His Pretend Maid

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Six weeks – the length between Liam surprising her at the train station and that very moment in time. She hadn’t been lying when she told him she would have very little time to communicate with him. She sent out random text messages at 3am while working a 24-hour shift. He replied at 9am with banter that made her laugh.

Even her coworkers noticed a difference in her.

“Tell me Megs. Who’s got you all smiley tonight?” Drew, her best guy friend on the base, nudged her, causing her to drop the phone.

Glaring in his direction, Megs played innocent. “Guy? What guy?”

“You, along with my wife, are horrible liars. Stick with your day job, hun!” Drew smiled. “He must be pretty special if you’re withholding information from me.”

She smiled running a hand along the underbelly of the bomber. “He’s someone I met on leave. We hung out for the entire time I was home and someone I enjoy texting back and forth with.”

“And you’re completely smitten with him. Does he know you like him?” Drew was the worse of the guys when it came to gossip.

Frowning, Megs shook her head. “No and that’s the worse part. I don’t even know when I’m going to see him again. He’s leaving on a business trip in a few days and the next time I’m in London is for Christmas and New Years but he’s heading up to his family’s place up north.”

“Baby girl, you need to chill out. You are working yourself up for absolutely nothing. It will all work out if it’s meant to be.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. Baby girl was the nickname she was stuck with due to being the only girl and the youngest engineer on staff.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why can’t life be simpler?”

“Because then it wouldn’t be life.” Drew chuckled behind her. “You better toughen up little one. I know you’re only 24 but you have a whole life in front of you that is going to be less than fair. It’s better to learn that now than 50 years down the line. It’s not the end that matters . . . it’s the journey.” The older man was quite proud of himself.

“Dude where did you pull that from? Been spending a little too much time in the greeting card aisle trying to make it up to your wife?”

“Haha laugh it up sweetie. I can be smart and serious when I want and need to be!” Drew chuckled as a couple of Megs’s cohorts came into the work room with giddy smiles on their faces.

Raising her eyebrows, she knew Rosie, Abby and Leah wouldn’t just be visiting the bomber facility just for a social hour. “What can I help you ladies with?”

“Someone got a dozen of white roses in the main office.” Rosie smiled. “I was sent to let you know.”

Megs shook her head at the three young interns in front of her. “And why did your sidekicks have to tag along with you? Too afraid of walking across campus alone?”

“Just passing along the message. Serge wanted us to let you know.” Abby added.

Megs smiled. “Appreciate the message . . . I’ll go get them in a bit.”

“Megs you need to get out a bit more. We can’t have you wasting away here day after day. “Leah looked at the 24 year old in front of her. "I mean, I can understand why you don't have a boyfriend. Just look at your filthy hands and nails."

She giggled. “Some of us have to work for a living. Actually some of us love our jobs. Now kindly leave my facility before I grab security.”

Watching the three walk away, Megs turned and looked at Drew with a roll of her eyes. “This is why I hate people on base.”

“Aww but baby you don’t hate them; you just have a strong dislike for them.” Drew teased.

The two settled into quietness, both working on the bomber. The door opened caused Megs to look over her shoulder. The first thing she noticed was the bouquet of white roses. “Special delivery!”

Megs walked over to her best friend, Erin with a smirk. “Rosie, Leah, and Abby beat you to the punch.”

“I told them not to come bother you.” Erin muttered placing the flowers next to the phone. “Oh I love punishing the interns.” Erin worked in the main office and one of her duties was working with the interns.

Megs grabbed the white envelope, her name neatly typed on it. “They told me I needed to get out of the bomber facility more and stop ‘wasting away’ in here.”

“Oh they are so getting it.” Erin snared.

By the time Erin finished ranting, she had not only Drew’s attention but all the other bombardiers’ attentions as well. “Don’t you all have more interesting work to get done than to find out who sent me flowers?”

“Absolutely not baby girl. It’s not every day you get flowers, much less roses, delivered.” Drew yelled as a blush crept across her cheeks.

Finally ripping open the envelope, Megs pulled the card out. Seeing the familiar handwriting on the card caused her heart to leap to her throat. Smiling, she let her eyes skim his words.

Hi pretty girl!

It’s been six weeks since we last saw each other and it feels like a lifetime. I hope you’re doing well. So these roses are just to make you smile. You sounded down during our last chat so I wanted to cheer you up!

Until next time!

All my love!

Liam

The smile that lit up her face caused Erin and Drew to trade glances. “You all right Megs?”

“Uh huh . . . I got the sweetest friend. He knew I was down and sent the flowers.”

