Miss Cleopatra: In Love I Fall

7

I watched as men and women jogged past me, trying to avoid looking straight at the glaring sunlight that bounced off the shiny new high-rises. My dress from last night kept riding up my thigh, and I suddenly became anxious to get into the car.

"Here we are." Oliver opened the passenger side door for me and I crawled in.

"Thank you."

"Fancy a coffee? I can stop by Starbucks." Oliver said, pulling the car out of the street amidst my laughter.

"I would like a coffee, thank you." All these years later, I still found Oliver's British slang absolutely adorable. And I don't think I was ever going to think otherwise.

"As you wish, milady."

* * * * *

"How do you do it?" Oliver asked, all of a sudden. I took my concentration off of the fleeting highway.

"What?"

"Look at him." I froze: the coffee cup in my hand pausing halfway on the path to my lips. "Now that he's back, how are you able to look him in the eye?"

"It's just easier now, I guess." I admitted, taking a pause to take a long swig of coffee. "I haven't seen him in years: give or take a few pictures in the magazines. Out of sight, out of mind, you know? And now that he's back... well, he's back. And it doesn't bother me."

"I respect that, Anna. You don't owe him anything. I'm just... worried."

"About what?"

"About you."

"Oliver-"

"You're going to be spending a lot of time with him, that's all. I know plenty of guys like him, Anna. They mess with your head." No kidding. Just in the week that he's been back in town, my mind has been pulled in a million different directions. When I saw him at the party, every memory I've ever had of him came back all at once. Dates, anniversaries, our senior prom... it was just too much to handle. And I couldn't bring myself to admit that to Oliver, because I knew it would break his heart.

"Oli, you have nothing to worry about." I glanced down where his right hand rested on top of the console between us, and I twined my fingers through his. "The only thing I see when I look at Drew now is a paycheck."

"I just don't want him to hurt you again. You don't deserve it." He said.

"Well here's to hoping he never gets the chance. I doubt I'm going to be seeing much of him. Everyone's still kind of mad at him, anyway: I'm not the only one he left behind without saying goodbye to." I thought about Wes and Keaton, who were just as devastated by Drew as I was. After the band's split, they tried maintaining a friendship, but Drew pulled away. And then he left. He left all of us.

"So you're really going to produce his album, huh."

"I have to. $25,000 is a huge advance. Before this, I was only making roughly around $15,000 per album. And that includes royalties. This is a huge career opportunity for me." I thought that snagging the Paper Cranes was a big deal: and I was only got a little under $1,000 as an advance for their album.

"I know. And have I mentioned how proud I am of you?" Oliver grinned, pulling into the driveway of Wes and Keaton's gated community.

"Only a million times." I grinned, thinking back to the excitement I saw in his eyes when I told him last night at dinner. Oliver laughed, pulling up to the guard house that stood at the entrance to the neighborhood.

"Name?"

"Hey, Charlie." I leaned forward in my seat so he could see me wave.

"Annabeth, hey! And Oliver, right? Good to see you guys."