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I nodded in agreement before remembering her text.
“You said you had something for me?” I tried redirecting the conversation so I could at least compose myself before I had to get back to my desk.
“Oh, don’t worry. It’s nothing.”
“No. Come on. Gimme.”
“It’s not an actual paper invite. It’s my birthday this Saturday, and my parents, mostly my mom, are organizing a dinner party back at the house. It will be another one of her pathetic excuses to try and set me up with some son of a friend of a friend. It would be so much easier to endure with you there. But I totally understand if you’re not up for it.”
I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down at the idea, but there was no way I’d deny her that. The smile on her face was plastered like a mask, concealing the real meaning behind her invitation. She needed me just as much as I needed her right now.
“Of course I’m coming. Goes without saying.” She hugged me, trying to tone down her excitement for my sake.
I avoided Liam as much as possible for the rest of the day, counting down the seconds before I could get away from here.
Every time my eyes landed on him, I felt more humiliated and ashamed, reduced to a fraction of myself as I shrunk into my own body. I was an expert at it. Soon enough, I would make myself so small I would be invisible.
The moment that damn clock hit 6 p.m. I flew out of the office, not bothering to stop by the boss’s office like I did every evening since I started working at this damn place.
I went straight home, only stopping at the store for two depressingly large buckets of ice cream and a bottle of vodka. I was thinking ice cream alone wouldn’t cut it.
When Alison arrived, it was a welcomed reprieve from the murky thoughts replaying in my mind. My pride was hurt, my already non-existent ego shattered to pieces. I was angry, but Liam wasn’t the recipient. I was.
I’d been stupid enough to think that a fuck boy like Liam would settle for someone like me.
“What are we watching?” I asked.
“The Notebook,” Alison replied, sinking into the couch.
“I think I’m failing to see the effectiveness of this plan.”
Wasn’t watching an excessively romantic movie just like rubbing salt in my already painful wound?
“Tell me about this dinner party,” I asked, stirring our attention away from the TV after a while. Even though Ryan Gosling was good eye candy, I just wasn’t in the mood to focus on that.
“It’s always this huge deal to my mother. She throws these huge parties to celebrate my birthday. I’m the only one who lets her anymore. It’s mainly just family, a few of my family’s friends and associates. You will kind of be the only one I’ve invited myself.” Alison confessed, trying to make it a smaller deal than what I realized it actually was for her.
“And why is that?” I gave her a small sympathetic smile.
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s just that there are very few people I actually trust. I’m not a crowd of friends kind of girl. Less is more, right? Besides my brothers, you’re… kind of it.”
As if to swallow that piece of uncomfortable information, Alison stuck her spoon in the ice cream bucket, pulling out a huge chunk, not thinking twice before shoving it into her mouth. She was rewarded with an instant brain freeze while I fell back laughing at her antics, her face contorting while her mouth, still filled with ice cream, ran wild with cusses better suited for a sailor.
I felt light for the first time since last week, thanks to the one person I’d found I could rely on. I finally managed to stop laughing, looking straight into her eyes while I pulled her hand into mine, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Chapter 15
Jamie
Keeping to the normal version of myself around Liam was getting harder by the day, so I welcomed the weekend like never before.
I had been trying my damnedest to avoid him altogether, cursing under my breath each time I couldn’t. We stuck with being civil and discussed nothing besides work. All other topics were completely banned, and I somehow found it easier to cope that way. My rug was already so full of crap underneath, just a little more dirt wouldn’t do it any harm.
That damn door to his office was a constant, haunting reminder of what had happened. I found myself lost in thought more often than I’d like to admit as I stared at it. It was still better than the times Liam left it open and I felt his eyes burning into me.
They always held pity in them, and instead of disappointment, that brought out anger in me. That was an emotion I despised. I have never needed anyone's pity in my life. I wasn’t about to start now.
I’d made some dumb, rushed decisions in the last few days, making a total mess of my own head in the process, and having to look at his damn handsome face day in and day out only made matters worse.