Erin cleared her throat, grinning at her young friend. “Hate to break it to you but that’s not a friend move . . . he likes you.”

“What? No, no, no . . . we are just friends.” She argued shaking her head.

Drew chuckled. “Uh huh . . . sure keep living in your little fantasy. To you, you may only be friends but to him that was step one of his plan to make you his girl.”

“No, that’s not what this guy is about . . . he and I are just friends. I’m never in London and he travels just as much for his job. It would never work out.” Megs stammered as Erin and Drew, along with everyone listening, grinned.

Erin wrapped Megs in a hug. “Why are you fighting this? From what you told me about this guy, he makes you happy and you had a great time with him. What is making you run the other way?”

“What if I mess it up? What if I make him run in the other direction?” Her voice dropped to a whisper.

Erin cooed. “How are you going to mess up when you’re not even willing to try? He sounds like the perfect guy. Why are you so against this?”

“Bryant and Daniel.” She whispered as Erin groaned and tightened her grip on Megs. “I could kill those two. Babe, this guy is so different from those two idiots. He understands that you’re not around a lot and neither is he. But if he’s willing and committed to you then you just need to let yourself fall. He will be there to catch you.”

Megs gave Erin a quick hug. “Thank you for always being there.”

“Just don’t think too much about it and just go with it. If he likes you as much as you gush about him, you’ll be just fine.” Erin smirked.

Looking at the bomber, Megs pushed Liam and the flower fiasco out of her mind before returning to work.

4:00pm

“Get out of here Meghan! You’ve been here since 6 this morning.” Drew yelled. “I do not want to see you back here until 9 tomorrow morning and not a second before.”

Shrugging on her coat, Megs picked up her purse, sticking out her tongue at Drew before finally walking out the door. Leaving the building, she was delighted when her cell phone sounded from her pocket. “Well hello there!”

“Do you actually mean I get to talk to Meghan Maria instead of leaving her a voicemail?” His teasing voice came over the speaker.

Laughing, she tucked her free hand into the coat pocket to escape the coldness. “Why yes you do! Drew forced me to leave the bombers facility so I’m walking across the campus back to the barracks. What are you doing hot shot?”

“Just left the studio and thought I should give this girl I know a call. You might know her.” The smile in his voice was evident.

Reaching her building, she slipped her key into the lock, letting herself into the warm building. “So what are your plans for the night misses?”

“Absolutely nothing. I had to be at the facility for inspections at 6 this morning so I’m going to have a glass of wine and catch up on some reading.”

He laughed. “Sounds like a plan!”

“I’m so looking forward to it.” After checking her mailbox and disappointed by the lack of mail, she headed upstairs to her room. Walking down the hallway, she stopped in front of room 217. “Hold on Liam. I’m struggling.”

“Struggling with what?” He laughed.

“Trying to open the door to my room.”

Finally putting the key in the lock, she managed to unlock the door, swinging it open. However, what she found caused her jaw to drop. “What did you do?”

“Me? I did nothing.” He said a little too innocently for her liking.

Her eyes widened taking in the sheer amount of flowers in the tiny space. “Liam Lee what did you do?”

“There should be a note somewhere in amongst all those flowers.” He chuckled.

Ten tin buckets full of different flowers were placed around the room. There were pink Dahlias; blush colored Ranunculus; bright yellow Sunflowers; purple Peonies; Orange Lilies; Green Chrysanthemums; Blue Forget Me Not; White Daisies; Red Carnations and Yellow Daffodils. Stuck in the pink Dahlias was a folded piece of black paper. Flipping it open, she skimmed the silver writing.

“What do you have up your sleeve, Park?”

His breathing came across the line. “Yeah that’s not creepy at all, Tommo. Don’t forget I’m the Psycho Damsel.”

“Just follow the instructions on the card and you will see.”

Hi you!

Surprised? I know I got you good. Now I need you to do a little work. There’s a spot that you typically call me from on your lunch break . . . that’s your first stop!

Bye!

Liam

It was good thing she didn’t shrug off her coat, she thought grabbing her keys and heading back out the door. “It’s a good thing I love surprises.”

“You will love this!” He gushed, her headed back downstairs.

Walking out the door, she headed towards the little park on campus. It was a playground for the families on base. There were several tables around the edge that were typically filled during lunch. “When I get there what am I looking for?”

“You’ll know it when you see it.”

He was being very secretive which anyone who knew Liam Park knew that was very uncharacteristic of him.

Walking up to the area, her eyes found navy and silver balloons immediately. She quickly undid the bag the balloon were tied to and pulled out another envelope. “You are impossible, Park.”

