Liam felt like dirt. He'd never made a girl cry before; not even June. Not even in all his years of working for the IRS had he ever made a woman cry before. Not even any of his past girlfriends whom he wasn't always fair to had he ever made cry. His reaction to the small creepy girl crying in front of him was even more shameful. His anger was only fueled as he saw those tears come down her pale clean skin. He didn't know why but seeing her cry made him want to break something. He was thankful that she left then because he really didn't know what he would have done had she stayed. Unfortunately, the girl and her tears had plagued him the entire rest of the weekend and all day at work on Monday. He had to apologize to her; had to. If he didn't he feared he would be haunted by those blasted tears until he went mad, and he couldn't be going mad, he had a date with Percy on Friday. The girl worked at the Starbucks by his office, he'd have to go after work and decline Percy's offer to join her for a quick bite. Which was really too bad since he felt the offer was more of a sexual innuendo than an actual invite to eat food. Damn it all.
He rushed around the corner, the cold nipping his cheeks and stinging his eyes. A bolt of lightning, a crash of thunder and suddenly he was drenched and in the middle of a thunder storm. He wrapped his long black coat around his slim body tightly as he maneuvered his way through the crowd of umbrellas. Bloody city and it's love affair with horrible weather. He saw her just as he was nearing the Starbucks. She had on a lime green rain coat and a yellow umbrella; how could he not spot her? And suddenly she was off, bolting down the street faster than he could keep up with. She ducked and spun and jumped and trotted. He tried to keep up, tried shouting for her, but every time he did thunder would boom and drown out his voice. He was ages behind her but fortunately, still able to see her yellow umbrella peeking out above all the others, clashing violently with the dull black of everyone else's. She turned a corner suddenly and he cursed out loud. Once around the corner as well he couldn't see where she had gone. The street was a long row of apartments, all the same style, all a bit shabby and old, and the girl wasn't anywhere in sight. Just as he was about to turn back around and attempt to hail a cab he caught a spark of green on the other side of the street. There she was. Looking right at him. Those scary eyes of hers piercing through him. He felt a shiver run through him at the sight of her. She really was quite odd. She had a serious look on her face but stood perfectly still on the other side of the road, on the sidewalk. Both of her hands clenched tightly around her umbrella's cane. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit before she turned around and walked up the short set of stairs to what he guessed was her apartment. He felt like an idiot. He had been cemented to his side of the road it seemed. He was soaking wet and a stalker. He looked both ways and crossed to her side quickly. He just wanted to get this over with already. She opened the door before he knocked and looked up at him like a child.
"What are you doing here?" She let out in a raspy whisper.
"I um, can I come in?" She had no cover over her door and he felt a bit ridiculous since everytime he spoke splashes of water flew out of his mouth.
"No, you can't. What do you want?" Liam leaned all his weight onto his left side awkwardly.
"I wanted to apologize about the other night. I lost my temper, which doesn't happen often, but I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."
"It's called yelling." She whispered out quickly, looking down at his shoes.
"Excuse me?"
"What you did. You yelled at me."
"Yes. Well, I'm sorry."
"Why?" Well she wasn't making this easy for him that's for sure.
"Listen I just feel very much like a prick for making you cry and I wanted to apologize. Do you accept it or not?"
"So you're trying to clear you conscience?" Well bloody duh. He nodded.
"How did you know where I lived?"
"I followed you from your work. I was trying to catch up with you but you're quite a fast walker."
"Oh." A minute passed, it could have been more.
"Do you want to come in?" She finally asked. Liam didn't want to come in at all. All she had to say was she forgave him and he'd be able to bolt out of there and never see her again. Why did she insist on being the strangest person he'd ever encountered? But when she moved to the side he couldn't say no, she looked so...hopeless. He came in and she helped him out of his coat and then hung it on a metal coat hanger in the shape of deer antlers.
