Chapter 48

Olivia

I woke up extra early the next morning. Even though trying to do laundry for Nathan ended up in embarrassment and frustration, I was determined to show him that I cared for him as a friend.

Lately, I had noticed that Nathan was not packing himself a lunch to bring to work when he was busy with his Alpha duties.

It seemed as though every day he was coming home with takeout boxes filled with unhealthy leftovers, which often wound up going uneaten and would sit in the fridge for days on end.

Not only was it unhealthy for him to keep doing this to himself, but it was also expensive.

And so, that morning, I decided to get up early just so that I could make him a nice lunch to bring to work.

I got to work before Nathan was even stirring. After putting on some quiet music, I started rummaging through the fridge and pantry to find some ingredients. The soft rays of the morning sunlight streamed in through the window, and I couldn’t help but smile a bit and hum to myself as I got to work.

I carefully prepared a mouthwatering sandwich, a side salad, and some fresh fruit for Nathan, which I packed neatly into a paper bag. Once I was finished, I took a step back to admire my creation.

“I hope he likes this,” I whispered to myself. I wanted him to know that, even as friends, I still had an immense amount of affection for him.

It wasn’t long before I heard Nathan’s footsteps coming down the stairs. He sounded as if he was in a rush, and I realized that it was a bit later than usual.

“Overslept?” I asked over my steaming cup of coffee as Nathan hurried into the kitchen and filled his thermos with his own coffee.

“Yep.” His voice sounded terse and strained, and once his thermos was filled, he quickly screwed the lid on and turned to head out without even noticing the paper bag on the counter.

“Wait!” I called out, jumping up and grabbing the bag as I ran after him. He was so fast that he was already on the porch, and was jogging down the steps when I finally caught up, holding the lunch bag out for him in one hand. “I made you lunch!”

At my words, Nathan turned around and looked at me with a furrowed brow. “Lunch…?” he asked, looking confused.

I nodded and shoved the paper bag into his hands. “I hope you like it. I figured it would be better than eating takeout again.”

Nathan shot me a puzzled look. “What’s wrong with takeout?”

“Well, for starters, it’s not very healthy,” I said, smirking as I placed my hands on my hips. “Second, it gets expensive. You should start packing a lunch more often. I can do it for you, if you’d like.”

“Um— That’s alright,” Nathan said with a weak smile. “I won’t put you through the trouble. Thanks, though.”

I watched, feeling my lower lip starting to quiver a bit as he turned and jogged the rest of the way down the steps.

“Well, at least promise you’ll pack lunch for yourself,” I called after him. “It’s important to be healthy, after all.”

Nathan paused, his hand on his car door handle as he slowly looked at me over his shoulder. The air was tense. It felt as though he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t get it out.

“Thanks, Olivia,” he called over his shoulder, “but I’m okay. You don’t need to worry about my health.”

Nathan’s words stung a bit. I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, he was already climbing into his car and driving away. I could only stand there and watch from the porch as he sped out of the driveway and disappeared down the street.

A soft sigh escaped my lips. Nathan seemed so curt with me lately; I had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that we accidentally fell asleep together on the couch, but I didn’t think that it should affect his attitude toward me that much.

Maybe he really was still feeling sad about Layla. He did love her and she cheated on him, after all.

As I stood there on the porch, I decided that I would try again that day to cheer him up.

…

By the time Nathan came home from work, I had already been out to the grocery store, picked up ingredients, and was just finishing up preparing a nice dinner of pasta and homemade bread.

“Hey,” he said as he walked into the kitchen. “Something smells good.”

I smiled as I stirred the sauce in the pot, which I made from scratch. “I made spaghetti with meatballs, and fresh baked bread,” I said, glancing up at him to meet his blue-green eyes from across the counter island. “I got a bottle of wine, too.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Wine?” he asked. “You’re pregnant.”

I chuckled. “It’s not for me,” I said. “I got it for you. I thought you might like to have a glass of wine with dinner.”

A silence hung thickly in the air between us. The air felt heavy, almost suffocating me as Nathan’s eyes flickered over the food being prepared in front of him. My heart pounded with anticipation as I looked up at him, hoping that he would at least try to enjoy a meal with me.

But my hopes were shattered.

Nathan glanced at the table and then looked at me with a mixture of gratitude and exhaustion. “Thanks, Olivia, but I think I'll just cook something for myself later tonight. It's been a long day.”

I felt a lump forming in my throat.

“But— I made this for you,” I said quietly as tears threatened to spill over.

Nathan looked a little regretful. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But I ate earlier at the Council. If I tried to eat now, I probably wouldn’t finish it, and it would just wind up going to waste.”

“Oh.” I looked down at the pot of red sauce in front of me, partially to hide the tears welling up in my eyes. Nathan was being gentle, but his words still pierced my heart. It felt as though my gestures of trying to cure the awkwardness between us were in vain.

By the time I looked back up, Nathan was gone.

I sat alone at the kitchen table that night with my plate of spaghetti and fresh baked bread in front of me. The silence of the room engulfed me, weighing so heavily on me that I couldn’t even eat the food that I had worked so hard to prepare.

After a while of sitting in silence, I eventually gave up and dumped my half-eaten dinner into a tupperware container to reheat as lukewarm leftovers at another point.

Had I been too pushy? Should I have given him more space? As I glumly headed upstairs and took a shower, the hot water washed over me along with the doubt and sadness that was enveloping me, and a few tears spilled out as I stood there.

Taking a deep breath, I wiped away the tears and made a silent promise to myself.

Tomorrow, I would try one last time to cheer Nathan up. Maybe then, he would understand how much I cared for him as my friend. This awkwardness couldn’t go on forever, and I was determined to make him happy and move on from what Layla did.

But that night, I still couldn’t help but tear up a bit because of his distant demeanor toward me.