June, 2008, NYU

“Do you think she’s having trouble with Cameron?”

Zach looked at Liam dryly. “It is bound to happen, my friend. And you have to grab the chance to comfort her, be the man who bears the shoulder for her to cry on. “

“I think I will be the last person she’d go to.”

“Well, look who’s getting pessimistic today!”

“Hey, you guys,” Angelica’s voice said behind them. She was carrying her usual books in a fashionable way that only Angelica Dalton could do.

“Why are you here?” they both asked her.

“The hospital doesn’t need my young, brilliant mind. And the coffee shop loves me back. Are you guys talking about Chanty and Cameron again?”

“Of course not,” Liam said too fast.

“Yes, of course, who else?” Zach said at the same time.

“So I am not the only one who thinks something is wrong with those two?”

“They might just be going through something tough, you know the usual stuff couples go through,” Liam uttered.

It was Angelica’s turn to look at him dryly. “You’re only saying that so we will tell you the opposite so you can have the confidence to come up to her and tell her you’ve been crazy over her for years, are you?”

“Spot on…” Zach said in a sing-song voice.

“Well, let me tell you a secret,” Angelica said, leaning forward. She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I am almost sure Chanty wants to leave the man. She doesn’t know it yet, so she might just need the push. I know she’s thinking about the years she had spent with him and the trouble the breakup would cause her life. She had planned a future with him and every other shit most girls in a relationship think about. So, as her best friend, I will try to talk to her and put some sense into her head. But I will not in any way make any effort to help you, Liam. You have to do it yourself. In what way, I don’t know.”

“Well, that makes it easier,” Zach said after a while. “You just need to man up, man.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“If Cameron is out of the picture, you will do it?” Angelica asked.

“They very second she decides and agrees with us that the guys is a douche, yes, I will.”

2013

“Willie, be careful!” Chanty said, chasing her son who was skipping his way along the rough path that led deeper into the woods.

She was already panting with exhaustion and she was falling behind in a bad way. Liam was busy watching over Willie who was taking the lead, guiding the boy back in the right trail if he made the wrong turn.

Once or twice, Chanty saw him glance over his shoulder to check on her. Maybe he was doing this on purpose, she thought.

He and Willie were too fast for Chanty to catch up and it seemed like Liam was not doing anything other than urge Willie on, praising the boy for his stamina.

“Can’t we stop for a while? I need to catch my breath,” she finally pleaded.

The two boys before her stopped and turned around to look at her with bewilderment.

“We just started ten minutes ago,” Liam pointed out, checking his watch.

“I know,” she said breathlessly, mentally making a note that she should make an appointment to a nearby gym the moment she arrived home. But right now, she was not doing good. Her heart raced the moment the trail started to incline. And then her legs started to ache in a way that was beyond the strain her high heels could evoke.

“You okay, mommy?” her son asked with concern in his voice, but when Chanty had a good look at his face, he was wearing a happy smile on his face, the rays of sunlight that peeked through the leaves of the trees around them washed his face with radiance.

Chanty couldn’t help but smile in return. “Yes, I am. I just need a few minutes, honey,” she reassured him.

“You will catch up?”

For a moment, she was blank, but when she realized what her son was trying to say, her eyes widened. She instinctively searched Liam’s face for help. He understood and looked down at Willie.

“Buddy, your mother needs a few minutes to rest and we are staying with her. We did make a promise not to stay away from the others, right? We can’t just leave her behind, right? Anyway, we now both know she can’t hike.”

Chanty groaned. But hell, her legs and feet were killing her and her breathing barely came back to normal as it was.

“Mommy’s got to stop lying,” Willie uttered with a pout.

Chanty stiffened and she was sure that Liam was nearly holding his own breath.

She looked at her son with warning. Despite his awesome look right now, with his hair almost a golden brown with the sunlight, she needed to do it.

“You said you can hike. You lied,” her son accused more gently this time after seeing her face, trying to explain his words.

