Page 15 of New Girl in the City
Chapter Four
My spoiled princess routine went on for a good week, and when I say that it was more than a little satisfying, I’m lying.
It wasn’t just a little satisfying. It wasbeyondsatisfying to watch Liam’s eyes narrow at me in the car rearview mirror as I ignored him and enjoyed my morning coffee. A coffee that was not offered to him again. In fact, I had even abandoned my usual quick grab of coffee from the stand on the corner of my block in favor of having Liam drive me to a ritzy coffee shop that was nowhere near my work. I had to get up a cool half hour earlier just to make it happen, but it was so worth it.
All was fair in trying to piss off an asshole driver, who, for his part, did not make his distaste of me unknown. We traded glares and scoffs. I didn’t miss his smart assed comments on my chosen lunch destinations, or the hours I kept leaving work. When I had been with Walter, he had known that me leaving for lunch meant he was getting fed as well. It had never been a fancy affair, just me poking my head into whatever hangout Walter said was good or grabbing a quick slice and sitting wherever I could so long as it was in the sun and I was unbothered.
This was nothing of the sort. These lunches were meant to be flaunted, and to taunt. My checkbook was not going to be happy with me after the week of indulgence, but at least I knew I was getting to him when by day three Liam’s usual stance outside the car had upgraded from a sulky slouching against the car glower, to full on fight mode with the man’s hands tight on his hips. I wouldn’t be surprised if his ass cheeks were clenched tighter than his jaw, which I could tell was snapped together with enough pressure to push a diamond out.
“Why are we doing this again? I cannot tell if he’s going to murder you, or open your door anymore, but I mean…” she tilted her head to the side considering him. We were walking towards the car from the office and she sucked on her teeth, “You know what? He’s so damn hot, either one is okay. Just so long as he’s got his hands on you.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Claudia…”
“What?”
“He’s my driver. That’s weird. Besides, I hate him,” I reminded her.
“Stop acting so unaffected. You think he’s hot. Don’t you even pretend that you don’t.”
My lips pressed into a thin line and I tossed my hair over my shoulder. “He’s all right,” I conceded while she snorted in disbelief but thankfully made no more comment. We were only a few feet away from the car and I didn’t want Liam to overhear us, let alone get an idea of what I really thought about him.
Right now he thought I disdained him and that was what I needed. That was what I wanted. I’d extended friendship to him and had it slapped out of my hands so fast that it had practically bounced off the ground and smacked me square in the chest.
It hadn’t felt good, but what didn’t feel any better was that Claudia was right.
I was very into Liam—and yes, anything he was doing would be just fine so long as the man’s hands were on me. I didn’t even hate his eyes on me when he was glaring, because at least he was looking at me. And some part of me thought he was of the same opinion...why else would he be looking at me so often, so intently?
But that didn’t matter, not right now. If he wanted a spoiled princess, then that was exactly what he was going to get.
“Bab’s on MacDougal, please,” I told him, breezing past him and into the car without a backwards look. Liam answered in his normal grunt and that was that. Our interaction was over. Claudia was shaking her head at me, eyes on her phone with a smirk on her face. She thought she was right, and I wasn’t about to give her one ounce of satisfaction in knowing that she was. The ride to Bab’s passed quickly enough with Claudia chattering away and showing me this or that on her phone to liven up the mood. Otherwise it would have been just Liam and I sitting in tense silence. That was the norm for my drive home after work---the only thing that made that palatable was that I was usually so exhausted from the day that I didn’t have energy to do much more than sink into the backseat with a sigh and close my eyes for the ride home.
It was in those moments that the tense silence transformed into something softer—more sweet than bitter, and I didn’t mind it. The silence enveloped me then rather than bore down on me. The car became a sanctuary, rather than a battleground. And while those moments were nice, this was not one such time.
No. Now it was a flat-out battle royale with Liam and I locked in a war of glares while Claudia fidgeted in her seat nervously.
Normally I ignored it but...today I was feeling a little more inclined to pick a fight, especially given that he’d rolled his eyes at my discussion of a vacation with Claudia. We had been going back and forth over the merits of a trip to Spain, which I had always wanted to do, or maybe just a little escape upstate. I hadn’t had the chance to do it yet and had been thinking of it as a way to get away from the city during the upcoming summer. But all it took was one barely disguised eye-roll from Liam to set me into a fighting mood.
It was plain to see that he found our conversation silly and frivolous, so I crossed my arms over my chest and asked him. “You get out of the city often?”
He gave a slight shake of his head, eyes darting from the road to meet mine before they were gone again. “No.”
That was it. The whole answer, and I could see Claudia biting her lip in my periphery. She wanted me to not have this conversation. I ignored her.
“Why’s that?”
“Not everyone has enough time, or money, for a fancy vacation,Princess.”
I pursed my lips. I could practically hear the spoiled attached to the word and my fingers clenched on my crossed arms as I tensed.
“My name is Melinda, not Princess.”
“My mistake, Princess. I get confused sometimes with the way you act,” he returned, and my mouth fell open in a slight gasp, but before I could volley anything back, we arrived at the restaurant. I practically felt Claudia’s body relax with relief.
“Oh perfect! Not a moment too soon!” she trilled and threw open the door before the car had even come to a full stop. She was moving and nearly rolling out of the car like an action star wannabe. Claudia waved him off when Liam went to open his door. “No need! I’ve got it,” she insisted and held the door wide for me. “Thank you so much, Liam!” she called out to him while she thrust a hand my way. “Move it or lose it, Mel.”
I eyed her desperate hand for a second, but didn’t move, instead I looked back at Liam as I slid towards the door. “We’ll be done with lunch in an hour,” I told him. “Thank you.” And that was it. I was up and out of the car, not waiting for him to reply.
Claudia shoved the door closed with more force than necessary. Probably because she was trying to drag me away from the car as fast as she could. I pulled my arm back, digging my heels in when she hustled us forward.
