Eliza Starts a Rumor(58)
Her happiness soon soured to guilt, and by the time they got to the restaurant, Olivia couldn’t hold it in any longer. The thought of sitting with Steven Beck and listening to them talk about their runs without saying anything felt like she would be outright lying. Spencer reached to open the car door.
“Wait, Spence, I have to tell you something.”
She looked quite serious. He gave her his attention.
“I have to admit something to you, and I know it’s awful, and I’m really sorry.”
“You’re scaring me, Olivia. What is it?”
“I know about the second phone.”
Spencer’s face remained blank. He didn’t say anything, no explanation, no denial, nothing. His mind raced in every direction for the right words, but it was actually his silence that saved him. Olivia took it as anger and tried to talk her way out of it.
“You left it home the other day, and I’m sorry, but with all that went on with the bulletin board misunderstanding, I was still feeling doubtful, and I looked at it.”
Still nothing. Silence. He had no intention of incriminating himself, so he just shut up, his brain racing to recall what was on that phone that could ruin his marriage and ultimately his promotion. York Cosmetics’ latest campaign—a Family Company with Family Values—ran through his mind. The picture of him, Olivia, and Lily front and center. He had set everything up so perfectly. Even Ashley was convinced that they could have their cake and eat it, too.
Not knowing how else to break the silence, Olivia continued. “I know it’s just for running. I felt like such an idiot when I saw the pictures and the texts from Steven. I’m sorry, Spencer.”
He sighed a huge sigh of relief that Olivia interpreted as frustration and went for the spin.
“Wait, you had my phone the whole time I was looking for it?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“This is crazy Olivia, I thought we were past this crap. Spying on me, really? Where is the trust?”
Olivia started to cry.
“I’m so sorry, Spencer. Please, please forgive me.”
He took a minute, for effect.
“Are we good now? Can we move on with our lives without you questioning everything I do?”
She wanted to say, I don’t question everything you do, but thought that, since he seemed to be forgiving her, she should just cut her losses.
“Yes. I’m so sorry. I’m done. Nothing like this will ever happen again.”
Spencer saw the Becks pull into the lot.
“They’re here. Wipe your eyes, please. I don’t want them to see that you were crying. They’ll of course assume I’m to blame.”
Olivia pulled down the visor mirror to fix her face while Spencer got out of the car. He walked right up to Steven and gave him a big frat-bro hug. During which he whispered in his ear, “We go running nearly every morning together, OK?”
He recognized the angry look on Steven’s face. Spencer had not been faithful to Olivia since the day they met, and Steven had bore witness to a lot of it. In fact, he’d been sitting right next to him on that fateful train to Florence when Olivia put down her book and stood with her coltlike legs and Julia Roberts smile, catching Spencer’s attention. Spencer had pointed at her and said, “She’s the one!” Spencer was not a romantic. Steven knew that if he were to have completed that sentence it would have been, “she’s the one who will meet with my parents’ approval.” Everyone knew that Spencer’s parents’ ways were not to be challenged if he was to succeed at his ultimate goal: to become CEO of York Cosmetics and ride the York family gravy train for life. That trajectory included being paired up with a girl with pedigreed DNA by graduation. Everyone knew, that is, except for Olivia.
The last time that Spencer asked Steven to cover for him, Steven had told him outright, “I am no longer your alibi.” He had always cared for Olivia and they were not frat boys anymore. Spencer knew Steven well enough to understand exactly what he was thinking. He added, “This is the last time, man, I swear.”
Beautiful Olivia walked up to greet them; a warm smile crossed her face. He nodded yes to Spencer, but more for her than him. They had just had a baby; he couldn’t take part in breaking her heart right now.
Once inside, Olivia knew enough not to bring up running or anything that would remind Spencer of her sneaky behavior. She was thankful that she’d told him, relieved to be liberated from her lie. He seemed to have forgiven her, for now at least, but she knew it would be the first thing he would bring up in a fight. He never fought fair.
Before dessert Spencer pulled Steven away to check the score of the baseball game at the bar. That was fine with Olivia. She liked Steven’s wife, Lauren, very much. She, too, had originally been a city girl. Though they’d moved out a year earlier than Spencer and Olivia, Lauren was still delighted to go through the city versus suburb laundry list of pros and cons with her. As they were rattling off the pros, from barbecues to closet space, Olivia innocently added, “And the guys get to run together again. That’s a plus!”
“Well, not since Steven started his new job. He has to be in the city by eight, poor guy, and he hates running at night.”
The men came back to the table in time for dessert: four spoons, one piece of cheesecake, and one giant lie about to be exposed.
“How do you like your new job?” Olivia asked Steven, assuming he had started that week.