SOMETHING MORE
Diane’s P.O.V.
We had finished our lunch, and soon after, Liam bade goodbye. “Thank you so much, ma’am. I couldn’t agree more with what Diane told me earlier—your chicken adobo was truly delicious, I’m afraid that I’ll forget my name. If I don’t have to go to the office today, I’ll even stay and eat my dinner here. But maybe next time, I’ll go ahead for now.” Liam’s dimple was showing again when he talked to Mom.
“All right, Hijo. You’re always welcome here. Drive safely,” Mom smiled while reminding him.
I gasped, as my siblings were even surprised when Liam showed Mom an honoring gesture. He gently lifted her hand, bowed towards it, and pressed his forehead as a sign of respect. And when he did that, it was as if my heart melted again. But no, just melted was an understatement. Liam suddenly stole my heart, and I didn’t even know if I would be able to get it back.
“Wow, my new big brother here is kinda sweet. I already like you for my sister!” I got astounded by what Denise bluntly squealed. I glared at her, silently telling her to shut her mouth, but she just ignored me. She had a pair of round eyes and rosy-chubby cheeks.
“Really, Denise? So, what do you want me to bring in case I’ll visit here again?” Liam asked our youngest. It looked like he would want to spoil my baby sister.
“Chocolates and lots of potatoes! So that Mom will have no other choice but to cook adobo again,” she immediately replied.
“Denise!” I yelled, but the two of them just didn’t mind me.
“Okay, copy that!” Liam settled as they both raised their hands and gave each other a high five.
“Wow! Is it your car, bro? Last night, there was a black convertible too! Someday, I’ll surely buy one for myself,” David exclaimed in awe while eyeing the red car from our windows.
“Ah, yes—the product of hard work,” Liam humbly replied. “Don’t worry, you’ll surely have one too if you will not stop reaching for your dreams.” Liam smiled as their right fists bumped together.
One of the qualities I liked about a man was being polite, and I was sure that Liam possessed it. It also seemed to me that my siblings were immediately close to him regardless of the fact that this was only their first time to meet him. Why did I only meet him now? His handsome face was just a bonus, but Liam continued to entice me more with his good heart and down-to-earth attitude.
If I had met him before, I would perhaps be ashamed to work in the club and rather work in the call center. I never thought about what other people would think and say to me, but now? I was thinking about how Liam could handle the pressure of introducing me to other people and telling them that I worked in the club. I was belittling myself, making me cloud my thoughts about how I could make him proud.
I knew it was too early for me to think about these things and such, but if in case—just in the event that we would be together, how would Liam introduce me to his parents? How are we going to deal with Leandro, who had been courting me for years already?
Maybe, we were not really meant for each other. We had not started yet, but the situation between the two of us was already complicated, not to mention our different social status. Perchance, we were just destined to meet up… but never were destined to love.
I escorted him to his car, currently parked in front of our gate. “I’m sorry for my siblings, Liam. Sometimes, they talked too much. They couldn’t help to open their mouths and blabbered about something. Were you annoyed by them?” I said apologetically.
“Why would I get annoyed with them, Diane? They are your siblings, and it was my pleasure to meet them the day after I met you. David was smart, and I liked teenagers who have ambitions in life. They were fun to talk to, most especially Denise. So, how would you deal with it? Is it okay to you that she was already in favor of me to become your boyfriend? Then, no one else can court you here because Denise will immediately report it to me,” he conceitedly said—too proud that my little sister was already fond of him. There he goes again, smiling with his heart-melting dimple.
The end of my lips formed into a smirk. I didn’t answer.
Did you really think that I would let someone court me here after allowing you to meet my family? I wanted to voice out, but I restrained myself.
“I’ll go to the club later, Diane… but I’ll hide somewhere else so you can’t see me,” he said before winking at me.
“You’re impossible, Liam! Why would you even go there if you wouldn’t show up to me? Admit it! You will watch a different woman there. I guessed it wasn’t my performance you would like to see…” I pretended to be fretting out, but I was smiling while looking through his dark-gray eyes. “Now, go ahead! I might be bothering you too much, so it’s now time for you to drive to the office. You still have a lot of things to do there, right?” I cooed. I strode behind him and naughtily pushed his back towards his car.
When he was on the side of his car, outside the driver’s seat, I turned around to go back to our gate. But what happened next was he pulled me, making me face the crook of his neck, and hugged me so tight without saying anything.
I got stunned and jaw-dropped at what he did while my whole body stiffened, freezing me as I could no longer breathe. My knees were getting weak so I automatically held his waist for support. My heart was throbbing out so loud like it wanted to come out of my chest. After a while, I found myself swallowing a few times, starting to lose my mind because of his hooking scent.
Liam affectionately stroked my hair while whispering to me, “You are never a nuisance to me and if in case you feel that way, just remember that I don’t mind being bothered by you. But I can’t promise to always stay by your side, Diane. As much as I want to, I just can’t. So please take good care of yourself, for me.”
While feeling the strange warmth of his breath at the lobe of my left ear, I couldn’t help but hope that there could be something more our fates had stored for us. After that, he softly kissed me on my forehead and released me from his arms. My heart was beating faster, and I wasn’t even sure if I could handle it anymore. In Liam’s arms, I felt so secure. He treated me well, and his care for me wasn’t suffocating at all.
After a few seconds of looking at me, he finally went inside his car and drove away. He was looking through his rearview mirror, and I found myself smilingly waving at him while mouthing the words, “Take care.”
That was the time I got fully recovered from my invisible cloud nine a while ago. The hypocrisy could cover my entire body like a cloak if I would say that I was not shaken by Liam’s touch and I did not like it at all.
Because of that, I didn’t care what other people would say about me anymore. What mattered was I could feel that Liam liked me too. I just smiled and went inside our gate while I was singing like an idiot. I was even jumping while wiggling like a worm.
In the first place, I really liked Liam. I would never deny that fact.
Oh, no! I am not sure if the word ‘like’ is the correct term to describe what I truly feel.
Maybe, I already love him.