though. Just like a small curse where like he can't help but farting every time he opens his mouth. I bet girls would find him way less cool after that."
Sam bursts out laughing.
"You know, I think even if he got bald and farted all the time, that boy has so much charisma he'd still manage to sleep with half of the women in this city."
"Baldness! That's a good curse. I'll burn some incense for that."
Olive walks with Sam to the living room. On the walls, there are picture of her and a guy who Sam assumes is her boyfriend. Other pictures show people who look like Olive so much, Sam guesses they are her family.
The living room is flooded with light because of the floor to ceiling windows. Olive's appartement sure doesn't read as a typical first New-York apartment. Everything is way too pretty and expensive.
They sit down on one of the big fluffy sofas. Olive touches her phone and then music starts playing softly through the speakers.
"Oh, I love this song." Sam says, recognizing it. "I listen to this album all the time."
"Me too!" Olive says. "I want to go see him in concert next month, but no one wants to come with me."
"I have tickets for that." Sam says.
She does. Being Sam Elliot comes with some advantages, like always being invited to concerts for free. Sam had sort of given up on the idea of going after the Andrew break-up. She didn't feel like standing in a room full of people, and having to listen to love songs while keeping a neutral expression on her face.
"Would you like to go with me?"
The words come out of Sam's mouth before she can even help it. But the more she thinks about it, the more it makes sense. Since Andrew left, a deep sense of loneliness hangs over her head. She's a ball of sadness, and none of her real friends really care, because Sam's repeatedly told them that Andrew and her were "just a fling" and "nothing serious". She didn't want them to worry about her.
"Oh my god, I'd love to!" Says Olive.
Sam smiles. Maybe she's using Olive to not feel alone. But what's the harm in that? People pay psychiatrist. Sam just pays for a friend.
"So what are you going to wear at the party next week?" Olive says.
"Uh, I don't know. Anything my team asks me to wear."
"We should match! It'd be so cool!"
Olive suddenly gets up, and takes Sam's hand. Her palm is soft, firm.
"Come on!" She says, leading her towards the bedroom.
There, Olive goes straight to the walk in closet. Sam knows that she has a huge closet at home, but this is next level. Olive's walk-in is packed with shiny, glittery, and silky outfits. Rows and rows of shoes, bags, accessories.
"I have another closet where I put my everyday clothes." Olive explains. "This is just the fun stuff."
Sam runs her fingers on the fabric, wondering which ones Olive has already worn.
"Here, try this one."
Olive hands her a red dress. Sam shakes her head.
"I can't wear red. Team's order, to help my image detach from my last record."
"Right."
Olive holds out another dress.
"This one then?"
It's a white slip dress, with a deep v-neckline.
"Sure."
"I'll try this one." Says Olive, grabbing a dark blue silk dress.
Olive turns her back to Sam and removes her shirt. "Ok, I guess we are changing in here" Sam thinks. She looks aways as Olive takes of her pants and slip in the dress. Sam catches sight of a simple grey cotton thong, and a naked back. Does Olive never wears a bra? Sam turns her back form her and tries to chase the thought from her mind.
"Can I turn around?" Olive says.
Sam has never changed clothes so quickly in her life. She knows she just could've asked to change in the bathroom, but Olive's nonchalance about the whole thing is contagious. Sam thinks Olive must be used to changing in front of everyone, being a model and all. It's not a big deal.
"I just need help getting this up." Sam says, battling the back zipper of the dress.
"Let me help you."
Olive puts one hand on the lower part of Sam's back, and carefully zips her up. It only takes a few seconds, but it was enough time for Sam to feel Olive's breath on the nape of her neck.
"All done, now show me." Olive says.
Sam turns around. Olive whistles as she looks her up and down.
"We really are the same size, that's incredible."
"Does it look nice?" Sam asks.
"The dress is pretty, yes, but you look amazing!" Olive says.
Sam feels her cheeks blush, which is weird. It must be the alcohol, getting her flushed.
"You look quite nice yourself." Sam says.
"White will look nice in the pictures." Explains Olive. "It will make you the center of attention, the first thing people will see. Me being in a darker colour will make me fade a bit more in the image, like I'm the barely there side kick."
Sam thinks that with her 6 foot tall height and her near goddess looks, it would be hard to not notice Olive.
"Come on, Liv. Nobody puts baby in the corner."
Olive laughs.
"Oh so I'm your baby now?"
Funny how the flushing doesn't go away. Sam nervously laughs.
"I just meant, I..."
"Don't sweat it. I've seen Dirty Dancing."
Olive winks at her, and then starts undressing. Sam turns around, to leave her some privacy. 

Yet she notices that Olive never asked her to.