"Said the man who had an affair with my so-called girlfriend."
Liam let him go, Xander scored a poin there. He won because what he said was true. Norah cheated on him.
Liam ran after the woman he's starting to have a feeling about, he cared for her with a devotion bordering on obsession. It was dangerous, his obsession.
He was supposed to stay away from their problems, but he couldn't see her suffering.
Norah ran to her bungalow and Liam managed to hold the door before Norah closed it with a bang. She didn't match his strength, so she just flopped down on the bed and buried her face in the pillow.
"Norah! Don't cry for him.. You know he doesn't deserve it." Liam sat beside her on the bed after he locked the door to give them privacy.
Her shoulders shook with the intensity of the sobs—silently crying her heart out. With awkward and gentle hand, Liam patted her on the back.
He didn't have any experience to calm down a woman in tears. He usually walked away and moved to another woman before any complications happened.
"There, there… You know how it would end between you two. There was no hope to begin with. He is always so cold towards you, sometimes ignoring you.. Hell, everyone could see it, Norah."
Liam only poured gasoline on the fire, she cried even harder.
"You're just obsessed by your imagination of him, Norah. He is not that heroic as you think. He is a cruel cold-hearted man. Don't be swayed by a little bit of his sweet words." Liam gritted his teeth.
Then continued with hushed voice, "He would use anybody just to serve his agenda."
"Go away, you're not helping matters." She wailed.
Liam turned her body on the bed, she didn't resist him. Her face was red, tears pouring down her chubby cheeks, the skin was slightly tan from continuously playing under the sun.
She was wearing a strapless bandeau bikini in lilac, so small that her breasts nearly popped out. Her uneven breaths made them rise and fall enticingly.
"Just let him go, Norah. You deserved someone better."
Norah closed her eyes with both of her arms, "You're just like my brother, you know. I chose to ride with you because after that incident, whenever we're both alone without anyone around us, the situation became so awkward between us."
Liam was taken aback by her sudden confession. Didn't she cry because of Xander?
She continued, "D-that man used his voice, used the names my brother gave me. It got under my skin when my real brother talk to me. I try to act like usual, to act like before-before everything happened. But…" She broke again, trembled.
Liam laid down beside her on the bed, propping one hand on his head and circling one finger under her collarbone, too hard to resist the soft skin.
"But?"
"I'm afraid it would never be the same anymore. He is my brother but at the same time he is not… What if I couldn't see my brother without seeing that motherfucker's face in my vision?"
Liam cursed inside. They had a similar problem here.
He too couldn't forget how she looked like in Daniel's arms when he saw her body.
No matter how far they were, the demon was still toying with them.
"Like it's imprinted in your memory." He murmured.
Norah laid her arms beside her head, her clear blue eyes gazed at him with sorrow mixed with tenderness. One finger brushed his closed eyes, down to his nose and that naturally beautiful lips.
"Is it still on your mind?"
"You are on my mind, Norah honey."
He grabbed the same hand that touched him so gently and kissed her palm. His black eyes stared straight at Norah.
"It's imprinted on your mind about what he did to me there?" She quivered.
His hot breath blew in her palm, "The sight of your small naked body kneeling on the floor, like a wounded puppy when I shoved my fingers inside your mouth… Is it bothering you if I say this?"
"I never had nightmare about what you did to me. Even though your face was totally different from Miguel Sanchez, but your presence is still the same. Somehow, i know that all along you were Liam."
"But Xander would be the only man in your eyes when you see me." He placed her hand back.
Norah turned her head away, "It's not true… I don't know. Actually, I'm the one who made Xander come here."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Yesterday I sent him a picture of Clara and Noah snorkeling together, hand in hand. He flew here today." Norah smiled sadly.
"He wouldn't even think of following us here if I didn't send him the photo."
Liam frowned, "Then why did you do it, Norah? You know it would hurt you."
"I'm confused with myself too.. Maybe I just want to test how I would feel if Xander really came here because Clara. Yes, I'm feeling miserable and envious but it is because I have no one to love me like Xander does to Clara. Not because my love is unrequited.."
She laughed, "I lived for so many years with this one-sided love, I'm not even feeling hurt if he doesn't love me.."
"You're wrong, Norah. The man had no heart. It's not love that made him come here. It's his obsession of revenge. He is not capable of loving someone after everything he went through.."
They were in silent for a moment. Lost in their own thoughts.
"You know what? Maybe what you said is true, Liam. Xander has this aura that make every woman want to rescue him from the darkness. He is different from you."
His mouth curled up in a smile, "How so?"
"Besides that color of eyes? You two have an obvious different personalities." She claimed.
Liam toyed with her blond hair, "Care to explain, honey?"
Norah blushed, "Liam, stop honeying me."
"Ok then, Norah.."
"You are a funny and carefree man, devil-may-care type, easy to approach kind of guy. Like not having a single burden on your shoulders while Xander is more serious and mysterious." She defined.
"Satisfied?"
"You miss something that make us different, Norah."
"Hm? What's that?"
Liam got up from the bed and unzipped his swimsuit with deliberate slowness. Norah gasped in surprise when she finally looked what she was dying to see beneath his clothes.
"I prevented you to take off my shirt that day was because of this."