A Penny For Your Tears [Z.M]

Seventeen

"Olivia, how do the decorations look?"

"They look fine."

"Olivia, do you think the arrangement of the books look good?"

"Yep."

"Olivia, do you think I look fat?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, I felt a slap on the back of my head and I turned around to see my grandma with her hands on her hips.

"Have you even heard a word of what I said?" She asked, slightly annoyed, and I shrugged sheepishly in response. "Olivia, this isn't a joke! Your grandfather's showcase is tonight and you know how much this means to him. A lot of important people will be here tonight and if you can't find it within yourself to care, at least do it for your grandfather." I had never seen her so angry before and I felt my face heat up with shame and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Grandma, what do you need me to do?" She sighed, her shoulders relaxing slightly as her stern look became softer. 

"There's still so much left to do, I wouldn't know where to start. You can help Liam set the tables up out back in the patio."

"Who?" I questioned, slightly confused.

"Liam, Karen's son. Oh, you must not have met him yet, she came by our house a few days ago. Perhaps you weren't home that day. Anyway, just go and help him." Without arguing,  I made my way to the patio. I slid the glass door open, the cool air finally hitting me as I spent most of the morning indoors. I walked out, glancing around for this Liam.

"Hello." Someone spoke from behind me, touching my shoulder gently to grab my attention.  I jumped back impulsively, taking several step backwards with slight expression of fear occupying my face. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The person apologized, a look of concern covering his face. Calming down, I could get a clearer view of this man and a frown came to play almost immediately.

"You? You're that guy hangs out with Zayn and Harry. You were there that time I almost died." I accused, bitterness evident in my tone. I had let what happened go, but that doesn't mean I had forgiven any of them.

"Yes, I'm so sorry about that day and for anything else that might have happened." Liam apologised sincerely

"Save it, let's just get these tables fixed and we can go our separate ways again." I put a hand up, silencing him before marching away to start on one of the tables. My confidence surprised  me seeing as a minute ago, I had cowered away from him like a scared little puppy. I was changing, slowly but surely I was changing, becoming more and more confident with each passing day.

"I'm Liam by the way." He suddenly spoke after about twenty minutes of silence. I rolled my eyes, my back facing him so he couldn't see, I had already gathered as much. "You're Olivia right?" He continued hoping to initiate a conversation, but I remained silent. He didn't say anything again after that and we continued setting up table after table until eventually we finished our last one and we smiled at each other triumphantly before I remembered was angry at him, causing my smile to fall instantly. Liam sighed heavily, muttering something under his breath before turning to face me.

"Harry misses you, you know. Whatever Louis said , it started off like that but Harry was never trying to intentionally hurt you, he's just not like that. He holds a lot of respect for women, we all do of course. In addition to that, eventually he enjoyed your company so much; he told Zayn he couldn't do it anymore. As for Zayn, he's just had a very difficult life and some issues with trust" Liam tried to defend his friend, however I didn't want to hear it. But, the mention of Zayn did intrigue me. I chose to walk inside than hear anymore of what he had to say, leaving him outside alone. As I entered the shop again, I gasped in awe at how much my grandparents had accomplished in the mere hour or more I was outside. The place had been completely transformed and resembled more a gala than it did a bookshop. The featured books were showcased around the shop in beautiful glass cases and there was a team of waiting staff already preparing the catering for tonight.