I nodded, and then he sighed.
“Hilary, that’s her best friend. She’s the one that showed up in the coffee shop. I knew she’d call Cassidy, especially since I was there with you. I just didn’t want her coming over and making a scene.”
Laughing, I couldn’t help but tease him.
“And you thought kissing me wasn’t making a scene?”
He shrugged.
“It was a different scene. Really though, what I think is that maybe Cassidy would back off if she thinks I have moved on. So, if Hilary told her we were kissing, maybe she would finally stop trying to get me back.”
He definitely did not understand how mean girls worked. But I did believe he thought kissing me would have that effect. Then, looking off into space, he whispered the words that nearly broke my heart.
“The truth is, Isabella, and this is a big truth, but the truth is, I’m worried that eventually I will slip. Eventually she will break me down and I’ll get back together with her and fall back into that person I used to be. It scares me how easily that could happen. How quickly I could undo everything I’ve done to change.”
Liam was a lost soul. I knew that there was a good chance I would never pass this assignment if he wasn’t sure who he was, but he needed help. Perhaps this project would help us both in unexpected ways. We both seemed to have lost a bit of ourselves. With an inward flinch, I also realized we both seemed to be nervous about falling back into the pitfalls of the past.
Reaching over, I squeezed his hand.
“I won’t let that happen.”
His eyes met mine and I suddenly had an idea. It was a crazy, stupid, ridiculous idea, but what did we have to lose at this point?
“But one kiss, it’s not enough. If this is going to work, we have to actually look like we are dating.”
He looked surprised at the suggestion; I hurried on to make it perfectly clear.
“Don’t worry. I’m not suggesting we actually date. We just have to fake it. Our project is about getting to know each other, it doesn’t matter where we do it. So, we show up at some of the places your lives intertwine and make it clear we are a tight couple.”
“You would do that?”
The hard part was, I would do it. But it would cost him. I hated the idea of that. His living in a world where he weighed everything by what it would cost him. We’d be equal partners in this, though, so it wasn’t so much a cost as an investment.
“Yes, but before you agree, you need to hear my whole plan. Either way, we are going to be friends. No matter if we decide to do this or not. Promise.”
It was time to talk about Marco. Nothing scared me more.
Liam
I was bewildered by Isabella. She was so easy to talk to and so willing to help me. It was like she was okay with me being a total mess. Not only that, but she wanted to help me clean myself up. The image of the drinks she had spilled the first time we met came to mind. Is that what she saw when she looked at me? Was I just a mass of soda and coffee and water all swirled together?
My voice whispered, “Promise.”
She smiled and continued on.
“So, my neighborhood, it’s one of those places where everyone knows each other, and more to the point, they know everything going on in each other’s life. As I grew up it became clear that people in my neighborhood were supposed to fall in love with other people in our neighborhood and then move in to an apartment in the neighborhood, get married, have babies… the whole nine yards.”
Nodding, we waited as Mrs. Chen came over to check on us, and I ordered dessert in advance. I couldn’t pass up Thai donuts and the place was packed. It will still be a while for them to make.
“Anyway, I grew up with this guy Marco. He was one of the few guys in our town that wasn’t actually related to me. We were best friends and, eventually, we were more than that. My whole world revolved around Marco. He used to be this scrawny little guy, but he grew up and became that guy most people in my circle would die for. Actually, I’m pretty sure he was like the Italian version of you.”
I blushed; she rolled her eyes.
“Anyway, I was his girl, and for a long time, things were perfect. Really perfect. Being with him was always exciting. It always felt like… the world was a little bit brighter when he was around. And I get the thing about the futures being entwined. Like I said, in my neighborhood, you dated, you lived together, you got married…. Age isn’t a factor in that. Once you were a couple, you were supposed to stay a couple. Our parents probably already planned the wedding.”
The use of past tense made me already ache a bit for her. I thought for a long time I was in love with Cassidy, but I doubted it now. I doubted the guy I used to be even understood what real love felt like. It was clear, though, that Isabella had known real love.
“Then, it all fell apart. Six months, two weeks, four days, and about twenty-two hours ago, to be precise.”
