CHAPTER 4.

I felt my body collapse. Vital signs such as breathing, blinking, thinking, froze for what I assumed were a few milliseconds. My lungs released all the air stocked in them, and they only recovered after my oxygen supplies dropped to precarious levels. Immediately after, I felt my heart pumping blood again, slowly yet determinedly. I could feel it moving through my veins and arteries, leaving tickling traces all the way through, and making all its way up to my face until it reached my cheeks. Oh yeah. My cheeks, ladies and gentlemen, were giving themselves quite a feast up there.

- Look who I found on my way here... – Susie's eyes were still holding that look, brows lifting carefully, shy smile popping out. It was the kind of look she gave me last year after she unintendedly ate the entire box of Ferrero’s Jeremy had given me for Christmas.

- Hey Julie, how are you doing? – Said Roger with a huge smile spread on his lips. He was a gentle guy and I never quite really understood why he was Liam's best friend.

- Hey… Roger. I’m… fine, thank you. – I was still recovering from the inner earthquake that had just shaken me, trying to show the most I-am-soooo-cool face in the world. Then I turned myself to greet the guy next to him.

- Liam.

- Baker. – He said articulately while the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. My mouth reacted by drawing something that could have been interpreted as the beginning of a very teene tiny smile. Then Roger called my attention again.

- Please forgive us, Julie. We weren’t meant to intrude your girls' night out, but we ran into Susie a few blocks away and she told us you were going to this… new Tex-Mex restaurant. Tonight. For dinner. - He said with a kind smile on his face.

- Yes... Bubble's – I nodded while babbling the name of the restaurant. My voice was more like a shaky whisper.

– Great. We were going to grab a bite as well. So... do you mind if we join you? Liam and I?

His words echoed against my ears. We. Join. Liam. I smiled, perhaps out of nervousness rather than kindness. My gaze shifted towards Liam again, who was staring at me with a rather serious face.

- Of course we don’t mind! The more, the merrier. Right, Julie? – Susie’s eyes were begging. I could see in her gestures that she was being nothing else but kind to them. Because Susie was the embodiment of courtesy and kindness. And because I secretly suspected that this whole idea of having them ​​joining us for dinner came actually from her. Not from Roger. And a thousand percent not from Liam. And I was in turn completely sure that her well-intended words came out of her deliberately uncontrolled, way before she could even start processing about the possibly catastrophic consequences of sitting Liam and me next to each other at the same table at a fancy Tex-Mex restaurant for casual dinner on a Wednesday night.

What else could I do but to agree having dinner with them? Perhaps run away while they all got distracted by Mrs. Cecil natural French-speaking skills? Or come up with some sort of digestive disorder that would make it impossible for me to stay and enjoy a charming soiree with Liam (sad face included)? Or perhaps receive a call from my grandma’s non-existent cellphone asking for some help as she locked herself out of her own house and had no keys with her whatsoever (yeah, back there in Philadelphia)? But before I could use any of these brilliant excuses, words just burped out of me, uninvited, yet, loud and clear.

- Of course... – Two innocent words. Two words that had just made it inequivocal that I would be more than happy to sit at the same table with none other than Liam Anderson to share a delightful Mexican evening full of nachos, laughters, and Margaritas. “What the hell, Julie?”... Now seriously, did I just hit my head or something? Because that could be the only logical explanations to this.

Suddenly, a low, thick and kind voice reached my ears, catching all my attention and making me turn to meet his owner’s eyes. Once again.

- Are you sure? – He asked. Deep. Sincere. And concerned? I took the time to look at him more carefully. His eyes were greener than I have ever seen before, or at least remembered, even at daylight. His gaze was soft, way different from the Liam I was used to. Far different from the snobby, know-it-all Liam I fought every single time. Was he being… considerate? No, no way... Perhaps he was just very aware (as I was) that the situation was definitely risky given the fact that we both, well, kind of hated each other, and before turning the night a disastrous nightmare for everyone, he was waiting for me to say “absolutely not” to this crazy idea. And since Roger was the female version of Susie (kind and polite), he knew I was the only one capable of breaking this absurd dinner deal. "Very nice brainstorming, Sherlock". However, his eyes were telling a totally different story. They were… thoughtful? Wait. If he was asking out of pure consideration, it would be the first time like in, well, ever. So no, absolutely impossible. Anyway, I just had said yes, so... I sighed to myself, and confirmed my words, also because doing otherwise would have been very rude.

- I am.

- Okey. – He said still using the same tone of voice and nodded, taking my words seriously, while his eyes were still stuck on mine.

- Perfect! Thank you, girls. Shall we get going, then? Kind of starving here. – Said Roger and we all made our way out of Café Orly, heading ourselves to the restaurant a few blocks away from there.

