Destiny (17 page)

“You
didn’t do anything wrong, Olivia. I was the one who . . .”

“That
doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over. I just wanted you to know that to me we’ll
always share an unbreakable bond. Take that for what it’s worth.”

“It’s
worth a lot. We’re not a couple, but take this for what it’s worth, too. I love
you, and I haven’t stopped loving you from the first time I laid eyes on you.”

“I
love you, too.”

As
we hung up, I couldn’t help but smile. There was just something about hearing
her voice again. We were apart, and odds were that the distance would
eventually build a wall between us. Still, I knew in my heart that I could find
a way back to her
one day
. I just had to pray it was
sooner rather than later. I had already met someone in Miami. Sure, Cindy
didn’t mean anything to me, but the thought of Olivia being with anyone else
was disheartening. That should have been the least of my worries, though. Over
the next year, I would be taking responsibility for my choices. I would keep Emmitt
out of trouble as best I could and make ten percent off of every offer that we
chose to accept. It was hard the first time. A man who owned a car lot offered
us $5,000 to hang around for an event for a few hours. It sounded ridiculous,
but it actually brought people to his car lot, and his sales went through the
roof. The backdoor deals rolled in from there. It got easier to pretend that
what I was doing was okay. In some ways, I was completely messed up. I don’t
even know if I had a moral compass anymore. Maybe I should have taken my
uncle’s invitation to come back home. For then, all I was doing was lying in
the bed that I had made for myself. In some ways, I think I believed that was
taking responsibility for what I had done. School, football games, backdoor
deals, and paychecks consumed my year, and then it was over. Summer had finally
come.

Chapter 17

The
Perfect Sin

Summer

During
the summer, Emmitt and I decided to get an apartment. We were making plenty of
money, so it made sense. We could have gotten something much nicer, but it
might have looked suspicious, and rumors were already swirling around the Miami
football program. We figured it would be better to get something that college
students could normally afford. It was two weeks before school was supposed to
start back, and Olivia was coming to visit. As I started to walk out the door
to pick her up at the airport, Emmitt stopped me.

“Are
you sure about this, man?” he asked.

“Yeah,
Olivia’s my oldest friend. What’s not to be sure about?”

“We
live a
certain
way. I don’t know how
bringing in some girl from your old life is going to affect that.”

He
did have a point. While one-night stands weren’t something that became a habit
for me, a lot of bad things did become a part of my life. Drunken nights,
parties, and a lot of illegal activity had become routine.

“She’s
cool. You’ll see,” I said for lack of a better option.

As
I walked to my car, I wondered if this would end terribly. Olivia knew me as a
totally different person. I still felt like that same boy, but my actions were
clearly different. What would she think of me? For that matter, what would she
think of Emmitt? He was a little rough around the edges. I quickly shook those
thoughts off. There was no need to be negative. I had been looking forward to
seeing her for a year. Why wouldn’t I enjoy this?

After
I got to the airport and found her at the gate, I froze. She looked different
than I remembered. She was a year older and much more mature. She dressed
differently and walked with a new kind of confidence. She was even more
beautiful than before. I couldn’t help but stare in amazement as she walked
toward me. How had
I
ever been lucky
enough to be with
her
?

“Well,
are you going to stare at me all day or give me a hug?” she asked as she
stepped in front of me.

I
hugged her immediately. It felt so good to have her in my arms again. I didn’t
know until then what I had truly left. The money I made with Emmitt was
certainly good, and the girls I met were incredible, but
they
weren’t
this
girl
.

“Okay,
I didn’t mean you should hug me and never let go,” Olivia joked.

“I’m
sorry. I’ve just missed you. You look incredible. I never thought I could say
this, but you look even more beautiful than before.”

“You
don’t look too bad yourself. I can’t wait to see your place,” she said as her
phone rang.

I
led her to the car as she talked on the phone. I couldn’t help but overhear
some of the conversation.

“Yeah,
we’re having a great time, baby. Don’t worry. I’ll be home soon. I miss you,”
Olivia said just before she hung up.

“Baby?”
I questioned her with one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah,
I have a boyfriend.”

