She didn't want to think about it. Not at all, because he was right. She couldn't. Sure, if Tori had ever done any of those things he'd suggested, Katya would've been upset. Furious. Maybe would even threaten to stop speaking to the other girl. But when all was said and done, she couldn't imagine her life without her best friend in it. She'd try her hardest to work through the problem with Tori, and would hope they'd come out the other side as better friends.
“It's not the same,” she whispered. He squeezed her wrists and pulled her closer, forcing her into his personal space.
“How is it not the same?” he asked.
“Because,” a tear finally escaped and slid down her face. “Even if she did all those things … it's not the same. You guys .. you broke my heart.”
“Oh, angel cake,” he breathed, closing the small gap between them and wrapping his arms around her.
It was wrong. To want to be comforted by the person who hurt her. To find such relief in the arms that had brought her so much pain. But facts were facts, and as she cried into the front of Liam's shirt, some of the weight she'd been carrying around for two weeks came off her shoulders.
“It's not the same,” she breathed. “She could never hurt me the way you two hurt me. It's not the same, Liam.”
“I know, I know. But still. I was an awful person. The things we did to you … I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I'll never stop until I earn it,” he told her.
“What if that never happens?” Katya was honest. She wasn't sure she had it in her to forgive him.
“I don't believe that,” he replied. “I may be an asshole, and Wulf is quite possibly the devil incarnate, but you, Katya. You're a good person. You would never let something as amazing as what we had slip away, just out of spite. You would fight for it, at least until you were sure it wasn't worth fighting for anymore.”
His words. They struck way too close to home. They reminded her of words she had spoken – only she'd been saying them to a different man. It sent a chill down her spine. Had Wulf told Liam about that night? Her gut instinct was no, Wulf wouldn't do that. But of course, her gut didn't know diddly squat when it came to these men. She stepped out of Liam's embrace.
“Maybe I'm already sure,” she sniffled, wiping at her face.
“You're not, and I'm prepared to spend a lot of time convincing you of that,” he told her.
“I can't ...” she let her voice trail off. She didn't know what to do. Was she really prepared to spend the rest of her life hating Liam? And how did Wulf play into it all?
“I'm not asking for a lot. Just … maybe answer the door when I knock, once in a while. Maybe have a cup of coffee with me,” he suggested. She took a deep breath.
“I don't know, Liam. We'll see. You'll just have to knock, and we'll see,” she replied.
“That's all I wanted.”
“And what about Wulf?”
“What about him?”
“Are you here as his ambassador? Do you speak for the two of you? Because I don't want him at my door,” she said in a stern voice.
“I haven't spoken to Wulf in two weeks, I hope he doesn't show up at your door,” Liam assured her.
“And I am not going to sleep with you again, ever,” she assured him.
“Hadn't even crossed my mind.”
“Liar.”
“You know, I think you missed me a little bit,” he teased her. She glared at him.
“And don't be cute. I haven't made any promises, and Tori still owns those steel-toed boots.”
The last time Liam had pleaded outside her door, Tori had opened it and kicked him in the balls – “just to shut him up”, she'd insisted.
“Tell her if she does that again, I'm firing her.”
“Fire her and I'll kick you in the balls.”
“Okay, maybe you didn't miss me, but I missed you. I missed you so much, angel cake,” he sighed, smiling down at her. She frowned and looked away.
“Good. Remember that feeling every time you think about what you did to me, or every time you think about telling a lie,” she suggested. His smile fell away.
“I knew this was gonna be hard. I can handle it,” he assured her.
“Don't be so sure. I have to go,” she said, stepping around him.
“Can I walk you home?”
“No.”
“Alright, baby steps. Baby steps.”
She walked in silence for a moment, but then realized she could hear him walking behind her. She stopped and whirled around on him.
“Can't walk me home, and can't follow me home!” she snapped.
“But I live in the same place,” he pointed out.
“I don't give a shit! Go to work, or go get tacos, or grab a taxi! Stand here for all I care, but stop following me,” she said.
“This is ridiculous, I have to -”
“So help me god, if you don't turn around right now, I will move out tomorrow and I will see you in court over that broken lease,” she threatened.
Liam took a deep breath. He was a jovial person by nature, but she knew he didn't handle being told “no” very well. He was usually able to talk his way around anything. But not this situation.
He finally nodded, and without saying another word, he turned on his heel and marched off in the opposite direction. Katya glared after him for a while, then turned as well and stomped towards a BART stop.
5
Though she was on “sabbatical” from her job, Katya was still going to make some of the wedding cakes that had been commissioned. Specifically, she wanted to make her friend Lauren's cake. It was a massive undertaking, actually three cakes, all of them elaborate, and it had to be perfect for the big day. Katya didn't trust the task to anyone else.
Lauren had witnessed the epic cake fight between Katya and Wulf. They'd met up several times since then, to go over more of the design elements for the fancy dessert, and Lauren had asked about Wulf. Asked if Katya would be bringing a date to the wedding.
Katya said yes, she would. Tori would be her plus-one. Lauren laughed and had said she'd hoped for another repeat food fight.
The wedding was on Saturday, and Katya only had two days to finish making all the flowers and sugar pearls and edible lace. The interns at the bakery were making the cake layers and covering them in fondant, but everything else was up to Katya.
Which was why she was rushing out the door Thursday morning. She'd accidentally slept in – she always tried to get to the bakery around six in the morning, so she could get the bulk of her work done before the shop opened at ten. It was already eight, though, which meant she only had a couple hours before customers started coming and going, which inevitably meant she'd receive a barrage of questions from the clerks and interns.
She stood at the elevator for what felt like forever, but it remained seemingly stuck on the seventh floor, the top of the building. Someone must have been holding the door open. She cursed and hurried into the stairwell. She lived on the fifth floor, and by the time she got to the bottom, she was huffing and puffing, wondering if she would make her bus stop on time.
She was looking at her watch when she burst into the lobby area of her building, so she wasn't paying attention. She rammed into what felt like a hollow wall and stumbled backwards. She was so stunned, it took her a second to take in what had happened.