Not a Reunion

Chapter 21

Thea

It takes little to no time to get all my siblings seated at the table and eating. It only takes around five minutes since they arrive in the kitchen to be sitting at the counter shouting for the syrup to be passed around. Mason walks around the counter, offering the kids syrup whenever they want.

It's a nice sight to see my little siblings so excited about spending some time with someone. I liked that they found a new company that they really appreciated. I liked how when Natalie gets an extra sip that she has to swear to keep a secret, she reaches up her hands around the back of the neck of the man who had served it to her.

I just wished that the guy they were all so excited about was one that I wasn't so furious about. I wondered if I would always be this angry at Mason and, if so, what would happen. Would we continue to be angry with each other but still have to see people around? Our paths would be destined to be crossed, but we just never speak. Or maybe we do speak, but it stays this way. The way we are respectful with each other but unable to hold a conversation longer than small talk.

I didn't know if I would like that, but I did, and in the foreseeable future, I didn't plan on making a deal with Mason. I didn't see a point in it, as I didn't plan on seeing him after this. When we go back to New York, I don't plan on interacting with him anymore. I needed to move on, and after seeing Mason around, I was moving backwards.

I needed to continue to move forward, and I knew who the biggest factor in that was. Liam. He was the man who would help me move forward. I wanted to marry him and then build a family with him. I wanted all of that and to feel as though I had finally made a life for myself.

Liam says he doesn't want kids, but I figured that we would figure it out as we moved on with our lives. Once we get married and pass a few anniversaries, I was thinking that we were bound to have kids. And when we do, it will be the greatest achievement of our lives. Ones that we would continue to take care of.

Come to think of it, with our future being so close to starting as we could get married anytime soon, I think that maybe the both of us could talk about what we plan on doing in the future.

But I'm not sure why I am thinking so far into the future when I cannot even get a text back from the man that I had loved.

I'm angsty as I eat my share of breakfast, and once I'm done, I fly out of my seat. I needed to call Liam. I needed to feel something other than the fact that I was stressed out waiting for him. I head to the hallway with my phone, and because the kids are so loud in the next room over, I move into the bathroom.

Closing the door with my back, I lean against it as I grab my phone out of my shorts. I pull up Liam's phone number and then start to call him. I have to call him a few times before I can get him to an answer. In the time that it takes for him to answer my call, I have spent that time looking at the freckles that were coming back on my face from the sunlight. I had been counting them so as not to think about the fact that my fiancé was taking forever to call me back at twelve p.m. on a Saturday.

"Hello?" he says into the phone, and it takes me less than a second to figure out that there was a hint of annoyance in his voice. I feel like a little kid who was afraid of her friend's being annoyed at her. Back then, I was dramatic, throwing a fit, but I couldn't help but feel the same.

Liam seemed annoyed at me. He seemed annoyed at the fact that I had been calling and texting him. To be fair, it wasn't wrong on my part. I had only sent him a few texts yesterday, and this was my first time calling him. It wasn't my fault he hadn't answered on the first, second, or third ring.

"Hi," I say, having to keep my voice level even though I feel as though I could have a breakdown right now. In my head, I do a mental check to see when I will be menstruating again, because that could be the reason why I think everything around me is stressful. But I'm not due to go through my cycle again until a couple of weeks.