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ASH

T he week went by way too fast and before I know it, I’m packed and on my way to Dallas.

I’ve never been more miserable in my life.

Leaving the beach was more emotional than I thought it would be.

Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever felt that kind of emotion.

I’m not that guy. But looking at Olivia’s sad face as I got in Zayne’s truck nearly did me in.

Luckily, the guys didn’t give me any grief about it, because I’m not even sure what I would have said.

We video chatted last night, and she got very teary-eyed again and I almost wanted her to keep the video going until we both fell asleep, but suggesting it sounded creepy.

Now tonight, when I get settled into my hotel room, I promised to call her.

And for the next few weeks, this is going to be our lives.

And it kind of sucks.

Okay, it totally sucks.

Today, Olivia and the girls were going to the same jet ski place the guys and I went to, and I wish I could see her trying it for the first time. Is she loving it? Hating it? Did she wipe out?

Sigh.

I need to get focused on this client I’m going to see and familiarize myself with their system and what’s going wrong.

I need to pay attention to all the details so I can maybe get done faster and be back in Raleigh, so I can perhaps squeeze in one more weekend at the beach before everyone goes home.

We’re at cruising altitude and allowed to take out our large electronics, and I immediately pull out my laptop to try to focus on work.

But do I do that?

No.

Instead, I pull up the dozens of pictures we all took last week and watch the slideshow over and over.

They’re all on my phone too, but I created the file so I could have the tab open while I work.

Maybe I need an intervention, or, as my dad would say, to talk to someone about this.

Or maybe I’m just freaking in love with this girl.

There. I said it.

Didn’t I?

No, I said it. I’m freaking in love with this girl.

Olivia.

Liv.

The crazy girl from the plane who angry types, strikes poses like a supermodel when provoked by rude people, cries while sitting in airport lounge pods, drinks a bit too much when she’s sad, who loves her friends, hates letting people down, wears sunglasses in the house…

Yeah. That girl.

Her laugh, her smile, and the fact that she is just so freaking real and genuine in everything she does…

she’s like a force of nature. And her creativity is just astounding to me.

And the movies! Jeez, I’ve never known anyone who is even remotely this famous.

I could never sit down and write a book—on anything!

And she’s written ten of them and they’re all bestsellers!

I bought all of them and I plan on reading them.

And I’m going to have to make a conscious effort to do it because I rarely read in my downtime, but for Olivia, I’m seriously going to try.

We never made any progress on the plot of this new book of hers, but the girls all seemed very determined to help her with it.

Roxie declared that we—as in the guys—were causing the creative block.

Olivia didn’t correct her, so maybe it was true.

Still, I’m curious as hell if they’ll actually come up with something that she’s going to use.

I doubt that’s happened since I left, but I plan on asking her tonight when we talk.

A picture of the two of us appears on the screen. We’re sitting in a couple of Adirondack chairs Zayne had pulled out from the garage, sipping some silly tropical drink Vanessa insisted we all had to try. Olivia’s hair is up in her signature messy bun and she’s grinning at me.

One of the things I love about when she wears her hair like that?

It’s when she shakes it out and I get to run my fingers through it.

Oy. I’ve got it bad.

I move on from that picture to one of me, Mike, and Zayne surfing.

We finally mastered it and in this picture we’re all out in the ocean, but I’m the only one standing on a board.

We were showing off for the girls and I was thrilled that I didn’t wipe out immediately.

The fact that Olivia could capture the moment fills me with pride.

I did that.

I surfed.

And rode a jet ski!

And learned to surf fish!

All in all, it was exactly the kind of vacation I wanted, plus the kind that I never imagined having.

When we first showed up at the beach house and the guys told me we were going to be there with Loren, Vanessa, Roxie, and Olivia, I seriously wanted to bail. It wasn’t what I signed on for, and I just thought it was going to be incredibly awkward.

But…that was primarily because of the connection with Olivia. I’ve hung out with the rest of them enough that it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but when they threw Olivia into the mix, I was certain it was going to be a disaster.

Boy, am I glad I was wrong.

So wrong.

The next picture is of the deck after we set up for movie night.

