Stay: The sequel to Lost

Part 45

Life had not been kind to Liam lately. Sure, he was making music. Sure, he was sober, but he was lonely. He texted and called Penny every day until the guy on the other end of the line and told him that his name wasn't Penny, he didn't live in Michigan and he didn't care what Jamie had done. She didn't post on Instagram, she wasn't on twitter. He called Jane, wrong number. He called Jon, Sam and Charlie. All wrong numbers. It was pretty clear to Liam that she didn't want anything to do with him.

When he'd woken up in the hospital, his mother had been there, telling him that he was going to be okay, what Jamie had been doing and that she'd been arrested. He went through the entire business of seeing her punished alone, your mother didn't count when all you needed was someone to hold you. It just wasn't the same. All he wanted was for Penny to cuddle into his chest and tell him that everything would be okay, but she was gone.

And he couldn't blame her. He remembered. He remembered everything that had happened that day. He remembered drinking the red bull and then feeling sick. He remembered Jamie walking him to the couch and kissing him. His body wouldn't follow his directions. He felt her rub his penis and he felt himself rise. He knew what was happening and he knew Penny was on her way. He moaned when Jamie touched him, distressed that this was happening to him and when Penny had seen him? He willed every part of his body to react and all he could say was her name. Then it all went black and he woke up to his mother, telling him that Penny hadn't answered the phone when they'd try to call her. Penny was gone.

He'd finally found and hired a new personal assistant, a young man this time, who wanted to be a manager/producer one day so it was in his best interest that Liam do well. Liam didn't need to worry about this guy drugging him. Actually, this guy was pretty intent on keeping him sober, making sure he called his therapist and went to his meetings.

He'd sold the London flat. It had too many bad memories and lived in Harrison House or hotels. He was lonely and he knew he needed to move on. He was trying but all of the girls he tried to date seemed so shallow after Penny. She was a real person, with a real life and real job. She had opinions and she wasn't afraid to tell him about them. She was funny. He could talk to her. The girls he met were all models or social media influencers. They just laid around and looked pretty. They didn't even read. That made Liam laugh. He didn't read. He just liked to watch Penny read. Penny.

Ruth: Have you been on twitter today?

Liam: Hey, sis. No, why?

Ruth: There was a hashtag people kept tagging me in? BabyPayne? I thought it was about me? But it's not.

Liam: What are you talking about?

Ruth: Here. This is all I could find. Twitter is taking down the posts and suspending people who post it? And the original poster said she lied about the entire thing? She just wanted attention.

Liam looked at the screen shots. Ruth had found the blurry photo of a large woman and some photos of Penny's painting. He surmised that the girl thought her art teacher was Penny and that the school had pictures by a former students that looked Liam. He knew about the painting. Her old high school had them displayed. It had embarrassed her.

He looked up the account and saw the retraction the girl had posted. She apologized to the teacher, whose name wasn't even Penny. She explained that she was hoping to get attention for her own art and didn't think her lie could hurt anyone.

Liam: Okay, why is the # BabyPayne?

Ruth: Well, I guess the girl said her art teacher was pregnant.

Liam: The blurry photo? That woman is pregnant? I can't even see her face.

Liam grabbed his laptop and looked up High Schools in Oscoda. There was only one and it was a consolidated school, several cities joined together in one school. He clicked on it and went through the staff, looking for the art teacher. He found her. She had longish brown hair and was youngish. Her name was Mrs. Paul. Paul, Peters? The girl had jumped to the wrong conclusion. This woman could very well be pregnant, but it wasn't Penny.

He looked at the district website, searching for Ms. Peters. She was teaching elementary art. Liam sighed. She'd gone right back into her old life, just like she'd never met him.

Liam decided to look at her twitter. He hadn't done that. Maybe she had posted something? He searched her handle, @liams_snowflake but she was blocked. Why was she blocked? He unblocked her and looked over her profile. Nothing new. But, why was she blocked?

He decided to check Instagram. Also blocked. What was going on? He unblocked her and saw she had two posts he hadn't seen. An old one, of him and Carly, digging in the sand and a newer one of Carly, standing in front of the TV at Jon's house singing with him as she watched one of the new videos. It was only 30 seconds but at the end she turned and said, 'It's LEEM, Kitkit!" Then the video stopped. It was dated last month. Did she still watch his videos?

His phone pinged. Someone he followed had a new post. Penny posted a picture of a very pregnant Marian. Marian was having a baby, not Penny. She tagged it ''Congrats, @MarianPerry. No, our kids can't get married, you sicko." Liam laughed because it was something Marian would want, for his kid to marry hers. But he didn't have a kid. Frowning, Liam clicked on Marian's name.