“Just open the bag and go to your next destination.”

Congratulations on finding your clue. Now head to the glass enclosure and you’ll find your surprise.

Megs headed to her next destination. “Liam this is too much. You must have spent hours doing this and charmed too many people.”

“I had fun doing it. Erin was a hoot while I was communicating with her.” Liam chuckled hearing her gasp on the other end of the phone.

“Erin knew?”

That sent Liam into full laughter. “Yes she and I have been talking for the past few days. She texted me and threatened to end my life if I hurt you in any way. She said she didn’t care if I was a popstar with millions of fans; she wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me if I hurt you.”

“I’m gonna kill her.” Megs muttered under her breath as Liam back pedaled.

Liam stuttered. “You can’t kill her Megs . . . she helped me plan this. You aren’t going to want to kill her . . . I promise.”

“That’s an awfully big promise your saying, Liam.” Pulling the door to the building the glass enclosure was housed in, she felt the warmth of the building on her skin. “Do you really want to promise that?”

“Of course. Now let me go so you can go find your surprise.”

Without a goodbye, he hung up on her. Her jaw dropped shoving her phone in her pocket. She stomped over to the door leading directly into the room her surprise awaited before pulling it open.

Her eyes went wide when she walked in. The door clicked quietly behind her as she walked towards the illuminated table. Soft music was playing as took in the scene. A table set for two was set; a red rose sat across one of the place settings and silver and navy blue balloon bunches were scattered around the room.

“Surprised?”

Spinning around, tears clouded her eyes as she saw the man she had spent all day thinking about standing a mere 4 feet away. Without a word, she rushed over to him and threw herself in his arms. He laughed twirling her around as she squealed with excitement.

“I take that as a yes.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug, she couldn’t believe he was standing here. “How the hell did you manage to pull this off? Normal people don’t just get clearance onto base.”

“Normal people don’t have Erin Hall helping them get onto base either.” He teased. “The boys and I signed a few autographs for some Sergeants’ kids and promised tickets for the next tour and I was able to get a pass for tonight.”

Megs pinched herself. “I can’t believe you went through all of this just to surprise me.”

“Your face was worth all the trouble and hassle.” Liam smiled giving her another hug. “I was serious earlier when I said I missed you. My life has been oddly quiet since you came back here.”

Megs looked at Liam; she couldn’t believe a boy she had known for less than three months had gone through all this trouble. “I’ve missed you too probably more than I’m willing to admit; it was weird going from seeing you everyday to only hearing your voice on a voicemail. I didn’t like it.”

“Erin mentioned you had some rough days.”

She looked down. “Some were pretty hard. I didn’t realize how much of an impact you would have on my life. Or how much I would come to rely on you.”

“I have to tell you something . . . the whole reason I put on all these theatrics.” Taking a deep breath, he stepped back and took one of her hands in his. “After I left the train station, I tried to return to normal life but I couldn’t. You inhabited every inch of my mind. I would walk past places we had hung out and I would instantly get sad because you were away.”

“Liam . . .”

“I would sit and think about what you would be working on or talking to. I found myself jealous by anyone who got to spend every a minute with you because they had that opportunity. I think that’s why I left you so many voicemails because I missed you.” He took a breath. “And somewhere along the way, I’m not sure where, but I fell for you, Meghan. Somehow you captured a chunk of my heart and mind and I don’t want those back. So I have a question for you, Meghan Maria . . .”

“Yes?”

He grinned looking into her bright green eyes. “Will you be my girlfriend? I know we’ve know each other for six weeks but you’re someone I don’t ever want to let go.”

“You’re amazing, Liam. I just had an argument with Drew and Erin about us today and I freaked out about absolutely nothing but right here in this moment, I’ve never been happier.” Squeezing his hand, she grinned. “Yes I will be your girlfriend.”

Picking her up, he twirled her around as she squealed. Placing her back on her feet, he moved forward and captured her lips with his. She grinned in the kiss as he pulled away.

“So,” she played with the hair on the nape of his neck. “How long have you been planning this?”

Liam grinned. “Since you walked away from me at the train station. That kiss we had at the train station left me wanting more. I've liked you for a while."

"How long is a while?”

Shaking his head, Liam stole another kiss. “I’ve liked you since we first met. I fell for you that night at the theater – you were absolutely beautiful mouthing the words along with the songs. Every little thing you did had my heart racing. Whenever we were apart, I felt lonely and wanted you constantly around me.”

"I feel the same; I was too scared to pursue anything." She smiled. "But I'm happy that you're here."

And with a kiss, the two looked forward to what the future held for the two of them.