Chapter-5

Miranda was sitting with Kim Houston at the office cafeteria, a pair of untouched sandwiches lying on the table. Kim was busy typing on her calculator and noting it down on a notepad placed on the table while Miranda sat leaning back, devoid of any sort of appetite. She wiped her eyes with her palm, trying to wipe away the sleep off her eyes. The two consecutive sleepless nights hadn’t been too helpful.

“You okay?” Kim had asked once, trying to appear concerned but unfortunately the poor girl was so full of work, she had hardly any time to look up from her calculations. Being the accountant, Kim Houston had hardly much time for her colleagues.

“I am okay.” Miranda had smiled and gestured her to continue with her work.

That was when he walked in. Liam Hunter. Miranda had heard about him a few weeks ago already, when the guy joined the company but this was the first time she was seeing him in person. He seemed like an easy guy; everyone seemed to like him. Dark hair and light brown eyes with casual stubble, he had a certain grace about him that captured Miranda’s eyes in the first place. He wasn’t laughing or too expressional but his dimpled smile was too perfect to go unnoticed.

“Don’t waste your time on him, Miranda. He is not worth it.” Kim’s sudden voice startled her and Miranda turned to see she had Kim’s full attention.

“Sorry. What?”

“Have known him since I was eight. I won’t say he is bad, but he isn’t really into girls like us.” She said gesturing with her fingers at Miranda and herself.

It occurred to Miranda that Kim was hiding something, like some sort of broken relationship between her and Liam. But the girl had a poker face and it was hard to read her expressions.

“I will be careful.” Miranda smiled and nodded.

Two days later, she was sharing the same table with Liam, Kim and Carlos, another of her not-so-familiar colleagues.

It occurred to Miranda that Liam and she had a lot of things in common. He was an artist, just like her. The guy had an amazing taste in music; he practically knew all about her favourite singers and more. Liam was from the same town as her cousin Julie, so the conversation turned very homely because it seemed like he knew almost every member from her family.

“Julie and I are the bestest of friends, among the whole lot of best friends.” Liam laughed as he described her parents and even went as far as describing their dog Roger, quoting him as the ‘naughtiest dog he has ever met.’ He knew everything.

“Julie adores Roger, so as you know. She would be mad if she hears this.” Miranda laughed, shaking her head.

“Oh, I tell her this all the time. She doesn’t seem to mind anymore.”

Kim, on the other hand, seemed way too distant. She constantly avoided Liam’s friendly questions and diverted her attention to Carlos who seemed to enjoy it. It kept coming to Miranda that even though Liam pretended to look okay with it, he was actually getting cheesed off every time Kim succeeded in ignoring him.

After her work hours, Liam had walked her to her car and somehow she was starting to get comfortable in his presence. He seemed like an easy talker, and he knew how to converse without making it awkward. Miranda like the way he managed to carry the talk without excluding either of them in the conversation, and he had a sense of homeliness about him.

“So I will see you tomorrow?” Liam said, as Miranda got seated inside her car.

“Sure.” She smiled, full of hope.

Driving back home, she had a sense of feeling that what she was doing might not end well. Every action of hers reminded her of Michael. She couldn’t quite figure out why. Hers and Michael’s relationship had been on rocks after the first three or four months. Nothing about them had been romantic or worth thinking about, but she felt like a cheater. Not only that she didn’t regret Michael’s death, she was glad that she was seeing Liam. Not exactly seeing, no. But it seemed to her that maybe they had a chance together. And it was killing her.

When Michael first asked her out, she never thought it would ever ‘click’. Mike was too sophisticated for her. Or so she thought. He was cute, yes, but he had something unexplainable about him. Something really attractive. The trait seemed pretty close to a predator, luring his victim before finally hunting it down. She had regretted being with him but still had loved it when it all started. She had known about his anger issues from the start, but she had felt so confident back then. She had been so sure it won’t affect her, and Mike won’t even think about hurting her. She had been wrong all along.

Michael, Michael, Michael! That was all she had been thinking for a year. Even her parents’ divorce couldn’t affect her this way because she had been too busy covering her own bruises. At times, it had made her wonder what had she done to herself. Was it just Mike’s fault? Should she be held guilty for forgiving Michael when he first got the real guts to hit her?

Reaching home didn’t feel any safe either. Cutting off the engine she turned to pick her hand bag when the pink card tucked in her windshield caught her eye. How come she didn’t notice it before? How absorbed has she been lately?

She climbed out of her car, puzzled. It looked like a kid decided to pull some sort of dumb joke on her. Reaching out, she quickly pulled out the card. The breath knocked out of her lungs, she shakily dropped the card, bewildered.

It read : “WITH LOVE , MICHAEL.”