Chapter 32: 25.𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

That guy is laying on the ground groaning in pain as he tries to stop the blood bleeding from his nose. His nose looks nasty. How hard did Liam hit him? I never thought he is the type to use violence

Ignoring the guy, Liam turns towards me . I couldn't ignore how his face which was angry just a minute ago now calms down and gives me a concerned look. His fist is still clenched but he is trying to keep his composer

"Are you okay?" His voice is soft , his eyes looking for any injuries but he doesn't touch me. He is standing close yet not trying to invade my comfort circle. After what all happened I just need to take a deep breath

"I am fine. But that guy just-" before i could complete the sentence that man stands up on his feet again and holds a handkerchief on his nose. His face makes me snort and he notices it. After getting a kick, slap and punch he still dares to glare at me

"Liam! What kind of behavior is this!" That old man is practically yelling in his annoying voice. I glance at Liam who is unbothered by his yelling and still looking at me "what did he do?" He asks , this time his tone is not soft but a bit more demanding

My jaw clenches as I look at the guy who is standing a few steps behind Liam. "He first followed me, then touched me inappropriately, when I said to stop he cursed at me and tried to hit me" I explain the whole incident. Even thinking about that guy's hand on me gives me a wave of disgust

He is literally around the age of my father yet his actions are so shameless

Liam raises his eyebrow and glances away for a second "And what did you do?"

"Me? I stomped his foot with my heels and slapped him"

He looks at me a bit amazed a slow smile appears on his face "I wish you kicked him somewhere more painful but that would nice, not that I am complaining" he nods in satisfaction and gives me a thumbs up "I am impressed , well done"

A laugh breaks out from me, I cover it up with a fake cough as this is a very bad timing

"Mr. Williams, your and this woman's behavior was truly disrespectful. You both need to apologize"

Liam scoffs and turns towards the guy "I think you should apologize to her, Leonard. You touched her which is highly inappropriate. Just imagine what will happen if the press gets this information?" Liam takes a few steps towards the guy. I could see that guy whose name is Leonard as Liam mentioned. His face goes pale at the mention of press

Leonard composes his expression trying to hide the fact that he is affected by Liam's treath

"I did no such inappropriate thing that bitch is-"

Another punch lands on his jaw

Damn why am I enjoying this?

A smile curls up my lips, he deserves that. After doing a pervert act he has the guts to deny it and call me a bitch? What the hell is he then?

"Another word about her, Leonard and I will turn your whole life upside down" Liam grabs his collar and I am left speechless. He pushes Leonard back and he stumbles on his own feet and drops to the ground again

Like I said before - this guy is making all my book boyfriend scenarios come true

Liam walks towards me and tugs his coat over his shoulder, that's when I notice that he is not wearing his tie or watch, his collar button is opened.

That's not supposed to be attractive right?

His expression cools down and he is back to his golden retriever self. Oh yes! Now I realise he does have that golden retriever personality trait. His hand gently takes mine as he smiles "I think we should go"

As I was about to reply a grunt came from behind me "Ah No- I missed the fun" I turn to find the guy who met Liam at the restaurant. He was Liam's friend? I guess?

Liam glances at the guy who was smirking at the sight of Leonard on the ground "Take care of him, Jeff " Liam says which sounded more like an order. So that guy's name is Jeff? I think I heard this name before, but where? Jeff nods in response "You got it" and he walks towards Leonard

As my curiosity increased, Liam guided me downstairs back to the party . We stand near a corner away from the crowd

"Are you really okay?" His hand never left mine, I could feel his thumb caressing the back of my hand

Physically I am fine, whereas mentally I am a bit uncomfortable. The same thing happened on my 18th birthday when a guy tried to get a bit too touchy but Ethan, being my overly overprotective brother, twisted his wrist . That incident didn't affect me much but after that at my dad's law firm's anniversary celebration when someone spiked my drink and tried to kidnap me left me a bit traumatized

The CCTV footage showed that a guy took me out but there's no camera outside the hall so no one knew how I came back inside the building that night. That memory is too blurry in my mind to even remember what happened after I had that spiked drink but luckily nothing happened to me. Since then I couldn't touch alcohol

Even today this happened when I was totally sober. I am proud of myself for being able to defend myself tonight

"Well I can't say I am completely fine but I will be okay" I leave out an awkward laugh trying to cool down the atmosphere, Liam doesn't look quite happy with this. Instead his face scrunches in disappointment? Sadness? I can't understand well

"Okay hm so why don't we-" he hesitates with his words , for a moment he glances around the hall and looks at me again "Do you wanna meet her?" I understood he was talking about Emily. Since I saw her, I have been debating whether to approach her or not.

