31. Oli

31

OLI

I cannot overstate the utter fucking relief of hearing Nikos say that he loves me.

I don't care that I'm dishevelled, jet-lagged, and wearing yesterday's clothes. I take one look at Nikos' outstretched hand and the pleading look on his face and know there's no way I could leave my man alone up on stage, not with what he's just done. Not with the way he's just told the world that I'm his.

Shrugging off the enormous scarf I'm wearing and pulling off my coat leaves me in just a jumper and jeans - not the best showing for the lover of Nikos Ridge, international heartthrob. But the way he's grinning at me, like I'm his entire world, shows me that he couldn't care less.

Nikos never cared about anything other than who I was inside. It's the best gift he could have given me - showing me that who I am is enough. That I'm worthy of being the centre of a love story, just as I am.

He stands up as I walk onto the stage, a production assistant literally shoving a mic into the collar of my jumper as I walk. When I wobble across the set, delirious with relief and excitement and exhaustion, Nikos is there to catch me. He grabs my hand and then pulls me to him, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and kissing me like it's the last time our lips will ever touch.

It's not the last, I think as I relax into him, breathing in his familiar scent, letting him hold me close. It's just the first.

I pull back and he chases me, pressing a kiss to my forehead. His eyes are shining, and I put a hand to his chest to steady him. His heart is thumping against his ribs so hard that I'm impressed he's still standing and not in a dead faint.

‘Thank you, Honey,' he whispers.

I'm choked up now, so all I do is nod. And then I remember that right now, I'm live on nationally telly, and I freeze. But Nikos squeezes my hand and sits, tugging me down into the chair next to him.

‘Oh my God,' is what the interviewer says. She looks like she's about to have a heart attack, or vomit, or both. I can see the producers off to the side, looking somewhere between gleeful and terrified, likely calculating just how much this one interview is going to net them in streaming revenue or something of the sort.

If I was their publicist, I'd be having a field day. Nikos Ridge coming out as some variant of not straight and in love with a man on my morning show which normally only breaks the news of different types of muffin recipes? I'd have died and gone to marketing heaven.

But right now, I turn my attention to Nikos. Because for once, I'm not telling the story - I'm a part of it.

‘Well,' the interviewer continues, pulling herself together. ‘This is quite the revelation. Oliver, it's lovely to have you on. How did you meet Nikos?'

I'm impressed with the way she's pivoted. I can see the notecards shaking in her hands, though, and for a moment I feel bad that we totally hijacked her morning. The poor woman is going to need a strong drink after this debacle. ‘In the toilets, actually.'

The interviewer is in the middle of taking a drink of water, and I can see her choke on it and try valiantly not to cough as the water goes into her lungs from the shock. 'I'm sorry, did you say the toilets?'

‘In America, we'd call it the bathroom.' Nikos' laugh is warm, his eyes sparkling. His hand tightens in mine, like he's never going to let me go. ‘I was panicking before the premier of An Age of Dragons. A lot has happened in my life that I've never been open about, and anxiety is one of those things. I was having a panic attack, because publicity makes me nervous. I'm scared of crowds, and sometimes my social anxiety is awful. Oli was kind enough to help me. It was the first moment in my adult life I felt seen by another person as a man first, and not an actor.'

Nikos looks to me, and I lick my lips and continue, hoping that my voice doesn't wobble. ‘I actually had no idea who he was.'

The interviewer's eyes bulge. ‘You what?'

‘I didn't recognise him one bit.' I smile at the expression on her face. ‘I know, I know - it seems ridiculous to not recognise one of the planet's biggest heartthrobs, especially when you've spent months working on the book tie-in to his movie. But his hair was different, and he wasn't dressed in dirty leather.'

Nikos snorts. ‘Not usually my outfit of choice, at least in public.'

‘Ooo,' the interviewer titters. She's clearly relaxing into this, the shock wearing off. I start to relax too. ‘In private?'

Nikos winks, and he lets go of my hand to put it on the back of my neck, like he's claiming me. My cheeks heat of their own accord. ‘Now that's something that's going to stay a secret. But yes, Oli clearly had no idea who I was.'

‘And you didn't tell me!' I yelp indignantly, elbowing him in the ribs. He bites his lip as he smiles and then ducks down to kiss me on the cheek. ‘You let me call you Adonis!'

‘Well,' the interviewer says, laughing for real now. ‘He is a Greek god.'

‘Oh no.' I groan and roll my eyes theatrically. ‘Don't stroke his ego. He's bad enough as is.'

The interviewer, and the studio, erupt in honest laughter.

‘I promised him one night,' Nikos says. ‘And when I left - yes, yes, the next morning, if you're wondering - I couldn't stop thinking about him. I was in Paris for the next part of the press tour, and it was literally the only thing on my mind. How sweet and kind and caring he was. Not to mention delicious enough to eat - just like his namesake.'

‘You remembered me because you stole my affirmation post-it,' I grumble, giving him the stink-eye.

Nikos laughs, and the sound is so happy and free that my heart soars. ‘I did.' He shifts in his seat to pull the wallet out of his suit pocket, and withdraws the now-crumpled post-it. He flashes it to the camera - you are enough. ‘I needed something to remember you by. But I left something in return, didn't I, darling?'

