Olivia Sparks

"Eli?" Olivia's nose scrunched. Right in front of her was her cousin Eli, tearing up as he adjusted the baroque-style pearl tiara she picked as her headpiece earlier. 

"Why are you crying?" she asked, choking on her own tears. She couldn't help but be swayed by her emotion and be teary-eyed too. 

"Aish! Don't cry. You'll ruin your make-up," Eli reprimanded her. He dabbed a hanky on the corner of Olivia's eyes.

"I can't help it when you're crying."

"But you look divine, Livi darling."

"All credit goes to you, Eli. Hey, no more sniffles, okay? Let's enjoy this photoshoot. Is everything ready? I don't want you to be late for the wedding later." Olivia smiled from ear to ear at Eli who went back into his one-eye crying like the diva he was. "Whaaaat?"

"Just… ignore me, okay. It must be my hormones messing up with me." Eli tipped his chin up and faced the ceiling as if doing so would stop the tears of joy from streaming down his eyes. 

A soft knock stole Eli and Olivia's attention, and their heads snapped in unison towards the door's direction

"Come in," Eli commanded in a sing-songy voice. Two steps were all it took for him to reach the door, all thanks to his long legs. The door opened ajar and his assistant's head popped in. 

"All systems go, sir Eli," the assistant informed them with a thumbs up and a smile. 

"Thank you. You may leave." Swatting his hands, the assistant took it as a cue to close the door and leave.

Then, Olivia got up from her seat and checked her reflection one more time. Her neck craned, scanning the room to look for her phone. "I wanted to take a photo," she trailed off, "But I can't find my phone."

Lifting the pillows on the bed, one by one, she went for a scavenger hunt for her missing phone. She was bent by the waist when a thunder rambled, jolting both her and Eli. "Uh-oh. I hope it won't rain. It would be a waste if your team had to pack up."

Eli nervously laughed. His mind wandered back to yesterday's incident. He thought it must be the egg he slipped that was causing the thundering skies. With a hand on the curtain, he slid it open, peering out the window.

His heart sank. Heavy gray clouds floated in the sky, orc.h.e.s.trating a series of thunder and lightning.

"Please move faster," he uttered under his breath, silently pleading on the weather to cooperate just for today. 

Letting go, and letting God to gift them with a miracle in the weather department. He didn't want to stress over something that was beyond his control.

Instead, Eli pivoted on his heel and marched to the bed where Olivia was still looking for her phone. "I can't find it," Olivia whispered. "I remembered placing it on the bed. Oh, got it."

She yanked her arm that was sandwiched between the mattress and the headboard. Waving her phone in the air, Olivia's face painted a smile of triumph.

"I want to take a selfie," Olivia huffed, s.u.c.k.i.n.g in breath after her phone hunt. Her finger then danced over the screen. 

She was about to take a photo. Looking over her shoulders, she mused, "I'll send it to Maxen just to tease him. Oh. Can I take a photo, Eli? Just the back detail."

"What!" In a flash, Eli jumped over the bed, snatching the phone from Olivia harshly. "No!"

"Eli! What on Earth is going on?" Eyes wide open and mouth agape from shock, Olivia sought an answer to Eli's strange behavior the entire afternoon.

It wouldn't alarm her if he just said no. She would perfectly understand him. 

After all, it was his creations that was why she asked for his permission before snapping a photo first. However, Eli snatching her phone was uncharacteristic of her cousin. Something about his demeanor alerted Olivia. 

"Eli," Olivia called her cousin. Her voice was stern, the same tone she used in the boardroom. Whoever heard her speak that way could easily nail a person on the chair. And it did the exact thing on Eli. 

Rounding the bend, Olivia stood tall against Eli, and he cowered to her commanding presence that he didn't notice his bum kissing the edge of the mattress. 

"Livi darling…" Eli uttered under shaky breath. His thoughts ran haywire wondering if he was too obvious that he got caught by Olivia's sharp senses. 

He mouthed an "Oh my God" and jerked his hand when Olivia's cold fingers touched him. To his surprise, Olivia rather looked amused at his meltdown.