It had been more of an undertaking than any of us expected—and was the reason we had to drag out the Adirondack chairs—but the end result was a lot of fun.

Loren had made these very intricate snack trays for each of us with popcorn and fresh strawberries.

She baked these giant chocolate chip cookies, and then set up a candy counter with all kinds of boxed candy like you’d get at a movie theater.

She might be a little batshit crazy at times, but she’s freaking amazing with food and hospitality stuff.

We watched Romancing the Stone first. I was fascinated watching the play of emotions on Olivia’s face and kept wondering if anything was inspiring her.

We opted to do a double feature that night and went with Jewel of the Nile since it was essentially the sequel.

The following night we went with Speed and Vanessa had snuck in The Bodyguard without anyone’s approval.

We had voted on a specific selection, but she clearly convinced Zayne to help her get it as the second movie of the night.

I’ll never get that Whitney Houston song out of my head, but the movie was actually pretty good.

The slideshow keeps going, and the next picture is of me playing frisbee with Gunnar.

I’m looking at it and I swear, I have always wanted a dog.

I travel way too much to get one, but if I ever had the chance to eliminate that part of the job, that would be the very first thing I’d do—go to a shelter and adopt a dog.

I spent a lot of time helping Roxie with her three, and sometimes Olivia did too. She admitted she loves dogs; she just doesn’t want to sleep with the loud ones.

Hard to argue with that logic.

As the pictures go on, I realize we didn’t really take any that first week. Everything I’m looking at is from after all the drama—not that I’m complaining. It’s still great to have any pictures, but I particularly love the ones of me and Liv.

And there are a lot of them.

We took a ton of selfies—on the beach, in the pool, on the sofa, in the kitchen…if either of us had our phones nearby, she insisted on us getting a picture.

And…I get why. We were documenting everything because we’re not sure exactly when we’re going to see each other again.

Yes, she’s going to move back to Raleigh, but that’s not going to happen overnight.

My boss has my next few trips tentatively scheduled and I don’t want to make waves by asking him to give them to someone else.

So…it could be weeks or even months before we’re together.

Her face appears on the screen.

Just her.

I don’t think she knew I was taking the picture. She’s sitting on one of the lounges with her legs crossed and her head tilted back. She’s smiling up at the sky, and her beauty just takes my breath away. This is the picture I’m always going to think of when I think of her.

Of course, the next one she definitely knew I was taking and she’s playfully sticking her tongue out at me.

So maybe now I’ll think of both.

And through it all, I’m smiling. I’m smiling because I’m looking at her and I know I smile when I’m thinking of her. I can’t remember a time in my life where I’ve ever felt this light, this happy, this content, this…hopeful.

My life has been better since I met this girl.

And I realize it’s because I’ve never been in love like this. I’ve been in relationships, but never clicked with someone the way I have with Olivia.

Now I miss her even more because I want to share how I feel with her and I hate that I have to wait until we land in like…five hours, until I can potentially talk to her.

The flight attendant comes over to get my drink order and offers me a variety of snacks. I ask for a soda and take a bag of chips and a packet of cookies. I thank her and I take this as my cue to pause the slideshow and open up my work files.

They’re not nearly as enjoyable and they certainly don’t make me smile, but it’s exactly what I need to be doing so I can get through this trip as quickly as possible.

“Wait…why was there a construction crew there? Did something happen?”

I’ve been in Dallas for three days and these nightly calls with Olivia are the highlights.

“Vanessa’s parents are going to do a major renovation on the house starting after we leave next week.

The contractors had to come through today to go over some stuff.

They did a walk-through while on video with her dad.

We didn’t get to hear everything that they talked about, but Van says they’re practically going to take the place down to the studs! ”

“Seriously? I thought it would just be cosmetic. I didn’t realize it needed extensive renovations like that.”

“I guess they need to upgrade the electrical and some of the plumbing too, so…”

“That makes sense.”

“Vanessa tried explaining all the new color schemes and the kind of furniture they’re going to buy, and it all sounds amazing. I told her we may need to reserve a week next summer for all of us again.”

I love how she’s already thinking like that.