Page 21 of Baby, It's You
I try to be funny and reach out to squeeze his muscle in a teasing way, but I get momentarily stunned when I make contact with his skin. His arm is toned and warm, with cool drops of rain stuck to it. The skin-to-skin contact causes a shiver to go through me. Hunter looks at my hand touching his arm, so I quickly pull it back before he can say anything else.
“Well, thanks for the help. Bye, Hunter,” I say, abruptly cutting him off before he can continue our conversation.
He looks confused but gives me a nod. “Sure, no problem. It was nice talking to you.” Then he recovers quickly with a smile. “Bye, Olive. I’m going to come visit you at the bar soon.”
I give him a tentative smile back and unlock my apartment. I step through my doorway and suddenly decide to do a goodbye curtsy. I bend down awkwardly and then realizewtf am I doingso I quickly get back up and close the door before I can embarrass myself more.
Did Iseriouslyjustcurtsygoodbye? Did I have a stroke for the past five minutes? I do not know that woman.
Now I’m praying that he doesn’t come visit me at the bar. Hunter makes me feel so flustered and not my usual composed self. The last thing I need on top of the chaos in my life right now is to be distracted by a guy with a great head of hair. Better yet, I refuse to let it happen.
I silently vow to myself that I won't see him again. Then I throw the wet laundry basket aside and I walk into my bedroom.For the next thirty minutes, I stand under the fan until the heat from touching him has finally left me.
Chapter 16
Hunter
Iget into my truck dripping wet and stare out at the rain hitting my windshield. Realizing that I’m smiling to myself like a madman, I reach for the spot on my arm that Olive touched, wishing that the moment had lasted longer.
I can’t believe I ran into her. The fact that she lives here is mindboggling. What are the chances that I would ever see her again, not to mention the next day? This stuff doesn’t just happen; seeing her today feels like fate. I know I can’t just walk away now and pretend she never existed.
Looking into her beautiful brown eyes as she held back her sadness, I just wanted to reach out and wipe her tears way, to sweep her into my arms and fight off anyone that has ever hurt her. I now have beef with a guy named Tripp that I’ve never met. I want to help her in some way so she can keep the bar she loves so much.
But what can I do? I just film skateboarders. My job doesn’t provide me with the qualifications to help in a situation like this.
I hate this feeling. The helplessness. I felt this way the whole time during my dad’s fight with cancer; it ate away at my soul. I’m not going to be the person who sits and hopes things getbetter for Olive. I’m going tomakeher situation better. I won’t let her lose something she loves dearly.
I open my phone to turn on some music for my car ride and see I have over ninety-nine new notifications on YouTube. I uploaded some new footage of a sixteen-year-old pro, Max Beacon, earlier and the video has quickly gone viral. That's thanks to my large following on YouTube.
After recording years of skateboarding content and camera equipment tutorials, my audience has grown significantly. So, no matter what I upload, it gets tons of views now. That’s one of the reasons brands like to work with me, because they are familiar with my filming style already. Subscribers seem to really love the videos where I film documentary-style. I like to switch between asking the skater questions, showing them in their everyday life, and then also showing the footage of their tricks. The audience loves a story where they can connect with the person on screen.
That’s when it hits me. I know exactly what I’m going to do to help Olive save the bar.
Chapter 17
Olive
One week later
The past week has been a nightmare at work. Tripp has random people in the bar left and right taking dimensions and talking about what they could transform the space into. He is planning to sell the land for at least a million dollars due to itsscenic location,he said. Tripp told Rob that this bar was going to become an absolute “gold mine” for him.
I spoke immediately with Tripp when I went back into work on Thursday. He told me that yes, he is selling the bar and that has been his plan for a while. When I asked him how he thinks he’s going to do that when he doesn’t own Whiskey Jane’s, Tripp smirked and quickly walked to the office. He came back moments later and shoved a paper at me.
The document was the deed to the property, with his name on it. It was dated five years ago and had Jane’s signature at the bottom. Sneering, he told me, “My mom signed this place over to me years ago. She knew she was getting older, and it was best for me to make the decisions.”
I stared at the document in shock that day. Jane never mentioned any of this to me. Why would she just sign the rights of the bar over to Tripp without even talking to me? I know he is her son, but she has always mentioned his distaste for Whiskey’s, whereas I adore it.
He told me, “I’m getting rid of this craphole as fast as I can,” and with that, he had yanked the deed back out of my hands and slammed the door once he made it to the small office.
I had never wanted to smack someone so badly in my life. I ran to the bathroom and cried for at least an hour, knowing I have no one to turn to about the bar, no one to help with this situation. I’m the manager, and Jane is so sick, I would never bring this up to her in her condition.
I’ve been a mess ever since. The bruises have gotten better under my eyes, but now large circles from lack of sleep have taken over. I toss and turn all night, having nightmares about Tripp knocking down the bar with a giant wrecking ball, dressed like the Monopoly man.
Johnny and Rick have noticed the change in me and have been trying to cheer me up by playing my favorite songs on the jukebox throughout the day. Right now, “Sunny” by Boney M plays and still, the upbeat tune doesn’t lift my mood.
Johnny even brought me sushi today from my favorite spot, Happy Rolls, as a surprise. I did get a laugh when he described trying to order from the menu and having absolutely no idea what he was doing. I ended up with random raw fish over rice and a California roll.
I pull up a bar stool so I can sit across from the guys at the counter and dig into the food.
