Men Do Cry

Mommy and Daddy Issues

Liam's house in Brooklyn:

"Honey, are you asleep?", said Amber as she slowly opened the door of Liam's room.

Liam was sitting on his desk, with both his feet on the chair and a table light lighting up the table. As he heard Amber, he turned around and said, "No mom, I am not."

Amber came inside and asked Liam to sit on the bed as she wanted to talk about something important.

Curiously, Liam got up from the chair and sat on the bed, and asked, "What is it, mom? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is okay."

"So what is it that you want to talk about?"

"It is actually about me and Darien. Look, son, I know this must be hard for you, or I don't know."

"Mom, please tell me directly what you want to say."

"We are planning to get married next month."

Liam went silent and had a confusing expression as he didn't know how to react to that.

"I know it is hard for you to process this news immediately. But I think that is what is better for us", said Amber as she rubbed Liam's left arm.

"No mom, I am glad you took the decision to marry Mr. Darien. I am not sad, in fact, I am happy for you", said Liam trying to be cheerful so that he can cheer up his mother.

He hugged Amber and said, "I'm so happy for you mom. I hope loneliness doesn't bother you anymore."

"I am so happy that my little child is all grown up", said Amber as she got up from the bed and left the room. "Goodnight Liam".

"Goodnight mom".

Liam took a deep sigh and laid down on his twin-sized bed, staring at the plain white ceiling for about a few seconds. It is really hard for him to process the fact that he is getting a stepfather. He got up from the bed and went to his closet, which is basically a big room attached to his bedroom.

From a bookshelf, he took out the photo album and started turning pages to see the pictures from his childhood. He got a bit emotional seeing him, and both his parents together, and how happy they were. It was the picture of their vacation to the Bahamas, and the three of them were making a sandcastle.

"I hope these days return back again", said Liam as teardrops started to roll down his eyes.

He closed the photo album, put it back on the shelf, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.

Lexicon College of Science and Technology, New York City

As Liam was arranging his books in the locker, Grant came running to him and said, "Bro, do you know what I heard yesterday?"

"That someone is hot and cute, and I don't know maybe a new student is coming", said Liam and he giggled.

"Bro, why do you always have to make it about me?"

"It's just a wild guess."

"You are wrong Lee. Yesterday, after school I heard Kiara telling Hannah that she had a crush on you since school days."

Liam gave a slant look to Grant, and said, "I know."

"Wait, you know! Then why did you never give her a chance?"

"Why should I? I don't see her that way."

"But maybe she can change your point of view. Common bro, just go and become a couple with her already!"

"I wonder why you are excited for me. I thought you had your eyes on Kiara."

"But as a best friend, I want her to be yours."

"No way. I have 999 problems and I don't want her to be the 1000th."

"But-", interrupted Liam and said, "Don't make decisions for me. It's none of your business."

Stormed out Liam from the corridor to his class, leaving Grant confused as he had no idea what to do next.

Casa Del Cibo, Manhattan

Liam was doing the dishes, when one of his colleagues called him and said, "Hey Liam, there is someone at table number 6, who wants to talk to you."

"Me? Did I do something bad to that customer?", asked Liam as he dried his hands in the towel and went to see the customer.

A middle-aged man, wearing a brown suit, was sitting there, crossing his legs and using his phone.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" asked Liam as he approached the man.

Yulian is about 6'0", very tall, and handsome, with dark hair and brown eyes. We can say Liam got the maximum of his genes from his father. At a very young age, he became the CEO of Garcia Publications, and married Amber at the age of 26, and had Liam at 28. After the divorce with Amber, he tried dating other women, but every time he failed as he couldn't concentrate on his relationship. However, he loved Liam very dearly.

"I just wanted to check where you work", said Yulian as he got up.

"Dad, you could have called me or just texted me that you are coming."

"Well, I had no time for that, as the news was important."

"What news dad?"

"I think you know that your mom and Darien are getting married."

"Dad, how do you know about that?"

"I received an invitation from one of your mom's employees."

"They already sent invitations? But mom told me this only yesterday."

"I just wanted to ask you son if you are okay with this? Look, if you are not happy then you can always come to me. You can live with me too."

"I told mom that I am okay with it. If she is happy then why should I stop her from being happy, right?"

"I know that, but I just want you to be okay with whatever is going on in our life. Son, I know that you don't have a normal life like other kids from your college or school, but I don't want you to stress much."

"I am not stressed, dad. I am fine. Completely fine. I know about my life and in no way I can change that. So I would just go with the flow."

Yulian patted the back of Liam's shoulder and said, "If you need anything, come to me. Okay?"

"Yes, dad. Sure."

Yulian left the restaurant, and biting his lips, Liam went to the staff's washroom, trying hard not to cry.

Liam leaned on the sink with the support of both his hands and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were almost starting to get glittery because of the tears that he was holding, but anyhow controlled them and washed his face, and went back to the counter to continue his work.