Save Me #1

21| History

"I'm Aria, Jake's sister. You must be Olivia?" the beauty in front of me introduces herself and motions me to take a seat on the giant sofa.

"Yea, but please call me Liv," I say as I sit down next to Zach and shoot her a shy smile.

"It's so nice to meet you! My brother already told me you were beautiful, but you're much prettier than I imagined," Aria states and plops onto the sofa next to Zach.

Zach's head as well as mine snaps to Jake who watches us from across the room where he just fetched some glasses out of a cupboard for the four of us.

"What?" he asks with a big grin on his face and walks over to where we are sitting. "It's a fact, you are beautiful!" he then adds with a shrug.

I glance at Zach who has a deep frown on his face. His eyes are fixed on his friend and I could swear there is a hint of warning visible in his face. Is he jealous? Because his friend called me beautiful?

I wouldn't have pegged him as a jealous guy, but I have to admit it warms my heart a bit. I scoot a little closer to Zach and place my hand on his thigh. He shoots me a loving smile and plants a soft kiss on my temple. I clear my throat and give Jake a warm smile.

"Well, thank you," I say and take the glass filled with red wine which he holds out to me. He's a nice guy and I'm happy that Zach has at least one friend who seems to have a healthy and quite normal life.

Jake hands everyone a full glass and then takes a seat beside me. I instantly feel Zach's arm sneaking around my waist. He pulls me close to his body, and I can't help but smile at his childish way to make clear that I belong to him. Jake notices Zach's gesture as well and winks knowingly at me.

"So, Liv, Zach told me you're a waitress at Jack's?" Aria asks me and nips on her wine.

"Uh yea. You know Jack's?" I retort.

Aria nods. "Indeed. I used to spend my lunch breaks there as the university I studied at is right around the corner."

"What did you study?" I ask. She must have already finished her studies as I've never seen her among all the students who spend their lunch break at the Diner each day.

"Medicine," she simply replies with a toothy smile.

"So, you're a doctor?"

I catch myself envying her for the perfection she's radiating. Her blonde hair falls in loose curls over her shoulders and flatters her flawless face. In the dimmed light of Jake's penthouse, her jade-green eyes shine like gems, and cute dimples appear on her cheeks every time she smiles. And of course, she has to be a doctor on top of her beautiful appearance.

"Olivia?" Aria's velvet voice pulls me out of my thoughts filled with adoration and envy for this woman.

"Huh?" I look at her with visible surprise in my face and force myself to banish my envious thoughts.

"Did you study anything?" she repeats the question I obviously failed to hear.

"No, I didn't," I mutter reservedly and take a generous gulp of my red wine. It's luscious so I take another one right away.

"Oh, okay," Aria says noticeably unsure what to respond.

I don't know why I always react like this when someone mentions studying or my boring job. Maybe the reason for my overreaction is that I don't even know what my dream job is. I feel like working at Jack's Diner is the biggest achievement I can boast so far, and that's kind of pathetic in my opinion.

"I always wanted to study, but I never knew which field of study would be the one for me. Besides, I wouldn't be able to afford it anyway, so I never invested time in figuring it out," I explain with a sheepish smile.