JUST A PIECE OF CAKE

Prologue

Liam continued to read the book he was engrossed in since yesterday as he made his way down the stairs. His footsteps echoed as he made his way down the staircase and the 8 AM sun illuminated his slightly tanned skin as it passed through the glass panes of the windows. He made his way to the dining room where his father, Geoff, mother, Karen, and his sister, Ruth, was.

"Good morning, dear," greeted his mother.

He noticed one of the chairs aside from his was empty. "Where's Nicola? Did she have breakfast already?" asked Liam as if it was a shock that his sister woke up earlier than he did.

"Yes," replied Karen as Liam sat down beside his father. "She already left earlier this morning to go to the farm. She's assisting our land manager, Frank, with some plans and repairs being done there as well as the construction of a new barn."

Liam took one of the forks in his spoon-free array of utensils arranged on the table and began with the French toast on his plate while glancing at the book he placed beside his plate for he was still reading.

"Karen, did you saw the news last night?" asked Geoff but Karen shook her head. "No?" Geoff frowned, "It's about the retaliation of Israel...terrible..." Liam's father shook his head and placed the newspaper he was reading down on the table. He turned to Liam and asked, "Isn't Danielle coming tonight?"

Liam looked down on his plate and frowned. "Liam?" his mother called out and he looked up at her. She repeated her husband's question, "Isn't Dani coming tonight? You told us last week that she's coming over for dinner. I already told Malik to look for another cook because Travis is retiring in a few weeks..."

"We called it off..." muttered Liam. His mother suddenly dropped the spoon she was holding into the bowl of soup causing some the contents of the bowl to spill onto the white tablecloth. "What?" said Karen, disbelief most prominent and present on her voice. "B-but I thought you were both sure! That's what the dinner was supposed to be about, right? It was supposed to be yours and Dani's engagement party. Everyone we know is attending because of that."

Liam snapped, as well as the book he was reading snapped shut, "You went and told everybody we know without even asking if it's alright?! God, mom, no wonder Dani was so angry! We'll be ready when we say we're ready but there you go telling everyone!"

"I was just-"

"Just what? Helping? Well, you're not helping, mom! You're the reason Dani and I broke up because she thought I was the one who told everyone that we were getting married even though there wasn't anything like that yet! Is that what you wanted? Us breaking up?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then why did you do that?! Why do you always have to meddle and go ahead and make decisions for me and for my future?! I can make my own decisions, mom. I have a brain for God's sake and I'm not your little boy anymore! I'm not a child!"

Seeing that his mother was already crying, his sister was so scared, and his father was glaring at him, Liam knew he lost his temper again. He closed his eyes, feeling pained, and stormed out of the dining room, running up the stairs and straight into his bedroom. When he entered his room, he crashed onto his bed, tears forming in his eyes and he screamed into his pillow that was still wet from all his crying for the last two days.

His hands reached for the bedside table and grabbed the fortune cookie from the Chinese restaurant that bore the worst memory of Danielle breaking up with him. He sat on the edge of the bed and cracked the cookie open. He read his fortune written on the roll of paper and didn't understand what the goddamn restaurant fortune cookie meant by: the more you hate, the more you love.