"Stay here, I'll get you a towel." He took the time while she was in another room to survey the place. It was small and warm, with light wood floors and honey colored walls. It was decorated oddly, much like a garage sale, but it wasn't in an unsightly manner, it all seemed to fit quite well together actually. She came back with a fluffy red towel in her hands and handed it to him with a slight smile. She stood there watching him as he dried off and he did the same to her. She had on purple tights and black shorts along with a blue and gray sailor striped t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid and her bangs swooshed to the side.
"Would you like some coffee?" She asked as he handed the now wet towel back to her. She bit her lower lip.
"Sure, thanks." She sprinted out of the room but turned around at the doorway on his right to usher him towards her. He followed her into a miniature kitchen; the stove, sink, and dishwasher were the tiniest he'd ever seen. A mini-fridge on top of the counter and a large plant where a fridge should have been. She had a small round bright blue table with two matching chairs. A spotted red and purple rug under it. She pulled out some coffee beans, grinded them, stuck them in her large old fashioned coffee maker and then sat in one of the small blue chairs. Liam felt as if he were inside the house of the seven dwarves, everything was so tiny, including her. He sat down awkwardly in the chair across from her just as the sound of thunder shook the place a little.
"I love this weather." She said giving him a sweet smile. He quirked up a blond eyebrow.
"Really? Why?" She quirked her head.
"What do you mean why? You don't like this weather?"
"Not at all actually." Her eyes widened.
"But, but how could you not? It's so intense and alive and all-consuming and invigorating!" She said passionately. He leaned back in his chair a bit.
"I think it's troublesome and inconvenient."
"Yes but it means to be! It wants you to notice it. It wants you to change your plans. It wants to muck up your schedule some so that you're forced to think and feel and do things differently!" He blinked at her, speechless.
"Well...I think so anyways." She blushed a pretty pink and looked down at her hands.
"I never thought of the weather actually wanting anything."
"Of course it does. Everything and everyone wants something. Don't you want anything?" He immediately thought of Percy and smiled a little.
"Yes."
"What?" He blinked out of his short fantasy.
"Er...well, it's personal."
"Oh. I see." Did she?
"What do you want?" She looked up from her hands then and smiled a little, though sadly.
"It's more of what I don't want."
"What do you not want?"
"I don't wa-" But the coffee maker went off interrupting her and she got up immediately. Liam was surprised at how easy it was to actually talk to the intense girl. She came back with two mugs, one in the shape of Micky Mouse's head and the other, hers, was white with a pink design that looked much like flamingos.
"Would you like sugar...or milk?"
"No, I'm fine, thanks." She smiled in approval and took her seat again. They both drank in silence.
"Your name is Samantha...right?" She looked up then, looking very surprised.
"Yes. And you're Liam." He nodded and she nodded back.
"Why does my sister call you Gray?"
"It's my last name, some people call me that."
"Oh, right. Do you live alone?" She nodded.
"Well, Levii too." Oh, the cat. Liam tried not to frown.
"Hey, you didn't apologize to Levii yet." He stopped mid-way taking another sip as she said this. Was she serious? Christ, she was. She bolted up from her seat, obviously on route to fetch Levii, but Liam stuck his hand out and grabbed her forearm before she got too far.
"Maybe you can apologize for me? I don't really feel like having a sneezing fit right now." She was looking down at where he was touching her and hadn't moved since he had grabbed her. A few moments passed like this before he finally let go of her.
"Um...w-what did you say?" She said with a red face.
"I said maybe you can apologize to Levii for me? I'm allergic remember?" Her face cleared.
"Oh, right, I forgot. Yes, I'll apologize for you. What would you like me to say?" She took her seat again, smiling kindly at him and he licked his lips in order to stop himself from laughing out loud.
"Just tell him I'm sorry for yelling at him. It was very rude of me. I hope he can forgive me." Liam smiled but only because he wanted to laugh so badly. She seemed pleased however because she returned the smile tenfold and he was slightly surprised at how pretty she looked when she smiled like that.