The Raving Love (Enemies To Lovers)

by Emma Vikes

  My smile faltered a little at the mention of Amber and Theo looked apologetic for a split second. It wasn’t as if I lost Amber because we called each other every day and messaged each other throughout the day to keep each other up to date. With how often we made sure we were aware of what was going on with the other’s life, we made long distance relationships a piece of cake.

  Still, it was different to have her by my side. It hurt when I found out that she had to leave for Paris and finish college there. When we made a promise to each other to stay by each other’s side, it never occurred to me that there would come a day wherein life would happen and break our promise. Sometimes I liked to blame all the circumstances that led Amber to try to take her own life but most of the time, I blamed myself for not being there enough for her the way I should’ve.

  The buzzing of my phone on the table shook me out of my reverie and I scrambled to hold onto it to view the notification. “Damn it.”

  “Is that an alarm for something or…?”

  I pursed at the new email that Julian had sent me. We discussed yesterday what he was supposed to be doing for the rest of the week but apparently, there had been a change of plans and I wasn’t sure what it meant. All he said was that he needed me right now and I better get to the house soon. Jesus, this guy was too bossy for his own good.

  “There’s been a change of plans and I need to find out what it is,” I said as I began to stash my things into my bag. I downed the remaining coffee I had and then called for the waiter so he could serve the take-out coffee I ordered for Julian. After arriving back at his place yesterday, Julian made me do a million other things like get his dog, Julio, to a pet salon- which was ridiculous on my part because I was not an animal lover in any way- and have him groomed and then brought him to the dog park right after. Right after that, Julian called me and had me go to a car dealer to bring in an old car he wanted to sell and then I had to take an Uber to get me back to their house because I had to answer his emails on his laptop and then schedule him for a massage and a haircut.

  I wish I could say that I did everything without complaint but every time Julian called to tell me another task I was supposed to do, I end up arguing at him on the phone and while I did all of those, Julian lounged in his house, relax and carefree. Oh, it was so tempting to chuck something at him when I came back to see him on the hammock with sunglasses on, shirtless and basking in the Malibu sun.

  Bidding Theo goodbye, I got in my car and drove to Julian’s house. Carlos was considerate enough to give me the passcode of the house because apparently, Julian forgot to do so or maybe he just wanted me to burn under the harsh sun as I continued to ring their doorbell and internally beg him to open me because the sun was ruining my skincare. I honestly wouldn’t put it past him if he intentionally made me suffer since he was already doing a fine job at it, why not make me suffer even more?

  God, I wanted to strangle him.

  “Good, you’re here,” Julian said as I arrived in the living room. He eyed my outfit and scoffed, shaking his head. “You know we’re not going to a business meeting, right?”

  I looked down on what I was wearing and rolled my eyes. “Does it bother you that your assistant looks a lot more professional than you?”

  Julian let out a hoot of laughter. “Actually no. The way you dress just speaks how uptight you are.”

  My mouth dropped open at the harsh remark and I saw Dylan trying to stifle his laughter as he tried to focus on the game he was playing on the TV with Carlos but I could feel their eyes darting over us from time to time. “Why do you want me here already?”

  Julian picked up a leather jacket and then two helmets and tossed me one. “You’re coming with me to the podcast and then you’re coming with me to help me find a storage facility or something of that sort.”

  “What?”

  Julian looked impatient as he grabbed the helmet in my hands and then shoved it on my head. My eyes widened when I realized his face was so close to mine and suddenly it seemed like I could hear him singing again, the way I heard him yesterday. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend why someone with such a foul and cruel attitude as him was blessed with a voice of an angel, with a voice that reverberated throughout my body and to my heart, tugging at my heart strings as if they were the strings of a guitar and forcing my body to vibrate with the music of his voice.

  His blue and gray eyes were boring into mine, looking like a cloudy day and clear blue skies in one and it felt as if he was beckoning me, drawing me near, whispering my name with his eyes and I could feel my body involuntarily reacting until Julian slapped the helmet with his hands and the noise reverberated through my skull.

  He was smirking and I scowled and without preamble, I punched him and he cried out in pain. “What the fuck?”

  “You slapped the helmet with your hands!” I cried out, returning his glare. “That shit hurts, you know.”

  Julian clenched his fist and I watched as Carlos and Dylan stood up and were by his side in a flash. “She was surprised with what you did. You can’t really blame her.”

  “Besides, arguing about it will only make you late.” Carlos reminded him and Julian grumbled under his breath as he grabbed his helmet and yanked me outside.

  “Hey!” I shouted, pulling my hand out of his hold. “I have a car, you know.”

  But he shook his head. “It’ll be a hassle if you brought your own. You’re going to ride with me.”

  Yanking me again, he dragged me to their garage where a shiny silver two-tire death trap was gleaming under the bright Malibu sun. He put on his sunglasses and then shrugged on his jacket and hopped on, putting his helmet on his head and then turning to look at me and I could see the expectant look in his blue and gray eyes despite the black sunglasses that covered them.

  “Are you getting on or what?”

  “You’re trying to kill me.”

