The Girl In The Dirty Shirt Liam Version

Chapter 108

Liam left for Brussels on the thirtieth of the month and wouldn't be back until the third.

I stayed home this time, if I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust him about communicating with me I had to give him the chance to do it.

I had four days to myself and I knew exactly what I was going to do; I would surprise Liam.

Our whole flat desperately needed an overhaul, but I'd start with something small; our bedroom.

I made a few calls and by dinner the night Liam had left our room was a gutted mess.

I slept on the couch and the next morning I woke up and called Kate to go shopping. We were looking at paint chips and Kate finally asked the question that I knew had been bugging her all morning.

"How are things with you and Liam?" She asked quietly bouncing Lucy on her hip.

I laughed a little biting my lip. "They've been better, but we've definitely been worse"

She nodded "And you're surprising him with renovations?"

I shrugged with a smile "Last time we fought he bought me a car"

"A car?"

I nodded "Liam says sorry with extremely grand gestures"

She nodded again with a laugh. "He's not the only one apparently"

**

The next day we drove London and spent half the day in twentytwentyone trying to decide on a bedroom outfit.

I decided on a black set with chrome accents; I'd always wanted a satin sheet set and now I could finally afford one, I bought a black set and a shimmery silver duvet to go on top of everything.

"Liam's going to flip when he realizes how much you spent"

"It wasn't that much" I laughed putting the bags down.

"You spent five thousand dollars on the bedroom outfit alone, Lyla!" She laughed.

"It was cute!" I protested "It's not like we can't afford it"

She just laughed shaking her head "What if they don't deliver it before they get home?"

I shrugged "Then I'm royally fucked"

We painted the room after eating lunch, midnight blue. I thought about doing stars on the ceiling, but decided against it and just left it white.

I spent the night at Kate's with her and the baby.

After Lucy was asleep we binged on junk food and wine like we were in high school again.

I was a little jealous when Bonehead called to say goodnight to Kate. He'd done it ever since I'd met him, but I always had Liam five feet away, I never had any reason to be jealous.

The next morning I went back home and secretly hoped that Liam had left a message telling me goodnight or that he missed me; anything, but he hadn't.

I'd made it over a year without a goodnight message; I suppose I could go another few days. I made a mental note to make him feel guilty for that as soon as possible.

**

The day Liam was due home, I found myself busier than I'd been since he left. I set up all the new bedroom linens, hung the band's framed gold records (that Liam had been promising he'd do something with since we moved into the flat), rearranged the furniture twice, and still had time to binge and hide the evidence.