“Well, yes, but I didn’t say I can do it for a long time,” she argued. “Don’t ever talk like that again, okay?”

“Okay.”

“And mommy doesn’t lie for no reason at all. Well, yes, it is bad and all but when you grow up, you will understand that there are things you have to do but when you do them there will be consequences and then things would start to fall apart--” Chanty stopped herself and took a deep breath. “Forget it. We should probably go,” she murmured to her son as she stood up.

Clearing her throat while maintaining her gaze down on the ground so she wouldn’t have to accidentally look at Liam, Chanty walked with Willie who was taking it slow in consideration to his mother. Whatever Liam was thinking now after nonsense blabber about lies, she didn’t want to know. He had made it clear last night that he didn’t want anything to do with her.

She had every intention to change that perspective of his, wherever he picked it up. He had been around her life too long for him to give up now, she thought. He couldn’t just give up. He should at least give her the chance she never gave him in the past.

God, I am so selfish, she thought as she followed her son.

*****

Liam didn’t ponder on Chanty’s words deeply.

As he had told himself countless of times, he was giving himself enough space from her. He shouldn’t be bothered by her feelings. He shouldn’t be bothered that she couldn’t hike and that she might get injured along the way if she continued on with that kind of walking she was doing now. And most of all, he should not be too attached to her son.

But shit, he was having trouble doing all those things when he was with no other people but them.

This is the last day, he assured himself.

Then they were going home.

Back home, he could sleep in his own bed and be in his own house with a lot of other things to think about other than Chanty’s choice of sleeping clothes. Back home, he didn’t have to share one roof with Chanty. He didn’t have to be with Willie all day.

As they hiked further into the woods, with the trail guiding them, Liam prayed he would not be the one to get his heart broken in the end. AGAIN.

I have to do something about this once and for all, he decided.

*****

They were having a break at the end of the trail which they reached after five more stops as Chanty requested.

“Don’t go too far, Willie,” Chanty told her son as she watched him walk to some bushes, bending down to look for bugs for his collection.

Liam was sitting on a rock a few feet away from her, wiping his face with a towel.

Chanty offered him some water which he took with a small thank you.

“It’s a nice day. We can go back home without any rains,” she uttered, looking up and squinting her eyes against the sunlight that was playing hide and seek with the leaves. The woods were quiet, free of any mechanical noise. It could turn out to be the best day of her life if Liam was not making it difficult.

Liam did not utter a word.

Chanty moved her head to look at him and say something else, probably the rough road, just to get a response from him. This would not work one-way. He had to at least cooperate, right?

But then memories flooded her brain and it was like she was having a fast forward review of the past and she saw the countless of times she had ignored and pushed Liam away. Most of her time in NYU, she had been an ass. Back then, she thought Liam and Zach were nothing but trouble.

Along with the flashes of memories was the feeling of regret. Why didn’t she figure it out back then? Why didn’t she see? Why didn’t she just shut up and let Liam stay with her those times when he walked up to her in the coffee shop?

Back then, she only remembered the times they played pranks on her, laughed at her and Cameron and many other things. Now, she could actually identify those moments when they were being jerks and those times when they were really trying to be real people.

Her mind was brought back to the present when she realized Liam was speaking.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked when she didn’t catch it.

He looked at her again, his brown hair almost damp with sweat. She could almost spot that tiny mark on his temple that gave him his charms. But his eyes were serious as he looked at her and said, “I said I am going to hand over the project to Zach once we get back.”

It took her a while to process his words. She recognized them, but her brain had trouble arranging the words in proper order to make some sense out of them in return for her to comprehend. But when she finally understood, her eyes widened and she shot to her feet. “What? Why?”

Liam shrugged. “I just think he is ready now that he has somehow changed and he has a family to think about.”

“That’s bullshit, Liam, and you know that! This is not about Zach at all!” Chanty cried out. “You can just tell me that you hate me that much you couldn’t work with me anymore.” Her voice was shaking now. In fact, her whole being was shaking out of anger and fear and a lot of other emotions swirling at her core.

