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That morning, Liam got up in a good mood.
He had breakfast, and he went for a run in the city. He liked getting lost among the crowd with his black glasses and his New York Yankees cap. It was a hot day. July was registering very high temperatures and relatively high humidity, for that reason, Liam preferred to go jogging early in the morning. He wasn’t very constant with exercise, but he did his best.
He headed to Central Park. He wanted to feel in touch with nature, and that was the city’s green spot. One of his favorite places.
Liam entered the park through 5th Avenue, rounding the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and took one of the paths that led to the south of it.
He kept a steady pace, and he inhaled deeply to fill his lungs with oxygen.
He continued going south, thinking of how great the practice of the previous day had turned out. The melody that he was humming when he left the coffee house, and which he later played on his guitar, had left the rest of the guys trapped within those notes and eager to build on that song. Which would make them attain number one on the Billboard chart and stay there for several weeks.
They were excited.
Liam was surprised, and he even started to worry because Miss-Goody-Two-Shoe’s strict rules seemed to be having a positive influence on his wild musician life.
He smiled at the thought of how furious she got when he called her Miss-Goody-Two- Shoes.
He went back to thinking about Eve’s legs
And, as if destiny was making fun of him Liam recognized her in the middle of Sheep Meadow, in a yoga position that could entice one to anything but relaxation.
Eve was doing a headstand. She was standing only on her hands, spreading out her legs to each side of her body, just as a ballet dancer slides her legs along the floor, spreading them until her pelvis reaches the ground.
In this case, Eve’s pelvis stayed in the air.
Liam felt how his mouth went suddenly dry. He was watching her movements, and after a few seconds, she put her legs together again. She remained in that position for a moment. Then she bent her knees and spread them wide enough so that the tips of her toes stayed in contact over her head.
She stayed there for some time. Enough for Liam to feel how his body was heating up rapidly, drying out the interior of his mouth, and made him wish something that was not precisely what he wanted.
All of a sudden Liam salivated. What the hell was going on with him?
Liam understood when he pictured his mouth toying with Eve’s sex in that same position.
How long could she stay like that? Would she be able to stand firmly as he gave her pleasure until she reached orgasm? And above all, how many orgasms would she be able to endure in that position?
He felt electricity that awoke his sexual organ.
He desired Eve.
He looked at her again spreading and closing her legs.
Whoever didn’t wish for what he was looking at was a complete idiot. He’d better go back on his way because he didn’t believe that it was a good idea to stay there, in front of everyone, staring like a perv at a woman who was practicing yoga in the middle of a park.
Yes, he’d better continue jogging. At that time, Eve spread her legs again, providing Liam with the evidence of how much she was pressing her glutes with that movement and he could also picture perfectly how comfortable would that position be to turn her on and...
“Girls! It’s Liam Woods!”
Liam reacted too late and couldn’t escape from the group of girls who ran and cornered him in a few seconds to make him a victim of their fanaticism and fulfill their wish of asking him for pictures and autographs.
A pity, because Liam had other wishes on his mind.
It was apparent to Eve when the latter lost her balance due to the hubbub caused by the fans, and she found the vocalist’s seductive gaze.
***
Eve inhaled a couple of times after she lost her balance as a result of the frenzied shouting produced by Liam’s fans when they saw him exercising in the middle of Central Park.
Eve admitted that if she was the same age as one those girl’s and had run into Liam, she would have acted in the same way. She understood them.
Eve breathed deeply again, trying to regain her concentration, but much to her misfortune, Liam cast his eyes on her when she lost her balance, and his gaze left her a bit stunned.
She didn’t want to look toward Liam again because she was trying to show him that she wasn’t interested in anything that happened to him. Eve couldn’t help herself she wanted to see him.
Or maybe she wanted him to look at her in that seductive way that he had done some minutes before.
Liam laughed with his fans, and they took some selfies.
When Eve realized that she wouldn’t be able to continue with her yoga routine, she decided to put her mat in its case and put her shoes back on.
Eve drank some water.
“Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes, good morning.”
“I don’t know what’s so good about it when we have started off with the nicknames. Have you already got the number of any of those girls to get laid tonight?”
Liam gave her a funny smile and Eve couldn’t ignore the gentle trembling of her knees.
“I just don’t think that any of them can get into those great positions you were holding a few minutes ago.”
Eve felt her cheeks turning red in embarrassment.
“I was practicing yoga. These are not Kama-Sutra positions.”
“Haven´t you ever tried those positions during sex?”
Eve looked at him with confusion. Although she couldn’t tell why she felt embarrassed. Just like kids hiding behind their parents’ legs when somebody they don’t know is trying to be nice to them.
“That is none of your business, Liam.”
“Right, it’s just I tend to forget you’re too proper to have a creative mind.”
Liam winked at Eve and gave her a cunning smile that caused butterflies in her stomach. It was a feeling that she had never felt before.
A new group of girls approached them unexpectedly, and the public relations assistant didn’t miss the chance to run away without looking back.
Eve didn’t feel comfortable talking about sex with Liam. No, she had never experienced that type of ‘shame,’ but she wasn’t sure why she stammered like a fool in front of him.
Eve had to stop with that nonsense because she was not a teenage fan anymore. She was a woman, and she had to act as such. She walked quickly to her house and took a shower. Eve ate a whole-wheat bagel and skim milk for breakfast. Then she got dressed for work.
During the day, Eve couldn’t get Liam’s gaze out of her head. She did her best to avoid that memory. She even did some exercises inside the office. Her mother’s secretary interrupted her in the middle of push-ups and gave her a worried look, asking Eve if she was feeling okay.
