Liam’s POV“Hi, Maria,” Emma hugged my mother as we walked into the house, greeting her simultaneously. “I’m so sorry for not being here earlier. Don’t blame Liam. He’s been ready for hours now. It’s my fault,” she pleaded.“Mhm. Right. Well, the point is you’re here now and, luckily for me, you’re all dressed, so I can go get dressed now,” my mum replied.“Good evening, mama,” Ryan smiled and hugged her. “I’ve missed you,” he pecked her on the cheek.“Get away from me, Ryan. You claim to miss me but never come visit,” she said as she playfully swatted him away.“And I always apologize, don’t I?” he laughed.“Right,” she rolled her eyes in response and walked over to Sammy. “Samantha, darling, how on earth do you keep up with this boy?” she asked Samantha, sarcastically.“I make sure to scold him here and there,” Samantha giggled. “I guess it’s working,” Maria replied, shooting Ryan an annoyed glance, then continued talking to him while Samantha and Emma excused themselves from the ro
Liam’s POV“Good evening. Thank you for coming,” I smiled and greeted what must have been the one-hundredth guest of the night. The crazy thing was, I didn’t even know half of the people I had already greeted. “When do we get to stop this?” I bent down to Emma’s ear and whispered the question into her ear. “My legs are killing me. I need to sit down”. “Can you please stop whining?” she said, sharply, then greeted and fake smiled at the next guest that walked in next. “Shouldn’t you be used to these things by now? I’m the one who hasn’t hosted a single one of these in her life, yet I’m handling it better than you. Aside from that, I’m the one who’s been standing in heels for the last hour, so what exactly are you complaining about?”“Sorry,” I grumbled in response. “You know, for someone who hasn’t known my mother for a long time, you sure do act like her”. “Don’t test my patience, Liam,” she growled in response. I let out a little laugh but stopped when she gave me a look that ga
Liam’s POV“Here I am,” I responded, taking another drag of the cigarette and turning my head away from her to puff it out.She didn’t say anything after that though. She just stood and watched me as I puffed out my smoke, then looked at Ryan who quickly hid his cigarette behind him.“You smoke?” she asked, dragging out her question slowly.Clearly, she was not impressed.“Yes,” I said, tilting my head to the side trying to understand why she was asking me such an obvious question, then it clicked.I hadn’t smoked around her before.“Is this a new habit of yours or is it something you’ve always done?” she asked, looking at me skeptically.“I’ve been smoking since I was in high school, but it’s not like an addiction or anything. I only do it when I’m stressed or when I’m bored”.“Okay, so are you trying to tell me that all the while we’ve been together, you’ve not been tired or bored?” she folders her arms across her chest, maintaining a strict-looking composure.“That’s not what I’m sa
Emma’s POV“My God, I’m so exhausted,” I cried out as I threw myself onto the couch. “You can’t be as exhausted as I am,” Liam responded, plopping down on the couch opposite me. “You’re kidding, right?” I scoffed, propping up my body with my shoulders, so I could have a good look at him. “I mean, I did greet a lot of people,” he shrugged his shoulders and then burst out laughing. “Don’t mind me, I’m just kidding”. “You think you’re such a comedian sometimes, don’t you?” I shook my head, then rested my head again. “I try,” he laughed. “On a serious note though, thank you for tonight. For all the effort you put towards making sure everything went according to plan. I really appreciate it for real. I mean you were on your feet for most of the being and you didn’t complain once, just went along with everything. You truly are an amazing person, Emma, and I appreciate you,” he said. His tone seemed so soft and genuine, like he was in actual awe of me. It made me melt. “Thank you,”
Emma’s POV“Are you aware that Liam’s birthday is in a week?” Samatha asked, looking up from what she was cooking. “Huh?” I couldn’t hear her over the sound of the blender crushing the ice I had just put in it. Sammy and I were currently at her place having a girls’ night in. She was cooking stir-fried spaghetti while I was making some mojitos to go with. She nudged her head toward the blender, signaling for me to turn it off, so I could hear her clearly, so I did. “What did you say?” I asked. “I said, are you aware that Liam’s birthday is in a week?” she repeated. “What? How the hell do you know that, and I don’t?” I asked, perplexed. “Ryan told me,” she shrugged her shoulders casually and continued stirring the food in the pan. “How are you being so casual about this?” I asked, pouring out the ice into the glass cups. “How do you expect me to say it, Emma?” she laughed. “He’s not my man, so I’m not bothered by anything, and he’s not exactly yours either, so don’t let it b
Emma’s POV“Hey,” I greeted Liam as I walked into the apartment. He was seated on the couch with his laptop on his lap, so I assumed he was working. He didn’t answer me but put up a finger to stop me from saying anything further. “Thank you so much, sir. I’ll revert to you on that to let you know what my people have to say on the matter. Thank you so much for your time, goodbye,” he smiled as he spoke to whoever he was on a Zoom call with.“Sorry about that,” he apologized as he shut his laptop. “That meeting was literally going on forever”. “That’s fine. It’s just 2 o’clock though, so what time would that meeting have started?” I asked, putting my stuff down on the couch next to him. “Around 9:30 I think,” he responded. “A.m.?” I asked, surprised. “Yes, Emma. 9:30 a.m.,” he laughed. “Wow. That’s crazy. So are you heading to the office today?” “Nope,” he answered, leaning into the chair. “I’m taking a break today. I actually wasn’t even supposed to be on this call this morning
Emma’s POV“I’m so sorry, Liam. I didn’t mean to put you in this mood,” I apologized.He sniffled, then let go of my hands and turned off the stove.“It’s fine,” he wiped his face, dismissing the conversation. “Let’s move on from this,” he said with a forced smile on his lips.I definitely wasn’t going to let go of it, but I decided to drop the matter for now.“Of course,” I nodded, then collected the plate of food he had dished out for me. “I’m going to head upstairs with this, so I’ll be in my room if you need me,” I said, then took my phone and charger from the couch and headed upstairs.In about fifteen minutes, I was done eating, then decided to take a bath. I wasn’t up to ten minutes into my bath when I heard Liam shouting my name from outside my bedroom door.“What is it, Liam? I’m in the bathroom!” I yelled back in response.“Okay. When you’re done, I want us to talk about something. I’ll be downstairs waiting for you!”“Sure!” I responded.What now? That’s what I thought as
Liam’s POVOver the next few days, Emma and I didn’t talk much. Not about my birthday or anything in general. I was honestly pissed off from the last conversation she and I had, so I didn’t have much to say to her. Plus, I’d spent the last two nights over at Anna’s place so I could get some space from the apartment and Emma.Now, unfortunately for me, the day I had been dreading all week had finally come. My birthday. The day I turn thirty-one. The day that marks two years since my grandfather and I celebrated my birthday together.Fuck. It’s crazy how it’s been two years now, and I can’t just seem to let go.In my defense, that man was more of a father to me than my own father ever was. He’s my mother’s father and, judging from the stories my mother and her siblings would tell me about their childhood, it was no wonder the man treated me the way he did. Can’t say the same for my father’s father though. That man was much more rigid than my father was and is. I barely spoke to him up