15. Chapter 15
Sophie
“One Grant special coming up!” I call out in a singsong voice as I maneuver my way over to the table at the corner. I drop the tray on the table and arrange the food.
“Enjoy your meal.”
I slip the tray under my arm and walk back to the kitchen.
“It is her.”
“Yes, it totally is! Let’s take a picture and post it.”
“How can she be his first love?”
I pretend not to hear the conversation as I make my way back to the kitchen. It’s not the first time I’m hearing this, and it surely won’t be the last.
It’s been over a month since the scandal broke and I ended things with Liam. It’s also been over three weeks since Liam left Surfside Haven, yet the town is still raving about the news.
Our little town is bursting with more tourists than usual, and every one of them makes their way to Grant’s Diner just to have a look at Liam Ryder’s famous first love.
Even though the people of Surfside Haven have chosen to ignore the news and keep treating me as usual, it’s hard to live a normal life with the tourists gawking at me everywhere I go.
And it surely makes it harder to get over Liam when people keep pointing out that I’m his first love.
While the phenomenon of first love sounds romantic to them, it’s just a reminder that he was never in love with me.
With my heart breaking more and more every passing second I spend away from Liam, it’s overwhelming to deal with the incessant gossip.
“I told you that you can stay home for a while longer,” Mom says as soon as I enter the kitchen.
“I’m fine, Mom.”
I’ve stayed home far too long. All I did the first three weeks after our breakup was stay home and nurse my broken heart.
The moment I noticed that only made things worse, I started working at the diner with Mom again.
It takes my mind off things, and I’m beginning to get used to the constant gossip and looks everywhere I go.
Goodness, how does Liam deal with it?
No, Sophie, don’t think about Liam right now.
I place the tray on the kitchen counter and pick up the one for the next table.
“Sophie, I really think you’re overworking yourself.” Mom takes the tray out of my hands. “Please go home. I’ll handle this with Susan. Lily will be here soon, too.”
“Mom, it’s fine. It’s not like I have anything to do at home. If I’m here, I’ll be able to take my mind off things.”
“No.” Mom shakes her head stubbornly and pulls the apron off my waist. “Go to the beach. You do have a secret place there, after all. Go there and get away from all of this. You won’t see any of these staring faces there, and you’ll get to enjoy a beautiful view instead.”
Secret place?
I scoff.
If only she knew.
However, I stop myself from arguing with her. Knowing Mom, she won’t stop until she’s successfully gotten me out of the diner.
I pick up my bag and slip out the back door of the diner.
I don’t even get to walk three steps before I start getting the looks again. As always, I pretend not to see them as I make my way to the beach.
It isn’t until I get to the rock that I regret my decision. This place holds too many memories of the times I shared with Liam.
Tears sting my eyes, and I let them fall freely.
Why did I do this to myself?
I should have at least kept this place for myself. That way, I’d have a place to go where I wasn’t haunted by him.
Did I make the wrong choice?
Should I have just continued dating him and waited until things naturally ended between us?
No. Then I’d be betraying my own heart.
I made the right choice for myself. And seeing as Liam hasn’t reached out to me since that day, it’s clear I made the best choice.
He doesn’t want love, and that’s not going to change. Being with him is only going to cause me heartache.
I sit on the rock and pull my legs up to my chest. The calmness of the water is so much different from the turmoil in my heart.
It’s too beautiful to appreciate with a broken heart.
My hand instinctively reaches for my phone. I go to my search engine and type in his name, just as I’ve been doing every day since our breakup.
Unlike the first time we parted ways, I’m trying to connect to him in any way I can, even if it’s through reading recent news about him.
However, there’s been no recent news about him. All that’s up are the same articles about his first love and pictures of me that people who come to Surfside Haven keep taking.
For the past three weeks since he went back to LA, no one has seen him or reported him doing anything.
It’s quite unusual because in the past, when I was actively trying to avoid hearing about him, he was always all over the news.
It’s like he disappeared off the face of the earth.
It hurts so much more that I don’t know anything about him. I want to know how he’s doing; if he’s fine or if he’s taking this as hard as I am.
Why do I keep trying to deceive myself?
He probably doesn’t care that we’re broken up, and I’m just here losing my mind over nothing.
I put my phone in my pocket and raise my eyes up to the sky.
My gaze fixates on the line between the sky and the water. The sun is setting with an orange starburst in the center of the horizon. It’s magnificent.
I manage a smile, letting out a calming breath.
“Sophie.”
What is wrong with me?
Why am I hallucinating his voice right now?
I need to grow a backbone and get over him.
“Sophie.”
A warm hand settles on my shoulder, and I stiffen in shock. The heat from the body behind me sends my heart reeling.
He’s here.
His musky cologne bathes me in his sweet scent, confirming my suspicions even before I glance beside me.
My heart jumps as I come face to face with Liam.
He’s definitely Liam. But he doesn’t look like himself.
He’s grown gaunt over the three weeks we haven’t seen each other. There’s a light stubble all over his jaw, confirming that he hasn’t been bothering with shaving, either.
His eyes are sunken, with heavy bags underneath.
What happened to him? Is he sick? Is that the reason he hasn’t been in the news lately?
It breaks my heart to see him this way, and I forget my own situation.
I jump to my feet, reaching out to touch his face.
“What happened to you? Why do you look this way? Are you sick?”
Liam smiles softly, his eyes lighting up a bit as he drops his head on my shoulder. He slips his hand around my waist, sending a shockwave of emotions through me.
Something wet drops on my shoulder, and I push his head back to see tears clinging to his lashes.
“Liam, what’s wrong?”
“I was so stupid,” he mutters, the tears sliding down his face. “Too stupid to realize it. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see you right now. I’m so happy that I can’t control my tears. I missed you, Sophie.”
He missed me. Liam missed me .
My heart beats wildly in my chest as I try and fail to keep my nerves under control.
“All I’ve done for the past month is think about you. I can’t even sleep because all I see is you.”
He couldn’t sleep, either? Is that why he looks so worn out?
“I spent my life berating so many rom-com movies and the indecisive male lead without realizing that it’s basically me. I’ve been too stupid to see it, Sophie.”
What is he trying to say? It can’t be…could it?
“I can’t believe it took me so many years to figure out the truth. It took Julian knocking some sense into me to confront what I’ve always felt.” He slips his hand around my face. “I love you, Sophie. I always did.”
My throat tightens with tears, and I slowly let them fall as I throw my arms around him.
Liam clings to me as though I’m his lifeline, and I hold him even tighter.
“I just hope I haven’t pushed you too far away with my stupidity.”
“Never,” I blurt out. “I’ve always loved you, and I still love you, Liam. I’ll always love you.”
He places a soft kiss on my forehead and tightens his arms around me. It’s almost like he’s scared I’ll disappear.
Seeing as I have the same fear, I hold onto him just as fiercely.
Liam pulls his head back and tilts my chin up.
“I promise to spend the rest of my life proving to you just how much I love you.”
I smile. “And I promise to keep loving you until I take my very last breath.”
Liam kisses me gently. His warm lips send a swarm of butterflies straight to my belly.
I smile into the kiss, knowing that, like the rom-coms Liam used to hate, my happily ever after is here.
THE END
Thank you for reading The Grumpy Actor .