littlest thing | theo james (book 1)

Chapter 4

I woke up on a Friday morning at 7:00am to a loud knocking at the front door. Quickly getting up, I groaned loudly. I slowly walked towards the door and unlocked it. Rubbing my eyes, I opened the handle and opened my eyes to reveal my sister Poppy smiling widely at me.

"What the hell why are you not dressed Liv?" She asked, her smile fading. I had completely forgotten it was our mother's birthday party today. She was turning 50 years old. "Oh my god sorry I forgot!" I stressed, running into the bathroom and quickly started brushing my teeth and hair.

I finished putting on makeup and styling my hair, then I put on a cute outfit before placing on my black flats. Afterwards, I grabbed my purse and keys, leading Poppy out and locking the door.

We rushed to Poppy's car and she drove us to our mothers house. Since my mom was turning 50, it was a big milestone so we decided to come early in the morning while she was still asleep and our dad would help us set up the birthday party things and all the guests would come later after she woke up.
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Soon after we had arrived at our parents house, we finished setting up the decorations in an hour. Then, my father and I set the table by the couch full of food for our guests. It was already almost 9 o'clock and our guests would be here at 10 o'clock so we decided to let dad wake mom up nicely.

Poppy and I placed our presents on the present table and grabbed dads presents under the couch and set it next to ours. Dad came down the carpeted stairs smiling after a few minutes upstairs. "She's getting dressed, I told her that we are all going for brunch." He winked as he reached the bottom of the steps.

We all sat patiently on the couch while mom got dressed, she took forever because guests started arriving. We made sure they stayed quiet in the kitchen while we stayed in sight waiting for mom. Finally after about thirty minutes, mom came down the stairs happily, wearing formal clothes and makeup. She smiled and came down as quickly as she can and hugged both me and Poppy tightly. "Aw my girls." She spoke.

She clearly didn't notice the decorations in the kitchen and lounge area because when everybody jumped out and yelled 'surprise' she was so shocked. "Holy crap!" She yelled afterwards. "Oh my, I apologize for my language but wow this scared me! Thank you girls!" She smiled, hugging us and dad. She then went to greet the guests politely.

We enjoyed talking and eating appetizers for a few hours, then we all sat in the lounge and watched mom open her perfectly wrapped presents. She got a Fitbit, a few gift cards and a subscription to the country club for a year. And from me and Poppy, she got a trip for her and dad to the Bahamas any time they want. She almost cried.
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After the party, Poppy drove me home and we waved goodbye as I entered my apartment. I put down my bag and turned on the voicemail machine as I poured a glass of orange juice for me. Since it was summer, I was off for another week before I headed back to work. Unfortunately Dawn had to work so she is at work right now.

The machine read two unread messages from Jake, I pressed the listen button while sitting down on the couch with my orange juice.

"Hey Olivia, it's Jake well duh you have caller ID. Anyways, I was wondering if tomorrow you wanted to go out with me somewhere? It's a surprise so don't ask where. Just wear something nice. As always. Phone me back. Haha bye."

The message ended, then I played the next message.

"Hey it's me again sorry, just wanted to say that I miss you. *chuckles* okay bye for real."

The message ended and I laughed. I dialled his number quickly in my phone, waiting for an answer. "Hello?" His voice said on the other end. "Hey Jake, I got your messages." I laughed then continued. "And yes sure I'm up for a date, by the way I missed you as well."

He laughed softly. God his laugh is like heavenly.

"Alright so I will pick you up at 12pm tomorrow Olivia Williams." He spoke demandingly.

"Alright Jake Housley." I laughed, then ended the call.

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I waved to Jake the next day from the front porch as he pulled into my driveway. He smiled widely, getting out his side and opening my door. "You are so cute and sweet." I smiled, leaning in for a kiss on his cheek. He hadn't shaved, leaving a sexy prickly-short beard on his face. It suited him.

"You are the cutest of them all Olivia Williams." He said, reversing the car and continuing to drive onto the main road. I had no idea where we were headed to but I didn't care as long as I was with Jake. He made me feel relaxed, comfortable and safe.

"We are here." He said proudly as we arrived at our destination, he parked in front of a large brick building in the middle of nowhere. I got out the car, confused. "Where exactly are we?" I laughed nervously, looking up at the building and then to Jake who was just smiling.

He lead me into the building casually and unlocked the door. We walked in and it was pitch black until he turned on the large switches next to the door. The lights flickered on.

And I gasped, Jake just smiled.

"Surprise..." He grinned.