“I just wanted to know when you’re going to arrive home for the summer. We need to make plans.”
“Ah... Mom, about that.” I took a deep breath, mentally bracing myself. “I’m not going to be coming home. I’ve been invited to a friend’s home in Alabama for the summer. So, having never been to Alabama before, I’ve accepted. I mean it’s not as though you and Dad will be there all the time, you both usually head out on a cruise.” I crossed my fingers.
“Well! Do we know this person who you prefer over your own parents?”
Ugh. Why did she always have to make me feel guilty? “No you don’t know him.” The silence on the phone was icy. I sighed before continuing, “His name is Liam. His father has a law firm which he jointly owns with another guy, so totally trustworthy.”
“Now Thalia, lawyers are not trustworthy, they’re sharks.”
Here we go again. All because one lawyer swindled Mom and Dad out of a load of money, they’re all sharks!
“Mom, I don’t want to argue. His parents are already expecting me, and I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. I’ll come and visit before I head back here to school, okay?”
“Look after yourself, Thalia. I’ll email you our schedule. Please make sure you email your contact details for Alabama.” She hung up.
I rested my head against the wall of the changing room staring at the phone. No goodbye, the guilt trip had been minor for my mom. Sighing in relief, I realized the spinning in my head had stopped, and I felt much better having spoken to my mom, a conversation that I’d been putting off.
“Thalia, you alive in there?” Callie banged on the door.
“Yeah! Give me a minute.” I removed the dress and decided to take all five, even though I’d only tried on three of them. There was a mixture of colors: white, cream, pale lemon, pale green and pale lilac. Yeah, I liked pale colors.
My jeans were in a heap on the floor so I picked them up, shook them out before I wiggled back into them. I gathered the dresses together and left the changing rooms in search of Callie. As it turned out I didn’t have far to look. She stood talking to Liam outside the door to the changing rooms.
“Hey, Thalia.” He leaned forward, kissing me on the cheek. “Let me take those. You both finished here? I thought I’d take you and Callie to lunch.”
Liam took the bundle of dresses from me so I took his arm and let him lead me to the check out. “Lunch would be great, now that my hangover has more or less disappeared.”
“Hangover? I thought you said you were staying in last night,” Liam queried.
“Girl’s wine night at our apartment,” I replied.
“Okay. You buying all these?” Liam asked, placing them onto the cashier desk.
“Yeah. I don’t have that many dresses, so I figured I’d add to my wardrobe as I’m going home with you.” I handed my charge card over to the sales assistant and turned to Callie. “What happened to the dress you had?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to leave you two. I have some things to do before I head in to work in a couple of hours.” Callie started to back away from us.
“You sure?”
“Positive. I’d probably puke anyway.” She turned and headed out the store.
Liam took hold of the bags with my dresses and ushered me out of the store to a new café that had opened across the road.
I had slight misgivings about going home with Liam this summer. He...us...confused me. Was I his girlfriend or just a friend? He was gorgeous in so many ways. Tall, slim but still athletic and his blonde hair and blue eyes gave him the appearance of the All American Boy. All the girls on campus wanted his attention, but for some reason he was interested in me.
As I admitted to Callie last night, we hadn’t gotten to the hot and sweaty part of dating yet, and I wasn’t too sure I wanted to. We got along fairly well, but I didn’t get all hot and bothered in his presence. No tingles or wet panties. Even walking beside him, all I felt was the warmth of friendship.
Standing outside the Italian café in the sweltering heat we scanned the menu in the hopes that they had something worth eating. “Aha.” I slid my finger past the list of sandwiches and brought it to rest on the lasagna and garlic bread – just what I wanted.
Liam glanced over my finger and grinned, “You are feeling better if you’re looking at that.”
“I’m hungry now. What about you?” I grinned.
“I think I’ll have the same. Come on, let’s go and order.”
Liam opened the door for me and we stepped into the dim interior. A ma?tre’d cleared his throat before he led us to the terrace out back, sitting us in the shade.
We placed our order with the server and sat back to relax while I let the breeze cool my skin. The café hadn’t been open long, so everything still looked new and fresh. Our table was beside the garden, which had a manmade stream flowing through, with brightly colored flowers along both sides of the embankment. How they’d managed to create a beautiful garden oasis in the middle of the city was beyond me.