You Picked Her, I Picked a Life Without You

I went inside the apartment and there was just silence. Liam still hadn't come home, he must still be tending to Jessica in the hospital. I went inside the living room and I saw his phone on the table. He even left that behind, all for Jessica.

When I was about to move it to the bedroom, there was a flash on my phone. It was an alert from Twitter. Its message was wrongly read by my eyes by accident.

There was a photo of Jessica kissing Liam on the cheek at the airport. Thousands of likes on the tweet, but some with cutting remarks.

[You two look so good together. You should be an official couple!] said one of them.

Another reply responded.

[Isn't Liam already dating? The pouty one, or so?]

They even put up a picture of me and Liam. A vintage selfie that somehow they managed to get their hands on. Perhaps from another of my social media platforms.

The other comments got worse.

[That's his girlfriend. Watch out, she will lose her mind and scratch Liam!] with a laughing emoji.

[Yeah, but seriously, Liam and Jessica are a better couple.]

I bristled when I spotted another comment, this time from Jessica herself.

[I know we look good together, but please don't upset their relationship.]

It was a defense on the surface. But I knew, concealed behind such sugary sentiments, was a knife slowly piercing. She was the one surreptitiously diverting Liam's attention away from me.

Meanwhile, Liam. as per usual, would not defend me.

My phone suddenly sprang to life, startling me. Freya was calling.

"Daisy, my uncle needs waiters. You still require employment, don't you?"

I fell silent for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I do. My ice skating training has also been put on hold for now. I'm idle at home."

"Good. Just report to his restaurant tomorrow and begin," instructed Freya.

I hung up feeling better. At least I had something that would stop me from dwelling on Liam.

****

The next day, I started working.

Freya’s uncle’s restaurant turned out to be quite fancy and was always full of customers.I tried to adapt, keeping myself busy so my mind could stay calm.

Everything was going great, until that afternoon. I was serving drinks on a tray to a private table. It was strictly business at first. But when I placed down the last drink, I heard that voice.

"Daisy? You work here?"

I stood upright, turning around slowly. Jessica was seated facing Liam. To her right, Jessica's friends were all holding their breaths, glancing at me with a derisive look.

Liam was taken aback, as if he did not even know me.

I was gripping the tray firmly in my palms, shoving back the bared teeth of hurt gnawing at me.

Jessica was sitting casually in her chair.

"Look at you, Daisy," she was saying to her, loud enough for the entire group around the table to hear.

Even nearby guests turned to look, with curiosity.

"There are those who stay where they are... and there are those who go higher. I think we all know who is just enough to be a servant.”

Jessica's friends' gentle guffaws echoed, slapping my ears.

"From ice skating champion to waitress," one of them quipped. "Life is full of surprises."

They all burst into laughter.

I remained silent. I noticed some of the other guests had started whispering, looking in my direction.

But I just continued moving ahead of them with head held high, serving food at the next table.

I played dumb. Played like I didn't care.

Walking past that table again, I noticed there were two other couples of adults sitting there. Jessica's and Liam's parents. They were smiling big while seated, and the mood shifted to something serious.

A host rang a glass.

"Good afternoon, everyone.

Today, we are pleased to announce the engagement of Liam Lancaster and Jessica Lynn. Let's give them our best."

There was a burst of applause.

I just remained standing in the corner, frozen.

Liam took a step forward, pulled out a tiny red box, and placed a ring on Jessica's finger.

Jessica looked at him with sheer joy.

What made my chest break even more was that Liam. was smiling too, as if everything was happening in real life.

Jessica pulled on his jacket collar, and before he could do anything, Liam stooped.They were kissing passionately, while the party people on the stools around them cheered loudly.

My hands shook so violently that I didn't even realize I'd dropped the tray, its metal ringing out loudly as it crashed, ruining the moment.

Everyone was staring at me. I quickly bowed my head and ran away, suppressing the tightening sensation in my chest.

I finished all my work, and then I headed home.

Evening, I had only taken a few steps when I overheard someone shouting.

"Daisy! Wait!"

I picked up the pace, pretending not to hear. No, Liam, he caught up with me and grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop.

"Let go of my hand. What are you doing to me, Liam?" I spat.

Liam let go of my arm, but his face grew red.

"I should be asking you. Why are you waiting tables at that place? You were embarrassing!"

I laughed, but my heart hurt.

“So, kissing Jessica there didn’t embarrass you?” He fell silent.

“Oh, I forgot. I should be congratulating you. Congratulations on your engagement to Jessica, Liam,” I said, forcing the words out even though they hurt.

Liam’s jaw tightened as if he was holding something back.

“Stop it, Daisy! I only did that for show.”

Liam stared deeply into my eyes.

“For show? Then why didn’t you deny the engagement just now? You seemed...”

My voice trailed off, and Liam waited.

“Seemed what?”

“Seemed like you were enjoying your role.”

Liam fell silent, as if at a loss for words, making me choose to walk away.

But Liam kept trying to stop me, even as I struggled to pull free.

“Daisy, wait! It’s not what you think.”

He let out a heavy sigh, as if searching for the right words.

“Our parents... they forced me.

I had no choice.”

I looked at him for a long time, holding back all the emotions that were about to explode.

“Then...” my voice grew weaker, “what are we really, Liam? What do you want, and what do you expect?”

He stayed silent.

And for the first time, I knew the answer without him having to say it.