Oliver Schulz

“I would’ve talked to you, creep… I think,” the brunette eventually flashed him her sweetest smile. “I wouldn’t have done some other things, though…” she said suggestively but at the same time shrugged and turned away. “You wish,” she scoffed. “I’m keeping them to blackmail you. For the most part. The rest is none of your concern, Schulz.” Scarlett didn’t have any concrete plans yet but she decided to keep them… As a reminder, maybe. Because it was sometimes hard to see that goofy kid when she looked at Oliver. The woman returned her gaze to her photo and smiled fondly. “This was the beginning,” she thought for a heartbeat. “I’ve always loved the colors and when baba gave me the tools, I discovered what I could do with them and the rest is history,” she spoke in an almost wistful voice but shook her head. Too much information. Scar gave him a look which clearly said Oliver wouldn’t get away with it. “You’re here with me, aren’t you? So it’s a mess we made,” she scolded lightly and returned the jar back to the cabinet. The woman stayed silent for a moment or so, giving the counter a quick wipe. “Hm?” She lifted her gaze only when he spoke again. A small smirk spread across her lips. “Oh, I am? Let me see,” she brought a hand to his cheek and brushed her fingertips across his cheek as if she was inspecting it– a movement her eyes attentively followed. Soon she snapped out of it and went back to teasing. “What if I told you I did it because I was mad because I missed you?” Not a complete lie though; she had gotten used to having him around. And when he’d disappeared, she was left alone with the same old feeling of emptiness.

Oscar smiled looking at him. “ Thanks, man.” He replied with a playful roll of his eyes.  “ Don’t worry I’d send out a search party.” He replied laughing as he sipped his drink. “ As long as it has meat on it I’m not fussed”

“Okay then I’m gonna order one pepperoni, one hawaiian -- don’t hate me for my taste I know there’s a whole debate over pineapple on pizza.” 

“It was had to do with finance for the gallery. But i’m not giving up, i’m not going to call. I’m going to the office tomorrow and making sure they take a meeting for that day.” She explained. 

“I should find an assistant like you if you’re going that far to show up instead of calling them and sending emails. Do you have a clone somewhere?”

“No I don’t make pumpkin pie or  hot chocolate with cream until the weather changes to cold.” Miles chuckled. “Too much of that and it loses its flavour. For the moment its roast dinner followed by apple pie. Sound good?”

“Okay good, you’re one of the few good ones who waits so I’m assuming you don’t decorate for Christmas until it’s actually December and not right after Halloween?” He chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, that sounds good. I’ll bring a couple of bottles of wine as my contribution.”

“The worst thing, really?” Scar rolled her eyes right back at him, at his choice of words. “The worst thing would’ve been you not having any hair at all,” she huffed out a breath, looking at him. “… What, I like your hair.” The woman took the photo from him, a bit annoyed, before she carefully put it back inside the envelope. He clearly didn’t know how to appreciate those photos so he wouldn’t have them. … Even though those were technically his photographs. Anyway, she gave him a skeptical look when he said he hadn’t been that miserable. Well, he hadn’t looked happy with her either. Which actually answered her question about them resuming the PR relationship (since he hadn’t answered it himself). However, she didn’t have the strength to deal with any of it at the moment so instead of commenting, she showed him another picture. It depicted a five-year-old Scarlett and she was waving at the camera but oil paint of all colors covered her palms, arms, face and legs were stained with paint. What now? “I… Don’t know,” He caught her by surprise once again and she shrugged, gaze searching the room for something before it landed on the counter. “You get to help me clean the mess we made, put everything baaack…” she pulled her spoon out of the jar and licked the jam off it before she took the other blueberry and tossed it his way.

