Harper looked closely at the email from her new ECON Professor, Dr. Jones. She taught Economics 200. Harper thought Dr. J was pretty pensive, but fair nonetheless. She was a true stickler for efficiency and precision. She could drone on and on, at times Harper thought she would pass out during her class. It's when she missed Liam's engaging lectures, he always involved the class, it sounded cheesy but he made you want to learn about economics. Now, she was bit confused now, according to Dr. Jones' email, she would be out 4 weeks due to a personal family matter, while a provisional professor would take her place while she was away. Clicking off the email, Harper shrugged her shoulders, and wished Dr.J the best, she hoped it all worked out for her.
Harper wasn't sure which Professor would replace Dr. Jones for the time being, but she knew she'd find out tomorrow when she had class.
Grabbing her cup of hot chai tea, she stepped her feet into her fuzzy black slippers and went to the back of her home, looking out at the back yard. Opening the glass door, she stepped down the first step on the cement stairs and sat down, placing her cup on the bottom step. Her eyes roamed the neat back yard. She and her mom spent every Spring working in her garden. Growing up, they lived with her grandfather and he always had a vegetable garden. Harper remembered constantly being outside with them on her knees, pulling weeds and planting seeds. Her grandfather still had a beautiful vegetable garden to this day.
Fortunately for her, he planted a few fruit trees in the backyard when she younger, now she rarely went to the market for fruit and vegetables; she could always go to their house to get veggies and fruit.
Harper got off the steps, took off her slippers and walked barefoot to the neatly mowed lawn. She loved her back yard, letting the dewey grass slip between her toes, she closed her eyes and blew out a deep breath. Her backyard was her favorite place in her home, next to the kitchen. The property was completely fenced in. They had set up some wooden patio furniture, and a hammock that Harper would constantly fall asleep in during the summer. A screened in gazebo was nestled in the opposite corner. At times she would do her homework and studying in there when she needed a breather from being inside the house, and didn't want to go to the library.
Harper walked slowly to the hammock, and settled in, she looked toward the sky and sighed. She felt restless. There were times when the restlessness would start, then loneliness would creep in, and she would feel unbelievably blue. She had taken up running again. Her body was still conditioned from all of the competitive softball she played in high school. However, it took her a few sessions to get back into the swing of things, but she refused to give up. She knew that she couldn't
think
Liam away, so she tried to make herself so unbelievably tired when she ran that the only thoughts when she fell asleep were; nothing.
She knew it would be hard to get over him, she just didn't know it would be this hard.
Harper leaned on her side in the hammock, the pretty flowerbeds in her line of vision. The sweet floral smell tickled her nose, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, not realizing that her cheeks were wet with tears. Harper didn't realize she was crying, scoffing she quickly got up and went into the house to change. She grabbed her rubber cap, black one-piece swimsuit, some hair products, and flip flops. Stuffing them all into a small duffel bag, Harper headed to the gym. She knew she could run away the thoughts of Liam, so let's see if she could swim them away..
**********************
Liam went over the documents on his desk again, his vision now blurry. He rubbed his eyes and winced, it was like sandpaper was underneath his lids. Opening his desk drawer, he pulled out a small bottle of eye drops and dropped a few in each eye. Liam welcomed the burning sensation as the drops worked their magic on his unbelievably dry eyes. Wiping the corner of his eyes, he reached back in the drawer looking for his glasses, feeling the case, he quickly pulled it out, opened it, and slipped the black square frame glasses on his face. Liam tried to focus on the documents again but couldn't. The words seemed jumbled to him, then again he couldn't really focus on anything. Sitting back in his chair, he allowed his thoughts to roam. Harper came into the forefront. He hadn't seen her in a few weeks, he thought things were supposed to get better but he couldn't shake the hollow feeling in his chest.
"Knock knock," Aimee stood there with a slight smirk on her face.
Liam knew he shouldn't be agitated at her presence, nothing was really her fault. Aimee didn't know he and Harper were together. No one knew actually, still he couldn't stomach talking to her just yet.
