all i need // l.p {au}

chapter four

It was three in the morning and I was sitting on the edge of my bed, wearing an oversized shirt and some boyfriend briefs. I was staring at the napkin with Liam's phone number, gripping the material so tightly that I was almost ripping it. I bit my lip, wondering if I should call. It wasn't that I necessarily wanted to spend time with him, but rather I was curious about what would happen if I called.

Fifteen minutes later, I placed the napkin on my bedside table and curled up in my bed. My golden lab puppy, Daisy, was already asleep on the other side of the bed. I ran a hand over her head, glad that she was there.

I decided to think it over, whether I would call or not. I didn't want to seem too easy, even though I sort of was.

***

Do you take Logan Grace Reynolds to be your lawfully wedded wife?

I looked down at my body to find myself dressed in a beautiful white gown and standing before me was Liam. Our hands were intertwined, a ring already upon his ring finger.

The realization that I was getting married hit me and I ripped my hands out of his as he said, "I do."

I wanted to run, but my feet were frozen in place. My breathing quickened and my heart rate shot up. I could feel my palms sweating as Liam grabbed for my left hand in order to slide a ring on it.

I jolted awake in a cold sweat. I looked down at my finger and let out a sigh of relief noticing it was bare. I looked at the time, finding it to be six a.m. I tried to fall back asleep, but my body wouldn't let me. I thought I was fighting against having that dream again. I haven't wanted to get married since I was really young, playing wedding and dress up as a little girl. Since then, I had made the decision that I wouldn't get married, knowing it could only end badly.

Two hours later, I finally climbed out of bed, figuring out that I wasn't going to get any more sleep. I walked out to the kitchen, Daisy padding after me. I filled her bowls of food and water before finding myself some breakfast. I wasn't one to cook, so I just found a granola bar and orange juice.

I had the night off, the first in awhile. I usually declined nights off, but William thought it would be good since I had upset some customers. I needed to get myself together and not focus on Liam. From my dream, I made the decision that I wasn't going to call him. I would treat him like every other customer.

By one that afternoon, I was extremely bored. I decided to venture out to the coffee shop that was walking distance from my apartment. I'd only been there a few times, but it wasn't normally busy. Today seemed to be the exception. The line was extremely long and almost every table was occupied.

Once out of line and grabbing my vanilla latte from the barista, I glanced around for a table. I found one in the middle of the coffee shop, the only one left it seemed like.

I slowly sipped my coffee, the hot liquid calming me from the nightmare that I'd had. I was zoning out and looking out the expansive windows when someone blocked my view.

"May I join you? All the tables are full," an accented voice asked.

I cleared my vision to see Liam standing before me. I refrained from dropping my jaw in shock and nodded, speechless.

He slipped into the empty chair across from me, taking a drink of his coffee. "So how are you today? Do you work tonight?"

"Nope," I said shortly. It was so weird, seeing him in person after that dream. Without realizing it, I began to stare at his left hand gripping his coffee cup. His ring finger was bare and I let out a sigh of relief. I knew that it wouldn't mean anything even if he was wearing a ring, but it made me feel better that my dream was for sure a dream.

"So, you never called me," he commented.

"You gave me your number last night, technically this morning. What did you expect?" My tone was rude, but I didn't really care.

He shrugged. "I don't know, I guess."

"Why are you even talking to me? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"No, not really. I thought since I saw you, I would ask you out on a date."

"I don't date." I was getting really annoyed now, even his good looks wouldn't cure my frustration.

"At all?" he asked, shocked.

I shook my head. "It always ends badly."

"Do you know that from experience?" He leaned forward on his elbows, his face coming closer to mine.

"Uh, not exactly."

"Then how can you decide you don't like dating if you've never tried it."

Liam's comment made me feel pathetic, that I chose not to date because my dad left us and my mom's marriage didn't work out. I didn't want to end up like her, alone with a child. It's not like we were that bad off, but my mom would cry for days. She still cried. I don't want to be a girl that cried over boys and failed relationships.

"I just don't, ok?" I snapped and stood up. Liam was looking up at me, his brown eyes intense. I bit my lip, and found the strength to just walk away. I felt tears stinging my eyes as I pushed through all of the tables full of people and out of the coffee shop. I needed to get myself together, I couldn't keep getting upset over stupid little things. I needed to get the thoughts of Liam out of my head. 

After walking the short distance back to my apartment, Daisy greeted me at the door. "Hey, girl," I said, kneeling down to pet her. She followed me as I dropped my purse on the kitchen table and went into my bedroom. I changed out of my jeans and t-shirt and into leggings and a big sweatshirt. It was hot outside, but freezing in my apartment. They always kept the air conditioning really high. I curled up on the couch with my phone and flipped on the TV. Finding a bad reality show, I tried focusing on their problems instead of mine. 

Three hours later, I still watching reality shows, but also still thinking of Liam. I needed to get him out of my head, so I unlocked my phone and pulled up my thread of messages with Tristan. 

Hey, wanna come over later ;)

I usually didn't sleep with the same guy more than once, but I didn't feel like going out to find someone. I was too exhausted and I knew that Tristan had a crush on me. I still felt horrible about leading him on, but a part of me felt that he liked me too much to care if he was being led on. 

hope you like this update (: do you like her with tristan? what do you think of her dream? please vote and comment xx zoe