Only Oscar (Wattys 2022 Shortlist!)

Chapter Twenty

"Callie?"

"Hmmm?" She blinked. "Sorry, I was miles away."

Dreaming of coffee administered via an intravenous drip...

"I said the clients are going to love this." Avery angled her head. "You okay?"

No. Yes. Kind of. She should be. 

Truth was, she didn't know what she was. 

Sometimes she felt a little lost. At others, like she'd finally found her place in the world. It was confusing. At times frustrating. A little scary. Worrying, too. 

All she really knew for certain was trying to be the perfect girlfriend was exhausting. Like every hour of every day she was trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole and no matter how much of it she forced in, there were always gaps left to remind her of how short of the perfection mark she fell.

She focused on the sketches laid out on the desk and tried to concentrate on the problem at hand. "I think it fulfills the brief, but if they decide they want something larger or smaller, it wouldn't take much to make the necessary adjustments."

Secretly, she had her fingers crossed they didn't want it any bigger. It was already the largest commission she'd ever been given, more sculpture than mirror. But while she was a tad concerned how she would get the finished piece out of her workshop and down six flights of stairs, if she wanted to expand her business, she couldn't afford to turn it down. 

Watching Oscar work made it feel like she'd failed to live up to her potential. She wanted him to be as proud of her as she was of him. 

But it turned out growth of any kind, whether personal or professional, took its toll. 

She'd never been so tired.

"Yes," Avery replied. "You said that, already."

"Did I?" Callie frowned. "It's just I know how important these clients are to you, so if they're not entirely happy, we can do as many rounds of sketches as -"

"You said that, too." Placing the sketches back in the portfolio case Callie had used to transport them across the city, Avery leaned back in her chair, folded her hands together in her lap and asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing," Callie lied.

"Is everything okay with Oscar?"

"Yes."

"How's he dealing with all the publicity?"

"Great."

Initially, she was concerned he would find it difficult to adjust. The Oscar she grew up with had always been insular, which with hindsight meant the whole great app millionaire conspiracy shouldn't have been such a big surprise. That he had years to consider how his life would change probably helped with the transition. As did the fact he was dealing with his kind of people in his kind of crowd. 

The confident and self-assured man she found so sexy didn't need help. If anything, the phrase 'duck to water', came to mind. 

Sure, there were times he was more tuned in to his phone or computer screen than what they were talking about, but that wasn't new. She was just more understanding of it now and didn't let it get to her.

Okay, fine, it got to her.

But she didn't tell him it did.

"Have you moved in together?" Avery inquired. "He seems to spend all his time at your apartment."

Callie looked through the nearest window at one of the tall, leafy trees outside. "Not officially."

It was a bit of a raw nerve. She loved having him there, falling asleep in his arms and being woken with a kiss in the morning were two of her favorite things. But her apartment was cramped for one person and while she was sleep deprived and irritable, it made living on top of each other feel claustrophobic.