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“I was kind of a mess,” I say with a laugh. “Wet from the rain, bags under my eyes.
And I’m still here, working the same job as the day you left.”
Liam reaches out and puts my curls behind my ear. They pop right back out, so he does it again. I shiver at his touch. “I don’t care if you work the same job as you did back then. As long as you’re happy, then that’s all that matters. And you weren’t a mess,” he says with a grin. “You looked beautiful.Lookbeautiful.”
“You’re pretty beautiful yourself.”
He laughs, then grabs his belly. “Even with this thing?”
“I think it suits you. I’m not exactly the same size I was at twenty either.”
Something flashes across his face as he looks me up and down. “Trust me. You’re gorgeous, Eva.”
My cheeks are burning. I drink some coffee, just to do something, and then I start walking again. Liam is right by my side, his arm closely pressed to mine. The tension slowly leaves my body, and we talk some more. Reminiscing about old times. It’s nice. Easy.
“You are happy though, right?” He asks when we’re back outside my apartment building. “With living here. Your job and everything.”
I hesitate, not sure what to say. “I like living here,” I say. It’s true, I really love my little town. “Not so sure about my job though. It was only supposed to be temporary.”
“Yeah, I remember.” Liam throws away his empty to-go mug in a nearby trash can.
“What would you like to do instead?”
I shrug. “I honestly have no idea. Just something else. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy.”
“If you want change, then you have to go out there and look for it,” Liam says. “You have all the power to change your job, Eva.”
I have all the power. I’ve never thought about it like that before. “Okay. I guess you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” he says with a grin, and I shake my head at him. “I’ll help you, if you want.”
“You’ll help me?”
“Of course.” Liam reaches out and takes my hand. Squeezes it, then strokes his thumb over my skin. “If you need me, just say the word.”
ChapterThree
For the first time in a long time, I feel excited. Like I’ve shot a fizzy drink right into my bloodstream. I pace around my apartment, thinking about what Liam said. I have all the power. I have applied for different jobs over the years, but my heart has never been in it. But maybe I should try again. I have no ambitions of a big career, but it would be nice to work in an office. Get away from retail. After my endorphins calm down a little, I grab my laptop and start searching through different job sites. There isn’t a lot to choose from here in town, but once my car is out of the shop I can easily commute to the next town over. It’s a little bigger, and there are quite a few openings at different companies. I click on one ad, it’s an e-commerce company that’s looking for an administrative assistant. It actually sounds really fun, and the pay is way better than what I make at the pet shop. My CV isn’t exactly impressive, but I decide to apply anyway. So what if they turn me down? At least I’ve tried, right?
I’m on cloud nine the rest of the day, and when Monday morning rolls around, I get out of bed with a smile on my face. I haven’t seen Liam again, but we exchanged numbers and have been texting back and forth. He was so excited when I told him I applied for that job, and when I walk into work that morning, I get another text.
Dinner tonight?
I smile down at my screen. Bob, my boss, walks past me.
“No cell phones, Eva. You’re on the clock.”
Oh, shut up,I think. He’s on his phone all day every day. “Okay, I’ll put it away.”
“Make sure you do,” he says. “There’s a shipment of that new brand of dog food out on the dock by the way. You can put it away, can’t you?”
I hold back a sigh. “Sure, I’ll get right on that.”
I make sure Bob is gone before I type out a reply for Liam.I’d love to. My place?
My phone buzzes as his response comes through.Sounds good. I’ll cook.
The day goes by in a flurry. I’m sweaty from hauling around the big bags of dog food, but not even that can bring me down. Only a few minutes after I clock out, I get a call from an unknown number.