“I
don’t know why, but I didn’t see that coming. I guess I should have never left
you there alone.”

“Oh,
come on! I’m sure you haven’t been unattached this whole time.”

“I
don’t have a girlfriend, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“So
you’re saying that you’ve been with no one since me?”

“No,
not exactly.”

“See.
I don’t expect you to be innocent while we’re apart. We’re friends now, right?”

I
nodded, but the word friends sounded terrible. How had Olivia put me in the
friend zone? We had always been far more than just friends.
I
was insulted by this whole thing
.

“So
what kind of guy is he?” I asked.

“You
know him. I went to the same college as Richard. We got back together last
semester.”

“What?
Why would you have gotten back with
that
guy?”

“He’s
had a hard time lately. Richard got hurt last year. He was in a car accident,
and he suffered a bad back injury. It broke several bones, and he had to have
surgery. He’s fine now, or at least he’s walking all right, but he can never
play football again. That was his ticket to getting rich and doing what he
loved. As you can imagine, Richard was pretty down when he heard that he
couldn’t play anymore. What’s worse was that they pulled his scholarship. He’s
just kind of floating through life right now. I figured he could use a friend
with everything that was happening, and it just developed from there.”

“Okay.
I can’t say I love the idea of you being with him, but that’s your choice. What
I really don’t understand is how you got him to be okay with you coming to see
me.”

“Oh,
he doesn’t know about that. He thinks I’m in Cancun with some friends. I’m
pretty sure he would completely flip out if he knew I was with you.”

“Should
he?”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
mean that I thought you were coming here for a different reason than just to
visit with an old friend. Does he have a reason to be jealous?”

“That’s
not an easy question to answer. You’re just my friend right now, but in my
heart, you’ll always be more than that. I’m here to visit an old friend, but I
still love him just as much as I ever did.”

“That
didn’t completely answer my question.”

“Don’t
make things complicated, Eric. This is simple. I have a boyfriend, but I
wouldn’t fly to Miami if you didn’t mean a lot to me. Take that for what it
is.”

I
changed the subject. Maybe I was overcomplicating things. Olivia was there with
me. No matter what else was going on, shouldn’t that be enough?

After
we got to the apartment, I showed Olivia around and introduced her to Emmitt. Everything
was going well until Emmitt invited us out.

“While
you were gone, I got a call from William. He’s having a get-together on his
boat tonight. Do you guys want to come?” Emmitt asked.

“Who’s
William?” Olivia asked.

“Just
this friend we have who’s got a lot of money. I think we should skip on the
party tonight. Olivia just got in, and . . .” I managed to say before she cut
me off.

“I
would love to go. How could I turn down a boat party with this guy and a famous
football player? It sounds like fun.”

“Are
you sure?” I asked.

“I’m
positive. I want to meet all of your friends.”

I
didn’t want her to meet any of them. William seemed like a nice guy, but he was
a snake in the grass who was only looking out for his own interest. I had
gotten to know enough by then to understand how he made his fortune. He did
things that were similar to my parents’ work before he got enough money to open
the club. From there, business boomed, and a millionaire playboy was born. As
for my other friends, they consisted of football players, who I hoped to
represent one day, and beautiful people with almost nothing inside. What would
she think of me if she knew just who I really was?

While
Olivia went to get ready for the party, Emmitt sat down beside me and said
something that made things even more troubling.

“You
never told me that girl was smoking hot. Here I was thinking that I made you
into some type of ladies man when you could already land a perfect ten before I
even knew you,” he said.

“Yeah,
she’s the best I’ve ever done. I really miss her being around.”

“I
would miss
that
, too. Let me ask you
something. What’s the deal with you two?”

“She’s
got a boyfriend now, so there’s nothing between us.”

“Oh,
so you won’t mind if I move in then?”

“Are
you joking? I just told you she has a boyfriend.”

“When
has that ever stopped me? Face it. Women love me.”

“Women
love your name and the cash we flash around. Olivia’s different.”

“You
want to bet?”

“Are
you joking?”

