When story comes alive

Part 27

I sat staring into the screen at the office of a food bank I volunteered at. I had been working for a few hours without a thought in my mind. But now my phone's silence bothered me. It had been 2 days and Liam had not called. My fingers had stopped typing and had curled back into my palms as I stared into the corner of the screen.

'Hey, You okay?' Aiden stood at the door of the cabin. He had come in to volunteer and so had Jenna and Nick.

'Yeah. Just tired I guess.' I said putting on a smile. After delegating jobs to all the three of them, I had been working without a break.

'Then maybe you could use a break,' he said slowly walking in with his hands in his pockets.

'I could use a break and may be some chit chat?' I said resting my face on my hands.

'So tell me what can I do to help you take your mind off..' he stopped mid sentence and I knew he meant Liam.

'You can tell me that it is not my fault or that I did not mess up. But then you will be lying and that will make me feel worse so lets stick to the truth.'

'Okay.... So what happened?'

I replied with a sigh, 'Did I always seem distracted in our relationship? Did I make you feel that I was pushing you away?'

Aiden looked down for a moment before looking back at me. 'You are very cautious Eva. Maybe that's because you are afraid of getting hurt but that gives people the wrong impression. Back then I was not mature enough to know that but now I know that you build a wall to stop people from seeing your vulnerable side.'

I sat blinking at him. 'What do you mean you know now? Have I changed in all these years?'

'Yeah, you have changed. You open up to me a lot more than you did then. Back then I don't think you shared with anyone when we got into a fight or when I disappeared. You simply tried dealing with it on your own. But now, you are talking about it.'

I had changed and he was right. I knew what had brought that change too. It was Jenna. Before her I never really had good friends. Having a girlfriend who really cared had made me open up and not just to her but apparently to Aiden as well. Unknowingly a smile broke out on my face. But the next thought took away that smile "why did Liam say that I push him away?"

Aiden was silently watching me lost in my thoughts. But my thoughts were broken when there was a knock on the door and Nick entered.

'Hey Eva, can I talk to you?' he said walking up to my desk where me and Aiden were sitting.

'Okay, I think I will leave.' Adien announced getting up from his chair.

'No no please sit.' Nick motioned.

'Everything okay?' I asked quizzically.

'Yeah...Actually it's about Jenna.'

I looked at him worried what he had to say next.

Nick looked at the both of us and said, 'She called me Oliver a couple of times. If it's an ex it is okay but if she is still hung over someone then..'

I laughed as Nick stared at me. 'No, no, it's nothing like that. Even you will laugh when I tell you the reason she called you Oliver.'

Nick looked at me confused.

'There is a book.... ' I paused to think how to put it in words. 'There is a character in a book that she reads.  He is tall, blonde and a sweet guy, just like you.  His name is Oliver. Jenna see's the resemblance  and it's nothing else.  You need not worry about it alright?'