My Name Is... Olivia

Chapter 9; Part 2/2

“Olivia, I don’t mean to sound rude or anything,” my cousin, Talia said to me as she unpacked some of the clothes from her bag. “But I find it astonishing that you chose to get ready with me instead of your boyfriend… and Adam.”

            Yes, if you were wondering, everyone in my family seemed to think that I liked Dougie more than Adam and I had more of a relationship with Dougie than Adam. I guess that is true though. I do have more passion when it comes to Dougie. It’s a fact.

            “Talia, can I pour out my feelings to you in a way that isn’t too grand since I do know you hate this type of thing?” I questioned.

            Talia nodded as she took her dress and hung it on a hanger in the closet. She hated talking about feelings, especially hers but when I used that tone of voice, she knows what I wanted to talk about is serious.

            “You know how I’m dating Adam?” I asked.

            Talia nodded and sighed, “Oh yes, the wonderful Adam McQuaid. Can’t wait until he’s a part of our family.”

            “At the beginning of the year I slept with Dougie,” I revealed. The secret couldn’t be kept in any longer. I had to let it out before it ate me whole and spat out in from of Adam.

            Talia looked back at me and smiled. “So even you can’t stand Adam,” she laughed. “I thought you were supposed to be the only one in the family who actually liked him.”

            I shrugged my shoulders.  “I guess not anymore. But the thing is I am almost certain Dougie doesn’t like me… well not in the way I want.”

            “Do you know what I suggest, Olivia?” Talia asked.

            “What?”

            “Dump Adam, get Dougie,” she stated.

            “Talia, I live with Adam. I can’t just breakup with him and go for Dougie, we live in the same apartment,” I said.

            Talia shrugged her shoulders. “Then secretly date Dougie. Adam wouldn’t know,” she suggested. I shook my head, Talia sighed. “It’s not that hard of a concept to follow.”

            “I can’t do it, Talia. I still care for Adam; I’m not going to hurt him.”

            Talia held looked in her bag and picked up two pairs of heels. “Let me take you off of this decision of choosing two men and help me decide what to choose: a pair of shoes,” Talia told me holding up a black pair of heels and a nude pair. 

            “I don’t care what you pick, you’re wearing them,” I said.

            She looked at the black pair. “I love these black pairs, I’ve worn these so many times, I had my first kiss in them, and I am going to graduate in them.” She looked at the nude pair; I furrowed my eyebrows at her pointless rant. “But these ones… these make my calves look amazing. Plus they are so comfortable I don’t know how I would go a day without them.”

            “Talia,” I spoke, she stared at me instead of at her shoes, “again, I really could care less about what shoes you choose to wear tonight.”

            “See!” she exclaimed sitting down on the bed. “That’s exactly how I feel when you talk about Dougie and Adam,” she stated putting down the two pairs of shoes. “It really doesn’t affect me but still, you go on about it.”