“You mean, she sent this text to you in the middle of the night?” Daniel asked his friend, who nodded.

“Yea. And we haven’t spoken since then.”

Daniel sighed. “Something is wrong in your relationship, man. Your girl is getting carried away.”

Liam smiled. This was actually the only thing that made sense since he had been talking.

“Charlotte told me the same thing.”

Daniel looked surprised. “You told her?”

He nodded.

“Why did you do that? You just gave her an entrance.”

Liam smiled. “She isn’t like that. As a matter of fact, she warned me to be extra supportive and try not to fight with her no matter what. Else she would have an excuse to hold it against me.”

Daniel smiled. “That’s true though. It takes a woman to fully understand a woman right?”

“Yea.”

“I hate that Tom guy,” Daniel declared.

“Really? Why?”

“Because the ladies make such a huge fuss about him. They are always swarming around him and it’s just… ugh!”

Liam chuckled. “Have you lost a girlfriend to him before?”

“Nah! I just. I just don’t like him that’s all.”

“Because he is successful and very young and good looking?”

As Daniel was about to protest, the door opened and Emily stepped in. Daniel quickly stood up.

“Hi, Tee,” he said, managing a smile as he walked out of the room.

“Hey, Dan,” Tee replied and shut the door behind him before proceeding towards Liam.

“Hi, baby.” She said in a low voice, before taking his seat.

“Hi,” Liam replied.

For some minutes, neither of them spoke.

Emily was looking for a way to start a conversation about why he had to burst into Joe’s office and said all those things while she considered the fact that she had stood him up throughout yesterday and was hiding something from him.

Liam, on the other hand, was trying not to be too harsh on her without making it seem as if he was not being supportive. The truth was, he was actually getting tired of this. It was like he was walking on thorns and he was trying not to feel the pain when the thorns were cutting deep into his flesh. How would that be possible?

“Liam. I urm, I just want to apologize for what happened yesterday. I stood you up again and I am so sorry about that. I know you must have heard a lot of that but please don’t get tired. It wasn’t what I planned. The jet that was supposed to bring us. I mean, bring me back developed some fault so I had to get a hotel.”

Liam kept watching her as she spoke until finally she stopped.

“So, your phone developed fault too and you had to send a text?” he asked as calmly as he could.

“Urm. I tried your number but it was busy all evening” she explained soberly.

Liam sighed. “Did you go alone?” he demanded. He wanted to know if she was going to lie about this.

The question didn’t surprise Emily. She knew that there was no way he wouldn’t have known that Tom had accompanied her. Probably that was why he had even gone to Joe’s office. She knew that several questions would follow.

“No. I didn’t,” she replied. There was every chance that he actually didn’t know who had accompanied her.

“So who did you go with?” he asked.

Crap! Why all these questions?

“I went with Tom,” she replied.

“The same Tom who was with you in the picture?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Liam smiled. As a matter of fact, he was quite intrigued by the way she spoke the truth. If she had lied, he would have thought that maybe she was afraid of him but now that she had told the truth, he didn’t know what to think.

“Do I need to be worried about this Tom guy, Emily?”

Emily sighed. “No Liam. You don’t need to. As a matter of fact, I should ask if I need to be worried if my career is a threat to you.”

Liam’s heart sank as he heard that. Did she really just say it? He chuckled painfully and leaned back to make sure it was really his girlfriend that had said that and not an imposter.

“Emily. Did you just ask me that?” he asked. he needed to be sure.

Emily sighed. “I’m sorry if that seemed harsh but why would you go meet Joe and tell him all those things, Liam?” she demanded. “You know how much I am working my ass off for this promotion and you had to go behind my back to tell him to ease thing up with me...

“I said that because you are overworking yourself and I don’t want you to be hurt.”

“I am not hurt Liam. I am fine. I need this. I want this!” she snapped back.

“You know what this is causing between us, right?” he asked.

“I know I have been missing a few dates and dinners. It’ll go back to normal once I get the promotion. Right now, I need to work and prove to myself to those that may be concerned that I am capable. I don’t need you to be pulling me back. I don’t need a man that would be going behind me to destroy all the work I have done. We are not even married for God’s sake!”

Liam shut his eyes as he listened to the hurtful statements that were coming from her lips. He couldn’t believe she was saying all these things to him. For sure she was changing. Just then, Charlotte’s warning came back to his memory.

“Just note that, once she starts telling you things she wouldn’t have said on a normal day, know that you are losing her gradually.”

He gasped and dropped the pen in his hand on to the table. Emily was quiet, they were both quiet.

Liam knew he had to say something. Even though she had said things he never quite expected from her, she was right. He had no right to have gone behind her to talk to Joe.

“I am sorry for looking out for you. It was selfish of me. I missed my girlfriend and I thought I wanted her with me. I should have considered that you were not bothered about if you were missing me or not. Your career is important. I understand. You know that I have always supported you. You know that I am very proud of you and that I respect and value your ambitions. I will never pull you back. I love you and I want the best of you. I have never been jealous of you and I am not about to start. I apologize in every way if what I have done has made it seem as if I was jealous or that I never wanted the best for you. You and I both know how proud I am of you.”

Now, Emily was feeling bad for saying all that she just said. She knew that he had always supported her. She knew that he was the best thing that would ever happen to her, in fact… maybe it was best saying it out loud.

“Liam, baby.” She started, reaching for his hand from across the desk.

“I am so sorry for everything that I said. It was so selfish and uncalled for. I blew things out of proportion and I am sorry. I appreciate your kindness, support, and your loyalty. I just… maybe you are right, maybe I am overworking myself. I have missed you a lot as well and please don’t think I don’t miss the times we spend together. I do. I know for sure that, once I get this partnership, everything would come back to normal. We will return to the way we used to be. I promise, baby. “

“But Emily, I know I can’t ask you to choose between your career and your relationship because both are important to you. I just want you to make effort to make things right between us, please. I need my girlfriend back. What if you get the promotion and things don’t go back to normal. Will we even be spending time together?”

Emily inhaled sharply. “We will and I want to make things right. How about dinner tonight, at my place?”

Liam scoffed. "Your place or mine?”

“Mine, come on, been a while you visited my place.”

“Okay, no problem. What time?”

“7 pm. I will make your favorite,” she said, grinning widely.

“Well, I would love that...”

Later, she stood up and went around the table to sit on his lap. Then slowly, she brought his lips closer to hers.

“I miss those lips,” Liam groaned as she pulled away and she chuckled.

“Don’t worry, just get your appetite on for tonight,” she said quickly. “I love you but I’ve got to go. Lots to do!”

“I love you too and I got to go back to work.” They both laughed as she slammed the door after her.

Liam sighed, he’d just had a wonderful moment but deep down he knew it was not going to last.