The Boy She Loves To Hate

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Liam's POV

It was six a.m., a nice and warm Sunday morning. I just arrived from my daily 30-minute run. A habit that started in grade school when I had to compete in a marathon every weekend to win a hundred bucks.

After a quick shower, I grabbed a fresh shirt from my drawer. The plain white shirt that I kept on pairing with my faded jeans. I did not own much clothes since shopping was a strange word for me. I got my shirts from gifts, mostly from my older sister, Lisa, and my sneakers were hand-me-downs from my born-rich cousins, Brandon and Cory. They just collected sneakers and did not even wear most of them.

Life was tough for me and my family as I grew up. It was only recently that good things started to happen.

We relied on our struggling bakery business. For years, the income was just enough for our family's basic needs. It became tougher when my adventurous dad had a motorbike accident. He had a knee injury that he ignored for years. Only when the pain aggravated and he could not walk anymore that he decided to see a doctor. Bad news. He needed surgery. A total knee replacement surgery that our family could not afford.

I had to work to help our family. I started when I was nine, selling eggs and bread in the neighborhood. At twelve, I was cleaning backyards and doing errands for old people. At fourteen and fifteen, I already worked different jobs— a grocery bagger, dishwasher, busser, ice cream scooper, mascot, and many others. When I turned sixteen, I got to drive dad's motorbike. I earned more money in delivering pizza. I could say that I did numerous jobs until I became eighteen.

It was when Lisa got promoted in her job as an executive secretary to her boss, and now her husband, Alessandro Russo, life became easier. Dad was able to have his total knee replacement surgery. He could walk well and help Mom in our bakery business.

The bakery was also renovated and expanded. The very old ovens were replaced by hi-tech ones to make baking more convenient and faster. So far more customers were coming. Slowly, it was picking up more sales.

I went down whistling and saw my mom in the kitchen.

"Good morning!" My mom, Yvone Brooks, poured the boiled water from the kettle into her cup.

"Morning, Mom," I greeted back and opened the fridge, looking for something to eat. There were a lot of choices of food inside from the wedding celebration. They just needed heating in the microwave. I put in some carbonara and cold fried chicken on my plate.

"Hey!" My dad, Lyndon Brooks, appeared in the kitchen smiling cheerfully. He was holding the morning paper.

Mom poured hot water into another cup and asked Dad. "How many hours left till Lisa and Alessandro get to Maldives?"

Dad settled at the head of the six-seater rectangular dining table before he answered.

"Let's see...their total travel time is 18 hours and 29 minutes. They left at 10:45 last night. It's already 7:15AM..." Dad raised his eyes to the ceiling, obviously having a difficult time calculating. He gave up and waved his hand in a vague gesture. "Ask Liam."

"They have 9 hours and 59 minutes left in their travel." I answered.

"Oh goodness, they're still halfway. What time will they arrive?" Mom asked me.

"5:14PM, New York Time."

The microwave beeped. I took my plate out and settled on the table, ready to dig in the delicious food.

"That's a long trip." Mom put the two cups of green tea on the table, one for her and the other for Dad. She joined us at the table.

"They're on honeymoon, they won't feel the long hours of travel." Dad chuckled and continued to scan the pages of the papers. "Don't worry, Lisa will call once they get there."