•Part 35•
I didn't end up listening to my heart. It was funny, my heart solely told me to be with Liam. It didn't even take any other option into account. On the other hand, my mind fought against that. My mind was responsible and realistic. It knew what was good for me and who wasn't going to hurt me, and that was Sean.
I decided not to tell Sean about my meeting with Liam and what had happened during it, because I guessed that if Liam wanted him to know he would have told him, and it wasn't my place to break their friendship.
I hadn't seen Sean in ages and frankly, I was kind of missing him. Thankfully, he invited me out for a date, and I couldn't help but agree.
He told me he had a table at a restaurant booked so I decided to dress up in a red and white aztec print dress and a pair of black suede platform heels with a thick ankle strap. I felt like I looked formal enough and even if I didn't, as soon as I let my hair out, the doorbell rang so I didn't even have time to change.
"Are you excited?" Sean asked as we neared the restaurant.
I nodded. "It's our first official date."
"Yeah it is, so I hope you enjoy yourself tonight." He said, placing a kiss on my cheek.
As we reached the restaurant parking lot, something caught my eye. A car. A black Range Rover that I knew too well.
"Are you okay?" Sean asked, as he turned the engine off.
"Yeah." No. No, I wasn't okay. I was far from okay. Why was Liam here? And who was he here with? I suddenly felt very anxious and faint. I wasn't ready to see Liam at school everyday, never mind in a restaurant on a date with another girl.
Sean kindly took my hand as we walked inside the restaurant and I couldn't stop myself from scanning the tables, searching for a certain someone, and praying I wouldn't find him. I did though. He was sitting at an enclosed table, surrounded by a couch. I recognised the girl sitting with him.
Samantha was in my basketball team for 2 years and sat in the row behind me in Maths. She was alright, but was way too close with Nicole for my liking, and way too smily.
I tried my best to ignore them as the waiter led us to our table, but it was getting pretty impossible as we got nearer and nearer to them. I prayed internally, hoping that our table wasn't going to be the empty one next to theirs, and for a second I thought God had mercy as we passed the empty table, until the waiter stopped at Liam and Samantha's.
I looked at the waiter confused and then at Sean. "What's going on?" I muttered.
"Hi mate." Sean greeted Liam who I could tell was avoiding me with his gaze in every way. "Surprise!" Sean laughed.
I looked at him, a puzzling look on my face. "Huh?"
"I had a chat with Liam, and we had planned a surprise double date for our ladies." Sean said proudly.
"Oh, that's nice." It really wasn't.
"Yeah we thought it'd be a fun idea." Liam added, finally looking at me. I glared at him questioning this decision. Fun? He thought this would be fun? Was he doing this on purpose to get back at me? Was this even real? He knew very well that fun was the last thing this was going to be for me. How could he do this?
"Hey." Samantha smiled at me as I took my seat next to her.
"Hey Sam." I smiled politely.
The waiter came to save me from awkwardness, and we all very obviously took our time placing the orders. None of us felt comfortable, and it was impossible to hide that. What were the two morons thinking when they planned this?! That we were all going to hold hands and make daisy chains for each other before skipping off into the sunset? Yeah, no.
"So how long have you two been dating?" The question slipped out before I could stop it and I could tell that it caught Liam by surprise.
"Er," he stuttered, but Samantha ever so kindly flew in to help him.
"This is our first date actually." She smiled, with her perfectly whitened teeth.
"Really?" I asked in an excited manor.
"Yeah, Liam asked me out two days ago." She told me. My mouth dropped slightly but I managed to bring it back up. I narrowed my eyes at Liam for a split second. Unbelievable. This girl was my replacement. I left him, so he asked the first person he could think of. I couldn't believe it, he hadn't changed one bit.
I smiled falsely. "I wish you well."
"Thanks." They both answered, although Liam wasn't looking at me as softly as Samantha was. His eyes were dark, and full of hurt. They reminded me of his face a few days back when I had ran out of the cafe.
That face, it's that face that was stuck in my head 24/7. It's that face that made me question my feelings for him every time I tried to hate him.
"Do you girls know eachother?" Sean asked, as our food came.
"I mean, we have a few lessons together. But we don't really talk much, do we?" I asked Samantha, my voice a monotone.
She shook her head before smiling. "No, but after tonight, I think we totally should."
I smiled fakely. "Totally." I looked at Liam who was glaring at me. He could tell I didn't like his new doll and only he could sense the sarcasm behind everything I said tonight, but that wasn't going to stop.
"Excuse me," Sam said getting up from her seat. "I need to use the ladies room."
"It's fine. Take as long as you need." I muttered, earning another glare from Liam. Sean was about to speak but was interrupted by his ringtone.
"Oh for fvck suck." Sean cursed. "It's my boss, I need to take this." And with that he stood up and left the restaurant, leaving me alone with Liam. Great.
I could feel him sneaking looks at me from the corner of his eyes but I tried to ignore them. "What's your problem?"
My head shot up, surprised by his question. "Excuse me?"
"What the hell has gotten into you tonight?" He asked. "You're so rude to Sam for no reason. What's your problem?"
"My problem?" I asked with a laugh. "My problem? What's your problem?"
"What are you talking about? I haven't done sh*t!" He argued.
"Oh really?" I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms. "How about the fact that you told me you loved me three days ago? And now you've planned a fvcking double date. Are you trying to stuff it in my face?"
"You're the one who walked out of that Cafe. You rejected me!" He pointed out.
"Because you were evidently lying!" I argued. "You haven't changed a bit!"
"I wasn't lying." He sighed.
"If you were telling the truth, you wouldn't have found it so easy to replace me." I shrugged. "Look, I'm done. I'm just sick and tired of your lies."
Liam opened his mouth to speak but Sean appeared at the table. "You guys okay?" He asked.
"Couldn't be better." I smiled. "What did your boss say?"
"He wants me to do an emergency shift." He sighed. "I tried debating but he wouldn't have it. I have to go in like 5 minutes. I'm so sorry."
"No no. Don't apologise." I told him.
"You can stay if you like, I don't want to ruin your evening." He said.
"Babe, I'm not gonna stay to be a third wheel." I laughed, completely avoiding Liam. "I'll go with you."
Sean turned to Liam as I got up. "I'm sorry this didn't work out mate."
"No it's okay, I get it. Maybe another time." Liam suggested.
"Maybe not." I muttered a little too loudly. Both boys looked at me. I could tell that Liam heard exactly what I had muttered, but Sean looked at me puzzled.
"Did you say something?" He asked.
I put on my usual fake smile, before turning to Liam. "Say bye to Sam from me. It was lovely getting to know her." And with that, I made my way out of the restaurant.
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http://www.polyvore.com/double_date/set?id=126648806&lid=3706920