Life After Life

•C h a p t e r T h i r t y - T h r e e•

My hands tugged on the stable door handles again, pulling with as much strength as I could exert. Still, the doors wouldn't budge. I turned around, only to see Liam's amused smirk.

"Liam, I'm not kidding. The door won't open," I repeated with a solemn expression, my lips pressed flat.

"Let me try," he approached me, eyeing me skeptically as he placed his hands on the door.

He pushed, then pulled and still, the door did not budge. I scoffed, watching as Liam tried again, his jaw clenching and knuckles white as he pulled as hard as he could.

"Yeah, its definitely locked. Or jammed," he turned back to face me, his breaths slightly heavier than before.

"Are you sure you're not just pretending to spend more time with me?" I teased, a smirk spreading over my face.

"You're too funny, Ophelia," Liam said, his tone dripping with sarcasm and I chuckled. "I'll go call someone to open the door."

Liam reached into his pockets, and then into his hoodie pocket. Each time they came out empty-handed.

He glanced back up at me, a sheepish smile spreading over his face, "My phone is with my cousin. I'm babysitting and she was playing games before her riding lesson."

I rolled my eyes, digging my hand into my pocket, only to find that it was also empty. I let out an irritated sigh when it finally hit me that I'd left my phone in my room. It was charging on my desk, which I'd overlooked in my haste.

"Me too," I said quietly, gnawing at the insides of my lip. My eyes widened, "Liam, what do we do?"

Liam sat down on the ground and I almost grimaced, knowing just how dirty and unkept it was.

"Nothing, we wait until someone brings their horse in," he said, shrugging.

"No way," I shook my head, gripping the door handle as I pulled on it again, as hard as I could. I groaned when the door wouldn't move. "Come on."

"Ophelia, it's fine. It won't be a long wait," Liam said behind me, chuckling. "We won't starve."

"It's not that," I sunk onto the ground in front of the door right next to Liam. I sighed in defeat, "I don't know how my mom will react. She'll get so annoyed if I'm not there."

"Does it really matter if you're there?" Liam asked, shuffling closer to me. His shoulder brushed against mine ever-so-slightly.

"Apparently it does," I grumbled.

"Well fuck her," Liam chortled next to me and I turned to look at him, incredulously. "She can't blame you for this."

Oh, but she totally would. I frowned to myself.

But I knew Liam was right about one thing. This time was no different than the other times where I'd skipped an event of hers. It was just that this one was unplanned. My mom would scold me and then get over it. I just wished that I could avoid the scolding part.

"Just a completely casual question," Liam started, breaking the silence between us. "Will you be taking over your parents' company?"

"I'm not sure," I shrugged, my eyes trained on the ground. It was covered with a mix of grass and hay. "It doesn't really matter if I do, Jackson can always step up."

"Well, yeah it matters," Liam shifted, turning his body towards me. "What's stopping you?"

"Nothing is stopping me. I don't mind taking over my parents' company," I began to explain.