It said that the Time-traveler stars, now on a tour of Europe to promote the fifth and last installment of their hugely successful movie franchise, ’The Time Traveler’s Tale’, were thought to be expecting their first child together, after Julia had been spotted sporting a small baby bump. There was a small insert of the purported bump, but it could also have been a mirage caused by the cut of her clothes.
Still, what was hard to contest, was the fact that Julia had been spotted buying a pregnancy test at a pharmacy in Beverly Hills the week before. It was apparently all over Twitter. The fans of the two stars were said to be delirious with happiness at the news of their idols procreating.
’Although the notoriously private couple has yet to publicly confirm their relationship, after more than four years of them living together at Montgomery’s luxurious Hollywood Hills home, not many still doubt that their off-screen romance is every bit as steamy as their on-screen ditto.’
Olivia dropped the piece of paper to the floor and just sat there staring at the screen where the press conference was still playing. She reached to turn if off, when a question from one of the reporters caught her attention.
”So, Julia, are there any babies in your near future?”
Olivia watched in horror as Julia looked over at Nate with a smile and said:
”You never know.”
That prompted the next question for Nate.
”Nathan, are you looking forward to starting a family any time soon?” the same reporter called out.
Nate looked down, a small smile playing on his lips, and then he looked out at the journalists.
”I’ll steal Julia’s answer to that one. You never know.” He turned his head to Julia and winked.
Olivia suddenly shot up and ran to the bathroom, Sasha following closely behind. She just made it to the toilet before she hurled violently into it. Her stomach heaved and heaved until it was completely empty. She was vaguely aware of Sasha standing over her, gently holding her hair out of the way. The pain she felt inside was excruciating. She didn’t know if she could take it without losing her mind. Everything she believed about Nate and about the love they shared, was a lie. He didn’t really love her. He was in love with someone else, they were starting a family together. He lived with that woman. Still, a small part of her refused to believe what she had seen at the press conference and what she had read.
”No,” she murmured, ”it’s not true, he loves me. He loves me, I know he does.” She started crying.
”Olivia, honey, I’m so sorry, but he lied to you,” Sasha said, stroking her hair gently. ”He’s an actor, that’s what he does for a living. Pretending to be somebody else. He’s good at that, he wouldn’t be such a huge movie star if he wasn’t.”
”No! I don’t believe that. He loves me, I know he does,” she repeated stubbornly. ”He said he would never hurt me,” she sobbed.
”Liv, sweetie, come here,” Sasha said and drew Olivia into her arms.
”He loves me, I know he does. I know he does,” she kept sobbing, clinging to Sasha.
Suddenly the twins came running.
”What’s going on? Liv, you okay?” Markus asked, panic in his voice.
She couldn’t answer - what could she say? ”I just had my heart ripped out and shoved through a meat grinder”? She shut her eyes tightly, and tried to will herself to pass out, so she wouldn’t have to feel this pain. But of course she didn’t.
”It’s going to be all right, boys, don’t worry,” she heard Sasha say. ”She’s just had a bit of a shock, that’s all.”
”Why? What happened?” Lukas asked and knelt beside Olivia, awkwardly patting her on the back.
Markus asked quietly:
”Can I get you anything, Sis?”
She just shook her head. There was nothing anyone could do now. She just had to live through this, whatever this was. She still wasn’t fully convinced he’d lied to her. But it sure didn’t look good.
”Maybe a glass of water for her?” Sasha suggested softly.
”Of course, coming right up,” she heard Markus say, immense relief in his voice at being able to do something practical to try and help, however small.
”What happened, Sasha?” she heard Lukas ask, as he kept touching her hair soothingly, the way their mother used to when they were kids and woke from bad dreams at night.
”I found out who Nate really is,” Sasha finally said.
”What do you mean?” Lukas asked, sounding confused. ”Who is he then?”
”Ever heard of the Time-traveler-movies?”
”Sure, who hasn’t?” Lukas said, still confused.
”I hadn’t.” Olivia felt surprise at hearing her own voice all of a sudden.
Apparently, so did they, but Sasha recovered quickly.
”Well, I’m betting you’ve never seen one of them, because if you had you would have recognized Nate when you met him.”
”Wait, what are you saying?” Lukas asked, and then he was silent for a few seconds. ”Wait a minute, are you saying Nate is the dude from Time-traveler? No, that can’t be right. That guy’s like huge, like girls go crazy for him all over the planet,” he stammered.
Olivia moaned when she heard that.
Suddenly Markus voice broke in.
”Is Nate the guy in Time-traveler? What? No, that can’t be right, he’s a cowboy from Oklahoma, for crying out loud. He’s in the cattle business - you must have gotten things confused, Sasha.”
”Give me the water, Markus, and then you go online and search for Time-traveler part five Paris première. It’s streaming live right now. See for yourself if I’m wrong.”
”No, it’s not true. He loves me,” Olivia murmured to herself, trying to get the images of Nate with Julia to fade away. It didn’t work. Maybe she would never again see anything but the picture of Nate and Julia’s tender red carpet moment when she closed her eyes. She moaned in agony.
