Olivia Sparks

Locking her hands behind her back, Maxen restrained Olivia from sending him another blow. He kissed her lips which kept her from spewing words of hate as Olivia's c.h.e.s.t heave in anger.

"Baby, stop it."

Everyone in the room raised an eyebrow upon hearing his endearment to Olivia, including Eli who hid the smirk on his face behind the teacup in his hand.

Left with no choice, he had to do something to pacify Olivia or else there's a high chance that Maxen's blue blood will spill in the middle of the day right before his very eyes. Certainly, he's not a big fan of violence and bloodshed.

He placed the cup on top of the coffee table and slithered towards his cousin and Maxen who were now on a standstill by the wall to ceiling windows in the living room.

He unclasped Maxen's hold on Olivia and spun her around, tutting when he saw the red mark on her t.h.i.g.h that was as big as a quarter coin. He wanted to say more but he knew that would agitate Olivia so he kept mum and focused on fixing the gown.

"I can stitch this up and it will still look the same and feel the same," Eli reassured her. He took a pin from a folded mini leather wallet filled with pins and needles in his oversized jacket and started to work his magic on Olivia's gown.

"It's not that I don't trust your skills, Eli. I know you can fix this." Olivia stared daggers at Maxen. This guy did not miss a day from infuriating her. "You didn't have to leave your mark on me, Maxen."

"What about you, LI-VI? Look what your cousin did to me last night. Do you have a vampire gene in your pool because she sure knew how to drain blood from a body."

"Guys, cut it out. Please. I'm not here to play police on your bickerings. How could you do that? That's a nasty bite on Maxen, Livi."

"That's not the point. He loved that bite and I didn't. You're lucky I didn't want to get pricked by a needle, Max." Olivia stood still on her spot as she let Eli remedy the gown by closing the slit to cover her bruise.

It didn't take a long time for Eli to finish, liberating Olivia from her temporary confinement. Maxen hastened his steps to run away from Olivia and grabbed his coat from Jack who stood by the kitchen counter.

Before Olivia could reach Maxen, Eli caught her attention by asking, "Don't you have a check-up today, Livi?"

"Check-up?" Olivia and Maxen asked in unison.

"Oh, yes." She rubbed her forehead and spaced out when she remembered how a few days ago she was worrying about the annual physical exam that she had to go through.

"I'll go with you. What time and where is that check-up?"

"Huh? You don't have to, Max." Olivia turned her back to Maxen and quickly changed the subject.

Before he could talk into her, Maxen's private phone rang. He fished it out of his pants pocket, and his lips curled down at the flashing name on his screen.

"Please excuse me, ladies. But I have to take this call." Maxen kissed Olivia's temple and whispered in her ear, "I'll be in our bedroom."

Olivia stood rooted in her spot as she watched Maxen's retreating back march away. She shrugged off the murky feeling that tried to consume her and shifted her attention to Eli.

"Look at this. Although I still prefer the higher slit, this one still looks perfect on me." She smiled at him and swiped her hand on the gown.

"It's not the dress, it's your poise and grace that made everything that you wear look perfect on you, Livi. I wish all my models had that air in them."

"Aww, could you please stop patronizing me? And Eli, I can close one of your runway shows if you want. Just say it."

"Really? What made you change your mind? Oooooh. I haven't asked you yet. Gosh. How could I miss that?" Eli dramatically slapped his forehead and rolled his eyes. Olivia shook her head with matching pouty lips, amused at her cousin.

"Why do you have to be so extra all the time, Eli?"

"Peac.o.c.ks looked extra, and they are fabulous."

"But they can't fly."

"Doesn't matter. They're massive and fabulous. It makes up for their lack of flight." He hooked his arm with Olivia and dragged her towards one of the garment racks. One more argument with Olivia and his brain would explode. Better change the topic before their conversation goes beyond his capacity to think.

"Here, wear this today if you're going out with Maxen." He pulled out a beige jumpsuit with a short ruffled organza sleeve.

"We need him to keep his hands away from you as much as possible lest you want another marking on your leg but... your arms are exposed? Hmm? He wouldn't eat your arm for snacks, would he? Gosh. Why can't you just eat food like normal people do? Why do you have to bite each other? What are you? Cannibals?"

Olivia hid her blush behind a random skirt that she pulled out from the rack. "I thought you don't like him?"

"I still don't like him, Livi. I won't like anybody for you. Did he even earn it?"

"Earn what?"

"Your attention. Your time. Your everything? Did he work hard for it, the old-fashioned way?"

"What nonsense are you talking about, Eli?" Olivia playfully slapped him with a white blouse that she grabbed from the rack.

"Do you remember grandma's love story?" Eli started. "Do you remember how grandma and grandpa were married for fifty years? He proposed to her three times before she gave him her yes. He had to slave himself in their household chopping loads of wood trunks for fire and hunting for food."

"Eliii! That's before electricity was invented. Need I remind you that we're in the twenty-first century now?"

"It doesn't matter which year we are, Livi. He had to earn his keep. Like what grandma would always say…" He faced Olivia to finish his sentence but before he could, Olivia beat him to it.

"People don't easily throw away what they worked hard for."