How did he know? Nikos is looking at me expectantly, and I flush deeper. Because when I pull out my own wallet, the post-it he left in return is right there.

As sweet as Honey, you are certainly enough.

- Adonis.

‘I needed this,' I explain to the interviewer, holding it up. ‘He didn't know how much confidence he'd given me, just by showing that he cared. That I was enough. I'd gone through a horrible breakup a few months prior and my self-confidence was low enough that clearly I was leaving myself little messages on my fridge. Nikos saw me, too. Maybe I saved him from that panic attack, but he saved me from a whole lot more.'

‘We saved each other.' Nikos turns his warm brown eyes on me. ‘We saved each other, Oli.'

‘Yeah,' I reply, my voice rough. ‘I guess we did.'

‘Well,' the interviewer interjects as we get lost in each other's gaze. ‘The actor and his secret, everyone. A modern-day love story if ever there was one. And now for a commercial break…'

After we were hustled off the stage and traded for some pop star or another, Selina mercifully gets us a few minutes alone in the green room. I immediately fall into Nikos' arms and start to cry.

He holds me close and pets my hair, and when I sniffle and pull away, I choke out, ‘I'm so sorry for leaving.'

‘It's not just you.' His voice is rough. ‘I'm sorry for leaving too. For not fighting more for you.'

‘I think I understand,' I admit, because I do now. ‘Your dad? He was the janitor at Sky High Publishing. That's who stole my keys. I - I got an email the morning after you'd stayed over with photos of us from the security cameras in the house, and we'd just seen Geoff so I'd thought it was him. The email told me that if I didn't steal your watch and leave it in my spot by the Thames that the photos would be leaked. So I did, and I'm so sorry, but I thought I was protecting you. And then there were more threats, and I just, I didn't know what to do. But then the number texted me again while I was at work and I was just so mad because of the gardening leave that I called and the janitor's phone rang and Megan tackled him with her judo skills for the blackmail tape that we made - '

I'm totally out of breath by the time Nikos puts his finger to my lips, stopping me. ‘Breathe, Honey.'

I do, gulping in air. My stomach is twisting in knots that Nikos will be mad at me.

‘First off, I'm so sorry that my father did that.' Nikos steps back and exhales, running a hand through his gelled-up hair, messing with the style. ‘He's been blackmailing me for years. It's why I did An Age of Dragons - I needed more money to pay him. But I realised that he was never going to stop, no matter what I did. He threatened to blame my mother's death on me and have the police in Greece reopen the case unless I complied. I was stuck, but then he started to threaten you, and I lost it. The only thing I could think to do was leave you to protect you. But you didn't need protecting from me, did you?'

‘No.' I shake my head. ‘I don't, I guess.'

He smiles brilliantly. ‘What did you say about Megan and judo?'

‘We pulled your dad into the supply closet, held him down, tied him up, and then threatened him with the police until he recorded a video with his confession on it.' I hold up my cell phone. ‘We have it in a million places so he can never hack in and delete it. And besides, I think he's in jail right now? Megan called the police when I left because he elbowed her in the face. She was going to tell him that the janitor assaulted her in the podcast studio so that he's at least off the streets for a bit while you figure out what you want to do.'

Nikos looks dumbfounded. ‘You did all that for me?'

‘Of course,' I answered simply. ‘I love you.'

Because that's all there is to it. I would do anything in the world for this man.

I hadn't noticed the door crack open, but a throat clears and I turn to see Selina standing there, holding up her phone. It's displaying a banking app with a balance so large that I think it must be a mistake. ‘My badass newly minted girlfriend did more than just call the cops. She must have threatened your dad in some other fucking amazing way, because the money that you've sent him over the years? A very substantial chunk of it was returned right as Oli got on the plane.'

Nikos looks completely and utterly overwhelmed, tears falling freely down his cheeks now.

‘I'm free,' he says, like he still can't believe it. ‘I'm free?'

‘Yeah,' I say, putting my hands on his face to pull him in for a kiss. ‘You are.'

‘You two go collect yourselves,' Selina says. ‘I'll tackle things here for a bit.'

‘Thank you…I just can't believe I'm free. I'm my own man, for the first time,' Nikos says simply, and there's the promise of a lifetime in those words. ‘Thank you both so much. I need to thank this Megan, too.'

‘I'll do that for you,' Selina says. She's tapping away at her phone with her crimson-painted nails, and I have no doubt she's texting Megan, letting her know exactly what happened. ‘It will be my pleasure.'

‘Oh, and her judo skills are incredible,' she says, looking straight at me without a trace of irony. ‘I fell in love with her the moment she crushed my head in between her thighs when we were - '

‘Oh my God,' I gag theatrically. ‘Please, pity me. Not a single word more. She's like a sister to me, I do not need to hear about her sex life.'

Selina smiles wolfishly, and I have a feeling she and I are going to get along great. ‘Now you two go home. You have a few hours before we're going to need to start tackling what all this means, and I think you can find something worthwhile to fill the time with.'

‘She's right,' Nikos says. He hugs me close. ‘Come on, Oli. Let's go home.'