Fast Car

Forty

"Where have you been all my life?" Mr. Clarke the HR Director tells me and he shakes my hand after a successful interview.

"See you Monday then," I tell him as I am about to leave his office.

"Wait, Ms. Garcia our CEO has requested to meet you." He says when I am pushing his office door. "Allow me to escort you to his office." He says and he opens his glass door for me.

I smile a big fat smile on the inside at how cute Liam can be. He really did keep his promise. For more than nine months, he also kept his promise of only being a friend, and he stuck by my side. He stuck by my side when I was mean to him and a b*tch with him. I turned him down and hurt his ego and he still stuck by my side. He makes my broken heart laugh, that sometime I can feel all the hurts of my past mending and healing with his presence around me.

He accepted to be my friend and now he is offering the job I have always dreamed about, a job I never thought I would see my name next to, and I can only be as professional and effective in order to make him proud.

Thoughts juggling in my mind we arrive to Liam's office. Wearing a grey 3-piece suit, with a white shirt and black tie, his hands in his pockets as he rests his back against the shining glass behind him. He looks at me with his winced beautiful eyes and his picture perfect white smile flashes on that dangerous face of him, and my heart stops for a while.

"Mr. Black allow me to introduce to you Ms. Isabel Garcia our new Purchasing Manager. I know what you are thinking but don't stereotype she is better than most of us in this company. I only said most to respect you as a CEO because the truth is she is better than all of us." Mr. Clarke says and they both giggle.

I stand awkwardly between them, my cheeks turning red and my heart beating so loud that I think they can both hear it from distance. I put out my hand to shake Liam's hand but instead he pulls his hands from his pockets and takes me into a hug, a hug so warm that my heart rested from all the pain it had gone through, so warm I never want to let go.

We both look at Mr. Clarke and he laughs, I am too shy to laugh for lying to his face, while Mr. Clarke stands there clueless.

"Well our Isabel here is my friend, when I offered her a job 9 months ago she turned me down and has been turning me down ever since. So I proposed that you should interview her without knowing that she is my friend so I don't influence you as per her silly assumptions, and she finally agreed to come for an interview. So sorry my friend for lying to you but our Miss here would never accept she is good enough for the job." Liam explains and apologizes to Louis.

He smiles and nods then looks at me, "have faith in yourself, you are one of a kind. Mark my words you will be the talk of town in a year." Louis tells me and leaves... and I think of his words.

Can he be right? Can I be something to be proud of? Will my mother no longer be ashamed of me? Will I be able to help my dad be healthy and happy again?

As those questions fill my head... and Louis's words I can feel my eyes filling with warm liquid, a liquid I didn't really miss having... but this time, they feel a little different.

Liam's thumbs reach my face, he cups his palm and places my hand in it and wipes my tears from the corner of my eyes before crawling down my face... just like Adam used to do.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks concerned.

"They are just happy tears..." I tell him as I rub my face against his hand; I miss being touched with care and affection.