What Happens In Paris

20. Down The Memory Lane.

It was Faith’s first kiss ever, and her hands nervously tugged at his shirt and slowly unbuttoned it, unsure of what to do. Liam was far more experienced in this department, owing to his schooldays. His hands moved swiftly around her naïve body, as she trembled. Though she had initiated the kiss, Liam took control and all his past experience came rushing back as he handled her like a pro.

After a good three minutes of kissing, they finally stopped for breath. Their hormones were racing and their bodies were on fire. As they drew their bodies apart, they looked at each other’s faces. Faith shifted her eyes to Liam’s bare chest which peeped out from the division of his shirt. His lips were parted and red. He was panting for breath from all the impulsive kissing. He seemed to be ten times more attractive than he normally was.

Faith’s own condition was no different. Messed up hair, heavy breathing and smudged lipstick. She stood leaning against the wall. They stared at each other, not knowing what to say or do. It was awkward, and they stood in silence, staring at each other with smile-less faces.

“Faith… I like you. A lot.” Liam said, “I really don’t know why, but I do.”

“What do you mean?” She was breathing heavily, “You don’t know why? Hello? I am a very pretty young girl!”

At her sentence, they both let out a chuckle, and the tense atmosphere relaxed down by quite a bit. They were now smiling at each other; sure of the mutual acceptance of whatever it was that was going on between them.

“You have lipstick…” She paused for breath. “On your mouth.”

“I really don’t mind some more.” He said, panting and smiling confidently.

“You’re so hot.” She chuckled. “I can’t believe it.”

“No, I can’t believe it.” He said, removing loose strands of hair that were over her face and tucking them behind her hair. “That I ended up with Bambi.”

Faith playfully punched him in the stomach and made a face, as they were back to being normal. She tripped and fell on something, and he started laughing uncontrollably again.

“I can’t believe it! We just kissed, and you’re laughing at me because I fell?! Do you not have minimum chivalry? Is that how you treat a lady?” She threw a cushion at him.

***

“Why the sudden change of heart?” Faith asked Liam, as they laid on the bed, facing each other.

“Well, it wasn’t planned.”

“Why not? Why were you so rude to me?” She mock-frowned and pouted at him.

“Because that is how I convinced myself to be.”

Faith sat up and shifted closer to him. “Why?” She poked his cheek.

“Do you really want to know?” He asked, pinching her arm.

“Hello?! That’s why I asked you!” She rolled her eyes, as she swatted his arm away.

“Okay then, grab some popcorn.”

SEVEN YEARS AGO:

“I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow.” Liam left her a voicemail. “I love you.”

This was the millionth voicemail he left for Scarlett. She hadn’t been returning his calls or text messages since the morning. He wondered what was wrong. She had been behaving in an extremely weird manner ever since he had broken his leg and lost the football team captaincy to his friend Mike. Doubts crept into his head but he shook them off.

Scarlett was quite a beauty. Every boy at their school wanted to date her, including the star quarterback, Liam Armstrong. He was the eye candy of all the girls in his school, but he didn’t believe in sleeping around or changing girlfriends frequently. When he saw Scarlett for the first time, he fell fast, and he fell hard. Call it infatuation or whatever, but she just took his breath away. But she came easy-she just wanted a popular boyfriend. Liam fit the criteria of what she looked for perfectly- he was tall, super handsome, popular, a straight A student and most importantly, the captain of the High School football team.

Liam eventually fell in love with Scarlett. She was a total bitch, but he would overlook everything, because he loved her like crazy, and believed that she would eventually grow up and leave trivial things behind. But that day never came. Senior year went by and the most important game of his life awaited him. But right before the game, Liam got into an accident and fractured his right leg. He couldn’t play the game, and the captaincy was handed over temporarily to Mike. Scarlett had been acting withdrawn ever since.

Their team won the game, but Liam couldn’t be a part of it. His only hope to make his senior year worth remembering was prom. His leg had recovered almost fully, and he had told Scarlett he’d pick her up. He had turned down so many girls just to go with Scarlett. But when he reached the block where her house was, he pulled up a few houses away. He got down from the car and saw her extending her hand out to Mike, who tied a corsage on her wrist. Her parents shut the door, and Mike and Scarlett kissed right before his eyes. The corsage in his hands fell on the road. He immediately drove back home and decided never to see Scarlett again. He avoided her on graduation day, and cut off all contact with her and Mike as well. He was heartbroken, and he vowed not to trust a girl again. He promised himself that he would never fall in love again.

A few days later, he lost his father to a heart attack, and his world came crashing down. He now had to look after his mother and sister, and the family business fell on his shoulders. He was forced to grow up. He just had to; it wasn’t an option. Liam got an excellent SAT score and got into NYU. At the same time, he managed his work. He excelled in university, and his business kept expanding. He became the talk of the town due to his hard work, dedication, and his unmatched good looks. He was an eligible bachelor, and he planned to remain one for the rest of his life. But, people also knew that he was rude, proud and had an attitude problem. Despite that, he was the darling of New York City. He eventually became the richest American, and the owner of Hollywood’s top entertainment magazine, T3, or Tinsel Town Talk. The same magazine which Faith never failed to miss a single issue of.

*

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*

Faith’s mouth opened and the popcorn fell out. “Oh.” She stuffed it back and chewed on it. “My.” She gulped it down her throat. “God.”

“Hey! Don’t spill popcorn on the bed!” He complained.

Faith had literally bullied him into ordering popcorn, even though he told her twice that ‘Grab some popcorn’ was just a way of saying that this was a long and twisted story. She didn’t let him say a word unless their popcorn arrived. More like her popcorn, because every time Liam tried to get his hands on it, she would hit him and swat his hand away.

“I can’t believe you went through all of that!” Faith said, her head tilted and lips puffed up. “Aww Liam. I thought you were rich and rude and had no family values whatsoever. I thought I was the hard working one! I had no idea!”

He shrugged in response and said, "You brought out the old Liam. How exactly does Bambi do that?" He chuckled.

"But I thought you never dated anybody."

"Whoa Bambi! When did I say I dated her? I don't count that bitch. She just used me. Do you know, she never acknowledged our relationship even though I was madly in love with her. But she didn't let me go either. I was kind of hanging right there in the middle you know. Despite." He eyed her. "Being the hottest property at school."

Faith could tell that looking back on all of it made his heart wrench. He was trying to mask the pain. She did not question him further.

“Don’t be sad.” She said as cutely as possible. “Here. I’ll let you have my popcorn!” She stuffed a handful into his mouth and pulled him into a tight hug.

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