Page 59 of Seeking Stars
She nodded. He agreed with her, so why did it make her so sad?
"I'm sorry. All of this is a big deal to me, Liam. What this documentary can do for my career, my professionalism, as much as what I feel… what's happening… between us. I'm scared," she admitted, her breathing fast, her voice thin. "So please, let things be as they are."
"Okay." He looked down to his glass, resting on his lap. "I won't ask you to risk it with me."
She sighed. "I can… like I said earlier, I can leave. Go back home tomorrow. You'd get a few days by yourself, if that'd help."
He raised his knees and rested his arms on them, giving her a sideways glance. "Do you want to leave? Go home early?"
Her chest grew heavy. She'd thought of this for hours the night before, and her answer hadn't changed since.
"Not really. I'm enjoying this…"
"Despite the array of… frustrations?"
She chuckled. "Yes. I enjoy your company. But if I leave, I might have something to push back against TCA's pressure— it'll be too late for them to insist on things— and you could have a tiny break from everything."
He gazed at her and sighed. "I don't want you to go."
"Then I won't go." She gave him a small smile.
"Give me tonight. I'll let you know where we're going next in the morning."
They stayed outside, drinking Scotch slowly. Together, and in silence.
***
Ana didn't find Liam in the cabin the next morning. She found a note from him on the fridge; she lifted the watermelon magnet and read it:Went for a run. Be back later.
After taking a shower, she set up to make breakfast; she had almost finished when she caught Liam stretching on the deck. She didn't ogle.
"Hey," he said a while later, entering the cabin. "Good morning."
"Morning. Hungry? I made food."
"Thanks, yeah, starving. I'll take a quick shower and eat with you."
He disappeared through the hallway as she set up the table, and was back soon after.
"How was your run?" she asked as he poured coffee for them.
"Great. I'm almost high right now. Some of that is the exercise but a lot of it? The pine smell."
She chuckled.
"So." He reached for strawberries and added them to his plate. "I have an idea. I have a college friend who's working in an observatory a couple of hours from here. I thought we could go there and talk about astronomy a bit."
"That sounds amazing!" she exclaimed as she buttered toast. "It would be great to see you in that environment, seeing more of you on that side of things."
Liam checked his watch, then his phone. He frowned. "Ugh. Magda has been calling me all morning but I haven't answered. This time it's Coulton, though."
She was so busy imagining all the things they could talk about in their visit to the observatory that at first she didn't realize how strange this was. Liam had talked on the phone with people; sometimes his parents, sometimes a friend. At least once with his therapist. As far as she'd known, he hadn't talked with anyone at TCA since they'd gotten here.
"Did they leave a voicemail?" she asked.
"No, they never do. They know I might ignore what they say on a voicemail but, if they call a few times, I'll have to return the call to check with them."
"Smart but evil." Just as she made the comment, his phone lit up again with a call.
