October 2004, NYU

“Hey, Chanty!” Zach called out her name, oblivious of the furious gazes around him.

She just turned her head without uttering a word. Liam was smirking beside Zach who was holding a piece of paper.

“Thanks for this!” Zach almost shouted, pointing at the paper.

She frowned.

“He failed,” Liam explained.

Pushing her chair back, she stood up and said, “Good. You deserve it, Astor.” And with that, Chanty walked away to leave the library.

2013

She was not seeing anything. All she could see was darkness, but she could figure out muffled sounds, a lot of them, speaking almost all at once. It was a good thing they seemed distant.

But they were coming closer, their words becoming clearer now. And she could feel her shoulders shaking.

“Chanty, Chanty…”

“Ms. Strindberg…Oh my God, what should we do? Should we call a doctor?”

Doctor? What was Dana talking about? Did she need a doctor?

She tried to speak but the only sound that came out of her mouth was a sigh.

“No, don’t. I think she’s coming around,” Liam’s familiar voice called out. “Chanty? Chanty, are you alright?”

She tried to nod. Well, at least she succeeded with that one.

Opening her eyes, she carefully tried to look at just one place and they were Liam’s eyes. His brown eyes were her focus right now because if she was going to look elsewhere, she might puke.

“Chanty, are you okay?”

“Yes,” she was finally able to manage.

“Water, water,” Liam ordered and within seconds, Chanty’s secretary came back and handed her a glass. Chanty just looked at it. She didn’t think she could hold anything.

Liam took it from Dana and guided it to her mouth. She took one sip, then another and another until the glass was half empty.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked again.

Chanty finally managed to straighten up in her couch where they must have taken her. “Yes, Heaton, I’m fine. Let’s start the meeting.”

“But Ms. Strindberg, Mr. Cameron—”

“Cameron, Cameron can wait for as long as he has to.” Liam’s stern voice stopped Dana’s announcement.

Chanty stood up, not wanting to hear anymore of Cameron being on the phone. She started to walk to the conference room.

“I can’t believe he did not change his name after all these years,” Liam uttered beside her.

She looked at him pointedly.

“What? It was the only thing you agreed with me and Zach back then many years ago. You hated his name. Or last name. Or maybe you don’t. Maybe you hated them being the same or together.”

Chanty couldn’t help but snort. Yeah, she hated Cameron’s name being the same as his last name or vice versa.  And now, she hated him—everything about him, she loathed. “Okay, let’s get this meeting started.”

The meeting lasted for hours and all the while, Liam was getting irritated with his phone vibrating against his pocket. He knew it was Zach asking him about his day. He knew his friend was itching to know about how things were going on with Chanty. But he was in an important meeting that should have Zach’s presence by the way.

During the course of the meeting where they tackled about the project’s budget proposal, Liam couldn’t help but stare at Chanty. She had changed a lot since he met her years ago. Well, she was still a beauty, but there was something about her that looked different. She was still strong, that was for sure. He saw that in her eyes. But she had vulnerability visibly painted over her and he had a wild guess of the cause.

He had been trying to tell her years ago that Cameron was a douche. But he was not able to do that the right way. He could not always get through to her in the past whether he tried to or not. They just didn’t match that well, he thought. But he missed those moments when she was always frowning at him and Zach, and how she fumed whenever he and Zach did something.

When he left NYU, he never heard from Chanty Strindberg again. They were not let-us-see-each-other-again-soon type of friends. They were like let’s-not-try-to-cross-paths-again type of friends—if you could call that friendship despite his hidden desire to get something more. A year later after he left he found out that she already had a son and that Cameron ran off, that stupid bastard.

Liam was the last man to respect a guy who would run off. He experienced that first-hand when he was a kid. He still remembered his mother’s silent cries every night for months. They only stopped when she met his step father, the man who taught him what a real man was supposed to be. Liam considered David Heaton his real dad the moment the man changed his name and accepted him as his son. Long gone was the guy who left him and his mother.

As he looked at Chanty he did not see his mother, but he could imagine her nightly tears in bed alone.

Not that he would have really done something if he and Chanty were close but…okay, yes, he would have killed the bastard Cameron, Cameron. He would have wrung his neck until he was dead. Chanty deserved someone better and he had always known that. He was one witness of how she stayed committed and loyal to her relationship years ago. She had wasted her years in NYU loving the wrong guy.

But he guessed things happened because they had to. Chanty was a strong person until now. Her weakest link was the guy with the same name and last name, Cameron, Cameron.

And Liam didn’t think she feared Cameron’s presence. He thought he knew what made her block out earlier. He was almost sure of her fear.

The meeting was over before lunch and when it was, Chanty did not leave the conference room. She waited until everyone else was gone. At least everyone else, apart from her and Liam, was gone.

“What are you still doing here?” she asked, pretending to organize her folders, her eyes fixed on the papers.

“I just want to know how you’re doing.”

She froze and looked at him, “You? You want to know how I’m doing?” she pointed at her chest. “I’m fine. How about you?” she tried really hard not to look ashen.

“I’m good, actually,” he smiled after a few moments of silence. He was casually leaning against the swivel chair as he looked at her. “And since you are fine, I want to meet everyone.”

“Who?” she asked, her gaze back on the papers.

