A Second Chance (12 page)

‘
It
certainly does
.
’
H
e nodded
,
and she watched his
face
darken with some emotion she couldn’t quite read.
‘
It
is really wonderful of you to come see her like th
is
, Jade
.
’
H
is fingers
absentmindedly
trac
ed
the tablecloth pattern. ‘
You
know
Laura;
she
’
ll never admit that she needs help. She
’
ll keep pretending
everything
is fine
,
just so we can go ahead with our lives, mom and me
.
Y
our being here must have helped immensely, though
.
’

‘I don’t know if it made such a big difference, Liam.’ She sighed, her
cheek
resting on her palm as she looked at him across the table. ‘I hope
d
I could keep her busy enough to stop thinking about the disease all the time
;
I tried my best
,
but in the end how can you really help someone if you can’t walk in their shoes? I can’t imagine what she must be going through, Liam
;
I really can’t.’

‘I know
.
’
His
dark eyebrows
dr
ew
into a straight line. ‘
Especially
if it
’
s something so unexpected and scary, right? That’s why I think it was really great of you to
take care of her
for
the
last
few days
, Jade. Thank you.’

It could have been a very moving moment if her stubborn stomach
hadn’t
decided to let her know
that
it
ha
d
been way t
o
o long since her last meal. It growled loud enough to be heard by Liam. He grinned in response, his eyes going to the counter still full of people.

‘
Why
don’t I go and get us something to eat?’
His
lips
twitch
ed
suspiciously as he saw her eyeing him with indignation. ‘
And
no, you can’t use the excuse
that
you aren’t hungry
.
’

S
he nodded and watched him line up behind some awe
-
struck nurses. She tried to
see
him objectively, forgetting the past they shared and the feelings she
’d
had for him for as long as she could remember.
If only she were
able to treat him like a distant
acquaintance
, she mused unhappily, aware of the sheer impossibility of
th
at
ever happening. It
wasn’t
even his good looks and
the
smile that could make her knees buckle in an instant, she thought wretchedly. It was much more than that
. I
t was
the
unnerving
feeling that he was the only person in the world
who
could complete her.

Suddenly he looked up and their eyes met, her whole body
tens
ing
as she found herself unable to look away from his dark, thoughtful gaze. It was crazy to stare at him like that, she told herself, especially when he seemed to read her as
eas
ily
as an open book. His dark eyes, somber and watchful
,
held her gaze for a few seconds,
and
during
that moment,
she forgot
how
to breathe. It was only when he finally smiled and
looked towards the display
of
food that she dared to exhale, her lungs
burning with the realization that she had been
holding her breath the
entire
time.

She looked down at her hands folded together on the table and noticed they were shaking, a reaction as surprising as it was
inappropriate
. Maybe it was normal to have strong feelings for the first man who made her realize
that
she longed for love.
It was n
othing
more than nostalgic reminiscence of better days
,
when life was simple and dreams for the future
were
pure and full of hope. Maybe all women remembered their first crush with the same intensity
.

‘Hey
.’
S
he
looked up
in surprise
to see
Liam standing at the table
,
carefully lowering a tray laden with food and drinks.
‘I
picked
a few things
that
I remember you used to like
.
’
He sat
down and hand
ed
her
a veggie wrap
, a fruit salad
,
and a cup
of
coffee.

‘
What about you?’
She was
eager to distract him from watching her with
his
observant gaze that made her feel totally exposed. ‘
Aren’t
you going to have anything?’

‘I ate on the plane
.
’
H
e
smiled slightly and sipped his coffee, his long fingers wrapped around the paper cup. ‘
It was
a long flight back home.’

‘
You
worked in Hong Kong, right?’
She was
desperate to keep the conversation as impersonal as possible.

If he noticed her unease
, he
did
an excellent job
of hiding
it.
Instead,
he nodded briefly and played along
.
‘
Yeah
, I was hired to supervise preparation
s
for
a
modern art
exhibit
they
’
re opening next week.
It
’
s
fantastic
,
and it was a lot of fun to work with all kind
s
of artists from all over the world. I met tons of fascinating people there.’