“I don’t hate you, Chanty. I just can’t work with you anymore like I could weeks ago. At the moment, I find it hard to even look at you and not remember what you did to me. I understand why you did all those things and I might have done the same if I was in your shoes. But that was not the case.”

“I thought you said you forgive me and--”

“Well, I do. But forgiving is not the same as forgetting. I might forget everything in time, but right now, I couldn’t do that with you around. I could have done anything for you, you know. You had a choice to tell me the truth. Yes, you tried, but you should have tried harder. You chose the most convenient path at the time and I was a willing--” he stopped and brushed his fingers through his hair. “This is getting frustrating. We have been talking about the same thing over and over again and it is one of the reasons why I have to stay away.”

“But Liam, you can see I am trying to--”

“Where’s Willie?” he asked, standing up, concern on his face.

“What?” Chanty whirled around to look at the spot where her son was just a few minutes ago. “Willie?” Panic built up inside her once more. “Willie!” she shouted this time, walking over to the bush where Willie had been bending over earlier.

Liam was at the other end, calling out Willie’s name at the top of his lungs.

“Oh God, Willie!” Chanty cried out, the tears streaming down her cheeks. She was crying for her son and she was crying over the conversation she just had with Liam. How could she be so unlucky today? “Willie! Are you hiding? Come out! This is no time to play, you know! We’re going home now!”

There was no answer.

Chanty forgot everything about the argument she had with Liam.

“Wait, don’t move too much,” she heard him say behind her.

“What now?” she asked impatiently. “Willie!”

“We don’t want to ruin his tracks. Let’s try to find him through his tracks.”

“I can barely hike properly, Liam. I don’t even recognize my own footprints.”

“Just be still, damn it. Don’t move.” Chanty obeyed, watching him scan the ground for any signs of Willie’s footsteps. “He was here earlier,” he uttered as he investigated the area around the bushes. “And it seems that he went here…” he started to move and Chanty felt it was finally safe to follow him.

“Willie!” she shouted once more. “Oh God, there are no lions here, right? No giant birds that could grab him and take him far away, right?”

Liam looked at her incredulously before he went back to tracking Willie’s trail.

“Are you sure you are following the right trail? What if it is just that of a dog’s? Or a bear? There are no bears here, right? Oh, God! Willie!”

“Stop panicking, Chanty. It is not helping. Just keep on calling out his name,” Liam told her in a very calm manner. “Drop something along the way so we don’t get lost later,” he ordered. Chanty searched her small bag for anything. She picked a piece of bread and dropped it on the ground. Liam saw it and sighed. “Do you think that break would still be there later? We are not the only animals here, Chanty. Drop something not edible.”

“Would stones work?”

He thought about it for a while. He shrugged. “Fine.”

Chanty searched for two large stones and placed one over the other. And then she proceeded to follow Liam, calling Willie’s name along the way.

“I never imagined I’d be lost in the woods. I know Julianne and Zach got lot in one,” she said as she tried to calm herself. She could get too talkative when she was in a panic.

“I don’t think they were,” Liam answered.

“Really?”

“I know Zach. It could have been part of his plan,” he explained, looking intently on the ground.

Chanty thought about it. But Julianne was pretty sure they were really lost that time.

And then the fear for her son came back and she dropped the calm act. She shouted his name once again.

“Wait,” Liam stopped her. He was looking at the ground. While he studied some leaves and twigs, Chanty took another rock and placed it on a bigger one nearby.

If something happened to her son, there was no one to blame but her. Her cheeks were wet with tears as she went back to where Liam was.

“We’re going to find him, just pull yourself together,” he told her when he saw her tears.

“I can’t help it. Oh, Willie! Willie!”

Liam turned right and she followed. A few more steps and he stopped. He looked to his right and then he turned to her with a smile. “We found him.”

Chanty rushed past him and found Willie leaning against a tree, his hand around the jar resting on his lap. And he was asleep.

