*
As if it wasn't bad enough that Cyra had arrived late to the event but for some reason she felt like Liam was mad at her again. Could it be that the man she refused was an investor? Or a valued client?
It wasn't like she did anything wrong, Joe happened to be just in time to stop whatever went through that old man's head so why was she the one being called out?
Silently, Cyra walked over to Liam with her head hung low, she was scared he'd disgrace her in front of all these rich people. She stood in front of him almost trembling, lightly Liam placed his hand under Cyra's chin making her jolt a million times over.
"Are you hurt?" Cyra's eyes looked like diamonds, so precious that in Liam's mind, he would do anything to protect that innocence.
Cyra on the other hand was so overwhelmed with emotions she didn't know when she burst into quiet sobs still staring at Liam.
Just then, something broke in Liam after seeing Cyra cry, "Joe, take care of Cyra."
He folded up his sleeves and roughly took Mr James by the collar, Cyra leapt as fast as her little body could take her and stood between Mr James and Liam, "Sir!!!"
The hall fell into silence with everyone holding their breath in anticipation of what would happen next, Liam's eyes fell upon Cyra's filled with pain and concern.
Joe placed his hand on his shoulder standing next to Cyra, Liam's eyes shifted to Joe who nodded at him. Liam's eyes shifted between the two, his chest rising and falling in tune with the silence that surrounded them.
Liam stared at the man behind the two before letting him go, he fixed his tie, eyed the two in front of him and furiously left the hall.
This wasn't how Cyra envisioned the rest of the day to go, soon enough eyes shifted from Liam to Cyra, Joe stepped in front of her with a wide smile on his face,
"Ladies, Gentlemen, just a minor hiccup, nothing to worry about. Music! And please do enjoy yourself." Joe said clapping, soon enough the music continued playing and people went back to their discussions.
"Let's go," Joe said pulling Cyra away from all the attention, but not before,
"Mr James, I'll pretend nothing of a sort happened today for the records, but if anything this sort should happen again, you can kiss your membership and support system goodbye."
Joe pulled Cyra away to one of the smaller private gazebos around, she was stunned as well as surprised about how the day had turned out.
"I will commend you on your behaviour today." Joe started offering Cyra a cup of tea.
"But I made sir angry, he's like that because of me." Cyra hung her head low.
"Look, sweetheart, it wasn't your fault some old fart wanted to get handsy on you, you're lucky I knew you were with Liam I would have too." Cyra shot Joe a death stare.
"What? You look so innocent, anyone here would eat you alive and besides you're not my type, I prefer 6ft men with abs." Cyra almost spit out the coffee in her mouth, as she stared at Joe.
"Is there a problem sweetheart?" Cyra cleared her throat and shook her head.
"Where's Liam?" Cyra finally asked.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about him, Liam's a big boy." Joe smiled reassuring Cyra.
"I know, I just need to make sure he's fine, I was told not to put him under any extreme stress." The smile on Joe's face fell.
It was obvious that she didn't know what she was dealing with, but why was Liam keeping it from her, did he care about this employee? He smiled.
"Everything will be fine, I know Liam."
"Okay."
"Forgive me for asking but why do you care so much? He's just your boss at the end of the day?" Joe asked curiously.
"It's not like that, besides I just started this job like a week ago, who says I care?" Cyra answered avoiding eye contact with Joe.
Joe smiled and placed a hand on Cyra's knee, in his head they were the cutest thing he's ever seen.
"It's fine, you can go look for him, but I'll give you the first warning. You might not like how you find him." Joe stood up about to walk around.
"He cares about you, always remember that. If you need anything," Joe placed a card on the table, "just call."
Cyra watched him walk away, his escort behind him and she couldn't help but think how amazingly smooth Joe was, not to mention he's gay.
She picked up her purse and the card before walking off to find Liam. There were a lot of cottages and small buildings around, most of them were locked as the occupants were probably at the luncheon.
Soon enough, Cyra came to the cottage that was unlocked. She knocked but no one answered, curiously she walked into the room to look around.
She walked around a bit but when she walked into the kitchen she noticed a piece of clothing. It was Liam's jacket, Cyra's heart spiked thinking maybe Liam might have done something to himself because of her.
Cyra ran another lap inside when she heard strange noises at the back, she walked out leaving the door half open. Slowly she walked closer to the sounds at the back, Cyra turn to the back of the house and the horror that beheld her eyes.
She took a sharp breath and turned around, obviously catching the attention of the two having fun behind the house.
"Who's there?" Liam's voice boomed making Cyra flinch in fear.
Before Liam would speak again, Cyra took to her heels not looking back. What kind of message was that supposed to pass?
For once Cyra thought she would be working with a diligent but who was she to think that a rich and handsome man such as Liam gave two damns about her.
"Cyra!" A hand caught on to her pulling her into his body.
"Cyra, I need you to calm down so I can explain," Liam said calmly but Cyra couldn't have felt more disgusted.
His clothes were all rumpled up and his thick brown hair was standing out in every way. Cyra looked at Liam for a second and realized she wasn't wrong or seeing things.
"You don't have to Mr Richards, I'm just another employee after all, I'm nothing compared to all these rich elites lined up here to through themselves at you," Cyra screamed struggling to get out of his grip.
"That enough now Cyra, this is all a misunderstanding-"
"You were enjoying yourself with her and you call that a misunderstanding? The only misunderstanding here is that I misunderstood you, Mr Richards-"
"I told you to call me Liam when we're alone." Liam snapped.
"No sir, calling you Mr Richards shows me exactly my place in society." Liam's heart dropped on hearing those words.
'you must know your place in society...'
"I'll take my leave now sir. I'm sorry for any inconvenience I've caused you today. I resume work on Monday at 7 am sharp." Cyra said walking away in a fit of rage.
"Oh goodie, you fou-" Cyra pushed past Joe walking away.
Joe looked back at the dejected state Liam was in and tried to gauge the situation when he saw a lady arranging herself and walking away in the other direction.
Joe sighed and went up to his friend placing a hand of comfort on his shoulder, "Not to brag or anything, but I did warn you."
Liam stood there in a daze, half from the fact that he felt awful for hurting Cyra even though he did nothing wrong and the other half from surprise that he'd let someone get to him like this.
This wasn't how he lived or worked, and what he does with his life shouldn't matter to anyone, even if he did find peace with them. With a new resolve, Liam walked away totally ignoring Joe.
Never in his life has he explained himself and he was not going to start today, the Liam Carter Richards answered to no one.
Joe watched as his friend walk away with a dark resolve in his eyes, this intrigued him.
"A little bird had come to play with a Lion, let's see if the great lion will finally be tamed. This is going to be worth my while." Joe smiled.
"Come on Vince, I have to get back to my guests." Joe snapped his hand walking away.
Cyra on the other hand, in her rage didn't realise when she had started walking nowhere. The only thing she felt was betrayal, but why? There wasn't anything there, to begin with, they were just boss and employee, right?
But why did it hurt so much? Why was the image of Liam and someone else constantly repeating itself in her mind making her angry all over again?
Cyra walked up the hill distracted by her anger for her to notice Liam's car behind her.
"Sir, shall I pick up Miss Hudson?" Ray asked not aware of the tension between the two.
Liam started at the crying mess walking up the hill ay couldn't help but feel responsible but his mind was already made up.
"No, I'm sure she'll find her way." Ray looked back at Liam from the centre view glass, indeed surprised by his answer.
Liam on the other hand was staring immensely at Cyra outside the window, it was indeed a sad sight. Ray sighed.
"Yes sir."