love came calling, twice // olly murs

23.

"Honestly, Jeff, if you run that distance three times a week, it'll get easier," Amelia explained the next morning as she and Jeff walked into the kitchen after their run. "You just alternate thirty seconds of running and ninety seconds of walking. It's how you build up your stamina."

"I don't have any stamina," Jeff said, panting. "I don't like physical activity unless it's virtually simulated on my television screen."

Amelia rolled her eyes. "Jeff, that weight you complain about is from what you're eating and all the beer you drink. The rest of your body is a stick. If you exercise regularly, you'll be able to work it off in no time."

Jeff nodded slowly, depositing bottles of water from the fridge. He tossed one to Amelia before twisting the cap on his own open. "And if I lose the weight, then maybe Annabel will go out with me."

Again, Amelia sighed, talking a sip of her water. She walked over to Jeff and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jeff, you know if she doesn't like you for exactly who you are, she's not worth it, right?"

Jeff bit his lip. "But she is worth it, Amelia," he said quietly. "She's the most beautiful girl in the world and she's so smart and so funny. She wears the same sunglasses that Elvis used to wear."

Amelia set her water down. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You know," he said, fiddling with the cap of his water. "The gold ones with the pink lenses? She wears those. Sometimes indoors. I'm in love with this girl, Mils."

She smiled softly, patting him on the head. It was interesting, seeing someone so lovesick. She wondered very briefly if Tom had ever acted this way about her. If he had ever lamented over his affections for her to any of his friends. Considering he didn't discuss his friends with her, there was very little chance he would have discussed her with them. A stronger part of her wondered more than briefly if he had ever really felt that way about her, and if he had, had it been real? Had it lasted for a long time before Shannon came around?

Her thoughts drifted and instead she found herself wondering if Olly had ever acted this way about anyone. If he had ever been in his lovesick state that Jeff was in. He had said to her almost two months ago that she wasn't the only one to suffer a broken heart. Though he hadn't specified, she had figured the words were in relation to him. She bit her lips as she considered who would be awful enough to break the heart of such a sweet man. Sure, she had been plenty mean to him in the past, but it wasn't the same. She didn't and she wouldn't break his heart, even if she was capable.

Shaking her head, she smiled at Jeff, whom she realized was still talking before dismissing herself to go shower. It was a little after eleven in the morning and fourteen pairs of children's sandals and sneakers lined the front door. As she ascended the stairs, she heard voices coming from Olly's studio at the end of the hall and smiled upon realizing that his photography class was in session.

She glanced down the hall and saw that the door was ajar just slightly. Biting her lip, she walked closer, deciding that listening in on the class couldn't hurt, as long as she didn't make her presence known, after all. There was something about Olly teaching this group of eager children that just made her heart flutter and a smile split across her face. And after seeing them last week and how he interacted with them, how could she resist?

Leaning against the wall by the door, she crept closer to get a good listen.

"Now," she heard Olly's voice say, "Did everyone pick the picture of the thing that was most important to them?" A chorus of yeses, yeahs and uh-uhs filled the room, one child shouting no, causing the others to laugh.

"Very funny, Jesse," Olly said and she could hear the chuckle in his voice, practically see the smile on his face. Moving carefully, she peaked through the crack in the door and looked in.

Olly was standing at the front, dressed in his usual uniform of a t-shirt and jeans, but his trilby was absent from his head, his hair looking shiny and soft, sitting on top of his head in a quiff. She bit her lip at the smile he was sending to the kids as he talked.

"You're all going to come up here in a moment and show your photo, explaining why it's important," he explained and the kids nodded. Abigail raised her hand.

"Did you take a picture of something important, too, Olly?" she asked and he nodded, brandishing a photo from his back pocket.

"I did indeed, Abby," he said with a smile. "How about I show you guys it and then explain why it's important, and then one of you can start, okay?" The kids nodded their heads excitedly, always happy to see Olly's work, but more than that happy that none of them had to be officially first.

Slowly he turned the photo and Amelia felt her heart stop beating. Turning away from the door, she leaned against the wall again, her hand to her chest.

It was the photo of her. The one he had taken the day before.

She tried to control her breathing as she strained to listen to what his explanation was. She heard a few giggles from the students, no doubt at her appearance in the photo before he finally went on to speak.

"This," he said softly, "is my friend Amelia. Some of you might recognize her from when she stopped by the class last week."

"I remember her!" a small voice piped up, "I took a picture of you two!" Sophia, Amelia thought to herself.

"That's right," Olly said with a laugh. "Now, this is the part where you'll explain why the subject of your photo is important to you, okay guys?" She assumed they nodded, but Amelia didn't dare look back into the studio, far too taken aback. She should leave, she thought, but at the same time, she knew she'd die if she never knew.

"Amelia is important to me," Olly said quietly. "She's very important to me for many reasons. She was a big part of my old friend Tom's life for a long time, so she wasn't really a big part of mine. She came to live with us a month and a half ago and in that time, I've gotten to know her pretty well and care about her very much."

"Amelia is a wonderful girl," he said, his voice laced with affection, "And I'm very lucky to know her. She's very funny, very smart and an excellent cook."

"And she's beautiful!" Sophia piped up and Olly laughed.

"Yes, she's very beautiful," he admitted, "but she's important because she was kind enough to give me a second chance. Amelia," he let out a breath, "is important because she makes me want to be better. Not just better at what I do, but a better person. It's important that all of us have someone in our lives who make us want to be better people, and that person for me, is Amelia."

Amelia's hand flew her to her mouth at his words, her heart pounding in her chest. She was important to him. He cared about her. She made him want to be better.

With this new information in her head, the words swirling around, she propped herself off the wall before scurrying to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She leaned against the door, trying to still her breathing, slow the beating of her heart and rid her face of the hot flush.

Down the hall, Olly heard the door click shut and strained his head to peer into the hall.

Huh, no one was there, he thought. Still, he could have sworn he had just seen a flicker of movement. He shrugged before calling one of his students to the front, deciding that it must have just been his imagination.

---

VOTE FOR MOREEEE