Page 62 of Vitamin Sea
She swung the door open and her heart nearly stopped. She was standing face-to-face with Liam Hollingsworth.
Her jaw dropped and she was momentarily struck dumb. What was her ex-boyfriend, the man who had dumped her at Opus six months ago, the man who had left her for his coworker, doing on her doorstep?
Okay, to be fair, it was actually his doorstep.
But still.
Liam looked both uncertain and confident at the same time, and in one of his hands he had her favourite bottle of wine. Her heart skipped a beat at his appearance. He was still her Liam. The same handsome, salt-and-pepper-haired Liam she had met and fallen in love with.
Only, he was no longer hers.
It was surprising for her to find that even now, half a year later, she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach at the sight of him. It was also confusing. She thought she had gotten over him. Perhaps, a thought flitted through her mind, the feeling was just due to the shock of not seeing him for seven months and the sudden and unexpected appearance of him on her doorstep.
“Hi,” he said with a smile.
“Hi,” she replied after a beat.
“Can I come in?” He tried to peer around her.
“Umm,” she hesitated, “now’s not a good time.”
“Oh,” Liam suddenly looked a bit put out.
“Are you okay, Chlo?” Chloe heard Jack’s voice behind her, and she turned to him with the same stunned expression on her face.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” she said breathlessly. “Give me a second.”
Liam spotted Jack behind her and his face fell.
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I didn’t think . . . I should have thought . . .,” he trailed off.
“It’s fine,” Chloe said dismissively.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. I mean, yes. We can talk. But not tonight.”
“Okay,” he sounded resolute. “I’ll text you in the morning.”
Chloe nodded and Liam thrust the bottle of wine at her.
“Take this,” he insisted. “I bought it for you.”
She hesitated a second before taking the bottle and issuing him a “thanks”.
Moments later the door was shut, and she was walking back to the couch where Jack was sitting.
Still feeling stunned, she dropped the wine onto the table in front of them and took a seat. She was dismayed to see that her apple pie was no longer steaming.
Jack watched her carefully.
“Are you okay?” he asked her again.
She nodded in response.
“Was that Liam?”
She nodded again.
