Chapter 441: Used

Oric walked into the building that Connor had invited him to. His face was still a mess, and he had not planned to leave his home until the bruising had healed, but Connor kept harassing him by telling him that it was an outing he would not want to miss. Knowing that his friend was not an easily excitable person, Oric felt that whatever it was had to be worth the trip. He put on a hat and glasses to cover his face and took a taxi to the address.

For just one minute after entering the location, Oric felt like his friend had lost his mind. He was standing in some sort of showroom, and an elderly woman at the front desk handed him a notepad before pointing toward the back of the storehouse. Oric wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed; enjoying his healing time as a mini vacation, but he needed to confront Connor for wasting his time before he left.

Oric was walking to where he heard Connor chatting with a soft-spoken woman, but when he rounded the corner, his anger was swiftly quenched by the sight of a smiling Willow. She was making notes on a piece of paper as Olivia explained something to her. Since his fight with Jeremy, he had been thinking about her, but was too prideful to call.

"You made it," Connor said. Being the first person to notice Oric, his greeting made everyone look up, and only Willow's eyes looked away as quickly as they came to settle on Oric's figure.

"What is going on?" Oric's face was mostly hidden by the brim of his hat, but he was doing his best to convey his confusion through his body language.

"You heard that Mina is being celebrated in a few weeks, right?" Oric nodded at his friend's question. "We are choosing the decorations."

"I thought it was a coming out party, why isn't her family doing this?" To that question, Willow answered, but her back was still toward him.

"Technically, the party is Wayvair University's way of begging Mina to forgive them. I suggested she hijack the event. Besides, even if Mina's parents lived across the street, I wouldn't involve them in anything." Connor narrowed his eyes toward Willow.

"Those are my future in-laws you are talking about," he warned, and everyone rolled their eyes.

"When you three get to know Mina better, you will understand. For now, take my word for it. Do not involve them." Willow had not meant to speak ill of Mina's parents, but she absolutely hated that they seemed not to think about their daughter unless they needed money.

Willow was afraid that if Mr. and Mrs. Harlow found out that Connor was interested in Mina, they would guilt her into marrying him, and she was sure he only liked Mina temporarily. It was true that Connor was investing more time and energy into Mina than characteristic, but she had only just reunited with him after years apart, and for all she knew, his behavior could be part of a grand scheme to trick Mina into bed.

Still, Willow was going to get all she could out of Connor on Mina's behalf. She kept casually mentioning things that Mina needed, did not have, or always wanted, and eventually Olivia caught on and began to do the same. Soon, Connor had a list of potential gifts he wanted to get for Mina, instead of a list of the decorative items he wanted to have set up for viewing.

Olivia was greatly enjoying her time with Willow, Connor and Oric, and eventually, thoughts of the night she shared with Peter were pushed to the back of her mind. Oric started to complain of hunger, and Willow suggested that they bring Mina lunch, to which they all agreed.

Connor was completely up for the trip because he had not been able to reach Mina since the night of his party and he worried that she had remembered the things he said to her and hated him for it. Willow refused to tell him whether his guess was correct or not, but she too had not been able to reach Mina on her cell, and had the woman not called her from her landline the night before, she would have thought something bad had happened.

As if he were not already being sappy enough, Connor suddenly wanted to know what Mina's favorite food was, so he could bring it to her. Everyone looked at Willow, but she held up her hands. Mina was not a picky eater, but she did have a sweet tooth, and she told Connor that the best way to make Mina happy was to bring her something sweet.

Connor searched for the top-rated bakery near Mina's job and everyone piled into his car as they headed to the place. He looked annoyed with the company but said nothing because he was trusting the three people with him to make sure Mina had an unforgettable evening when she was being celebrated. Willow had vaguely told him what happened with Mina when she was in university, and he wanted to make sure that all the people who had ever bullied her or treated her poorly would feel shame after seeing what he had planned.

----

The quadlet of people made their way into the building that housed Director Porter's office. Olivia had called Jay, who called her father, who said that filming had wrapped, and that the series had moved into editing. That meant that Mina was probably in scene selection with her boss, and Connor hoped that he would be able to put a smile on her face with the cakes and coffee he was bringing to her.

Olivia hung back in the general foyer, not wanting to see Connor do something so uncharacteristic that it made her cringe. Oric stayed with her, because in truth, he was jealous of Connor, and had Willow not come back into the picture, he would have been looking for ways to outshine his friend's kind gesture.

As the pair chatted, Olivia felt a weird sensation overtake her. She felt like the hairs on the back of her neck were beginning to stand up and she turned around to see Peter walking straight for her with a strange look in his eyes.

----

Peter awoke to an empty bed, he quickly checked around his apartment, but Olivia was gone. She had left, and she had not even bothered to wake him before she did. Suddenly, Peter regretted every time he had done the same thing to a woman in the past. It was a terrible feeling to be in an intimate situation with a person only to have them disappear without warning.

The only proof that Peter had that the night was real was the small stain on his sheets and scratches on his shoulders. Had it not been for that, he truly would have wondered if anything that happened the night before was more than a dream. Olivia did not even answer her phone when he called, and for some reason, it made him feel used.

Pushing his feelings aside, Peter got ready for work and left his apartment. He felt heavy, heartbroken almost, and seeing Mina did not help. He did not dislike the woman as much as he had in the past, but now, she served as a reminder of events he would rather forget involving both Olivia and Mary.

It was not quite lunchtime yet, but in the middle of choosing frames on their laptops, two of Mina's friends walked into the suite, one with food in his hands and the other with an amused expression on her face. Peter did not need to ask how the duo had gotten in, because Connor Boyd was a good friend of CEO Rue, and he was on the list of people allowed to freely enter the director's workspace.