Ortai Legacy: Arrival

12.3 Unexpected Call (L)

Without any prompting, Olivia continued her bizarre line of logic. "I saw the texts you sent James. You really didn't have to keep all that from me; I totally would've forgiven you for the crazy stuff you said if you'd just explained everything. I mean, if he was okay with you after all that, it wasn't my place to say anything about it. But what was with you making him do some 'grand show of affection' before taking him back? It didn't really make sense, and it was kinda a bad look, since you were the one who-"

"Olivia?" Rowan cleared his throat. "Has it occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, the guy whose ex had a restraining order against him might've done something obsessive to win back Liza, without any prodding from her?"

My blood went cold as I scanned Olivia's face for any surprise at the revelation that James's ex had a restraining order against him. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even a twinge of guilt or discomfort.

She plowed on with her typical bravado. "That ex was totally overreacting. You know James; would he really obsess over an ex who wasn't interested?"

He blinked slowly. "Are we talking about the same James? When Jordan and his girlfriend broke up, James told him to stick a tracker under her car so they could meet 'randomly' like it was the universe telling them to get back together."

"He- he wouldn't say that."

Coral rolled his eyes. "You know, jealousy really doesn't look good on you, Ro. If you wanted Liza that bad, you should've-"

Jordan cleared his throat. "He really said that. James, I mean. He said crazier things, too. And I saw something like a lock pick set in his backpack."

"Lock picking is a thing now," Alice cut in. "It's a hobby."

"Right... Is tracking exes also a hobby?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Hey, let's let someone who actually knew what was going on talk. Liza, what were those texts about?"

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. "Did all of you see these texts?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Nah, Coral mentioned them to me."

Rowan shook his head. "I hadn't heard about them."

"Me neither, but it tracks." Alice fanned herself with a hand. "James is such a romantic."

"We both saw them," Coral said, "me and Olivia."

I nodded slowly, unsure what to say. Was it even worth the argument that would ensue? They'd obviously already made up their minds. I regretted answering this call in the first place. I should've just sent them the document and energy via text.

"I haven't texted James anything since we broke up."

She rolled her eyes. "I saw the timestamps."

"Did you verify that the texts came from Liza?" Rowan asked.

"The screenshots had Liza's contact at the top."

"Right, but did you check the phone number for Liza's contact on James's phone?"

"No, who does that?"

Olivia inhaled sharply. "Liz, did you really- have you really not texted him since his birthday?"

"Yeah."

"She's obviously just covering her ass," Coral muttered.

"I'm so sorry. I really thought-" With a sorrowful squeal, Olivia reached toward me. "I wish I could give you a big hug and really apologize. That asshole is way too good an actor. The next time I see him, I'll give him a piece of my mind."