“Everyone we’ll be working with,” he answered.

Hell, she almost forgot he should be introduced to the staff. “Okay,” she nodded and went to the door. When she got out, she shouted, “Guys! Line up! I’m going to introduce you to someone!”

Liam had stood up, walked beside her and was now looking at her with amusement.

“What? They don’t usually follow my orders unless I shout,” she murmured under her breath.

She heard him chuckle.

“This is Dana, my secretary,” she began when her black-haired secretary came forward with the phone in her hand. She held up her hand to silence the beautiful lady. She didn’t want to hear any names like Cameron, Cameron until she had her lunch.

“Hello, Dana. This is Courtney, my secretary. I’m afraid she’s the only one I have,” he waved his hand to the left where the big blonde lady stood a good three two meters away. Chanty almost gaped. Was she standing there the whole time? Why didn’t she see her?

“Hello, Ms. Strindberg,” Courtney smiled and held out her hand. “I hope to be working closely with you and Dana.”

“You will, don’t worry,” Chanty smiled at the warm lady.

A loud cough caught everyone’s attention and Chanty rolled her eyes. “Yes, Pete, I believe you want to introduce yourself?”

A bald guy of about thirty and almost the same height as Liam’s six foot came forward with a smile. “Hi, Mr. Heaton…” he held out his hand but Chanty caught it before it made contact with Liam’s.

“His name is Pete and he is gay. He will not let go of your hand unless you kiss it. Are you willing to kiss it?” Chanty asked with a smile on her lips.

Liam looked lost for a moment. He looked at Pete and then at Chanty. “Are you serious?”

“Of course she’s just joking—”

“No, I’m serious,” Chanty cut off Pete’s disapproval.

Liam seemed to have struggled for a while before he finally stepped back and said, “I think a handshake is not in order, Pete, but I’m glad to meet you.”

A loud laughter erupted from everyone else around them. “Shame,” Pete muttered when Chanty finally let go of his hand.

“Pete’s the Design manager. Don’t worry, he’ll be working closely with me,” Chanty explained. “This is Kara, Pete’s secretary” she pointed at the red-haired lady wearing glasses standing beside Pete. Kara was actually the smallest in the group, but she was not someone you could trifle with unless you want a big slap on your face from Pete. The man loved his secretary like a sister.

“I will not shake your hand, Mr. Heaton. Pete will be sour for the rest of the day if I will,” Kara joked and turned around to go back to work.

“This is Rodge, Business Manager of Internal Affairs.” A tall blond guy stepped forward to shake Liam’s hand.

“Don’t worry, I’m straight. Wife and two kids,” the man said laughingly.

Liam burst out laughing, shaking the man’s hand.

“And…this is Kyle, our architect,” Chanty said, pointing at the handsome, black-haired guy standing just a few feet away from her.

Kyle stepped forward and shook Liam’s hand with a smile. “No wife, no kids. Dated Chanty but…”

“Hey!” Chanty playfully punched him on the arm.

“Hey, that was a year ago. Come on!” Kyle stepped back and smiled. He looked at Liam’s grim face and his face straightened. “We’re good friends, though.”

“Back to work, Kyle,” she pushed him away and turned to Liam. She was almost sure he did not look really good. “What’s wrong?”

“You dated your architect a year ago?”

Chanty nodded. “Yes. Any problem with that?”

“Will that not cause any conflict--”

“No, of course not,” she snorted. “Kyle and I are good friends. He’s a great architect. Plus, he will be working closely with you and not me on the site.”

Liam just nodded, the frown still pasted on his face.

“Ms. Strindberg, I really need to tell you something…” Dana burst in again.

“What?” she asked, her fear coming back. She braced herself for the mention of that name again. It seemed she wouldn’t enjoy her lunch after all.

“It’s Mr. Cameron. He’s actually—”

“Chanty!” a big voice shouted behind her and she swirled around. “Oh my God, thank goodness! I need to tell you something!” It was Angelica, her best friend.

“Ange?” she uttered in disbelief. “I thought you’re on your honeymoon?” Her friend was all so tan and was wearing a tube floral dress that flowed as she walked. Add her long, red hair and she looked like she was Ariel, the little mermaid, taking a stroll beside the sea in her new legs.

“I’ll explain later. Cass and Willie actually came with me. They’re at the café across the street. I was just about to get you when—Liam?” Her friend’s words were cut short when her eyes travelled to Liam who was standing behind Chanty. Her red-haired friend gaped. “What are you—”

“Ange, you know Liam is going to work with me, right?” Chanty answered her question before it even came out.

“Ah, yes, I forgot…” Angelica chuckled and then her face turned back to the panicky one it was before when she came in with her glamorous outfit which must have gotten a big fuss from her husband, Henry. “Do you know who I bumped into when I was in the entrance of the building? Well, actually, I did not bump into him because he was already heading toward the elevators and—”

“Ms. Strindberg, I really need to tell you something…” Dana whispered beside her ear.

“What is it Dana?” she was about to ask Angelica to pause her story for a while but her friend seemed unstoppable now.

“Mr. Cameron is here,” Dana uttered.

“Cameron! I saw him!” Angelica exclaimed the same time Dana uttered the announcement.

That must be the worst two simultaneous statements she had ever heard in her life.