Chapter 2: Starting for a Change
"What do you need?" He said on the phone.
"Hey, Liam. You're not even calling me. Have you done what I asked you to do? Because you have 5 minutes left to do it. You probably know I won't give you much time." The woman he was talking to said on the cellphone.
Liam looked at Nikolai. "I did it." Liam pressed his lips together.
"Good boy, meet me tomorrow at 10 AM. Don't be late." She ended the call immediately.
"What did she say?" Nikolai asked.
"She said we should meet tomorrow. I don't know why." Liam stared at nothing. He wondered what else might be the reason why she wants to see him the following day.
///
"Why did you want to meet me again? To make sure you really left Karlee?" Liam laughed impulsively as he faced Diana, the woman who forced him to break up with the girl he loves more than anything.
"Actually yes, but that's not my only purpose." Diana sighed. "Maybe you thought you forgot what I said that Georgie would be your girlfriend when you and Karlee broke up."
"Why do I have to do another thing that I don't plan on doing in my entire life? I left the person who did nothing but love me, isn't that enough?!" Liam replied with an angry tone of voice.
"Don't raise your voice at me and no, it's not enough." Diana drank the espresso she had ordered. "You have to date my sister. Besides she likes you a lot. You just don't pay attention to her."
Liam shook his head, getting frustrated by what she said. "No, I won't date your evil sister."
"You..." He hit the table but Miles had no reaction. "Have to be with Georgie or else..."
"Or else what?" He interrupted Diana's speech.
"Or else I... will pull the trigger." Diana put an evil smile on her face.
Liam was scared by what she said. What is he going to do? Diana grabbed her purse and finally walked out of the café.
Liam was still in there, thinking of what he'll do. He doesn't deserve to be in that situation. He loved Karlee so much and he didn't want to hurt her. Even though some women still like Miles because he's humble, good-looking, and super gentlemanly, he didn't doubt choose Karlee to be the perfect one for him.
But he has to do this to protect the girl he's willing to die for.
///
"What the hell is this?" Karlee looked at Hazel when she suddenly spoke. She seemed to see something strange on her cellphone.
"What is it?" Karlee asked.
"Georgie Watson, your ex-best friend, just posted a photo of her with your ex-boyfriend." Hazel looked at Karlee.
She frowned at what her friend had said. She immediately snatched Hazel's cellphone to look at the picture Georgie uploaded.
"And he actually even put the caption 'With My Loving Boyfriend'," Hazel said, annoyed.
Karlee did not speak and put down the phone. She can't believe what she saw. Does this mean that Liam left her because he wanted to be with Georgie?
"Hey, look at me, Karlee. Don't cry, okay? You don't deserve what Liam did to you. My God, it was just a week ago and then he switched for another girl like that?" Hazel said irritably. "I'm sorry about this, but I'm now wondering if he loved you in the five years you've been together."
"He's an asshole and you're right, I shouldn't be crying over him." Karlee's face darkened. "Anyway, let's go to the mall. I'll just buy clothes. We'll go to work tomorrow." Karlee stood up and opened the wardrobe.
"Wait, are you sure that's okay? I can still take care of your bakery." Hazel asked worriedly.
"No, Hazel. You've been tired for a few days because you're alone there. My dad owns it, I have to be there." After saying that, she planned on changing clothes before going to the mall.
"But..." Hazel sighed.
Karlee pulled out her only 'dark-colored' dress. Almost all of her clothes are pure pastel colors because they fit her personality the most.
"My life goes on, with or without Miles." She laid the dress on the bed.
"Are you going to wear that? Karlee Adams will wear a see-through maroon dress?" Hazel smiled.
"Yeah?" Karlee was weirded out by what she said. "And if you want to take something from my wardrobe, I'll take it. Just leave the dark ones." She smiled.
"Really?" There was a draw of a smile on Hazel's lips when Karlee nodded. "Oh my, I won't refuse. But I'll get it later when we come back here."
///
"It's good that you thought of going to the mall. It hurts me whenever I see you crying in your condo." Hazel said while walking.
"I don't want to live in sadness. I want to show him that I can forget him too." She said even though there was still a trace of sadness in her eyes. As they were walking, someone bumped into Hazel.
"I'm so…sorry." The one who bumped into her apologized.
"Well, hi there, Nikolai. Why are you alone right now? Where's Miles? Your precious friend which everybody thinks is your lost brother?" Karlee looked at Hazel because her tone didn't seem good.
Nikolai replied nervously. "He's in his office. He's finishing work."
"Really?" Hazel smiled as if she's not believing Nikolai. "Or maybe he's in a room with your cousin, Georgie?"
"Hazel, let's go." Karlee wants to avoid Nikolai. For sure, she's now getting furious again because the face of Nikolai reminded Liam. They somehow look alike but they're not relatives.
"What? I'm just asking him." Hazel rolled her eyes. She thinks that Nikolai deserves it because he tolerated his friend's bad behavior, and cheating issues, perhaps.
Nikolai finally broke his silence. "I'm really sorry for what happened between the two of you, Karlee." He sounds like he feels bad for Karlee too.