A charming atmosphere full of Mexican music, colors and smells hit us as we got through the entrance of the restaurant. The smell of nachos, cheese, pepper and fajitas immediately filled my nose, whetting the appetite I didn't know I already had. Having fed myself all day with crackers could not be considered the equivalent to decent breakfast and lunch, right?

At the back of the salon, three mariachis dressed up to the occasion were hitting the strings of their guitars and singing a happy song whose lyrics I couldn't even try to understand. For a brief second, I regretted having chosen fencing over Spanish in ninth grade.

The host approached us with a warm, cheerful smile. He introduced himself as Juan, and kindly asked if we had done a reservation for that night. The place was almost at its full capacity, and as soon as Susie nodded, I could see the relief in his eyes. He smiled, took four menus, and asked us to follow him.

As we moved through the tables, I was able to appreciate the decoration. It was chirpy, with brightly colored lights perfectly distributed through the ceiling. Paintings, textiles, plants, and Mexican paper banners spread through the walls. Tables full of people happily talking, laughing, drinking and eating. Skillful waiters carrying trays full of nachos and beverages of all kinds of sizes and colors. “Oh, that’s right. The famous interstellar Margaritas,” I thought to myself. Behind my back, Susie and Roger enthusiastically chatting about something I could not really tell. Next to me, silent Liam, looking just straight ahead. Soon after, we were standing in front of our table. A four-seat booth, actually. It was separated from adjacent booths with wooden panels slightly higher than the back of the sofas, providing some privacy.

I slid across one of the couches and when I lifted my face, I saw Liam doing the exact same thing on the other one. That’s right. I would be inevitably facing Liam for the next couple of hours. Susie sat next to me and Roger next to Liam. I sighed inconspicuously. Ok, let me just be honest here. From all possible outcomes I could have considered for the night, most probable one was falling asleep while reading an article on electromagnetic sensors for continuum manipulators (super fun, trust me) while running Friends on the background, but the last thing I would have ever imagined was sharing a table with Liam, and on top of it, having him sit right in front of me. And it was, to say the least, terrifying. Because having him successfully sign a coexistence agreement for academic purposes was one thing, but having him sit in front of me, without any sort of clauses involving having dinner at restaurants, was a very different one.

Then my mind travelled back to what just happened at the Café Orly, and I felt… relieved? Because at least we were able to talk to each other without squeezing our necks, right? And furthermore, even though I did not fully understand the true intentions behind him asking if I was ok with all this dinner thing, for the slightest, tiniest second I felt we were able to behave like normal people around each other. “Why are you complaining, Julie? Just take it. It is good when people treat other people nicely out of courtesy, right?”, I thought. Well yeah, the thing is... maybe I was so used to Liam being such a douchebag, that seeing him act otherwise was just really too much to fall for. Really. I mean, we are talking about Liam here, remember? The most despiteful guy I’ve ever met. The most obnoxiously inconsiderate person in the whole world. But yet… I felt his concern was real. Pretty real, actually. Was he truthfully concerned about me, just for once, after being a jerk practically… forever? I just… didn’t know what to think about it.

Not having a clear answer to that question at that precise moment, I took a deep breath and thanked the host who had just handed me the menu, not only because he successfully distracted me from that philosophical brainwork I was tangled in, but also because I was really starving and willing to order something to eat. Then my eyes traveled briefly to the source of my anguish, who was fully concentrated, eyes on the menu he was holding in his hands.

My eyes couldn’t help making their way to his hair. Deep, silky dark black. It was just a few inches long, and a few hairs made their way to his forehead. His skin was light yet golden and suntanned. He was wearing a neatly ironed black polo shirt, the last button undone. The shirt perfectly adjusted to his chest and his arms full of defined muscles, and I knew exactly why they were the way they were. Oh, no. I’ve avoided that memory for quite some time, because… “Think of something else, Julie, anything else, now!,” I commanded myself. But it was already too late. The image of Liam exercising in the sports field was stuck in my head, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was totally and absolutely blushed.

In an attempt to divert my eyes to somewhere else but his perfect biceps, I looked up and found a pair of green eyes staring at me, deeply and concentrated. Oh God! I frowned my mouth and cleared my throat, after which his brows lifted and his mouth drew a subtle smirk. I had to look away.

- The suggestion for today, if I may, - interrupted the host, - are the Mexican Chili nachos, grated cheese, fajita tacos and... our amazing round of strawberry, mango, lemon and peach margarita shots.

- Everything sounds delicious – Susie said.

- We can have it all, what do you think? - Roger asked, looking at all of us.

- Totally agree. – Said Susie, excited, clapping palms. - Julie? - she asked.

- Yeah, it’s fine. – I said with a quivery voice.

- Me too. – Liam finally said. And only then I realized that his eyes were still on me.