She went down the ground in front of her son, tears of relief pooling out of her eyes. “Willie, honey,” she whispered as she dried her tears. “Hey, buddy,” she gently shook her son who looked like he had a long day.

Slowly, Willie opened his eyes. Chanty was now busy checking his arms and legs--all parts of him--to see if he was hurt. “Mommy?”

“Willie, where did you go? How did you get here?”

“I was looking for bugs.”

“You should have told us where you were going, buddy,” Liam said behind Chanty.

“I did. You didn’t hear?”

Chanty looked at her son guiltily. She and Liam were probably too busy arguing they didn’t notice Willie walking away.

“Next time, you have to make sure mommy is really listening, okay?” she told her son as she pulled him up to his feet.

Willie looked confused but nodded.

“Shall we go?” Liam asked the boy. “You can ride on my back this time.”

Willie looked tempted but he shook his head. “I can walk all the way back!”

*****

Liam was still thinking about the great amount of fear he felt earlier when Willie got lost in the woods.

It only meant one thing: it was too late for him to not fall for the child.

They were now on the road back home.

Willie was asleep at the back and Chanty was looking ahead, her eyes blank.

“You know I would do anything for my son, right?” she asked him quietly, her tone barely a question.

He just stole her a glance but did not answer.

“I would do anything for him, Liam. Anything to keep him safe and happy. Even if it means I have to hurt a bunch of people,” she continued.

He didn’t comment. What could he say? That it was wrong? It was a mother he was talking to and he was sure his own mother would agree with her.

“Of all the things I had done, I regret those that I did to you the most,” she said without looking at him. “And I intend to make you forget all of them.”

This time, Liam frowned.

He was about to open his mouth to say something but Chanty cut him off by saying, “Don’t leave just yet. Give more time, Liam, please. I want to prove to you that forgetting doesn’t mean staying away. Just give me a chance here, please.”

Chanty begging him for a chance was probably one of the things he never imagined his entire life. Liam swallowed and turned his head toward her. He looked at her for few seconds before he returned his attention back on the road.

“My decision is final, Chanty. I will leave the moment I settle everything with Zach and Astor Industries.”

*****

Chanty felt like she was being dragged down endlessly in the deepest part of the ocean and Liam was up there, floating in a boat. And she was drowning, reaching out her hands for him to pull her up. But he was not doing anything. And she was drowning deep, deep, deep.

She wanted to ask him why he was doing this to her. How did he come up with the decision? Had he been thinking about it for a while now?

She forced her tears to make a u-turn. She couldn’t cry right now.

She had to think. And she had to do it fast.

He said he’d settle matters with the company before he left. It would take at least two weeks.

Two weeks.

It had taken Liam years to make her see and notice him.

Could she do the same in just two weeks.

After taking one last glance at him, she was certain he was not backing out of his plan. He had thought this through.

Her plans had to change. She had to be a bit more aggressive with her efforts now. They were nearly home where the real world awaited them--Real world with her family, her friends, her job, Cameron and Liam.

Could she deal with all of them on her own?

*****

Liam did not stay after he dropped them off.

He carried the sleeping Willie to his bedroom and left after a short goodbye to Chanty.

After tucking her child in bed, she went to take a long, warm bath to give relief to her aching body after that blasted hike and to think.

She called Angelica.

Her friend picked up after three rings.

“He’s leaving. I mean he is really leaving. The company and all.”

“Well, I had thought of that.”

“You did?”

“It is not a surprise. People have the tendency to leave if they can’t deal with the problems anymore. What’s your plan?”

“I can’t give up, right?”

“Girl, you should just tell him you love him. He’d stay forever.”

“I am not even sure how I feel. I just know I can’t let him go this time. I need time to figure out my feelings.”

“Fine. I’ll help you.”

“I didn’t ask for you help--”

“Chanty, you need my expertise. You don’t have more time. We need to be aggressive, girl.”

“I have already thought of that.”

“And I just know how to be really aggressive,” Angelica told her in that wicked tone of hers. "Operation Liam is now on."