A FRIEND?

"Chole, can I call you later? I'm at the exhibition, the one I told you about yesterday." Olivia informed Chloe over the phone as she stood in front of a large painting, admiring it.

"Ohh, sorry, I forgot about that. Are you just getting there?" Chloe asked.

"Err…. No, I think I got here like 20 minutes or so. Why do you ask?" She answered, inching her head with one of her fingernails.

"Well, it's been a while since we went out together. So, I wanted us to go out." She replied, explaining her reason to Olivia.

"Awwnn… my baby misses me." She said, obviously making a cute face.

"Mmm … maybe a little, I'm bored to death just staying at the bakery, today is just so slow. Aaaagggghhhh!" Chloe complained over the phone.

"I can imagine. Anyway, you just have to endure it, I can't leave this place just yet." She consoled her friend in a joking manner.

"Sure, I will but tomorrow, you and I will go out . . . okay," Chloe said the last word of her sentence a bit louder in a firm tone.

"Of course, girlfriend. You just made the plans and I'll come to pick you up." Olivia announced over the phone.

"Great. Okay, bye…. I know how eager you are to hang up already . . . Hehehe." Chloe laughed out excitedly.

"Byeee." She hung up the call and returned her phone into her bag.

Olivia was having a good time at the art exhibition; she took a lot of pictures and even met a few artists like herself. Soon enough, the exhibition was over and it was time to leave. She left the gallery in her motorbike but when she stopped to get something, her eyes caught sight of something else that caused her brows to form a slight frown.

"So, this is the important place he had to be at?" She said, taking off her helmet.

"So, he isn't single, interesting." She got off the bike and walked slowly towards Jason who was busy hugging someone, of course, a lady.

Flashback begins …..

Jason left the mansion a few minutes after Olivia had left, he had the same driver who brought him to the mansion yesterday take him to Ryan's house.

"When do you want me to come back to pick you up, Sir?" Asked the driver as he parked the car in front of Ryan's apartment.

"I will give you a call once I'm ready to leave, let me have your number." Jason handed over his phone to the driver to type down his number.

"Here it is." The driver returned the phone to him after putting his number on it.

"Thanks," Jason said as he was about to open the seat door.

The driver was really quick to get out of the car and opened the door for Jason.

"You don't have to," Jason said blankly.

"I have to Sir." The driver said, still holding unto the door.

All Jason could do was keep quiet; he knew there was no use dragging the subject any further.

Jason was obviously aware that Ryan won't be at the apartment since he had work to go to, the only reason he asked the driver to drop him off at Ryan's was because he didn't want anyone to find out about where he was visiting.

He had to take his aunt to the hospital and for some reason, he didn't want the Smith family knowing about it. After the driver left, he boarded a taxi to Sophia's house to pick her up. As usual, the twins followed, since they promised to go with their mom for her first three treatments.

Flashback ends ….

. . .

Olivia was curious to know who Jason was hugging, as far as she could remember, he never mentioned being in a relationship. Even though it was none of her business, she was curious to know the girl or at least get a glimpse of her face. But the unexpected happened, Olivia bumped into someone just as she was about to get closer to them.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized to the man she accidentally bumped into as she pushed the hair that fell on her face with her hands to the back of her ear.

Jason's body went stiff for a moment after hearing Olivia's voice, he was sure it was her voice he heard even if he was facing the opposite direction.

"Olivia?" He said in a low but sudden voice.

"Who is Olivia?" Sophia asked as she pulled away from him, seeming confused at the sudden mention of Olivia's name.

There was no use turning back because Jason already saw her. "What is she doing here?" Jason asked inwardly as he stared at her.

"Is she Olivia?" Sophia was not stupid not to know that she was the person he just mentioned but, she still had to ask.

"Ahh… Yes." Jason answered after a short sigh.

This was what Jason tried to avoid, his aunt would surely ask questions and that meant lying to her in return, and he hated that. He didn't want his aunt finding out about the weird relationship he and Olivia shared.

What Olivia saw gave her a little shock, she could tell from just looking at Sophia that she was older than Jason. This was definitely not what she was expecting. There was no going back anymore, she had to walk up to them since they were already staring at her.

"Good afternoon." Olivia greeted, trying to act as normal as she could with a smile glued to her face.

"Good afternoon." Sophia greeted back, still a bit confused cause she had never seen this certain face before.

"Ahmm… Jason, who is she?" Sophia asked, still smiling back at Olivia.

"A friend of mine," Jason answered calmly, thinking of a way to avoid any further questions.

"A friend?" Sophia said with a surprised look on her face as she looked at Jason. As far as she could remember, Jason had only a few friends and females were very rare amongst those few. She could only remember him being acquainted with two females, one was Emma and the other was Jennie, one of his course mates in college.

"Yes, Aunt." He answered shortly.

"Aunt?" Olivia's eyes widened as she repeated the word in her head. And there she was, thinking she was his girlfriend at first.