Anderson Means A

Chapter 4 - Bad Boys and Gin

Liam lived in a gigantic, modern mansion with a lot of windows and a perfectly maintained garden. His parents had a design company and accepted only the most promising artists in their team. Both his parents were also obsessed with art, which caused their house to look like a giant art museum. Two years earlier, his mother had been so obsessed with ice sculptures, she'd wanted a permanent artwork in her hall. The only thing she forgot to think about was that ice melts and she had to use a massive cooling system to cool it 24/7. Charlotte thought Liam's parents were pretty crazy, but they surely knew their business. More importantly, they wanted their newest artist to design the next logo for Anderson's Pharmaceutics, the company Charlotte's parents owned. If Charlotte and Liam stayed together, of course.

Evelyn parked her car in front of Liam's house and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The party had already started. Charlotte could hear loud music playing, but she was sure none of the neighbors would complain: everyone knew how powerful Liam's parents were.

Some girl Charlotte didn't really recognize, opened the door and let them in. Evelyn ignored the girl and went straight to the bar, where she took two glasses of champagne. The kitchen, living and dining room were located in one big space, where one wall was replaced by glass doors that were now opened. Some people they knew from school were sitting at the dining table, eating chips, but most people were outside. Liam had a giant garden with a big swimming pool and two hot tubs. He also had a lounge outside, with a bar and a fireplace. His parents liked to throw big parties and Liam had inherited that personality trait. He adored planning parties and always wanted everything to be perfect. Although he acted like he didn't care when the party started.

Evelyn emptied her glass in one gulp and left it in the kitchen. Charlotte saw Liam standing with his friends at one of the high tables in the garden. He was wearing shorts with a blue T-shirt. The blue complimented the blond color of his hair. It seemed like a casual choice, but Charlotte knew Liam had thought about it. He turned around and smiled when he saw her. She smiled back, trying to ignore his friends. She hated his friends. They were always extremely loud and needed lots of attention. Liam greeted her and pressed his lips against hers. He tasted bitter. She felt his hands on her lower back, descending to her butt.

She pulled back and frowned. "What are you doing?", she asked.

"Kissing you?", he asked with a naughty look on his face.

"No, you're grabbing my butt. You never grab my butt", she said with a suspicious voice.

Liam didn't say anything, but she felt the staring eyes of his friends on her side. Oh, he was acting like that because his stupid friends were watching. That was the second reason she hated his friends: they turned him into a douchebag.

"You got to be kidding me", she snapped. "Why do you always have to prove you're a guy when they're around you?"

He looked uncomfortable. He knew he couldn't act like that around her. She sighed and smiled. "Liam, look at me."

When he stared back in her eyes, she saw his insecurity. She pressed her lips against his, kissing him longer, as if she'd missed him. When she pulled back, she whispered: "I like you better when you're you."

He smiled. "Sorry, babe. I'm pretty drunk already."

"I know. I'm going to get a drink now."

He nodded and she left, again avoiding eye contact with his fuckboy-friends, who were making some obnoxious comments about her to Liam. Evelyn was already sitting at the side of the pool, in a tiny red bikini that looked incredible combined with her sun-kissed skin.

"There you are", she said, leaning backwards. "Do you want a cocktail?"

"I prefer gin", Charlotte said, when she sat down next to her, putting her feet into the water.

"Oliver?", Evelyn asked in a sweet, high-pitched voice. "Could you get us a mojito and a gin-tonic?" She smiled. Evelyn's way of smiling was unique: it was sensual and suggestive, making any guy do whatever she pleased.

"Of course", A boy in the pool answered. He got out of the water and Charlotte thought she could see all his abdominal muscles pressing through his skin. He walked inside, water dripping of him.

"Delicious, isn't he?", Evelyn said.

"Keep your panties dry, please", Charlotte answered.

"No one will notice, I'll just go swimming." She laughed and Charlotte rolled her eyes. She envied Evelyn: she was confident and carefree. Evelyn didn't look like it, but she was very smart and got perfect scores without studying much. She also had an incredible body, combined with hypnotizing bright green eyes. But she was also impulsive and didn't care much about other people's feelings, which was why a lot of other girls didn't really like her.

After Oliver had brought their drinks and pulled Evelyn into the swimming pool, some of their other friends arrived and joined them at the side of the pool. Harper told them about her time in Ibiza and the DJ she met there. Chloe had broken up with her boyfriend, who was also at the party, and cried while telling the story. Charlotte tried to comfort her, but she had never really liked the guy. And she wasn't very good at hiding it.

Some time passed and they moved to the lounge. Evelyn was sitting on Oliver's lap, but ignoring him at the same time. Charlotte wondered if Evelyn never got bored of playing the same flirting-game over and over again. It was already eleven o'clock and everyone was getting pretty drunk. Charlotte had started drinking diet coke an hour earlier, when the others didn't notice it anymore.

"I'm going to the bathroom", she told Evelyn and she stood up. She walked through the living room and saw Chloe with her ex-boyfriend on the sofa. They were making out, so it was probably not her ex-boyfriend anymore. When she opened the door to the hall, she saw Liam standing in the middle with his cellphones in his hand.

"Waiting for someone, babe?", Charlotte asked. She closed the door behind her, canceling the noise inside.

Liam looked surprised by her presence. "No", he said quickly. "No, there's a lot of noise in the other room."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Liam looked at Charlotte like he didn't know what to do, but turned around to open the door. Charlotte stepped on the stairs – she liked the bathroom upstairs better - and heard Liam talk to the person at the door.

"You can come inside for a moment", she heard him say. The door closed behind her and she turned around. Ignoring the new guest would be impolite.

When she caught sight of the guest, her heart skipped a beat. She stood there, silently, staring at the boy in front of her, forgetting Liam even existed.

"Jake, this is my girlfriend Charlotte", Liam said in an overly polite voice.

The boy smiled warmly. She knew he recognized her. His eyes still had the same deep blue color of the sea. They seemed to stare right through her, just like when they had met for the first time, two months earlier.