Mabel Garcia is no longer my fantasy.
She’s my reality.
Mabel
A few years later…
Liam and I are headed on a road trip to Mystic Falls, Virginia—aka Covington, Georgia—to celebrate our five-year anniversary.
“Do we have everything we need,mo ghrá?”
Years later and that term of endearment never fails to melt my heart. Nothing makes me feel more adored than Liam whispering sweet little words in his mother tongue when we touch.
“Yup.” I settle into the passenger’s seat of Liam’s car and buckle my seat belt. I’ve checked our bags about three times to ensure we didn’t forget anything. “We’ve got everything,Bob.”
Liam shoves a teasing hand into the nape of my neck to tickle me. His crawling fingers go from my shoulders to my waist and I’m reduced to a laughing fit before I manage to bat his hand away. My boyfriend acts like he doesn’t like the nickname, but the smile nestled in his beard says otherwise.
“Smart-ass,” he teases.
“You love me,” I retort.
Liam sighs and pins me with a soft look. “Yeah, I do.”
We grin at each other and share a secret look. The kind that says ‘Even after years, you remain my favourite thing on this planet.’
As road trip tradition calls, we make a pit stop to grab breakfast—coffees and bagels—and then we’re off to our destination.
In the last half decade of us dating, Liam and I have travelled together often. Ireland. The Philippines. Italy. Mexico. And loads of places within North America via road trips. You can say we both have a serious case of wanderlust and the scratch world map in my room is a testament to that. We’ve made a pact to visit at least half of the Earth by the time we turn seventy.
I’d say our plans are going pretty well so far.
My phone buzzes with a text message.
Have a safe trip, May. Text me when you reach there. xo —Ken
Will do. I love you and I’ll see you when I return. <3 —May
Don’t forget to bring me back a souvenir! —Ken
I’ll bring you back some vervain. —May
LOL perfect! —Ken
Kennedy and I remain close even after graduating from Vesta University’s business school. She’s still one of my ride-or-dies and I adore her to pieces. Currently, she’s climbing the corporate ladder and living happily ever after with the love of her life.
As for me, my modelling career really kicked off after my undergrad. I’ve been booked and busy for three years with endorsements, photoshoots, and runways. I thought the solo travelling for work would put a strain on my relationship with Liam, but we’ve found ways to make even the occasional long-distance work. Doesn’t matter where I am, though, because I always come back home to my Liam.
I spend a lot more time in Montardor now that I’m working closely with Maison Sereno, a Canadian designer brand founded by one of my university friends.
I’m also getting to put my business degree to use now that I’m about to launch my own skincare line in a few months. Liam convinced me a year ago to take the leap and transform my passion for beauty into another income stream.
I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us.
Liam has done pretty amazing for himself too. He’s officially an engineer, the Iron Ring on his finger another proof of his accomplishment. He’s worked on several projects, but his favourite ones remain the jobs he does in our home.
Since buying a nice bungalow last year, Liam has built us a gazebo in the backyard, a big birdhouse for the cardinals that visit us in the warmer seasons, a walk-in closet that doubles up as my vanity room, a sex dungeon in our basement for our newfound kinky streak, and the list goes on.
He never ceases to amaze me or make me proud with everything he does.