“Okay not having any hair at all would’ve been the worst thing, yes, but come on! That bowl cut wasn’t helping me at all even if it was the style back then.” If he only had realized that when he was seven and not now that he was in his thirties. “So if I was bald you would’ve never talked to me that night? You probably would’ve thought I was some creep in a suit.” He smirked, again bringing up the night they had met and how everything took a turn since. Oliver watched her put the photographs away back into the envelope and he quirked an eyebrow. “What are you going to do with those? Put them up in frames or make a photo album of me and admire me? I’m so flattered.” He didn’t mind if she kept them and his mom probably had copies of those somewhere if not on her Facebook page. The whole sharing of photos when they were kids was nice, it definitely took away from the current problems and they focused on fond memories. “You were adorable,” he said seeing the new picture she was showing him. “You’ve always been into art, huh?” That was one of the few things he knew about her, but he was sure there were endless of hobbies and quirks he didn’t know about. And vice versa. “We made? That was all you.” He teased, attempting to catch the blueberry she had tossed his way but landed on the floor instead. Oliver leaned down to pick it up and tossing it in the trash before he grabbed the plate and the spoon from her hand to put them in the dishwasher. “Oh you know what?” He started, turning back around and walking closer to her. “My cheek still hurts, I think you’re going to leave a mark, Lindel.”

Sofia jumped a bit hearing Oliver’s voice out of no where. “Crap, don’t you know not to scare a girl like that?” She said with a chuckle. “I tried to get Ms. Lindel’s meeting for tomorrow instead of next week because it’s going to be even busier for her then and this would be the only meeting she would have but they refused.”

“Sorry, sorry.” He apologized followed by a chuckle, not thinking that he’d end up scaring her whens he spoke up. “You should’ve bribed them. Then again,” he trailed off for a moment. “What is the meeting for anyway? Maybe keep calling them and be more persistent.” 

“ If you met her you’d know why.” He replied as he looked at his friend smiling.  “ Okay, how about you order dinner and I will pop down the road to get us some more beers?” Oscar was far too lazy to go further into town get Pizza but he was happy to pop to the off-licence down the road to get more beer.

“Good luck to you then.” He said, patting his friend’s back. “You’re gonna leave me all alone? Man what if I get kidnapped or something?” He joked, clearly the alcohol that was already in his system was doing the talking. “But sure I can do that. What kind of pizza do you want?”

         “Oliver, that’s just all the more reason for you to finally invest in a real suit, a properly tailored one. I’d highly suggest Tom Ford, but Giorgio Armani or Hugo Boss would also do. You’re a hotel manager, for God’s sake, you have to represent your hotels with both style and class, and nothing gives more style and class to a man than a fantastically tailored suit, darling.”

“Hotel owner now.” He corrected, the words finally sinking in and him accepting it. And it wasn’t just one hotel, it was a chain that he never thought he’d get to own but his father had certainly surprised him. “Fine, I’ll take your recommendations but I think Calvin Klein is a bit offended he didn’t make that list.”

Scarlett swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked up at him. “The day after,” she whispered, almost like a promise. Even though she wasn’t sure if it was a promise she would keep since for some reason she’d convinced herself to fear tomorrow like it was doomsday. At least she didn’t have to face it alone. Scar glanced at Oliver before she nudged him with her elbow. “I’ve always been curious, wanted to see and do everything.” The woman studied her picture for another moment or two before shifting gaze to his photo. “For what it’s worth, those heels and bowl cut looked great together,” if there was anything she would remember from his short story it was that he’d made his mother laugh and was proud of it. And so Scarlett briefly wondered if that was the reason he hadn’t told him about the real end of the fake relationship. “… So you want us to keep pretending? Don’t you remember how miserable you were the last time?” Scar said jokingly but personally didn’t find it funny. Her mouth formed an ‘o’ as he remembered the detail from the night they met. “Yes, okay, sure. Do it.” A brief pause as she thought for a moment. “God, so much has happened since our first conversation.” They’d somehow managed to sleep together, eat jam, end up in a relationship– a fake one at that, get jealous nonetheless, search for houses, argue, fight, break up, eat some more jam… And they still put up with one another enough to be in the same room together. Impressive.

