The Proverbial Mr. Universe (4 page)

Good chance.

That morning Nick chose to sit across from her, wearing his beloved gray hat while reading his morning paper, because nobody did that anymore. A few days ago he considered saying something to her. He’s been working up the nerve ever since.

Cough
…
cough
.

He couldn’t even muster enough courage to say one single word. Nick sat there quietly at his table with all kinds of scenarios playing in his head.

Scenario one hundred and twenty-five:

Him: Are you a designer?

Her: Yes.

Him: I’m an artist myself. You’re quite talented.

Her: Thanks.

Him: Can I buy you a coffee?

Her: Thanks, but I already got one. (Paper cup right beside her)

Crickets
…

God, why was he so lame?

He worked at a bar; this kind of thing should come easy. There was another important fact made him apprehensive. There was somebody else in her life—a good 3.5 karats somebody.

Hmmm … minor detail.

“Is she here?” his brother Dan asked.

Nick glanced down at his watch: twenty past eight. He must have missed her this morning, thanks to his brother’s need of having his short, golden hair styled and gelled, each single hair position in the right place. Who fuckin’ gels their hair these days? It drove him absolutely insane that Dan thrived on being a perfectionist.

Although there were few physical differences between them, Nick used to be the better looking of them two. The last couple of years Nick sort of let himself go. Once the notion of mortality comes into the equation, small things become insignificant, like personal grooming.

“What?” Nick played with the scrambled eggs on his plate.

“The girl you’ve been pawning over?” Dan’s blue eyes shot up to meet his.

“You know, you do this thing with your tongue when she walks through that door.”

“I do not!” He laughed at Dan’s facial gesture, demonstrating what came across looking like a dog on a hot day in search for water.

“Stop playing patty cakes and go fuckin’ talk to her.”

“She’s not here, and there’s another thing … She’s
ENGAGED
!”

“Whatever.” Dan waved his hand in the air. “Amanda was seeing someone when we first met. Look at us now.”

Dan met his beautiful fiancée when Nick was hospitalized the first time. She was visiting her grandmother and had trouble with the vending machine. Luckily for Dan, he was there at the right time.

“Seriously, I don’t even know what she sees in you,” Nick mused.

“I ask myself the same question.” Dan paused. “Let me give you a piece of advice …”

“Dude, you fuckin’ give horrible advice.”

“When did I ever steer you in the wrong direction?”

“All the time.”

“Bullshit. I’ve given awesome advice.”

“Alright, the time when you were too lazy to drive me to Christina Jenkins’ party. You had this smart-ass idea I should take mom’s car when I didn’t have my license.”

“Oh come on, it was a fender bender.”

“I totaled Mom’s car,” Nick said.

“It’s not my fault you can’t drive in a straight line.”

“Oh, here’s another good one …” Nick swallowed his bite before continuing. “You thought it was a good idea for Chloe to move in with me?”

“Alright, it wasn’t my finest. How was I to know she’d turn out to be a closet psycho?”

After a short minute, Nick glanced up. “So are you going to tell me?”

“Oh, now you want my advice?”

Nick shrugged.

“For God’s sakes, ask her out.”

“I wouldn’t know what to say. Hi, your boyfriend is a jerk, can I take you out sometime?”

On the few rare occasions Nick saw them together, her fiancé was completely oblivious of her existence as she gaped at him with those beautiful, elephant eyes, begging for some validation. If she were his girl, Nick would never remove his eyes from her, never for one minute would he make her feel insignificant.

Why do some jerks have all the luck?

“I don’t get it. You always had girls running in circles.”

“Well ... I guess things change. You forgot what the last three years have been like.” Nick rubbed his scruffy face.

Dan’s eyes softened. “No, I didn’t forget.”

“Who am I kidding? She’ll never go for someone like me.”

“Why not?”

“She never smiles.”

“Hmmm … not very friendly.”

“I like that about her.”

Dan frowned. “Yeah, sure, what’s there not to like? If you ask me, it’s a good indication she’s not interested. Sorry, bud.” Dan leaned in closer. “You know, Amanda has a single friend …”

Nick shut his eyes. “Oh no, please don’t do me any favors.”

“It’s been three years since Chloe left. I hate seeing you alone.”

Nick pursed his lips. “Wait, I’m alone, not lonely. There’s a difference.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I’ll have you know there have been other women.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “When was the last time you were in a committed relationship?”

Dan had a point. Nick hadn’t dated much after his ex-girlfriend walked out. Chloe poked enough holes in his heart, and the remnants of those scars remained. Looking back, he realized the relationship lasted longer than it should have, but he couldn’t walk away because he wasn’t like his father. Although he was fine now, Nick’s health issues did scare off potential prospects.

“Do me a favor, when you do see her, talk to her. If not, I’m going to ask her out for you.”

“No, don’t! I’ll speak to her, just don’t be a dick.”

“Please, because I can’t take looking at your sorry-ass face.” Dan got up and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket.

