CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 30

Olivia’s POV

The moment Gabriel’s car disappeared around the corner, I practically floated up the front steps.

God, that man was dangerous.

I barely had my key in the lock before the front door swung open. Mom and Kira were standing there like two detectives waiting to interrogate a suspect.

"Olivia!" Mom exclaimed, her eyes immediately scanning me from head to toe as if looking for evidence of... well, I wasn’t sure what. "You’re back! But it’s only..." She glanced at her watch with confusion. "Nine-thirty? Why are you home so early? Did something go wrong?"

"Did he turn out to be a serial killer?" Kira added dramatically. "Because I swear, Mom, if Gabriel hurt her..."

"No, no, nothing like that," I said quickly, stepping inside and closing the door behind me. "He just had an emergency at home and had to cut the evening short."

Mom’s face fell immediately. "An emergency? Oh no! Was it serious? Is he okay?"

"His cat wasn’t eating," I said, trying to keep a straight face.

Both women stared at me in silence for a moment.

"His... cat?" Mom repeated slowly.

"Wasn’t eating," I confirmed.

"And that’s an emergency?" Kira asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Apparently," I said with a shrug. "Mitchell hasn’t missed a meal in three years."

"Who the hell is Mitchell?" Kira demanded.

"The cat."

Another moment of silence. Then Mom clapped her hands together happily.

"Well, that just shows what a caring, responsible man he is!" she announced brightly. "A man who cares about his pets will care about his family. Very good sign, Olivia. Very good sign indeed."

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. If only she knew the whole truth about tonight’s chaperoned disaster.

"But the most important question," Mom continued, moving closer to me, "is there going to be a second date?"

I felt heat creeping up my neck as I remembered Gabriel’s whispered promises about his apartment and how my dress would look on his bedroom floor.

"Yes," I said, trying to sound casual. "He asked me to dinner at his place next weekend."

Mom literally collapsed.

I’m not exaggerating - she actually fell backward onto the couch with such force that the cushions bounced. Her hand flew to her chest, and for a moment I was genuinely concerned she might be having a heart attack.

"Mom!" I rushed toward her, but she waved me off.

"I’m fine, I’m fine," she gasped, fanning herself with her hand. "It’s just... I was so worried. After you ran out to the car like that, and then came back so early... I thought maybe..." She shook her head. "But a second date! And at his place! Oh, Olivia, this is wonderful news!"

"Are you sure you’re okay?" I asked, still concerned about her dramatic collapse.

"I’m better than okay, sweetheart. I’m euphoric!" Mom pushed herself up from the couch. "You’ve done so well tonight. I’m so proud of you for giving Gabriel a real chance despite your nerves."

If only she knew about the nerves. And the sweaty palms. And the complete mental breakdown in his car.

"Well," I said, stretching and letting out what I hoped was a convincing yawn, "I’m pretty tired. I think I’m going to head to bed."

"Of course, of course!" Mom practically jumped toward the kitchen. "You get your beauty sleep. I need to call Martha immediately and give her the good news. She’s going to be over the moon when she hears Gabriel asked you out again!"

As Mom disappeared into the kitchen, already dialing her phone, I turned toward my bedroom. Kira immediately followed me, her eyes bright with curiosity.

"You know you’re not going to bed until you tell me everything right? And I mean everything."

"I was hoping you’d say that," I admitted. "Because I am literally bursting to tell someone about tonight."

The moment we reached my bedroom, Kira shut the door behind us and immediately turned the lock. Then she spun around to face me with bustling excitement.

"Okay, spill," she demanded, crossing her arms. "And don’t leave out a single detail."

I took a deep breath, not even sure where to begin. "Kira, you’re not going to believe what happened tonight. Like, you’re literally not going to believe it."

"Try me."

"Gabriel is Alex’s twin brother."

Kira blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. Then her mouth fell open.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me. Gabriel Fisher is Alex Gregory’s identical twin brother. They have the same face, Kira. The exact same face."

"Are you..." Kira sat down heavily on my bed. "Are you serious right now? Because if you’re joking, this is not funny."

"I’m completely serious," I said, sitting down beside her. "I literally screamed when I got in the car and saw him. I thought I was losing my mind."

"Oh my God," Kira breathed. "Oh my God, Olivia. This is insane. This is like, soap opera level insane."

"It gets worse."

"How could it possibly get worse?"

"Maxwell Wellington was in the backseat."

Kira’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Your boss Maxwell? The one who fired Oliver, and was rude to Olivia?"

"The very same. Apparently, he’s the twins best friend and decided to chaperone our date because he was worried Gabriel would embarrass himself."

