JUST A PIECE OF CAKE

A Brush with Death

"...aspiring Parish Councillor Simon Price hopes to stand on a platform of cutting wasteful council spending. Mr Price is certainly no stranger to keeping down costs, and should be able to give the council the benefit of his many useful contacts. He saves money at home by furnishing it with stolen goods – most recently a PC – and he is the go-to man for any cut-price printing jobs that may need doing for cash, once senior management has gone home, at the Harcourt-Walsh Printworks–"

Liam hadn't realized he was reading the book out loud until the waitress cleared her throat in the most polite manner that she could. She had been standing there, calling out Liam's name twice before she could get the most handsome costumer she had the whole day to remove his attention from the book he was reading (in which her comment was 'too much of a bloody good thing').

"Your order, sir?" she said, trying to not let the annoyance in her voice seep through.

The dirty blonde haired lad placed his book down the table. "Right," his voice reeking with embarrassment. "Sorry about that..."

"I've seen worse," the waitress smiled, seemingly flirting with him. "Waiting for someone?"

Liam checked his watch. "Yeah, a girl."

"Your girlfriend?" the waitress asked, hoping he'd say no.

"No," Liam shook his head. The waitress almost smiled but that was before Liam finished his sentence with "I don't have a girlfriend. But I do have a boyfriend though." She looked utterly surprised and walked away with disappointment in her face. It wasn't everyday she gets to see hot guys in the café and it was terrible to know that the first one to step in and have a cup of tea was gay.

Hiding his smile, Liam took a sip of the tea. He glanced back down at his book and reminded himself to read silently this time. Sadly, no matter how he tried, he still manages to mutter some words especially when the scenes become hostile (curses flying around the pages like arrows enveloped in fiery hot flames).

Even though Halloween was last week, and he has dedicated all of his brain activity to finishing the book, scenes from that party – more specifically the dance and the bedroom – flashed through his mind and then slips away before the instance that he could smile.

It couldn't go more romantic than that, could it? Liam asked himself. Two people, born from different aspects of life have their worlds collide in one night of passion and then to simply have themselves hurled into waves of emotion, confusion, and (Liam hoped) reunion and salvation. It would all have a happy ending. Liam snickered; what he was saying sounded like something ripped out from a Nicholas Sparks novel (which his sister, Nicola, had plenty in collection in her room).

Liam distracted himself from further daydreaming about Niall by looking at his watch. It was already quarter to four but the person he was waiting for wasn't there yet. He glanced out the window of the café but there was no one on the streets.

A few minutes later, while poring over his book, the door sounded with a greeting from the waitress from before. Liam looked up, felt something twitch inside but dismissed it as a simple response of his body for when he last saw her, they broke up.

"So sorry that I'm late, Li," said Danielle, taking off her scarf. "I had to get away from the escort that daddy had following me every single day."

"You have an escort now?" Liam raised his eyebrow and closed his book after tucking in the homemade bookmark. "Since when?"

"Since I got sick from that trip I had to Asia," replied Danielle.

"You mean that medical mission of your company?"