My eyes fall on Emily Carter, who is standing at a distance, Zuri and Ian have also joined her conversation

I take a deep breath and look at liam. He is patiently waiting for my answer, I can expect him to be shocked but it's my choice

"No, I don't wanna meet her" Liam is taken aback with my words , he doesn't hide how shocked he is "Are you sure? But that's what our deal was right? I bring you, as my date so you could meet her?" He inquires

Well yes, that's exactly what we decided but now I have changed my mind

"Yes I have thought it through. I do wanna meet her but not now, not today at least"

He sighs "Is it because of that incident? I am sorry I left you, tonight I was supposed to take care of you but i couldn't- I am really sorry freckles"

"Hey! It's not your fault okay? Don't blame yourself and it's not because of the incident, I have some other reason"

"Then why? Could you tell me the reason?" He asks

"How will you introduce me to her, Liam?" I ask another question. He was not expecting that I could tell by his expression. He thinks for a moment and then replies "well as my date? If you don't want that I could introduce you as my friend"

I shake my head "That's the thing. She is my inspiration, when I meet her I want to introduce myself with my own identity. It's not like I don't wanna be introduced as your date or friend. I wanna be someone who can stand in front of her without any help"

Liam listens to each word carefully. As I keep speaking his worries vanish and a small smile appears on his face as he nods "I understand that and I respect your opinion. When you win the competition you can meet her as Stella Miller not as someone else"

"You think I will win it?"

"I cannot predict but I hope you win the competition. I believe in you ". His words give me some encouragement and hope. Maybe if I try I can win the competition and make an image

After a few minutes of silence I ask him a question "By the way, did you know that man? He called you by your full name and even you knew him. Who is he?"

Liam presses his lips together thinking whether to answer this question or not. He finally nods "Yeah, he is Leonard Aurther. He owns this banquet hall"

My eyes widened, oh no

No wonder that guy was behaving like he owns this place. Wait! wouldn't that affect their future meetings and all ? Oh I literally slapped and stepped on him , he did deserve it but I don't wanna cause a conflict between them

"I didn't know- I am sorry, I think I should apologize" as I take a step to Search for that man Liam slightly pulls me back "What do you think you are doing?" He frowns

"You said he wins his hall. I don't wanna cause trouble for you. I think it's better if I apologize-"

"Did I tell you to?" He cuts me off

I shake my head . No he didn't tell me to buy still i should just-. He takes a deep breath and leaves my hand and puts it inside his pocket "The only person who needs to apologize is him. His behavior was not appropriate at all, which shows how unprofessional he is. Moreover you are not gonna be guilty of hitting him. Got it? I will take care of the rest. Try to forget it please" His last sentence comes off as in a pleading tone. I could still sense he is blaming himself for that . However I could just nod and let it go. I am not guilty I just didn't wanna be a reason to put Liam in any kind of trouble

"How long can you stay?" Liam asks

"I told Jasmine I will be back before midnight," I reply.

When I told Jasmine she was like 'are you really acting like cinderella? I will be back before midnight? You are young , have some fun for your youth's sake'

Liam hums and says "So do you wanna stay here or go somewhere else?"

"What do you mean by somewhere else?"

"I know a place, you will like it. If you want we can go there and I will drop you back before midnight. So what do you think?"

Well I am actually tired of being here where I practically know no one. It's lavish yet I would prefer to be somewhere else for now to free my mind and take some fresh air.

I agreed and now Liam is driving me to the place he guarantees that I will like. It's a bit far according to him but we will have enough time. My legs have given up, tonight I wore the most beautiful yet mos uncomfortable heels ever in starting I was feeling the vibe but right now they are crushing my feet

It is my fault

She didn't know anyone at the party, yet I left her. I thought Zuri would accompany her and she did but still I should have been careful. I know she doesn't like these parties and I also know that she doesn't drink alcohol because of what happened in the past

God damn it

After looking for her everywhere I spotted her on the second floor where that bastard was about to hit her. I don't think I have ever felt so angry when I got to know that he even touched her , yes I was angry at him and even hit him but that didn't seem to calm me down because I was more angry at myself

Stella looks like she didn't care and is over it but I am still in doubt so it's better to distract her from that. I have messaged Adam that I am leaving so he could cover up for me if someone needs me. After a while I saw Jeff's message saying that he had made Leonard shut down. And his way of shutting down someone is not so peaceful actually it's nothing near peaceful. Not that I care because either way that guy is gonna regret it

"Liam?"