If there was a time that Oliver didn’t say something stupid, it would honestly be the end of the world. Somehow he always managed to say something wrong or do something wrong and not catch himself until later, when the damage was done. When she told him that she had always been curious, he believed that from time he had known her. They had that in common. Oliver also wanted to see and do a lot of things, though the time wasn’t there yet. Maybe one day. He scoffed and rolled his eyes when they went back to talking about his photo. “Please, that bowl is the worst thing that could’ve happened to my hair and you know it.” He pushed the photo away for now but he was sure they’d go back to talking about it later. Oliver wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep pretending but at the same time, he didn’t want to disappoint certain people like his mom. She was already going through a hard time. “I wasn’t that miserable,” he retorted. The events she attended weren’t so bad, it was mostly the people they had to talk to that made Oliver want to run away and now he had to really get used to it since he was stepping up into a position that would have him be at events like that more often.  “It really has,” he nodded in agreement. Their first encounter and what lead up to it was definitely not something he was expecting that night. Pulling out his phone, he went to the Postmates app to order from the restaurant and picked basically the whole menu for the two and in a couple of minutes they’d be enjoying it. “Alright, food is on its way. So what now?”

Sofia was trying to keep this meeting she had for her boss but it wasn’t going as she had hoped. She knew it was late but this needed to be done or she could get in trouble. “Come on, i need this for Ms. Lindel. I know it’s late but i’ve tried everything to get this set in for tomorrow. Wait, wait don’t han-” she said but heard the line go dead on the other end. “maldito seas hijo de puta.” She curse at the phone in Spanish, putting her phone into her purse and sat down frustrated.

“Oh I understood that last word.” He remarked, hearing basically everything she had said on the phone and seeing that it hadn't turned out the way she wanted. Oliver wasn’t sure how he could help but if he could in some way, he’d try. “What was that for? If you can share, I’m sure Scarlett must have her private meetings or appointments.”

         “So, here it is, Runway’s big fashion special, our definitive 400-page guide to everything you’ll want to buy, wear, admire and be inspired by as a new season dawns. As you know, September issues are important in the fashion world, our largest and most lavish of the year and a real statement about what the coming months will bring.”

“That looks...impressive not that I could use anything that’s in that issue but I know someone who is probably interested or already has it knowing her. I mean I’m sure there’s a section for men there but I just go with the old plain tux for special events and suit jackets for work, well meetings.”

“ Nor do I at least not normally but she isn’t like anyone I have ever met before.” He replied as he looked at him rolling his eyes. “ How about we agree to disagree on this one?”

“I’m telling you, I think you’re already hooked on this.” He commented, wiggling his finger. “Fine fine, agree to disagree but hey! I’ll take you up on that food now but also more drinks!” He tapped the countertop a repeatedly with his hands and almost started this drumming tone before stopping himself.

“I… Am not sure tomorrow would be a good idea,” she attempted a smile. Mainly because the plan was to stay in and sulk, avoid public spaces at all cost. In fact, her whole day would revolve around the one visit to the cemetery. The woman shook her head quickly and to distract both of them, she pulled out the envelope with Oliver’s childhood photos before showing him hers on the phone. “Here we have me, hanging from a tree. I remember being so incredibly proud I managed to climb so high. Fun fact, the picture was taken mere seconds before I fell down and broke my leg. –Your turn.” What he said next, however, caught her by surprise and she arched a questioning eyebrow at him. Wants to meet me? Weren’t they done with the whole charade? “Yeah, uh, my father wanted to meet you too.” A brief pause. “He doesn’t usually interfere but I have a feeling he never really believed us, you know? Believed I was in love,” Scarlett admitted in a soft voice. Not that it mattered anymore. “Nonsense, I can’t hurt you. You’re heartless, remember?” Her gaze met his to reveal a playful spark in her eyes. As frustrating as it was to hear those words from him, she managed to keep her cool, challenging him. “So what, you think I’ll just give up now?”