CHAPTER 3.

It was Wednesday evening, and my head was just fully engaged in the project. It had been five days since the first meeting with Liam and the draft that we created that day had already guaranteed at least a couple of super busy weeks on my schedule.

No complaints. Please don’t get me wrong. I actually enjoyed it. A lot. Fact is I just couldn't deny that working in the peace and quiet of my apartment was sort of a godsend to me. The last three days had been rainy and even though this could have been distressful for someone who commuted using a bicycle or her own pair of feet, the corny side of me always appreciated the water pouring down the windows. Those little drumming droplets brought calmness and ease of spirit, and at the same time all sorts of inner inspiration. If all this was supplemented by a decent amount of caffeine and short breaks every once in a while, they helped me reach acceptable-to-good levels of brain performance.

I looked at my desktop clock and realized that it was almost time to get ready to meet Susie. After an intense texting session filled with all kind of pinky promises, she had made me swear that I would stop working and that we would go to Bubble's for dinner, a Tex-Mex restaurant that had just recently opened and advertised out-of-this-world Margaritas. Yeah, as if aliens… Anyway. Our meeting point would be Café Orly, as usual. It was between our apartments. And by apartments, I mean small studios paid mostly by our post-graduate scholarship grant. Ours were relatively close to each other and to the university, in a somehow modest yet charming neighborhood in ​​Boston area.

I arrived at Cafe Orly earlier than expected. Café Orly was a true sanctuary of coffee, chocolate, and butter. Susie and I discovered it when we were still freshmen in college and promised each other to visit it once a week to devour their amazing croissants au chocolat, or drink its heavenly hot chocolate. Mrs. Cecil, its charming French owner, loved us and we loved her, too. More than once she wouldn't let us pay the bill and whenever she could, she would come over to talk and ask how we were doing at college.

Last Saturday, Susie and I came here in the morning. She told me she was craving for some super delicious hot chocolate, and I just couldn't refuse the offer. And yes. I would never be grateful enough for a good cup of coffee on a fresh Saturday morning.

I have always found heartening the effect that warm morning sunshine rays had on my skin. And particularly that day at Café Orly, hands holding a double cappuccino with extra whipped cream and a pinch of cinnamon, was just about all that I needed. Perhaps I should consider professing my eternal gratitude to whoever discovered the magic brought by a few grinded, toasted grains of coffee when dissolved in lip-burning, hot water.

- I just can’t believe it. – Susie said as she approached the steamy hot chocolate cup to her mouth, thus taking me out of my daydreaming lapsus. Her face was still looking surprised to learn that the plan to establish rules of coexistence with Liam had just actually worked.

- Neither do I, to be honest. – I copied her gesture and took another sip from that piece of liquid heaven between my hands.

- Did you ever tell him that you would talk to Peters? Did you threaten to blow up a capacitor right in his face with no eyes protection? Or add ferric chloride to his…you know? - Her gaze and her head pointed down under my belly area, her gaze a mixture of amusement and horror.

- Of course not! Oh my God! - I frowned briefly at Susie's wild ideas about how I could have convinced Liam to accept the deal, followed by a quick, laughy sigh. – I said I might do something, but needn't to say what. And I thought you were "absolutely sure" he would accept. What's the surprise about it?

- I was sure! Well, perhaps seventy-five-point-five percent sure about it. - I dedicated her a smirky, you-know-it-all face -. I just guessed that maybe there would a more intense dribbling on his side and a greater number of threats on yours before finally agreeing on the deal. Possibly some tears? On his side, of course.

- Wishful thinking. – My brows frowned at the image of Liam crying over the agreement. I immediately shook it off my head. - But he couldn't just let me get a way with it that easily. He requested to add a new clause and then he signed it.

- A clause? About?

After explaining Susie what the clause was about, I could not avoid feeling skeptic as well as triumphant, if that combination was even possible. My head was still filled with uncertainties, as to if Liam would be able to stick to each and every one of the rules established in the agreement. I really did hope so. However, experience told me that Liam was the kind of guy who didn’t take things seriously, at least when it had to do with me. The only thing I was expecting from him was for him to really honor the deal we had made, regardless of our mutual despiteful feelings.

- That’s good, isn’t it? That's what you wanted - Susie looked at me, her eyes questioning if I agreed with her.

- Yes, of course. - I frowned and shaked my head, evaporating any remaining doubts I had about it. – After signing the agreement, we started working and I guess things went just as good as they could go, given we are talking about Liam here.

- Well, cheers to that. - She raised her steamy cup. - I think that deserves a toast-a-ccino.

- Oh, God, you will never get over it, do you? – I let out a laugh, and she joined me as our cups tapped together in the air.

- It's my contribution to the American dictionary, babe.

- Of course it is. - I loved Susie and all her craziness.

- You have to keep me posted, though.

- Sure I will.

- Because if he makes anything to you…

- Yeah... You will cut his thingy off of him with rusted scissors, I know…

- That's my girl.

Finding Susie and becoming such good friends had been a great blessing in my life, and I knew that in some way I had been one in hers as well. When I moved to Boston for college, I felt a deep, heartbreaking void after leaving mom and Mel, my little sister, back in Philadelphia. My whole life, actually. Susie had also left hers back in California. I guess this somehow brought us together.

I remember the day we met. We were leaving Physics I, when I felt a finger tipping my shoulder. I turned myself and saw a straight, golden hair (the kind that was naturally sun-burned and not chemically applied at a fancy salon), and a huge smile showing perfectly white teeth. The owner of such enviable hair reached out her hand in my direction, holding a feathery pink flamingo pen. "It's yours". Of course, of course it was mine. My favorite, indeed. The thing was that, losing pens was my trait. Let them fall, let them disappear, let them be sucked by black holes and travel through galaxies far, far away. Not only pens, but everything, truthfully. Keys, shoes, resistors. It was my special ability, one that I wasn't really proud of.

I smiled awkwardly, instantly acknowledging that the pen was actually mine. I took it and offered her a sincere thankful smile. "Thank you". Susie was about to reply something when a hand appeared behind her, took hers and pulled her away from me. Susie couldn't help but smile, shrug and let herself go after the owner of the pulling hand in order to preserve the physical integrity of her arm. She looked happy, though.

Incidentally, the owner of the pulling hand was no other than Cooper, the wide receiver of the football team, quite a charmer and relentless Don Juan. It took Susie a couple of days to figure that out, and when she did, she just fell apart. She hid herself behind the bleachers at the sports field, breaking into deep tears. That's where I found her, the day when, well, the infamous day when I was caught spying on… No. Just accidentally looking at Liam exercising. That day I was late for my Advanced Math I class just to be with Susie and offer her my shoulder. Ever since that day we have been besties.

Soon after I heard Susie call my name. She was on my back. As an automatic reflex I instantly smiled, happy to know that my best friend had just arrived and…

- Hey, Suze…

My vocal cords suddenly lost the ability to produce sounds. Oh, no. Is this…? No… Susie’s gaze was filled with some kind of expectation and a great, great deal of “I’m sorry” in it. I just wanted it to be a very bad taste dream. Oh you, Morpheus, silly god of the sleepy ones. But no. It wasn’t a dream, nor my imagination.

It was Roger, and of course, standing next to him, Liam pain-in-the-ass Anderson.