She is scrolling through her phone when she calls me out. We were silent the whole ride, I thought it's better if I keep quiet instead of pressuring her to talk but as she finally takes my name it gives me relief

"Yes freckles?"

She puts her phone on her lap and looks at me, her face is not as tense as before "I read that this show was also dedicated to Louis Martin?"

It takes my courage to not press the breaks. I did wonder how she didn't read the details yet-

I take a deep breath trying my best to focus on driving "Yes, it was his death anniversary recently so few designs were inspired by his style" I explain

"But why?"

I nod, It's not wrong to explain this to her about this. After all his case was famous and almost everyone in the fashion industry knows about it "Louis Martin was mom's junior, they were good friends"

"So you knew him too?" She asks

"Yeah. He was a family friend" I clear my throat

She nods , her eyes still on the road as I drive, after a while she asks another question "So you know what happened to him? In detail?"

I sigh

"He was accused of plagiarism and assaulting his teammates, he was boycotted from the industry and due to contempt, he committed suicide"

"Were the accusations correct?" She tries to confirm, she isn't showing much emotion but I can find the curiosity in her voice

I shake my head. No, they weren't

Stella tries to ask more but I stop the car making her look outside the window , her eyes widened in surprise. I park the car and get down to open the door for her. It's already chilly outside and her dress is gonna give her a hard time for that. As she steps down I notice her footwork is uncomfortable, she has been wearing those heels for a long time than usual

Gotta keep that in mind

"Why are we here?" She asks , We are near the Sydney harbour bridge well not exactly there but around the parks and gardens set up around the parramatta river . And we are at one of those gardens. It's night and the area is quite lively here, as many families are out for a weekend.

Her face glows with happiness looking at the trees which are decorated with fairy lights to give this place a highlight. I led her to a small ice cream parlour put up. It's a small shop with glass doors to view the inside, instead of having the eating area inside, there are tables and chairs placed outside in the open with a huge transparent gamp fixed at the centre of the table to protect us from sun or rain

As I lead her towards the shop, her heels make her moments lumber, it has been raining now and then hence the soil is moist making her heels stuck. However she manages to pull it off and walk without damaging those heels

Like how?

I make her sit on a chair as it's too risky to make her walk on those heels in this soil, "So which flavour do you want?"

"Chocolate sundae!" She beams like a kid

I walk inside the ice cream parlour and luckily they do make chocolate sundaes, I order two and wait for them to prepare the sundaes , The glass makes it easy for me to look at Stella, her back is facing me but her body posture shows Sher is tired by now

Even my nerves are all cramped up

After a while, the ice cream is ready. I take the tray and walk towards where Stella is seated and place it on the table and sit opposite her. Her happy face now is over the moon looking at the dessert. She has removed her heels and rest her feet on them

As I was about to pick up the spoon to take a bite she slaps my hand away "what was that for?"

She doesn't reply and takes her phone out, clicking a few pictures of the chocolate sundae "sorry, now you can eat" she says and keeps the phone back inside and picks up a spoon. She looks at me for a second, I also pick up my spoon as we together take a bite from our desserts

Her face melts at the cold sensation of the icecream, and she closes her eyes taking her own time to make the ice cream melt. I Chuckle a little bit she doesn't notice by the time she eats another bite I have already taken a few.

Well I am hungry and this thing looks delicious with the embellishment of chocolate syrup, cherries and dark chocolate and a few fruits at the bottom of the glass.

"This was a brilliant idea. Good thinking, I really needed an ice cream" she scoops up another bite before finishing the previous one.She expressions show that she is actually enjoying it. At least this will help her to forget it

She did mention it's her comfort food for both happiness and sadness

The rest of our time goes as we finish the dessert while enjoying the scenario around us. The golden lights surrounding the trees and the crisp breeze make me relax. Slowly the place gets vacant as the people finish their ice creams. I look up at the sky, it's covered in gray clouds that's not a good sign

I notice Stella rubbing her arms, as the time passes the breeze gets cooler . I have left my coat in the car , we have already finished the sundae we can leave but does she want to?