Lukas was still stroking her hair.
”But Nate can’t be that guy,” he said. ”That dude is with the chick who stars opposite him in the movie. Everybody knows that. It’s been going on, like, forever. I thought they were already married or something, but they can’t go public with it, ’cause his female fans would go crazy if they knew.”
Olivia suddenly couldn’t take it anymore. She stumbled to her feet and headed straight for the coatrack by the door.
”Olivia, honey, where are you going?” Sasha was right behind her.
Olivia shoved her feet into her boots and grabbed her winter jacket and purse.
”I’m going to the movies,” she said, tears streaming down her face.
”I’ll come with you,” Sasha said, pulling on her jacket in a hurry.
”No!” Olivia exclaimed. ”I want to be alone. I need to be alone right now.”
Sasha stopped dead in her tracks. Perhaps she understood that Olivia meant it.
Chapter 15
It wasn’t that hard to find a screening of the ’Time Traveler’, the first installment of what had turned into a hugely successful franchise, catapulting its young stars into instant stardom. Although the first film had come out over four years ago, due to the impending première of the last film of the series the following weekend, one of the big theaters in town was having a special Time-traveler week, playing a movie a night from the series until the big première of the final installment that Friday night. She caught the subway to Medborgarplatsen and bought a ticket.
She made it just in time for the nine fifteen screening. The theatre wasn’t completely full, but there were quite a few people there, especially considering it was a Monday night. Most were women of different ages. Apparently the film was ’an epic love story that crosses the boundaries of time and space’ or so the tagline for the movie read.
She didn’t know if she was being too masochistic in subjecting herself to the torture it would inevitably be to watch Nate fall in love with another woman. But she had to see for herself if it was really her Nate u
p there on the screen.
He had already called her several times since she left home. She let it go to voicemail every time. Perhaps she was being a coward, but she couldn’t deal with it yet. She just couldn’t. She needed to see him in the film first.
She sent a text to Sasha: ”Tell the boys I’m fine. Home in a few hours. Just need to see this with my own eyes. O.” As she wrote the message she had one from Nate. ”Olivia, where are you? Call me asap, I’m worried now that I can’t reach you. I love you more than anything. Nate.”
She snorted as she read it.
”Yeah, right,” she murmured. She angrily turned off her cell and waited for the movie to start.
Her heart was pounding in her chest when Nate appeared on screen a little while into the movie. It was told from the girl’s point of view and she understood why the fans had gone crazy over Nate. He looked like a demigod on film. Still not as beautiful as he was in real life, though, but mind-numbingly sexy. She understood why he had women of all ages, all over the world, tripping over themselves to swoon at his feet.
Her heart ached dully as she watched Nate’s character fall in love with Julia’s character in the movie. It was an incredibly dramatic and romantic storyline. A lot of shirtless takes of Nate. Every time his shirt came off, showcasing his perfect torso, the audience shrieked with delight. Olivia felt sick to her core. But what really killed her was the almost palpable chemistry between the two leads. They were looking at each other as if they wanted to eat each other. How could anyone fake that kind of intense attraction?
Suddenly she knew Sasha had been right. He wasn’t her Nate, he was Julia’s Nate. And he must have been for the last five years, ever since they met on the set for this movie.
She felt her insides go completely numb. Now it was only her actual physical heart still beating in there. The rest had died.
She got up and walked slowly out of the theatre, not even noticing when people complained out loud of her obstructing their view.
She didn’t turn on her cell again. Instead she went straight home, so as not to worry the boys and Sasha any more than necessary. She didn’t cry on the way back. She couldn’t feel anything, she felt completely devoid of any emotions. All she wanted now was to go to sleep and preferably not wake up for a very long time.
* * *
Sasha was still there when she returned home.
”You were right,” Olivia told her. ”They are obviously very much in love with one another. Why on earth would he cheat on her with someone like me?! She’s like a goddess or something.” Olivia kicked off her shoes, suddenly feeling a spark of anger again. ”God, I wish he were here so I could rearrange his perfect face,” she growled between gritted teeth to nobody in particular. No one said anything.
”You can go home now, Sasha. I’ll be fine, I promise. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” she added, trying for a wry smile but failing miserably.
”Okay, sweetie. Just don’t hesitate to call if you need to talk. Doesn’t matter what time it is. Promise?”
”Promise,” she answered glumly. ”And thank you, you are the very best friend imaginable.” She hugged Sasha goodbye. But before she could leave, Lukas blurted:
”He called while you were gone. Well, actually he tried to Skype as we were watching the première on your computer.”
She felt a flurry of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She chided herself silently for reacting like that. It was over, he would never be hers, she had to stop loving him. She had to. And stop wanting him. He belonged to someone else. Plus he was a giant asshole.
”Did you answer?” she asked.
”Sasha did,” the boys said in unison.
”Thanks guys, thanks a lot,” Sasha murmured sarcastically.
Olivia turned to her.
”Why did you do that?” she demanded.
”I answered because I thought he should know what he did to you. And to tell him that if he ever shows his face here again, I’ll break his balls myself,” she said defiantly.