"Hey Aimee," replied Liam less enthusiastically.
"Hey yourself," stated Aimee casually as she strolled in and perched herself lightly on the arm rest of the guest chair. "What are you working on?"
Liam focused on the documents in front of him, not meeting Aimee's eyes, he grunted, "some stuff for class tomorrow actually.."
Liam wasn't sure if Aimee caught on to his dismissive mood, if so, she didn't act like it.
"Oh, you're teaching on Tuesday's now?"
"I'm doing a favor for a colleague, she's out due to a personal matter. It's ECON. I'm just going over her syllabus."
"Well, aren't you sweet," she stated, a bit to syrupy for his taste.
Hopping up, Aimee made her way around his large oak desk, and set down prettily at the corner. "So, I was wondering if you weren't doing anything later, maybe you'd like to grab dinner?"
Liam groaned inwardly, what had he done? Sure, Aimee was an attractive woman and he had known her for quite some time now, still he couldn't handle whatever it was she was trying to accomplish right now, he just wasn't in the mood.
"Uh, thanks Aimee, but I'm good, I'm going to leave pretty soon, and I still need to go over those investment contracts for The Crosgrove group. I have to teach at 8 tomorrow. But thank you really," he said stiffly.
Aimee was shocked. She thought she and Liam were moving towards
something
, she knew it wasn't serious, well at least not yet, but they had known each other half of their lives. Their families ran in the same social circle. His parents loved hers and they often visited each other's homes growing up.
"Um.., okay, yeah sure," she replied quickly and hopped off his desk. "I'll let you get back to work." Liam noticed that she moved shakily, he felt bad. Before she walked out the door she turned on her heel, "Good night, Liam." He could see the disappointment marring her pretty face. "Good night, Aimee."
Liam knew he was a jerk. It wasn't really Aimee's fault. He should have never slept with her. Aimee and her parents were old family friends. Growing up, the Latimores' frequented the Hunters home on numerous occasions, their mothers had tea on Tuesdays and their fathers had been business partners as well as golfing buddies for the past 15 years. He and Aimee had grown up together. They both attended Sacred Heart, the prestigious private academy, and went on to Standford together.
Their parents had been pushing him and Aimee together for years, Aimee was your typical Barbie doll beauty. At 5'8, she had long blond hair, a slender frame, large fake breast and beautiful blue eyes. To most men, Aimee was an aesthetically pleasing package. Still, Liam could never feel the connection that they always tried to force. He and Aimee got along just fine, but something was missing.
He wasn't sure what it was about Aimee, that gave him pause, but he figured it was her snootiness. Aimee, like his parents as well as her own, looked down on people. They had his whole life.
Liam never adopted that attitude about the less fortunate however. He was pro human, and believed heavily that people could not help where they came from. A person's character was the most important thing about them. He gave a sad smile. His nanny taught him that, Ms.Lily. She was a wonderful woman who took care of him for years. Ms. Lily was a kind woman, with a quick tongue, and funny mannerisms. Some of his best times in life were at Ms.Lily's house when his parents were away. They'd read, play games, and she'd always let him lay his head on her lap when they watched a movie.
Ms.Lily was the person who he wished was actually his mother. She was always patient with him, and allowed him to drag her all over the city going to different museums and historical monuments. His mother, Elaine Hunters, meant well, however she was a snob through and through and constantly looked down on others. It's like her brain was programmed that way, and she never was able to grow out of it. Especially when it came to his nanny.
Ms.Lily was black, and his mother never let her forget it. Of course Ms.Lily was her elder and she was always respectful. She actually loved Ms.Lily, what she didn't love was the fact that her son favored the older woman over her. Eventually, Liam grew old enough to watch himself while his parents were away or after school. That was enough for Elaine to quickly terminate Ms.Lily with a hefty severance check and send her on her way. If Liam was being quite honest, he resented his mother for a long time because of it. He considered Ms.Lily family, and for many years she raised him like her own son.