  Julian didn’t answer instead, he put the key on the ignition and then revved the engine. “Just get on, Audrey. You’re making me late and if I don’t get there, it’s on you.”

  I wanted to stay rooted on my spot and remain stubborn but with a sigh, Julian got off the bike and then suddenly grabbed me by the waist and sat me on the motorcycle, grabbing one leg and then pulling it to the other side so I was sitting properly and then he got on himself. “If you don’t want to die, I suggest you hold on tight.”

  Slowly, he backed away from the garage manually, pulled out his phone and called Dylan to close the garage door and then once we were on the road, he revved the engine again and then veered off and I was screaming my head off, my arms winding tightly around his waist as he gunned the bike faster. My eyes were closed the whole time because I didn’t want to see my life flashing before them as Julian attempted to kill me with his death machine to deliver me to my untimely death.

  And then suddenly we slowed down and I slowly opened my eyes once the vehicle came to a halt. “You can stop hugging me now.”

  It was only then that I realized that I was holding onto him for dear life, my arms wounded around his waist and I could just imagine the cheeky smirk on his face beneath the helmet as I slowly untangled myself from him and hopped off the motorcycle and then almost hit the pavement as I did so. Julian removed his helmet, his dark curls spilling out in waves and he ran a hand through them, smirk in place.

  I expected a snarky comment or even a teasing but Julian didn’t say anything and just turned around, making me follow him in the small building that I was guessing the podcast would be. Everyone greeted him warmly and I watched in the sideline, watching as he easily interacted with the crowd that consisted mostly of strangers. He had a natural charisma and always seemed so easy-going and I’d seen him like this even before the fame.

  Yet despite how charming and approachable he was, there was a dark and cruel heartbreaker that lay beneath that carefree smile.

  As they began the podcast, I sat behind the camera and watched. Apparently, the guy was a friend of Julian
’s and invited him as a guest for this podcast. People could watch it on the guy’s channel or listen to it on Spotify and iTunes. To be honest, the whole thing was a little bit boring for me and for the most part, I was on my phone and on social media until one question perked my ears and caught my attention.

  “So Julian, here’s the number one question your fans have been dying to know the answer to,” Mikey leaned closer to Julian and paused for effect. Mikey was a little on the chubbier side of the scale with hair that was shaved on the side and long in the middle. He must’ve meant to tie it into a man bun but his curls seemed too hard to tame so he let them loose. It looked like a curly mo-hawk but somehow, he made the look work.

  “What is it, Mike?” Julian sounded solemn, as if he was sincerely curious about what his fans wanted to know about him. To be honest, I had to hand it to Julian. He was actually sincere to his fans and cared about them deeply. Not a lot of famous artists were like that.

  “Tell us, Julian, is there anyone out there who stole your heart?”

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the obvious question. Of course, fans were dying to know if he has a girlfriend. He was good-looking, young, has a nice body, and the man can sing, of course, women all over America- heck, the whole world even- wanted to know if Julian Hudson was in love with someone and simply kept the relationship off-camera.

  Julian laughed, acting as if the question caught him off-guard but it was clear that he expected it to pop up. “No. I’m very much single.”

  I could almost imagine the sound effect of a crowd going wild at Julian’s response and couldn’t resist shaking my head in disgust. Fangirling was simply not something I’d ever done my whole life. “But…”

  My ears perked up when I heard Julian say ‘but’. I leaned closer, wondering if there was something he wanted to add to his statement. It wasn’t that I wanted to know the same way his fans did but I was honestly curious if there was a girl foolish enough to date him knowing how much he loved playing around girls’ hearts. “There’s this one girl. I’ve heard her three years ago.”

  “Heard?” Mikey repeated, looking and sounding confused, “Did you just say ‘heard’?”

  Julian chuckled and nodded his head. “Yes, Mike. Once, when I was still in college, I heard an angel sing. I know it sounds cheesy and makes me look like a hopeless romantic but when I heard her sing, man, that was it. That was the only time I think I felt what love was.”

  Three years ago. College. It couldn’t be Amber because my best friend sounded like a dying seagull when she sang.

  “I’ve always wondered what she would look like. A face to match that gorgeous voice,” Julian looked dreamy at that moment, his blue and gray eyes looking faraway for a moment, as if he was brought into a different time and place for a split second, “but I never got the chance to see her and I tried looking for her in the university and sneaked in music rooms from time to time hoping I’d catch her but I never did.”

  He leaned back in his chair and then ran a hand through his neatly cut hair. He ran his bottom lip on his upper teeth and then the right corner of his lips twitched into a small, almost secretive, smile. “I’ve only heard her sing once but once was enough to make me fall in love.”

  I wasn’t sure if Julian had intended to say all of that so fans would listen to their single even more or to their previous albums, hoping that they would get the chance to find out if there was anything Julian ever wrote for his mystery girl. It was a good move when it came to publicity and to up their album even more in the charts.

  But as I looked at Julian, leaned back and relaxed on the couch he was sitting on, his face looking a little daze and small smile on his face, it made me wonder for a fleeting moment if he was even telling the truth.

  And if he was, then who was the girl that made the Cassanova fall in love with her?

