Escaping to Ireland

Vinessa

We dated for a little over two months when I finally switched departments. I was now an editor and loved every second of it. Caleb was back to being Liam's assistant, I didn't see it lasting long, but I thought it was entertaining to see the daily struggle with Caleb. Since it had become official, I found out I was more jealous than I had ever let on. Not to mention, I knew there was no way Liam would ever be attracted to Caleb.

I had to go back to the United States, and I could see the fear in Liam's eyes. I did not know what to say or do to make him believe I was coming back to him. Liam stood reluctantly at the airport with me.

"I'm coming back, Liam...." I said, kissing his lips quickly and trying to turn away, but he wrapped his arms around me and turned me around so he could send me off with a "proper" goodbye.

Liam had always been against public display of affection before me. I had found this out through Ian. Ian had been coming around a lot more and traveling less.

"Did he just kiss you?" Ian had asked when the three of us had grabbed lunch. Liam had stepped over to say hi to a business partner, as I just smiled at Ian's question. "Good grief... If I am ever that happy, just put a bullet through me. I remember when Liam would never kiss anyone in public. How times have changed...."

Ian had become one of my better friends. Liam, at first, did not approve of it. He said that Ian was a bad influence, and he did not want his slacker brother's lifestyle to rub off on me. I would smile at him anytime he would say something like this.

"What?" he would ask to my teasing smile.

"Nothing. I like the sibling rivalry and banter. I never had that growing up."

"The poor lonely child," Liam said, picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder. It was unfair how strong he was. 

"That's right; I was terribly lonely. I'm going to have three Liam's running around by the time I am done." I blushed immediately, and he had faltered as he set me back down on the couch.

"Three?" He asked, rather serious. 

"Um..." I haltered, not wanting to scare him off or lead him on with how serious I was at this point in our relationship.

"No. Vinessa, I want to know, what all have you thought about on this?"

I had thought about it more and more; it was hard not to think about it when I had Liam around me all the time. I squirmed as he pushed me back down on the couch and sat down next to me, staring at me and waiting for my response.

"Three Liams and two little girls."

"Five?!" He puffed out, and I wondered if he was losing it.

I threw my hands up to my face; I had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, everything had been going so well that something terrible had to happen to us. Maybe Liam didn't want kids. I had just assumed when he talked about the baby he thought he would have that he wanted kids.

"Why are you covering your face?" he asked me; he removed them so he could see my eyes.

"Do you think I am crazy?" I asked him.

"I think you are amazing," he said, kissing my lips. "I was worried I was going to have to fight to get three kids," he said, kissing me again, and then my lips were surrounded with nothing but sweet kisses from him.

Now he was standing in the airport with me, kissing me senseless. I was going back to the states for Susan's wedding. Since I was living in Ireland, we had decided it was best; I was just attending. And not part of the wedding party. I was relieved when she decided not to have me in it.

"Vinessa," She called; it was the first month I had been dating Liam, but I was at his house for breakfast when I answered. She sounded like she had been crying.

"Susan.. What is wrong. Is it Fido?" Liam was watching me as I got up and started pacing the kitchen.

"No. It's nothing like that. I feel so guilty, and I need to come clean. I slept with Shawn." I could hear her cringing on the opposite end of the phone.

"You and Shawn?" I asked, more curious how it had come about than anything else.

"Oh gosh, you hate me, don't you?" she started sobbing on the phone.

"Susan, stop," I said more harshly than I wanted to. "I never slept with Shawn."

"You what?" She asked me. "I just assumed." At this point, I had stepped out of the kitchen when Liam looked up at me. His eyes looked as if they were gleaming with the news I had just released to her.

"Nope. I'm one of those women that are waiting till marriage." She didn't say anything for a bit, and I wondered if I sounded preachy.

"I'm still so sorry," she said. "It all happened so fast and...."

"Just breath, and how about you start from the start?" I said.

"Okay..." She told me that it happened the week after I had left.

Shawn had come over a few times, and they would have a few drinks and reminisce about Cole. That was the first time they hooked up. She said she bawled the whole next day because she felt so bad, but it was the only time she didn't feel alone. She said she and Shawn didn't see each other for three months, and then they ran into each other, and Shawn asked her out to dinner, and then they started dating relatively fast, compared to Shawn usually wanting to be friends first.

But he said they could skip that since he had known Susan as long as he had known me. It was weird having her tell me this story, but it was just odd because I had always imagined Cole and Susan ending up together. It wasn't strange because I was holding onto anything for Shawn; I felt happy for Shawn that he was ending up with someone like Susan.

A day later, Susan called to tell me they were getting married a month later. The only explanation Susan would give was, "Time was short, and she didn't want to miss any of life's opportunities." Even though this was a sweet sentiment, it sounded like Shawn and Susan both had been a hot mess since Cole's death.

Liam didn't wait too long until he pounced on what he had heard.

"You never slept with Shawn?" He asked when I had taken a bite of the spaghetti in front of me. I almost choked on the bite I took, and he gave me the charming smile of his I had come so used to.

"I'm a virgin," I said to Liam. The smile disappeared, but it returned a few seconds later when he had worked through the fact that I had never slept with anyone before. This was the night he had found out that I wanted to wait until marriage.

"You are taking this surprisingly well."  I had said to him after I finished telling him about my beliefs.

"Vinessa, I would do anything to make you happy," he said, looking over at me. "I'll just have to wait for all of that," he said, and I knew he had meant marrying me. 

Liam had left me at security. I was sitting in first class since Liam had insisted on booking my ticket with his reward points. I had learned to pick my battles with him when it came to spending money on me. We were getting ready to close the door when Warwick Oxford Shoes stepped into view as I bent over to put my phone away. I had just sent Liam a text saying I missed him already. The chime of his phone went off while I looked up at him on the plane.

"Darn. I was hoping I would get the window seat," he said, taking his spot next to me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, a smile popping up on my face.