"Relax. Breathe with me. Inhaaaaale. Exhaaaaale." With Olivia's coaxing, Eli followed suit, inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his pursed lips with his eyes closed. 

"You have to relax, Eli. I know this is your first bridal collection and you want everything to go according to plan." She smiled at him, rubbing circles on the ball of Eli's hand. 

She'd seen him like this before, and it was his first runway show, which was why she totally understood if Eli was at his wit's end at the moment.

Olivia waited for Eli to collect himself, little did she know that he was having an internal breakdown from all the pent-up stress of keeping the surprise under wraps.

Reassuring Eli, Olivia beamed at him. "Let's carry on. You still have a wedding to attend later. Who's getting married anyway? Ollie and the gang had to move their flight for the bride and groom."

"An old friend," Eli kept his answer succinct. It was true though, that Maxen was an old friend, so he was glad that he didn't need to pile a lie on top of the white lies he'd been saying all day.

"Oh." The vowel rolled out of her mouth before she could string her words to make a coherent sentence. 

She felt left out that the rest knew the couple except her, and she hated it. She hated how isolated she was growing up. 

Olivia wanted to blame the world but somehow, she pointed a finger at herself too. Years ago, she could easily book a flight to Nisia but she refused to do so. 

Grandma Lin begged her to come home but she was stubborn as a donkey who refused to be led by the reins.

Back then, Olivia thought, what was the use of forcing her way into her family's lives when they chose to abandon her in a foreign land?

She felt a knot tighten in her c.h.e.s.t but she still smiled at Eli. Turning her insecurities into a puff of smoke, Olivia stood and ironed her gown with her hand.

"Let's go," she said, hooking an arm with Eli's. "Your intern said everything's ready. I don't want you to be late for your friend's wedding."

"Trust me, Livi darling, the bride will never be late. Everyone else is simply early."

Olivia scoffed at Eli's words. Her cousin surely loved the dramatics from the way he dressed to the way he spoke. 

She brushed off his words and let Eli escort her out of the bedroom, stopping short at what she could guess was a trick to the eye. 

"Where are...the people?" Olivia's voice tapered off as she looked left and right, but not another soul was in sight and a pin could be heard dropping at the silence engulfing the expanse of the place.

"They're…" Eli swallowed and continued, "at the back."

Olivia could not help but notice how his lips quivered. He looked as if a dam of tears would flood from his eyes any moment from now. 

"What's going in, Eli? You're a mess." She reached out for Eli's hand and she wasn't surprised to be frozen by his fingertips that were cold as ice.

"I'm okay. Just a little bit emotional," Eli admitted, fanning the tears with his hand as if it would dry the blobs away. 

"Stop it. You're making me cry as well."

"No!" Eli's eyes widened. "Don't cry, Livi darling. You'll ruin your make-up."

"I had a waterproof mascara, silly," Olivia slapped Eli's belly with the back of her hand and the two snorted in unison.

They were lucky that there was no other person in the room or else the cousins would be mistaken for a pair of institution escapees.

Olivia laughed when Eli jogged in his place to shake off the remaining tension in his body. "Whoooo!" Eli breathed out his nervousness."Are you ready?" he asked.

"Always," Olivia responded, her pearly white teeth exposed as she smiled from ear to ear.

As they reached the double doors that would lead to the woody backyard, Eli halted Olivia, turning her back against the door.

"On three," Eli said.

Suddenly, Olivia didn't like the way Eli said it. It reminded her of her argument with Maxen the other day.

In a snap, her mind went into haywire as she involuntarily counted to three.

Two. Maybe she should stop counting?

But before she could count to three, she felt a blow of cold air c.a.r.e.s.s her back as the double doors opened.

Time stood still, and everything moved in liquid motion—natural and slow.

Initially, a surge of confusion sn.a.k.e.d through Olivia's veins when Eli stepped into the shadows without a word, leaving her in her spot. However, the audible gasps behind her jolted her. 

Her hand flew to the crown on her hair to keep it in place as she subconsciously pivoted in her spot to have a peek of what's beyond the door.