She glanced at her watch. It was almost six o'clock. If he wasn't at the club, he might still be at home. She tried calling him, but got no answer. Still. He could be playing video games or dealing with his brother or doing laundry. He was her best bet.
She tore around her apartment, tossing the first articles of clothing she touched into an overnight bag. Then she slung it and her purse over her shoulder before hurrying downstairs. She didn't even bother waiting for the elevator in Liam's building, she ran all the way up the stairs to his apartment. She banged on his door with one hand while wiping at her face with the other. She prayed that he would answer, but that day wasn't her luckiest of days, it seemed.
“What the fuck!?” Landon Edenhoff yelled as he ripped open the door. “Is there a fire!?”
“I'm sorry,” she gasped. “Is Liam here?”
He looked ready to tell her to go fuck herself, but then he paused. Seemed to take in her disheveled state. Crazy hair and glassy eyes and tear streaked face. He frowned and relaxed his demeanor.
“No, I thought he was with you, he left for your place a while ago. Are you okay?” he asked. Her lip started trembling and she shook her head.
“My father was in a really bad car accident and I … I just need to talk to Liam,” she said quickly, barely holding the tears at bay. He was an asshole, but Landon was also a doctor, so she figured hearing about a medical emergency must mean something to him.
“I'm sorry, car accidents can be some of the most unforgiving. Did you try his phone? I haven't heard from him,” he said, pulling out his own cell and checking it.
“I did, but no answer. We were supposed to meet and go up to ...”
The roof. God, maybe he was waiting for her on the roof. If she hadn't been at her apartment and she hadn't answered his messages, he just might have gone up there to wait for her. She was ridiculously late – would he still be up there? She hoped he was, and also hoped he wasn't drunk on margaritas already.
“Good luck!” Landon yelled after her as she raced back to the stairwell.
Katya was running on pure adrenaline. She took the elevator up to the top floor in her building, then ran up the last set of steps. The stupid door was locked, of course. She had a key, luckily – one of only two, with Liam owning the other. She fumbled with her key ring and dropped it, swore out loud, then scooped it up and found the right key. Shoved it into the lock and burst out onto the roof.
When she saw him sitting on the loveseat, it was the first feeling of relief she'd had since she'd gotten the awful news at lunch. She hurried towards him.
“Liam, I have to -”
She froze mid-step, not quite sure what she was seeing, at first. It had already been a surreal kind of day. Maybe she was hallucinating. Could acute and sudden stress bring on hallucinations? She would have to ask Dr. Edenhoff when she had a chance.
Because if she wasn't hallucinating, then she was witnessing Liam getting a blow job from some blonde chick. On the loveseat. On the roof. On their roof. Their special place.
Why is everything nothing like it seems?
“I'm sorry,” she breathed. “I didn't mean … I'm sorry.”
He was gawking at her, looking completely shocked. As she started walking backwards, he began shoving at the blonde woman. Oddly, Katya's first thought was “how rude”, and she almost laughed.
“Katya, wait,” he said, stumbling to his feet and knocking the poor woman over. “I can explain. Wait.”
“Hey!” the other woman yelled. “We were gonna talk about my back rent!”
Katya didn't care. Not even one little bit. It was all so stupid. Her father was dying in some hospital. All alone, while his wife was under sedation and his daughter was caught up in some stupid drama. It was unacceptable. She turned and walked back out the door.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait, I really can … I'm sorry,” Liam was rushing his words as he ran up next to her. Katya held up her hand.
“I know. It's okay. It's really okay,” she said, stabbing the elevator button repeatedly.
“Jesus,” he groaned, tugging at her elbow and following her onto the lift after the doors had opened. “Please. I don't know … fuck, why am I always fucking things up!?”
“I'm serious, Liam. It's okay, I'm not even mad,” she told him, running her fingers under her eyes as the tears started falling again.
“God, please don't cry, angel cake. Please don't cry over me,” he begged, moving so he was standing in front of her.
“I'm not. My dad was in a car accident,” she said quickly. “That's why I couldn't make it this afternoon. I have to go to Carmel. I just … I wanted you to know that. I'm leaving.”
“Holy shit,” he whispered, staring down at her. “I thought … you didn't answer, and I thought … I thought you were with him.”
“My dad?”
“Wulf.”
She laughed. It sounded loud and scary, like a sound a psychopath would make.
“Wulfric. When I didn't show up or call, you thought I was with Wulfric, so you brought some girl up here to give you a blow job?” she asked.
“No. I mean … yeah, but … fuck, it sounds so bad. I was just angry! It's like you never notice me, and I'm a man, Katya, I can't just wait around forever, and I don't … I'm just really sorry,” he babbled.
“Liam,” she sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. “I don't … I don't really care. We weren't dating. We weren't exclusive. I've slept with Wulf since we got back from our trip.”
“I'm sorry I – wait, you have?”
“Twice. I tried to tell you the other night, when we were up here,” she said. “So I don't care if you need to fulfill your needs. I don't care if you go bang every chick in San Francisco.”
“I didn't … I guess I didn't realize that,” he mumbled. The elevator dinged to a stop and they moved into the lobby.
“What I do have a problem with is you lying to me, again. Continuously. I think you have a serious problem with that. 'You're the only one for me, Katya', saying you hadn't been with anyone since us. How many chicks have you slept with since that date we had, honestly?” she demanded. He frowned.
“Um … like … four?” he answered, but his voice was shaky.
“Okay, so I'm just gonna go ahead and double that number, then round up, cause I can tell you're lying to me right now. And on the rooftop, Liam!? That's low, even for you. I never took anyone up there, not even Tori. Not even Wulf,” she growled.
“I'm just … I'm really sorry,” he said in a soft voice.
“You don't know what that words means. And do you want to know how I know that?” she snapped, whirling around on him before they could exit the building. “Because what you did up there? It doesn't matter. Like I said, line women up and have them suck your dick right out there on the street. Have fun, go to town. But doing it to get back at me, because you're angry at me? Angry at something you thought I might be doing? That right there is the worst thing you've ever done to me.”
She was fully crying again, gasping for air as she shoved her finger into his chest, trying to drive her point home.