  7

  Julian

  “So, let me get this straight, you actually fell in love with someone back in college?” That was the first thing Audrey said to me when we left the building where the podcast happened. We were making our way back to my motorbike and under the blazing LA sun, I could feel myself sweating beneath the leather jacket I was wearing so I removed it, leaving me in only a muscle tee and then tossed it to Audrey who seemed to be surprised but managed to catch it. “I’m your assistant, not your servant.”

  “Isn’t there a thin line between those two?” I asked as I settled on the bike, turning it on and revving the engine and looking expectantly at Audrey. I wondered for a moment if she wanted me to yank her again to get on but she stared at the vehicle, took a deep breath, mumbled something to herself- her mantra, perhaps, to get her through this month with me- and then clumsily got on.

  She let out a yelp and then wrapped her arms around my shoulders, clinging on tight on me for dear life. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

  Despite myself, I couldn’t help but chuckle and turned my upper body slightly to help her ease herself on the bike in a much steadier manner. “If you’re that clumsy when riding a bike, I wonder how clumsy you are when riding…”

  I let my voice trail off, certain that she would get what I was hinting on and it took her a couple of seconds before the idea registered to her and then she slapped my shoulders with her hands harshly, “Pervert!”

  Laughing, I backed out of the parking space, revved the engine and sped off to the storage facility I found yesterday and all the while, I didn’t give Audrey the chance to prepare herself and she clung onto me tight again, hugging my waist and I could feel her chest pressed against my back. For a moment, my body relished the feeling of her breasts pressed firmly against my body and I could feel my heart race, the heat spreading all over my body and this time it wasn’t because of the blazing sun.

  Get a grip, Julian.

  Making a sharp turn, I heard Audrey squeal behind me and felt her tighten her arms around me even more. “Stop trying to kill me, Julian!”

  I added more gas on the motorcycle and whizzed past a couple of cars and Audrey’s grip on me continued to tighten and I swear I could feel her heartbeat race quicker as she pressed herself against me even more. Finally, I could see the storage facility and then made another turn, slower this time, and finally, put the motorcycle to a stop and Audrey got off quickly, a little dizzy as she held onto a lamp post.

  I removed my helmet, running a hand through my curls and chuckling at the sight of Audrey clad in her professional outfit with a helmet on. I approached her and then slowly removed her helmet and wide brown eyes stared back at me. “You could’ve gotten us killed!”

  Smirking, I cocked my head to the side. “But you’re still here. My efforts were in vain.”

  Audrey let out a sharp exhale and then clenched her fists. “Just for a month, Audrey. Just for a month.”

  “Keep telling yourself that but I doubt it’s working.”

  I could feel her glare piercing behind me as I turned my back on her, letting out my own shaky exhale as I could now put distance between us and my body couldn’t react to her the same way when she was pressed against me. I had full control of myself now and the teasing and banter could commence once again now that I was fully reminded that she was Audrey Finch and I detested her in the same way that she hated me and there was nothing between us but animosity.

  Animosity and not attraction.

  “Why are we here anyway?” Audrey asked behind me as she followed closely. “You’re not going to murder me and then hide my corpse locked in a storage unit, are you?”

  I turned to face her, pondering for a moment. “That’s the only idea you have that I’d like to entertain but considering that you’re acting as my assistant and I’m the last person you’re with, I’d be the prime suspect. I do not want to be hassled with your death.”

  She pursed her lips and scoffed, turning away as a staff from the office approached us and shook my hand. “Mr. Hudson. I’m Harold Gold, the one you talked to on the phone earlier. I have one unit available for you.�
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  Audrey and I followed him to check a unit and I checked the space to make sure all the things that I intended to keep could fit in the unit. “This is good. I’ll take it.”

  “When do you intend to move the things you want to keep? We’ll have out truck available for you. If you could just follow me to the office…” Gold’s voice trailed on and I glanced at Audrey who was looking around, looking confused as she slowly followed Gold and I out.

  “Why do you need this?” she asked once we arrived in the office and Gold was in another room, looking for something.

  I wondered if I should tell her what I intended to use it for but then decided not to. “There’s some stuff that I need to buy but wouldn’t fit in the house we currently live in and I need to get them now before I head back to Irving and would be unable to provide those things for the…”

  I stopped before I could reveal anything more to her and Audrey eyed me closely, brown eyes suspicious. “For what?”

  “Nothing,” I replied, shaking my head and let out a sigh of relief when Gold came back and then we began to discuss when I needed them to the items from me with their truck. I could see Audrey listening closely so I turned to her and flashed her a thin smile. “This is confidential so can you please step outside for a moment.”

  Audrey pouted and let out a huff. “If you’re doing something illegal, Julian, I swear to God that I’ll kill you if you drag me into this.”

  I let out a laugh and then watched as she left and finished the discussion with Gold. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and grandpa was the one who introduced me to music. But more than that, he was a carpenter and he always wanted to build proper homes for those who couldn’t afford to rent a better place and in a better neighbourhood. As I grew older, I ended up sharing the same dream as him and developed the habit of purchasing a simple home for people I knew deserved it but doing so required extensive research on my part and although it was a lot to handle, it felt rewarding by the end of it.