"I cannot..." Kira stood up and started pacing my small bedroom. "I literally cannot process this information. You’re telling me that you went on a blind date with Alex’s twin brother while being chaperoned by your former boss who has no idea you’re currently disguised as a man working at his company?"

"That’s exactly what I’m telling you."

Kira stopped pacing and stared at me. "Your life is a fucking sitcom."

"Tell me about it."

"Okay, but wait," Kira said, sitting back down. "How was Gabriel? I mean, aside from the completely insane circumstances, how was he as a person? As a date?"

I felt a smile spreading across my face before I could stop it. "Kira, he was incredible."

"Incredible how?"

"He was..." I searched for the right words. "He was nothing like Alex. I mean, they look identical, but their personalities are completely different. Gabriel is forward and charming and flirtatious and just... God, the way he looked at me."

"How did he look at you?" Kira asked with interest.

"Like I was the most fascinating person he’d ever met. Like he wanted to devour me whole." I felt heat creeping up my neck at the memory. "He kept touching me - my hand, my face, my thigh - and saying these things..."

"What kind of things?"

I buried my face in my hands, suddenly embarrassed. "I can’t repeat them. They were so..."

"Olivia Marie Hopton, you tell me right now or I swear I will march into that kitchen and tell your mother you’re secretly working as a man."

"He said he’d been fantasizing about kissing me since I screamed in his car!" I blurted out. "And that he wanted to know how my dress would look on his bedroom floor!"

Kira’s jaw dropped. "On the first date?"

"While Maxwell was sitting right behind us!" I added. "He didn’t care at all. He just kept saying these things and touching me and making me feel like..."

"Like what?"

"Like I was desirable. Like I was someone worth pursuing. Like I was..." I struggled to find the words. "Like I was enough."

Kira’s expression softened. "Oh, honey."

"Alex had never looked at me before. Not once in all those months of working together. But Gabriel..." I shook my head. "From the moment I got in that car, even after I had a complete meltdown, he looked at me like I was this rare, beautiful thing he couldn’t wait to get his hands on."

Kira was quiet for a moment, processing everything I’d told her. Then she asked the question I’d been dreading.

"Did Maxwell recognize you?"

I shook my head quickly. "Not as Oliver, thank God. He recognized me as the woman who visited his office - you know, the one who left the horrible review calling him a sadistic jerk. But he showed no signs of connecting me to Oliver Hopton."

"That’s something, at least," Kira said with relief. "But Liv, I have to ask... what about Alex?"

"What about him?"

"I mean, you’ve been obsessing over this man for over a year. You literally disguised yourself as a man and got a job at his best friend’s company just to be near him. And now you’re telling me you have feelings for his twin brother?"

I was quiet for a long moment, thinking about Alex. About all those months of pining and hoping and waiting for him to notice me. About the way my heart used to race whenever he walked by my desk. About the dreams I’d had of him finally seeing me as a human being.

"Alex is engaged, Kira," I said finally. "To a woman who’s perfect for him. He’s never going to notice me as Olivia, and he certainly can’t be with someone he thinks is a man."

"That’s not what I asked."

I sighed. "I know. It’s just... tonight with Gabriel, I felt something I never felt with Alex. With Alex, it was all fantasy and longing and this desperate hope that maybe someday he’d see me. But with Gabriel, it was real. Present. He was actually there, actually interested, actually making me feel like the most important person in the room."

"So you’re saying you’re over Alex?"

"I’m saying that Gabriel made me realize the difference between a crush and real connection. With Alex, I was in love with the idea of him. But with Gabriel... God, Kira, I could actually see a future with him."

Kira nodded slowly. "Okay, I can understand that. But now I have another question."

"What?"

"Are you going to keep working at Wellington and Sons?"

I groaned and fell backward onto my bed. I hadn’t thought about that.

"I don’t know," I admitted to the ceiling. "I honestly don’t know."

"What do you mean you don’t know?"

I sat up and looked at her. "Kira, I made the biggest mistake of my life leaving Harry & Associates. If I had just stayed put, if I had just accepted that Alex wasn’t interested and moved on, my life would be so much simpler right now."

"So what are you going to do?" Kira asked softly.

"I have no idea," I said honestly. "I’m trapped. I can’t leave when I don’t have any other job, I can’t stay without living a lie, and I certainly can’t tell Gabriel the truth without him thinking I’m a complete psychopath."

"Hey," Kira said firmly, grabbing my hands. "We’ll figure this out okay?"

"We need to, Kira. And very fast. Because if Damien should send me a positive mail on monday, I’ll have to accept it."