Nick pushed the twenty back to him. “Breakfast is on me.”

“I am off to the bar. There’s a shipment coming in this morning,” Dan said.

“Sure, I’ll be there a little later. I’m scheduled to close tonight.”

“Again? Why don’t you let Yannick do the closing tonight? I don’t want you to exhaust yourself.”

“I’m a big boy. Don’t worry about me.” Nick hated when his brother mothered him.

When Dan left, Nick pulled out his sketchbook from his bag and took one last sip of coffee before he began to write.

O
livia didn’t believe a word of it. His lips were moving, but at some point she lost all interest in anything he had left to say. Was this the man, whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with? She couldn’t even stand to stay another five seconds in the same room with him.

There was nothing unusual or out of the ordinary about finding Dario in his home office, slouching in his chair, his feet up on his desk and a cell phone to his ear, when she came home early from work. What got her attention was the form of language he used, accompanied by a low, husky whisper.

“Baby, no, I can’t … I told you already. Of course, I want to see you tonight.”

Those few words stopped Olivia dead in her tracks. She silently stood behind the half-open door, listening to the remainder of their conversation. Denial vanished. How could anything justify what she just heard?

Foolishly, Olivia was holding on to a relationship that she wasn’t sure she wanted anymore. Now, he was deliberately trying to hurt her. She wasn’t exactly heartbroken, but surely this whole situation saddened her. After all, five years was a lot of time to be with someone. Somewhere between the time her father first introduced them right up to this point, Olivia hadn’t meant anything to him. She’d been second guessing their relationship for months, but she had hoped if he somehow changed maybe things would get better between them. Maybe she should be thanking him. If tonight had gone as planned, they would be at some upscale restaurant where she’d be peering around the room, envying every couple, while he took a business call.

“Where are you going?” Dario followed her into their bedroom. “I don’t know what you think you heard—”

The expression on his face told her he wasn’t sure how much of the conversation she overheard. He was playing it safe, waiting for her to reveal more before continuing.

“I was behind the door the entire time,” she lied.

As the blood drained from his face, she knew there was more to the story. Like some private prayer, he placed his hands in front of his face.

“Okay … can we talk about this?”

“Talk? What’s there to talk about? You’re having an affair.” She stopped pacing and walked closer to him. “I’m calling the engagement off.”

“Please, you’re making a mistake. You’ve got this all wrong …”

Olivia studied him for a moment. She should have yelled, called him every name in the book, but nothing came out. Dario was visibly shaken. Was he afraid of losing her? No, more like his job and this lifestyle, and she was the glue holding it all together.

“Is it hard for you to just be honest for once?” Olivia said.

“Hear me out … Ann has this thing for me. It’s only been harmless flirting. Trust me when I say nothing ever happened between us. I swear on my mother’s head. Please, believe me.”

“God, how pathetic are you? After I just caught you telling another woman …” She paused. “What? Wait … Ann, your assistant?” How humiliating! Her family couldn’t handle another scandal.

“Yeah.” His eyes veered to the floor.

“Was it not Ann you took on your business trip to New York last week?”

He took a moment before answering. “Yeah … so what? Nothing happened with that woman, I swear!”

“How long has this been going on?” She searched his face for some answers. “Before the engagement party? Longer?”

His silence confirmed it. She walked past him.

“Where are you going?”

“To get away from you!”

Down the corridor, she locked herself in the bathroom. It was the only way she could get him to stop hovering over her. She needed to think, to be alone with her thoughts.

“Olivia, hear me out. I know things are not what they should be between us. I’ll do anything to fix this. I’ll break it off with Ann, I’ll see a therapist … I promise. It will never happen again, please don’t leave me,” he pleaded from behind the door. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

Olivia leaned against the door. Anyone in her position would be numb with shock, curl up in a ball crying, but at this moment Olivia wasn’t capable of mustering one single tear. In the past twenty-five minutes, he had not uttered one word about love. Dario relentlessly begged her to stay, to listen, and to believe him, but there was no ‘I love you,’ no ‘I can’t live without you.’ Her mind began to race. For the first time she imagined a life without Dario and what it would be like. The possibility was exhilarating. Would it be easy to walk away? Then, she remembered the handwritten note she found yesterday, which until now had little meaning. Mr. Universe wrote:
A person knows when they’re doing the right thing when goodbyes are effortlessly done. There is no lump in your throat, no anguish, no pain in your heart. Then, this goodbye is what’s prescribed.

She opened the door with such force it made Dario flinch, and everything went silent. Maybe he had seen it in her eyes because she certainly felt it. The glass finally shattered, and she was now coming through.

“There is nothing left for us to keep on going,” she said. “So I think … it’s best if you leave by tonight.”

He nodded in defeat. She eagerly removed her engagement ring and placed it in his black suit pocket.

“Olivia, what are you going to tell your father?” He tried one last attempt, but this time around it wouldn’t work. She was finally done being manipulated by him.