CARA

I can't believe what just transpired out there. I never expected to meet Liam this way after how badly I hurt him.

There is no way I'm staying here or working for Liam Johnson!

I run my fingers through my hair in frustration.

"Please pick up your phone Mrs Johnson." I say half pleading as I dial Liam's mother's number.

Once she confirms that this was a mistake, I'll be out of here before he gets back.

After a thousand and one voicemails, she eventually picks.

In one breath, I say "Mrs Johnson, I think there has been a mistake somewhere. The address I was given is Liam's house address."

"Yes, darling. The house is a nice two-bedroom apartment on his property right behind his house. I hope it's not too small. Thought you might feel safer living with Liam. I don't know if you may want to have the extra room as a closet. I can send in a carpenter to help do the needful. I take it you've met Liam and his beautiful daughter. I would have loved to unpack with you but I need to finish the interior decoration for the upcoming charity gala hosted by Liam. Talk to you later, darling." she says ending the phone abruptly without giving me any chance to say my piece.

I stare long and hard at the phone in my hand as if I expect her to call me back and say she was just kidding and that the apartment she prepared for me is nowhere near this property I'm standing on.

Safe is the last thing I feel right now, especially after Liam made a fool of me. What was I thinking leaning in for a kiss?

I groan inwardly and facepalm as I recall my new most embarrassing memory. He must be laughing at me right now. I was waiting to feel his lips only to open my eyes and find out he was holding the documents that were on top of my car. He must have picked it when my eyes were closed. Why did I even think he'd want to kiss me after our history together.

I look at the stack of boxes before me and sigh. I'll never understand why some people find it fun to move. It's extremely stressful and tiring.

As much as I fancy surprises, I wasn't expecting to see Liam out of the blue. I wasn't prepared to meet him this way and I wasn't expecting him to easily recognize me. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't taken aback and hurt when he called me a stranger. The most hurtful part was when his daughter stepped away for me. I didn't know his wife had died.

The last time I checked, he was happily married to the Ace's only child. I had to stop keeping tabs on them for the sake of my sanity. I just hope he doesn't think I'm back because of that. If I knew, I wouldn't even have accepted Mrs Johnson's offer. I was more comfortable knowing he was married than knowing his wife is now late. I can't be around him for too long especially not after my body responded the way it did. I have to get out of here as soon as possible.

The less of him I see, the better for me. I'm not sure if Mrs Johnson's aim of giving me accommodation on his property is solely for security reasons. I hope she doesn't have other things up her sleeve. I don't know if Liam hates me but something tells me I have to flee as fast as I can now that I still have the chance. After all, I never found out how he reacted to the breakup.

Just the thought of me resuming work tomorrow by 6 a.m irks me. I deserve a day or two to rest especially after setting up my apartment alone and a long flight. I'll talk to him once he gets back. There is no way I'm resuming work tomorrow let alone by 6 a.m.

I pick up one of the huge boxes alongside the key to the house. I haven't even seen what the apartment looked like.

I open the door to the house and I'm instantly amazed by what I see. Sleek wood. The house interior screamed vintage with a touch of modern. The floors were made of polished dark brown wood and so were the walls. The parlor is not so big but I really didn't care. There was a long white sofa set and a wooden centre table in the middle. A rocking wooden chair was situated beside a transparent glass door not too far from the sofa.

I close my eyes and allow myself to fantasize.

I can already picture myself rocking gently in the rocking chair on a breezy afternoon sipping fruit juice and getting sucked into the world of my newly acquired copy of Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 with Chet Baker's Almost Blue playing softly on the turntable in the background while butterflies happily suck nectar from the California poppy flowers outside.

The sound of a dog barking from a distance drags me back to reality and I open my eyes. I take in the rest of my surroundings.

There is a transparent glass door leading to a balcony where you could have a clear view of the garden. It must have been for his late wife. One can tell from the beautiful flowers it has. I have never known Liam to be a garden person. People change. It's very true people change but the thought of Liam owning a garden doesn't sit well with me. Where was the time for that with a busy schedule? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying men can't own flower gardens but the Liam I know can't be the owner of this garden except I really didn't know him.

After an intense survey of the whole apartment and it's surroundings, I can't help but commend the interior decor's good work. It must have been Mrs Johnson. After all, she was talking about decorating for an upcoming charity gala. I begin to bring in the boxes containing my things one after the other and when I'm done bringing all of them in, I collapse on the sofa. I take a long sip from the bottle of water I brought with me.

I take a much needed thirty minute break. I then stand up from the extra comfortable sofa and begin to envisage where I want things to go. My pictures, that of mother, my racks, books and every other thing.

I hang my favorite Rembrandt painting ‘The storm on the sea of Galilee ’ on the living room wall along with a picture of myself and a mahogany framed picture of my mom and I from my middle school graduation. I stop and stare at the picture and emotions cloud my features. I remember being cross with my mum that day because she came after the ceremony already ended and I remember my mum apologizing to me profusely while I sulked on for the entire day. I give a sad smile. I regret treating her bad even for a moment. I regret all the times I rebelled against her and did the opposite of what she wanted me to do.

I snap out of it and continue to arrange my stuff. I arrange my books on the shelf according to the authors. I arrange my Jazz phonograph records in one part of the shelf. I place my small clay Super Mario and marble ballerina figurines on the topmost part of the shelf.

I advance to the bigger bedroom which I’ll use as my personal bedroom. The walls are adorned with a pink flowery wallpaper. There is a queen sized bed adjacent the door and on it a bed linen with a deeper shade of pink. There is also a pink Victorian vanity set opposite the bed.

'Uh, too much pink' I mutter under my breath.

I arrange my cosmetics on the vanity table. I also arrange smaller framed pictures of me, my mum and both of us together on the table.

I also hang a large framed copy of Rembrandt's Danaë on the wall above the bed.

A door at the opposite side of the room opens into a bathroom with a shower stall with a glass door and a bidet a little distance from it. There is a framed mirror above the sink in the bathroom beside which neat towels are arranged on a shelf. There is also a Jacuzzi in the bathroom.

I unpack and arrange my clothes in the huge mahogany wardrobe in the room.

When I'm done, I advance to the second room which is smaller. There is a Murphy bed on one side of the room. There is a small desk beside the bed and a swivel chair is tucked into it. I decide to make this room my study.

When I'm finally done with the unpacking and arranging, our side of the Earth had already rotated away from the sun. The sky was now a mix of dark orange and purple hue. I take a quick shower and change into a blue blouse and black Bermuda shorts.

Liam was still yet to be back. I wanted to give him an earlier notice that I won't be able to make it to work tomorrow so it doesn't come as impromptu. What is taking them so long?

I rack my brain to remember where he said they were going to the other time. Right, he talked about getting ice cream or something of sort if I remember correctly.