”That’s not up to you, Sasha!” Olivia shouted angrily.
Sasha stared at her for a moment.
”Oh no, honey, no you don’t. You are NOT going back to him after this! What’s wrong with you, girl?”
”Shut the fuck up, Sasha,” Olivia was too upset to sugarcoat anything at this point. ”Whether or not I’m going back to him, as you put it, is none of your goddamn business.”
Sasha looked set to argue, but Olivia held up her hand to stop her.
”But just so you know,” she drew deep breaths to try and calm herself down, ”I’m never going near him again. But that’s up to me to tell him. You had no right to break up with him for me!”
Sasha looked repentant.
”You’re right, I let my emotions get the better of me. I had no right to take his call like that. Please, forgive me?” she pleaded while making puppy eyes at Olivia. ”I’m sorry, I really am,” she added, when Olivia didn’t reply.
Olivia had never been able to resist Sasha’s puppy eyes.
”I forgive you,” she grudgingly gave in. ”But stay the hell out of my business from now on!” she threatened.
”I promise I’ll try,” Sasha smiled, incorrigible. ”Oh, and don’t come in for work tomorrow. I already arranged that with Rashid.”
Olivia was about to protest when she thought better of it. She would give herself a day in bed to wallow in grief and then she would not think of him again. If at all possible.
”Okay. I’m going to bed,” she said instead.
Sasha left and the boys hurried off to their rooms after they had made sure she really wanted to be alone. When she walked into her room she saw on the computer that Nate had tried to reach her via Skype several more times.
She felt nauseous again. She couldn’t deal with this yet. She turned off the computer and crawled into bed, without changing into her pajamas.
But, although she was mentally and emotionally exhausted, sleep refused to find her. She kept seeing the images of Nate and Julia together from the film and from the press conference and from the newspaper, all jumbled together in a never-ending loop.
Suddenly she wanted so badly to hear his voice, just one more time, even though she knew that it would only hurt her more if she did. She turned on her cellphone. There were five new messages on her voicemail. She took a deep breath and played them back.
”Olivia, where are you, love?” she heard Nate’s tender voice. ”I’m done for the day, finally,” he went on. ”I’m on my way back to the hotel now, and I’ll Skype you as soon as I get back to my room, all right?” He lowered his voice a little, she could hear people talking quietly in the background. ”I love you, Olivia. Talk to you in just a little bit.” Then he hung up. She was crying again, curled up into a fetal position, but she kept listening to his messages, one after the other.
”Olivia, I’m in my room now, turning on the computer as I speak. It’s 9:15, are you there, baby? Please call me as soon as you hear this, unless you’re already on the computer, in which case I’ll see you in a minute.” He hung up.
The next message had come in at 21:20. It was plain Sasha had gotten to him by then. ”Olivia, no,” he groaned, panic in his voice. ”I didn’t mean for you to find out like this, but in any case it’s not true. I am not in love with Julia, I love only you. Please, believe me, love. What Sasha thinks, it’s not true. Please, pick up, baby, please, please, pick up,” he pleaded. ”Please, Olivia, call me when you hear this, or just send me a text and I’ll call you right back. I can’t stand you shutting me out like this. I’m going crazy here, not knowing what you’re thinking and feeling. Please, let me explain myself, love. Please…”
She grabbed the teddybear he had sent what seemed like a lifetime ago and buried her face in his t-shirt. Nate’s smell was just a faint memory by now, but it still made her groan in agony. In that moment she didn’t care about anything other than her immense need for Nate. She really didn’t know i
f she could face a future without him in it.
The fourth message had been recorded at ten. She had been walking to the subway station then, oblivious to everything but the images in her mind of Nate falling in love with Julia on the screen. Nate sounded miserable. She would have given anything to get to comfort him right then, but he wasn’t hers to comfort anymore. He belonged to Julia. He always had.
”Olivia, my love, I’m begging you to let me explain myself. There are a million stories about me and Julia in the press but they’re not true. Not the way you think, at least. Please, baby, call me, text me, email me, just anything so I can know you’re okay. Please, Olivia, I love you more than I can say. I will always love you, I have always loved you. I loved the promise of you before I even met you, I just didn’t know it then. Please, baby, please call me back.”
She cried so hard she couldn’t breathe. She wanted so badly to believe him, but she had seen him with Julia, and it was too late to believe he loved her. Or that he ever had. He had lied to her and he was so obviously Julia’s. She rocked back and forth with the bear hugged tightly to her, trying to soothe herself.
The last message had come at eleven, as she was crawling into bed. It was short. ”Please, Olivia, please don’t do this to me. I’m dying here,” his voice broke, ”please just call me. One call, that’s all I ask, just so I can hear your voice. Please, baby, please…” His voice broke again and he hung up.
”Oh, God,” she wailed. She couldn’t stand hurting him like this. Not even after the way he’d hurt her. But she didn’t dare call him either. If she heard his voice now, she would probably break down completely and beg him to keep her as a mistress on the side or just anything. And she could never do that to another woman, nor to herself.
Destined for the Star (Starstruck) Page 16