TWENTY-FOUR: SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY

KIMBERLY


We went back to Liam's bedroom after dinner and Liam fell on his bed. I stood at the foot of the bed watching him as he groaned. I wasn't expecting him to leave the bed for me, but I was expecting him to give me a comforter to sleep on the couch. He turned and looked at me.

"You are not expecting me to leave my bed for you, are you?" he asked and turned. "I can't, I can't sleep on anything less comfortable, plus these sheets are very expensive."

I rolled my eyes before I spoke. "I am not expecting you to do that. Can you be sensitive enough to give me a quilt and a pillow?"

"Oh, that..." he said and looked around. "I don't know where the housekeeper puts them, but I will ring her to come." He pressed a button on the nightstand.

I folded my arms across my chest and sighed deeply. I should really get used to him and his mannerlessness. "Do you ever do anything? Did you go to a special school of arrogance?"

He stared at me from the bed for a while. "What do you mean?"

He was completely oblivious of what he was doing. I wondered how Aiden is best friends with him. A gentle knock came on the door and it opened gently. A middle-aged woman came in and stood demurely by the door.


"Get me a comforter and an extra pillow," Liam said to the woman who nodded and hurried away. Liam glanced at me and I removed my eyes, not interested in making any eye contact with him. He covered himself with the blanket and turned to lie on his side.

The lady returned a few minutes later and I took the comforter and pillow from her and smiled at her, she smiled back and left the room. I quietly went over to the couch and lay down and covered myself with the quilt.

"Turn off the light," Liam said drowsily.

"I don't sleep with the lights off," I said turning away from the bed to lie on my side.

"What do you mean?" his voice was firmer now.

I slowly turned my face to see him sitting up in bed, a deep frown on his face. I turned fully. "You have to deal with it. I can't sleep with these lights off. I am your visitor, you should treat me as such."

"Bullshit, " he said and flung his bedsheet aside, climbing out of bed. "This is my room and I say what happens here."

Was he being serious right now? As if I was the one that asked to be here. I watched him as he went towards the switch. He was being serious. Did I just forget how insensitive he was? As he placed his finger to turn off the switch, I knew I had to let my pride down. I was really scared of the dark and I couldn't sleep with the lights turned off.

"Please," I pleaded. He stopped. "Please, I can't sleep in darkness, really."

He turned to look at me. "What?"

I sat up on the couch and pouted, hoping my puppy eye could melt his heart, but he huffed and turned to look at me.

"I can't sleep with the lights turned on either, I have a meeting by eight tomorrow and I need to catch some sleep."

I didn't know what else to do, he wasn't even looking at me and my pleading eyes were having no effect on him. I knew I had to just lie awake that night, after all, I didn't have anything to do tomorrow. Nothing new was happening for me tomorrow, except for the arrival of Mrs. McGillivary. I lay back on the couch and shut my eyes.

"You can turn off the light and sleep since you have a meet..." The switch clicked, interrupting me and the whole room went dark. He didn't even consider being kind to me for once. I heard his shuffle as he went towards the bed to lie down. I clutched my quilt and closed my eyes.

I didn't know why I was particularly afraid of the dark. I didn't have any memories before it. I have been nyctophobia since I was a kid and Khloe had gotten used to sleeping with the lights on since we shared the same room. The switch clicked again and the lights came on. I opened my eyes, Liam was standing a few feet away from me looking at me. I didn't realize I was still clutching the comforter until he spoke.

"Are you really nyctophobic?" he asked.

I didn't know if it was the effect of my nerves or if I detected concern in his voice. "I don't just like sleeping in the dark."

"He walked to his bed. "Whatever. I thought I should let you have the lights on since you pleaded. You should sleep first, I will sleep later. Don't mention, I know it's so thoughtful of me.

I rolled my eyes. I would have thanked him enough, but he had thanked himself already, so I just turned to face the other side, away from his bed. There was silence for a while before he spoke.

"Hey, are you always this ungrateful? I saved your night."

"I was going to thank you, but you thanked yourself already. You told me not to mention any thanks."

"I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

I turned sharply to face him. "You said not to mention that it was so thoughtful of you. That was supposed to be my cue, but you are always faster than your shadow."

"Hey."

"Can you let me sleep now? I should sleep quickly so you could be able to sleep."

He muttered something inaudible and silence fell on the room. It sat there for a while, then Liam turned in his bed and cleared his throat. "Have you slept yet?" he asked slowly. I ignored him and for a while, he didn't say anything. "Come on, you can't tell me you have fallen asleep in a few seconds." I still ignored him. "I am going to put off the light then."

"What do you want?" I asked.

"You see? Why do you always prove so hard a nut to crack?"

"You said you wanted to be early and attend a meeting by eight and I can't sleep in the dark. Since you generously turned the lights on for me, I only had to be thoughtful enough to sleep and let you turn off the light so you could sleep."

"I just want to talk," he said sounding vulnerable.

I paused for a while. He didn't sound like the Liam I knew, he sounded more like a lonely child. I turned to face him. He was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. "Are you alright?" I asked.

He glanced at me and returnd his gaze to the ceiling. "I just want to asked you a question."

"I'm listening."

"I'm curious why you had to lie about our relationship."

I remained quiet for a while. Aiden had warned me never to tell Liam why I lied. "I guess some things are just done irrationally. What about you? I told the lie, but you chose to continue it. Why?"
I diverted the question to him. Now my eyelids could barely stay open.

"Well, I am supposed to be betrothed to Jade, the daughter of a business mogul, she is also a top actress in Canada."

"I think I know Jade," I said.

"I am not ready to be committed to anyone right now, I still have a long life to enjoy. That's why I want something fake so it would stop me from being tied down..."

As he spoke, I slowly sank into a peaceful sleep.