Empty Facades

Chapter 3

The minute we got out of the hospital, I jumped out of the wheelchair. Liam had been the one to push me to the door. Never. Again. He ran so fast, I swear I was going to be sick. He was like a little kid in a candy shop, which was actually really adorable unless you are the one sitting in the chair he's pushing. Liam looked amused when I jumped out of the chair, but didn’t laugh this time. He led me over to a blue Mustang Convertible.

“If this was green, it would’ve been perfect ," I joked.

“Green, got it.” Liam said making a mental note.

“Would you like to stop by your house or anything?" Liam asked.

"No..why do you ask?" I asked. 

He answered, "I was just wondering if you felt uncomfortable in those clothes and wanted to change."

                "Oh..I forgot I was wearing the same clothes" I replied sheepishly. "Well in that case..sure I wouldn’t mind changing.."

                "Okay well tell me your address.." Liam said laughing at me. I blushed again and told him my address. He typed it into his GPS and we were off to my house.

“Nice house.” Liam said glancing at my brownstone.

“Thanks, it was given to me by my grandma.” I replied blushing. I couldn’t help but feel happy that Liam had complimented me. I ran inside and took a quick hot shower and got dressed to go out.

We showed up at the restaurant Ruth Chris. I felt so underdressed in my Cosby sweater, black skinny jeans and stilettos. This restaurant is so fancy and everyone wears dresses and suits. I looked up at Liam to see him smirking at me.

                "What? Is something wrong with my face?" I asked with a frown. I touched my face, but nothing was there.

                "No, I just see how nervous and jittery you were and I thought it was funny." he said casually with a wink. I gawked at him. He was bold and confident and maybe a little narcissistic, but somehow I liked it.

Dinner conversation was pleasant, superficial conversation until I asked about Liam’s family.

"So do you have any siblings?" I asked. His face saddened a little and I felt instantly bad for asking because I knew something bad had happened.

"I’m going to be honest with you. I usually lie about this, but I’m going to tell you what really happened. I had a sister, but she died when she was 10 after getting hit by a stray bullet from a gang fight. We lived in a really bad neighborhood in Detroit. My parents tried to get us out, but my sister was killed a year before we left." I saw the unshed tears in Liam’s eyes and I felt the tears spring into my eyes.

"I shouldn’t have asked. I-I’m sorry." I said quietly.

                “It’s fine. I have accepted it. It still hurts, but she was always so happy, so I know she would’ve wanted me to be happy. So tell me, do you have any siblings?” he asked. I felt an aching pain in my heart bringing up my sisters. I miss them so much. I think my face showed my pain and his face softened even more. 

                "I had two sisters, but Melody died in a car accident with my mom and I don’t see Jamiee much. She moved to California with my father. He left me when I was about to be 1 year old, so I don’t know much about him. Jaimee, she’s 23, always kept in contact with him, so she moved recently after my mom died.” I finished telling him about my sisters and I gasped. I have never told anyone other than Izzy, Nate and Jacob about my family, yet I just told a complete stranger everything.