“No,
I’m not. All women are pretty much the same. You’ve held this girl on a
pedestal for the last year. No girl I’ve introduced you to has been good
enough. I can show you that they’re all the same, if you’re not going to get
pissed about it when I make a move.”

“She’s
not
like other girls. If you can
seduce her with your lame tactics, then go ahead.”

“You
are
going
to be sorry for that
comment, my friend,” he joked.

“What
are you two talking about?” Olivia asked as she walked out.

“Nothing,”
I said.

She
looked at me suspiciously, but I quickly suggested that we leave. It was almost
time for the party, so we might as well go. As we drove to the docks, I felt a
little uneasy, though. Had I always held Olivia on a pedestal? What if she
was
like every other woman? Had I just
given Emmitt the right to sleep with the only girl I had ever loved? For that
matter, should I even be worried about that when Richard might have been
sleeping with her? Then there was me. I was jealous of what she was doing when
I hadn’t been innocent in a single way while we were apart. It was completely
illogical and messed up in the worst way, and all of it was driving me crazy.

“You
all right there, Eric?” Emmitt asked.

“Yeah.
Why?” I asked as I snapped out of my trance-like state.

“You
just ran a red light. It seems like something’s up.”

“He’s
not lying. Your face has been getting redder and redder over the last few
minutes,” Olivia said.

“I
was just thinking. Don’t worry about it. We’re about to have a lot of fun,” I
said.

They
looked a little odd about how angry I had just looked, but I wasn’t about to
explain what I was thinking. I ultimately decided not to worry. There was
nothing I could do about Olivia’s relationship with Richard right now. I was
here, and she was going to be back in Wisconsin soon. As for Emmitt’s little
bet, I had faith in my girl. Olivia
was
different, and any
insecurities
I had were just that.

When
we got to the boat, I introduced Olivia to William. After they had talked for a
moment, she asked him a question that wasn’t easy to answer.

“So
how do you know Eric?”

“I
knew Emmitt first. I’m a booster for Miami, so I take special interest in the
football players, especially ones like him who lead us to the Sugar Bowl,”
William said.

“I
see,” Olivia said with noticeable doubt.

I
found that strange. It was almost like she had figured out exactly how this man
knew us. She didn’t seem to like him from the start. Olivia did a good job of
hiding that fact, but I knew her. She was definitely onto something. I didn’t
understand, though. If she knew who this guy was, then why would she have
agreed to meet him? He wasn’t a very good person, and he had made Emmitt and me
into crooks. Although, it wasn’t like he forced us to do anything. In
hindsight, I suppose we were more at fault than anyone.

Once
we had set off, we broke away from each other and mingled for a few minutes.
William had the best parties. Expensive champagne and wine were served freely.
Then there were the beautiful girls in bikinis. The first time I came out on
the boat with them, I didn’t feel like I belonged. I had gotten used to good
drinks and beautiful people, though. Although Olivia was gorgeous, I could tell
that this wasn’t her scene. She looked uncomfortable. The thing about beautiful
people with too much money to spend is that they don’t tend to have much
inside. Love, friendship, and humor tend to be replaced with vanity and greed.
I started to pull her away and find a private place to talk, but Emmitt beat me
to it. I saw him grab her hand and motion for them to talk below deck. It felt
like hours before Olivia came back. In truth, it was only about five minutes.
Still, my imagination ran wild while she was gone. What was Emmitt trying to
do, and for that matter, why would he want to do this to me? We were friends,
weren’t we? That was a question I didn’t really want answered. The truth was
that Emmitt used me as a way to get money and broker deals, and I used him as a
way to have more than I ever could on my own. That’s all we
really
were to each other.

When
Olivia came back, she looked angry. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I knew we
needed to talk.

“Hey,
what’s going on with you?” I asked.

“What
are you doing here, Eric?”

“What
are you talking about?”

“You’re
on this boat with these people, and you’re funneling money for that moron,” she
said.

“How
do you know about that?”

“I’ve
known from the start. Your uncle called me right after you told him. He was
concerned, and he knew the only person you might listen to was
me
. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that I knew, but you never
volunteered the information, so I don’t have a choice now. Half of this visit
was just about finding out if you were okay here. I don’t know who you are
anymore.”