Chapter 29
Aria’s POV
I pushed my lunch around my plate, barely registering the half-eaten salad in front of me. My mind was still stuck on last night. Dinner with Liam hadn’t been what I expected—not by a long shot.
“Okay, spill,” Isabella said, sliding into the seat across from me in the cafe. “You’ve been off all morning. What’s going on?”
I hesitated, unsure how to even begin explaining. “I had dinner with Liam last night,” I admitted, glancing up at her. “And it was… nice.”
Isabella’s eyebrows shot up. “Nice? Nice how? Like ‘nice, we’re finally talking like adults,’ or ‘nice, we might be more than co-parents’?”
I sighed, shaking my head. “It wasn’t tense, you know? I went in bracing myself for the usual—awkward silences, polite but distant conversation—but it wasn’t like that. He was… different.”
“Different how?” Isabella pressed, leaning in with her usual curiosity.
“More like, lighter. I don’t know, more confident maybe? He actually smiled at me, Izzy. Like, genuinely smiled. And I couldn’t tell if I liked it or if it just made me feel… weird.”
Isabella nodded slowly, taking it all in. “It’s throwing you off because it doesn’t fit the version of him you’ve held onto, huh?”
I bit my lip, thinking about how Liam had looked at me, like I was still someone who mattered.
“Yeah. I’ve spent so long thinking of him as the guy who let me down, who didn’t fight for us when it mattered. And now, seeing him like this, almost happy—it’s like it’s messing with my memories.”
Isabella gave me a knowing smile. “That’s because you’re still holding onto that hurt. You’ve put Liam in this box labeled ‘past mistakes,’ and now he’s trying to break out of it.”
I laughed, though it felt forced. “I’m trying to refocus on work, but all I can think about is him. How he kept looking at me, like I was still… I don’t know, interesting?”
Isabella snorted, picking up her fork. “Girl, he’s still in love with you. Of course you’re interesting. He’s been waiting for that dinner for years.”
Her words hit me harder than I expected. I stared down at my untouched lunch.
“I don’t know if I can handle that. I barely made a dent in my reports today because I kept replaying everything in my head.”
Isabella reached across the table, her tone softening.
“Look, it’s okay to be confused. But maybe it’s not just about him. Maybe it’s about what you want now, not who he used to be. Give yourself some grace. You don’t have to decide anything today.”
I nodded, appreciating the reminder. “Thanks, Izzy. I just… I don’t know what to do with all of this.”
“Take it one step at a time,” she said, smiling warmly. “And maybe, just maybe, let yourself enjoy it a little. You deserve that.”
I took a deep breath, her words settling something in me. Maybe I didn’t have to figure it all out right now. Maybe it was enough to just feel whatever it was I was feeling. For now.
The next day at work, I found my thoughts kept drifting back to Liam, to the way he’d watched me over dinner, like I was still the most interesting person in the room. It was distracting, maddening even, and by lunchtime, I’d barely made a dent in the reports piling up on my desk.
I glanced over at Jackson, who was hunched over his laptop, furiously typing away on some assignment he’d put off until the last minute. He looked up just as I sighed for what must’ve been the hundredth time today.
“You okay over there?” Jackson asked, raising an eyebrow. “You seem… off.” I forced a smile, waving him off. “Just tired. Long night.”
Jackson smirked. “Ah, the infamous dinner with the ex, huh? Saw you two leaving together last night. Looked like it went better than expected.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the way my stomach flipped at the reminder. “It was fine. Just dinner. Nothing worth gossiping about.”
He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.
“Well, Liam’s been weirdly pleasant lately. Like, abnormally pleasant. Almost like he’s trying to impress someone. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
I shot him a look, but his teasing only made me more irritated. Jackson had always had a knack for picking up on things I wasn’t ready to admit, and today was no different.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said flatly, turning back to my screen. Jackson shrugged, but his grin lingered.
“Hey, I’m just saying, it’s nice to see him not storming around like he’s about to fire half the office. Must be all those good vibes you’re sending his way.”
I didn’t respond. The truth was, I didn’t understand why Liam had been so determined to stay close, why he kept insisting on helping me with the Mason situation or inviting me out like we were old friends.
It felt like a game I didn’t know the rules to, and I hated feeling like I was losing.
Later that afternoon, I found myself out on the track, supervising some of the prep work for an upcoming event.
I was reviewing some notes on my clipboard when Jackson’s manager, Roger, sauntered over, his presence like a dark cloud looming at the edge of my vision.
Roger had made it his personal mission to belittle me every chance he got, and today, it seemed, would be no exception.
“Hey, Aria,” Roger called, his tone dripping with condescension.
“I saw those latest reports you sent in. Sloppy work, as usual. You might want to consider another line of work. Something that doesn’t involve numbers or words, maybe?”
I clenched my jaw, swallowing the sharp retort that rose in my throat. I was used to his jabs by now, his constant need to undermine me in front of anyone who would listen.
“Roger, I think you’ve got bigger problems than Aria’s work,” Liam said, stepping out from the shadows with an easy confidence that immediately drew attention.
“Like the fact that you’ve been showing up late to every meeting this week. Not to mention the stench of alcohol that’s been following you around.”
Roger’s face paled, his bravado crumbling in an instant. He stammered, caught off guard. “Mr. Liam, I—”
Liam didn’t let him finish. “I expect my team to show up on time and sober, Roger. If that’s too much to ask, I’m sure HR would love to have a chat about it.”
The color drained from Roger’s face entirely, and he muttered some half-hearted apology before scurrying off like a scolded child. The humiliation was written all over him, and I could feel the eyes of everyone nearby fixed on the scene Liam had just caused.
Jackson, who had witnessed the entire thing, gave a low whistle as he watched Roger retreat. “Damn,” Jackson said, shaking his head. “That was… brutal.”
But I wasn’t feeling relief or gratitude. The spark of frustration that had been simmering all day suddenly flared into anger.
I turned to Liam, my voice tight with barely contained fury. “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me, Liam. I can handle Roger on my own.”
Liam looked taken aback, his confident demeanor slipping for just a moment. “I know you can,” he said slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. “But you shouldn’t have to.”
“Maybe not,” I snapped, the words coming out sharper than I intended. “But that doesn’t give you the right to swoop in like some knight in shining armor. This isn’t your mess to clean up.”
I didn’t wait for his response. I turned on my heel and stormed off, my heart pounding in my chest. I could feel his eyes on my back, but I didn’t stop.
I headed straight for my office, slamming the door behind me and sinking into my chair.
Liam was right—I shouldn’t have to deal with people like Roger. But what bothered me more was how Liam always seemed to be there, always ready to jump in and fix things, whether I wanted him to or not.
I glanced at the clock, realizing I’d wasted most of the day caught up in thoughts of Liam, of what his sudden reappearance in my life meant.
I still had a job to do, a son to think about, and no time to get lost in the tangled web of Liam’s charm and unresolved feelings.
But no matter how hard I tried to focus, my mind kept drifting back to that moment on the track, to the way Liam had defended me without a second thought.
It was infuriating. It was comforting. It was everything I didn’t want to feel. And the worst part? I had no idea what to do about it.
