Chapter 18 — Dinner
TAYLOR’S POV:
I’m helping my parents set up the dinner table as I hear someone ringing the house bell. I stop what I am doing and head to the door. Liam is standing in front of the door in his casual clothing with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.
I smile at him. “Hi!”
He flashes me a smile. “Hey! Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
I shake my head at myself, feeling stupid for not inviting him in. I gesture for him to come in.
“Sorry, should have done that first before greeting you.”
He walks in and I close the door behind him. “My parents are in the kitchen preparing dinner.”
He nods. “Okay.”
“I’ll show you to the living room. What would you like to drink?” I ask as I lead him in.
“I’ll just have some water, please.”
I nod my head and make my way to the kitchen. Mom is preparing the lemongrass chicken while dad is making his famous lemon tea drink. I grab a glass and pour water in it as mom asks, “Is that water for Liam? Is he here already?”
I nod my head.
“Great. I am going to be done in 2 minutes. Sweetheart, tell Liam that we hope he’s hungry as I have prepared his favorite dish. Ask your sisters to come down as well.”
I nod, walking out of the kitchen. “Okay, sure.”
I hand the glass of water to Liam. “Mom is hoping you’re hungry as she prepared your favorite lemongrass chicken.”
He smiles brightly. “Really! God, I miss that dish so much.”
“That is good to hear. Mom will be happy when she hears that.”
He smirks. “Maybe I should say that and give her this bouquet at the same time.”
I laugh. “You are going to make mom’s day by giving her those flowers.
Liam winks at me. “Of course that is how a real gentleman should treat a woman.”
I smack his shoulder. “Don’t make my dad jealous. Anyway, grab a seat at the dining table. I’ll just call my sisters down to join us.”
He laughs and stands up. “Okay, I won’t.”
With that, I walk away from him and make my way up the stairs to call my sisters down for dinner. I head back down, my sisters right behind me when they see Liam and push past me to hug him.
Nora, my second sister, says, “Woah, it’s been so long since I have seen you, kiddo.”
Liam pulls apart. “I could say the same thing to you, Nora.”
Angelina, my eldest sister, says, “You have grown so tall since the last time I’ve seen you.”
Liam smirks. “I am so happy that I am finally taller than you.”
All of us laugh and at that moment, my parents came in with dishes in each of their hands. “Dinner is ready; we hope all of you are hungry.”
They place the dishes at the table and my mom immediately makes her way to Liam and hugs him. “Liam boy, have you been?”
Liam hugs her back and says, “I have been good doing well in both of my academic and curriculum.”
“That is good to hear.” Mom looks at him, smiling.
Liam grabs the bouquet of flowers from the table and passes it to mom saying, “This is for you, Mrs. Swift.”
Mom takes it from his hand. “That is nice of you, picking up my favorite flowers. Thank you.”
Liam blushes. “You’re welcome.”
Mom goes to grab a vase for the flowers as dad shakes hands with Liam whispering something about his life with girls which I do not want to hear because my dad likes to make dirty jokes especially with guys.
We sit down and eat our dinner just like old times when we invited my friends to come over. Liam takes a bite of mom’s dish and says, “Gosh it feels like forever since I last ate this lemongrass chicken.”
Mom laughs. “Make sure you eat finish the food then.”
Liam smiles widely. “I will, Mrs. Swift.”
After our dinner, my parents grab the plates from the table and tell me to spend time with Liam since it is going to be his last day here.
We’re in my room and he looks around. “I like your room.”
“I think there is too much pink, but well, thank you.”
I pull out a chair for him to sit down while I sit on my bed. “So are you going to miss this place?”
He smiles sadly. “Of course, I will. I have always wanted to go to a big city to study. There is so much to explore around here.”
I laugh and say, “You know you should come here to study if you want to for your further studies.”
He thinks for a moment and says, “Maybe, it depends. I do not want to stay so far away from my family.”
I give him a smile and there is a moment of silence wherein I could hear the wind rustling outside my window.
Liam scratches his neck and says, “I have something important that I want to tell you.”
Oh boy, I know what he is going to say as his feelings for me were quite obvious as he wasn’t really good at hiding them at all. Even my friends had noticed it.
I pretend to be dumbfounded and ask, “What is it?”
He closes his eyes for a moment and says, “I’ve always admired the way you treat people especially because you’ve been so nice to me even though I have done something wrong to you. It was your good heart that made me want you to become mine. I love the way you laugh when I make a joke and I definitely miss the way how we used to be. What I want to say is I love you, Taylor.”
I look deeply in his eyes and I just can’t reciprocate the same the feeling for him because I am in love with Zach, so I try to rephrase some of the words that I have been practicing.
“Liam, you will always have a special place in my heart because you have been with me since we were young. But I cannot accept your feelings for me because what I had for you is in the past. Now, I am in love with someone else. I am really sorry, Liam.”
He sighs. “You are in love with Zach, right?”
I’m taken aback at how he knew. “How did you know?”
“I saw the both of you earlier today. I heard everything.”
I remember that moment and instantly blush. “Oh…”
He smirks. “I hope that he makes you really happy and if not, I will get you back if he ever tries to break up with you.”
I laugh and smack his shoulder. “Shouldn’t you go now? It is almost 10 pm, and your flight tomorrow is at 9 am.”
He looks at his watch. “Yeah I should get going.”
We walk down to the stairs and make our way out to the door. When we’re outside, I give him a kiss on his cheek. “Goodbye Liam. I hope you find someone even better than me.”
He gives me a sad smile. “Thank you and please tell Zach that if he ever tries to hurt you, I will fly all the way here to beat the shit out of him.”
I laugh and say, “I will.”
With that, he places his hands in his jeans pocket and makes his way to the taxi. Before he enters, he looks behind and gives one last smile while I wave back at him, feeling tears rolling down from my cheeks.
That’s when I realize that what was in the past, was in the past. Feelings change but the friendship stays the same even though one of us could get hurt in the end when we realize that our feelings for each other was either one-sided love or a mutual love for a friend…