The CHEF from Burhan & Sons

Chapter 10 - Amaryllis

Something is wrong, I can feel it. Liam is not the same as he was when he left a couple of days ago. Even though he has been trying to pretend to be fine when Mum is around or when we are together, something felt off. He hasn't mentioned Tate even once, which makes me think it has something to do with him. "Will I see you tonight?", I asked as we got ready for work. "No, I promised Mia and Val that we would go to Joe's after work. Mia has been complaining that I've been ditching them", he said pulling me in a kiss.

"Ok then, I guess I'll see your handsome face when I see you", I said while picking up my purse. "Oh, you're not getting rid of me that easily, am taking you to work", he said with an evil smile. "Jealousy does not look good on you. We're going in different directions so why do that?", I said but instead of answering he pulled me out of our room.

We found my mum doing online Zumba classes. If the instructor saw her, she would go bananas, dancing was not Clarissa Dwyer's expertise. I started laughing and could tell Liam was trying not to laugh. "Now with Amaryllis, I expected as much but you! Don't you dare laugh at me young man, I don't care if you're cute I will hit you with my flip-flops", she told Liam playfully making me laugh even harder.

"Oh Mum, you always make my day better", I said kissing her forehead as we left. "Your mum is amazing", Liam said as we got in the car. I interlocked our fingers and then kissed his knuckles. All he did was look at me like I was the only thing that mattered. It was a good feeling, it made me feel important every time he did it.

"I saw Liam the other day, he was with those other Chefs... the bubbly and the sexy", Jeff said handing me the new contracts. "Where?", I asked trying to recall where they could run into each other. "At that bar, we went to that one time we were training there, he said trying to recall the name and I remembered.

"Joe's? What in the world were you doing there?", I asked with a raised brow. The last time we went there he complained that the place was too loud but Briana and I kept catching him looking at the women who were dancing, he liked the place. "I was meeting someone. What I want to know is why weren't you there with him?", he asked leaning on my table.

"Well, those are his friends and he deserves some time alone with them", I explained focusing on the contracts he gave me earlier. "If you say so", he said making me look up. "What does that mean?", I asked curiosity getting the best of me. "Look, this is none of my business but, if I had a girlfriend that I was seriously in love with, I wouldn't have been that cozy with someone else but you said they're friends so I take your word for it", he said then walked out of my office. I did a couple of in and out breaths then went back to my contracts.

When I returned home and found Mum there, I regretted not accepting the drinks offer from Jeff. I knew Mum would start asking me about Liam, she liked him, a lot. I was sure she would be ready to defend him if Dad tried to make him feel uncomfortable.

I didn't want to talk about Liam. I've been having wild imaginations of the type of 'cozy' Jeff was referring to. There is a point where I went as far as seeing them making out in the booth, I sat with him the last time we went there together. I know it's not right and I know Val is committed to her husband but I can't help it.

"Are you ok?", Mum asked, she had been watching me from the front door, she had the door open waiting for me to get in. "Yes mum, how was your day?", I asked trying to avoid her interrogating questions. I was too late.

"Come sit with me for a minute", she said after beating me to the couch. She switched off the TV and then turned to wait for me to join her. "Mum, I'm ok I promise", I tried saying as I sat next to her. "Yes, and I have Beyonce's body", she said with a knowing smile. "Fine but, you can't tell Dad or try to fix anything. Promise me", I said because I knew how her brain worked.

"You're scaring my sweetie, did something happen at work?", she asked looking panicky. "No mum, work is fine. It's just... It's Liam. He has feelings for someone else and I don't know how to make him move on", I said and her face turned angry. "Just when I thought he was different. How could he do that to you? But you two look happy, I don't understand", she said trying to think so hard and I felt guilty.

Liam was honest with me since day one, I was the one who chose to stay. I was the one who chose to wait for him hoping he will learn to love me. "It's not his fault, I'm to blame too I guess, he told me when we started and I just thought that maybe he would change in time and start loving me, we're perfect together, you've seen it too Mum, I just hoped that he will forget about her but it's been months and he's not changing so I'm just, I'm...", I couldn't finish because I was full on crying at this point.

"You're tired of waiting for him", she finished the sentence for me and then hugged me. "Is he seeing you both at the same time?", she asked making me shake my head in denial. "No, she's married but they work together and she told him that they would never happen so he has been ignoring his feelings but whenever she wants something, he's there like she matters more than anything else. I want to be the one to matter to him, not her", I pleaded more tears coming out of my eyes.

Her hand rubbed my back and it made me feel better to an extent. I needed to tell someone and I was happy that Mum was here when I was at the breaking point.

"You need to make a decision Amaryllis, love is not supposed to hurt anyone, not even when he makes you happy when he's around and miserable whenever he is out of that door, do you understand me child?", she said in a serious tone that made me nod even though I knew it was going to leave me broken.