"It might rain soon, do you wanna stay or head back?"

She looks up to the sky, the transparent gamp making the view clear and visible. She nods "Yeah it might rain-" and before she finishes the sound of water droplets falling on the gamp makes her chuckle. Within a minute it's already pouring, the umbrella covering our head yet due to wind the water makes our sides wet

"That was expectedly unexpected" I laugh at her words. Yeah, I knew it would rain but not so soon. Stella shifts in her seat and places her feet on the grass making my laugh pause. She notices and a mischievous grin appears on her face

This is gonna be bad

"You know what I am thinking right?" Her eyes filled with keen hope, "Nope, don't even think about it " I say in a serious tone but she doesn't care and is already standing ready to run

I sigh "You won't listen even if I stop you right?"

She giggles and nod, before I would react she slips off and darts away from the protection of the gamp and her whole body is under the rain while she sprints around bare foot not carrying about her dress. She lifts her dress a bit to walk around more comfortably, her gets are getting covered in mud

She giggles grows with every step she takes on the soft grass, she opens her arms wide letting herself free , mingling with the droplets. Luckily it's not a heavy rain yet she is already drenched.

Her slicked locks sticking to the sides of her face,they appear darker than usual due to rain. The midnight blue dress is clinging on to her figure as the thousands of droplets caress her soft skin. Each drop sliding down her face to her neck like butter making her smile more . The way the damp silk is showing off her curves makes me hot even on this chilly night

Her skin feels like canvas, loving to be painted by the delicate brush of raindrops which praise her beauty, luring me towards her

Each drop whispers a note on which she moves her feet on the rhythm of the rain, she is relaxed and unfazed by anything happening around her. I wish no one could see how sensual she looks right now

I could never look away from her

I want to know how it feels like to hold her in my arms

If only I could touch her

For once

Her moments don't stop, with each step and the giggle of joy sends shivers down my spine. My hands clench on the side of the table as I am losing my control

Not a good idea

I rush inside the ice cream parlor , trying my best not to wet my clothes. I borrowed an umbrella from them and walk towards Stella who didn't even notice I was gone. She stands wrapping her arms around herself, I could sense her shiver.

I step closer to her bringing her under the umbrella, as the rain stops falling on her she turns around noticing my presence and steps closer to me to keep herself warm

"Hm you know what to do at the right time, that's quite impressive Liam, you are admirable" she praise me with a warm smile

"And you are fuckable"

Wait did I just-

Yeah I have gone crazy?

Is this what happens when you continuously read smutty books?

Yeah this thought was totally because of those books

How does she even handle that?

"Damn it. I need to visit the church now-" I mutter. I glance at her as she is looking at me with a frowning face , I hope she didn't catch up on my words .

"You didn't get wet?" Her eyes wander around my clothes checking if they are affected by rain or not. My back is a bit wet but I am not drenched like her, as she looks up to me I find a resemblance of ginger cat in her

I snicker

"Come on, it's fun. Remove that umbrella" she requests but I can't do that "I don't like it" I deny her. She crosses her arms and huffs , my grip tightens around the umbrella finding her too close to me . She suddenly pulls the umbrella away from me and puts it aside on the ground

And now I am standing under the rain, water dripping down my perfectly styled hair which is now ruined. My white shirt hugging my torso giving an uncomfortable feeling

She laughs at my condition

I glared at her but I couldn't anymore look at her euphoric face , I don't think I can get angry with her. If my condition gives her happiness, let it be. She continues to giggle, teasing me. A chuckle escapes my mouth.

She picks up the umbrella and holds it between us covering us from the rain again. There's a moment of silence as none of us speaks.

Her eyes shine due to the lights reflected by rain or do I just see her like that? Her presence is always so bright that I could feel the warmth in her eyes

If the time stops for a moment and I could caress her cheek? To treasure the small smiles of her ? To capture the moments that bring her joy? To steal her sorrows away

I smile at the realization

"What happened?" She asks still standing close to me, as we try to not get more wet

"Nothing, I just realized something"

She titles her head to the side wondering and says "What?"

I have fallen in love with you Stella Miller

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

Author's Note

I have no idea what it's like to fall in love with someone, yet I tried my best to describe his feelings. I literally poured my heart in this chapter 😭

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