For a second his eyes had
the
faraway look she remembered from the past
; he was
lost in
a
private universe that
no one but he
could see. She imagined the beauty of the
land that he had visited, the ja
gged, mist
-
covered mountains
guarding a
forest of skyscrapers and modern buildings that coexisted peacefully with old fashioned oriental architecture. She could almost see the curved, tiled roofs and low stone buildings protected by walls with round openings that allowed one a glimpse into the secret life of the heart of the orient.

She looked at Liam as he sipped his coffee and thought that he must have fit
in
there perfectly
.
H
is
serene face and veiled eyes were careful not to give away any of his secrets
; he would
blend into
a
landscape where silence and self
-
containment were a virtue since the Kingdom of the Middle rose to its fame and power.

‘But what about you?’
H
e snapped out of his
reverie
,
as
his eyebrows
r
ose
questioningly once more. ‘I heard from Laura that congratulations are in order
.
That you
’
re getting married real soon
.
I
s that true?’

She
wished to be able to say yes
—
desperately so
—
if only to make him see that she had moved on with her life just as he
probably
was expecting her to do. Instead she had to find a way to admit she
had been
dumped by her
fiancé
and keep
the reason for the split
out
of the conversation.

‘Not really.’ She shrugged, aiming to appear nonchalant and totally at ease with the change of her circumstances. ‘
We
… we decided, that it wasn’t really something we wanted, after all.’

So far
,
so good
. She was
almost relieved, pleased with the way her voice sounded
,
c
onfident and just a bit blasé, just as it should
.

‘Oh, I
’
m sorry to hear it.’ He was serious about
his regrets
,
and she
felt absurdly
disappointed to find him being so sympathetic about it.
What was she thinking?
That he would look happy and relieved to find her still single and available?
She
silently
scolded herself as she bit into her wrap with an almost vicious force. It was absolutely high time to snap out of this fantasy.

‘
It’s
fine, really.’ She shrugged again, surprised at how true it really was. She was fine, she realized,
the sadness over the collapse of her carefully prepared plans for the future not even remotely close to the desperation she felt long ago
when
he
had
told her to go find someone
else.
‘I think it was
lucky,
to be honest.’ She smiled for good measure,
feeling
as calm as
the
sea on a windless day. ‘I don’t think I
’
m that much into getting married after all. And Brian seems to be very happy with his new girlfriend, so everyone is just fine.’

‘
He
left you for someone else?’ Liam’s eyes
were
incredulous, his honest surprise visible in his face. ‘
Is
he crazy?’

‘Well, no.’
S
he smiled, taken aback
by
his reaction. ‘
Veronica
is very beautiful and
smart.
They share the same interests
,
and she makes him
happy
. I
’
m positive she completes him
much
more than I ever could.
It hurt, that’s true, but it’s better this way
.
’

‘I still think that he drew the short
er
stick on this one.’ Liam shook his head and watched her with
an
intense stare that made her shift uncomfortably in her chair. ‘I would really like to meet him sometime and have a talk with him.’

There it was again, she thought as her heart tightened painfully in her chest. She was Laura’s friend
,
and as such he treated her almost like his sister, his protectiveness and sense of loyalty absolutely devoid of any romantic feelings. He would go and beat up the man who
had
hurt her
,
not because he was jealous of the relationship they
had
shared
,
but to defend her in
a
purely brotherly fashion.

‘What about you?’
E
ager
to shift the conversation away from her mishaps, she eyed him
almost challengingly. ‘
Any
wedding bells ringing soon, Liam?’

She regretted it instantly, for his eyes
darken
ed
as the light was replaced with bleak resignation.

‘I don’t think I would make a great husband.’ His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, and she noticed the slight shaking of his fingers as he put the cup down on the table. ‘I was almost engaged a year ago, though
.
’