Chapter 7
Olivia stood at her photoshoot and managed the way the clothes sat and what accessories were paired with what. She adjusted stances and talked to the photographer about how she wanted the images to appear to the general public.
"Alright, let's take a five-minute break." Olivia called out and Adam walked up to her.
"So, did he come back?" Adam smiled at her and followed her over to the snack and coffee bar.
"He did." Olivia sighed and stirred sugar and cream into her cup. "But he wasn't happy that he found you at our apartment."
"That's understandable." Adam shrugged and placed a piece of fruit into his mouth. "Wouldn't you be upset if you found him with a woman? Confiding in her?"
Olivia nodded and played with her coffee straw. "Yeah, I guess I would."
"But if he's not making you happy anymore, maybe it's time..." Adam pushed the issue, and she shot a look at him.
"No, no I'm not giving up yet." Olivia protested and walked back to the dressing area.
"I was just suggesting that maybe you two need a break." Adam took a sip of his water.
"We've never needed a break before. I don't think we do now." Olivia rolled her eyes and took a drink of her coffee.
"How much sex do you have?" Adam crossed his arms and Olivia nearly spit out her coffee.
"What?" Her voice went up in a squeak as she coughed and choked on her coffee.
"Does he satisfy you?" Like I would. Adam smirked at her and her cheeks flushed, while her heart pounded in her ears.
"I- I don't think I should be discussing that with you." Olivia cleared her throat and set up the next ensemble.
"C'mon. Clearly if he was blowing your mind... you'd be gushing about it." Adam raised an eyebrow at her and leaned on a clothing rack with his elbow.
"No... I wouldn't tell you either way, Adam." Olivia pushed past him, and he chuckled.
"So, he's not. Is what you're telling me." Adam followed her around as she checked various other things.
"What I'm saying... is that I wouldn't let you in on that part of my life. It's none of your business and... having a newborn baby makes everything hard." Olivia turned on her heel and he chuckled at her.
He caught her wrist and pulled her close, bringing his lips close to hers. "So, he doesn't do this anymore?" He brushed his palm along her jaw and tangled his fingers into her hair, searching from her blue eyes to her parted lips. "Doesn't spark anything in you anymore?" He slowly slid his hand along her waist and heard her quietly gasp.
"H-he does." Olivia gripped his white t-shirt and although she could push him away, a major part of her didn't want to.
"Does he, now? So... do you tremble when he touches your hand?" Adam laced his fingers with hers and her breath caught as he raised their hands beside her head and pressed them against the wall behind her. Her body shook as he pressed his thigh between hers. "Does he make you feel good like he used to?" He brought his lips close to her neck and feathered his breath along her heated skin.
She clutched at his back as he licked her neck. "Does he make you scream his name?"
She shivered and his name came out like a prayer. "Adam..."
"Because I don't think he does any of that for you anymore from what you're saying to me." Adam pressed gentle kisses along her neck.
Olivia suddenly tangled her fingers into his hair and yanked his head back to capture his lips with her own. He chuckled and hoisted her up against the wall as she wrapped her arms around his neck and dipped her tongue between his soft lips.
He slid his hand up the hem of her red blouse and caressed the swell of her breast.
Olivia broke the kiss and panted, looking down at his chest. "Wait, wait. Stop. I want to stop." She clutched at his shirt and Adam set her down.
"You don't want this?" Adam ran a hand through his dark hair.
"I- I- this- right now. I mean- I do- I don't. I can't." Olivia walked away from him and told her assistant that she had a family emergency to get to.
Olivia got into her car and clutched her chest as her heart began to ache. She had done something that she knew she shouldn't have, and the guilt began to eat at her, but the ache soon dissipated as Adam's words hit her. How Noah didn't do that for her anymore. How Noah was never around and when he was, he was absorbed in work. Noah didn't have time for her or Amelia and suddenly anger boiled through her veins. She clutched the wheel in anger and frustration. With Adam it was so easy. It was fun and new. Passion was reignited in her veins with each of his words and soft caresses. It was too easy, and it bothered her. She craved it and wanted it and something about that hurt slightly. The way he took charge of a room made heat pool between her thighs.
She cleared her throat and started her car, driving off to pick up Amelia from her parents.
Noah stood in front of his class and spoke about Schrodinger and the cat in the box. "So, is the cat dead or alive?" He waited for an answer before he spoke again. "Well, we really don't know. It's both until we open the box and look. So, Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics tells us that an object in a physical system can exist in all possible states at once, but if you observe that system... then it will collapse and force the object into only one of those states." Noah looked out at his confused students. "Alright, newer concept. Say you order a pizza, and you don't open the box. Now, you don't know if that pizza was delivered perfectly or if it was mangled. So, it's both. Unless... you open that box. Then you know which state it's in."
The class burst out laughing at his weird concept and he blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright, that was probably not the best analogy."
"We got it with the cat, le maître." The class spoke out towards him, and he laughed.
"Alright, we'll pick up the next quantum mechanics theory on Monday. I hope to see your papers on my desk, as well." Noah erased the whiteboard as Lea slipped into the classroom.
"I have a question for you..." Lea smirked and held her hands behind her back.
"What's that?" Noah packed his papers and notes into his book bag.
"Well... Say you have a man standing in front of you... inside... He could either have feelings for you or not have feelings for you. Does he, or doesn't he?" Lea waited for his answer with her bottom lip between her teeth. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as he swung the strap of his bag over his head and onto his shoulder.
"You won't know unless you look inside." He winked at her and walked out of his classroom towards his office.
"And... how would I go about doing so, exactly?" Lea ran up behind him as he kept walking and waving at swooning women with a warm smile.
"Talk to him." Noah pushed the elevator button and waited.
"But I'm talking to him now." Lea stepped into the elevator with him, and he stopped functioning.
"What?" Noah choked on the word.
"I said-" Lea fell into him as other instructors filed into the small elevator with them.
He caught her and tried to ignore the smell of her sweet vanilla perfume or how her breasts pressed against his chest.
"I'm talking to him right now." Lea peered up at his emerald eyes. "I like you, Noah. I always have. Since the day you started here, and you dropped your papers and- and I helped you pick them up."
Noah didn't know how to take it. He wanted her, God did he want her, but he was taken, and he had a baby. Although Olivia had called a man to come over. Shouldn't he be allowed to seek comfort in someone too?
"He feels both." The doors opened and Noah squeezed past everyone, avoiding the answer, and leaving her clutching her heart as her cheeks flushed with heat.