Eve was nervous the whole day but felt grateful that her mother didn’t see her in such condition. Agnes was like a human lie detector. Nothing could be hidden from her.
And there was something that could be perceived only when Eve was feeling edgy: anxiety.
Unlike Cameron, when Eve was feeling anxious, she tended to get off the dime and work out non-stop.
Eve picked up her cell phone. She had enough time to do some exercise, take a shower and be ready when the limo arrived to pick her up and take her to accomplish the community service of the day.
They were scheduled to visit a soup kitchen in Yorkville.
Eve sighed. That afternoon Eve would go through a harsh experience because soup kitchens didn’t only cater to the needs of the destitute, but also for families that had lost it all after the Great Recession.
Eve looked around and felt very fortunate for everything she had.
She texted Cameron. Eve hadn’t heard from her for some days.
What is like to be a model?
Cameron answered immediately with a heart eyes emoji.
Eve smiled.
It feels like a dream. Cameron texted back.
I have no doubt about that. How’s your gentleman? Is he behaving?
He’s a dream too. She sent a heart eyes emoji again. Talking about dreams. I’ve heard that you are performing community service with Liam Woods. Cameron filled a whole line with red hearts and then sent an animated gif of Snow White singing happily in the woods.
Eve answered with a gif of a woman retching.
It is a damn nightmare which I hope to end soon. Eve sent an emoji that let out smoke through the nose. Liam is a Neanderthal that only reacts to sexual impulses.
And since when you hate sexual impulses?
Exactly, Eve! Since when? Eve asked herself.
Well, this is almost insane.
Cameron sent the gift of a woman laughing her head off. I think that someone really likes Mr. Woods and doesn’t want to admit it.
Don’t be silly, Cameron. Eve felt that the conversation was going in a direction that she didn’t like at all. We’d better talk later, I have things to do.
Her sister replied with a winking face emoji followed by a heart.
Eve sent a kiss emoji.
Eve shook her head and sighed heavily.
She felt anxious.
It was the moment for hard exercise.
“Come on, let’s start with push-ups.” Eve pushed up and started going up and down.
***
That afternoon Liam got out of the limo a bit scared.
He looked at the reporters who were gathered on the sidewalk in front of the building they had to visit today.
He knew that what he would find inside wasn’t going to be nice and that, in one way or another, he would walk out of that place with his heart in pieces and willing to help the needy.
He knew first-hand the sadness that prevailed inside those institutions. He had eaten a lot of times in soup kitchens when he didn’t have a cent to his name. After he’s left Helen’s house and couldn’t find a job to get by.
A shiver ran through his body.
He frowned.
“Are you alright?” asked Eve, who hadn’t uttered a word since she had got into the limo and greeted him politely.
“Yes.”
Eve looked at him doubtfully, and he walked away to enter the building. Liam opened the door and moved to one side so that Eve walk in.
Eve stopped dead. “I can open the door myself, Liam.”
He looked at her amused.
“As you prefer.” Liam shrugged in a careless way and entered before her, letting the door go, which almost hits Eve in the face.
“Don’t you see what you’re doing?” she complained. “The door almost hit me on my face because you let it go before I could take it.”
“Eve, I don’t like people who contradict themselves. You’ve just told me that you can open the door by yourself, and only because I hate to argue I let you do whatever you feel capable of doing.”
Eve looked at him, surprised.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just that I thought that you were going to tell me that you are a gentleman and that I...”
Liam snored.
“Eve, do I look like a gentleman? Besides, why would you want a gentleman when you are a self-sufficient woman?”
“Let’s just do what we came to do, shall we?” Liam managed to annoy Eve, and he felt good.
Liam looked at her. She was puckering her lips and frowning.
He smiled. He hadn’t said anything which wasn’t true. She was self-sufficient, and he had forgotten how to be a gentleman.
Besides, did that really exist? He thought that was pure fantasy from fairy tales.
The person in charge of the soup kitchen gave them a warm welcome and told them that in a few minutes they would open their doors and start serving.
He gave them the basic instructions as well as the necessary tools: aprons, gloves and hats, everything disposable.
There were more people providing help. Liam felt strange being on that side of the soup kitchen. He had always been among the crowd that lined up outside, waiting for his turn to enter and eat something decent.
They started working.
Liam tried to smile politely, but memories of a past filled with hunger kept coming to his mind and unsettled him.
Eve stood by Liam’s side, looking at him.
A boy was next in the line.
“Hi, champ. Shall I put some beans here?” Liam said as he served a full spoon of red beans on a section of the plate. The boy smiled innocently and nodded his head.
“But don’t give me too much. I have to share with my brothers and my mother who is sick.”
Oh no, God! Please, not a sad story of this kind.
“This is all yours and my friend will give you more, right Eve?”
Eve looked at the boy with great compassion.
“Eve.”
“Oh! Yes! Come here, and I’ll give you a good piece of meat.”
“Mom, we’ll eat like gods today,” said the boy out loud to his mother, who making a sacrifice, let all her children move forward before her.
Liam served food to the three children and then to the woman.
“Are you feeling alright?” Liam asked, worried. “If you need any medicine I can help you.”
“It’s just... I don’t even know what I have. I can’t go to the doctor. But thanks.”
The woman gave him a sweet smile, and Liam felt his heart squeeze.
Eve dropped the ladle she was using to serve the meat and went outside for a while.
Liam knew that it was very hard for her to bear and not because he knew her deeply. No. He knew it because he could barely tolerate being there. He knew how it felt to be on the other side and knew first-hand the anguish and despair that those people felt daily. Even more when they had children.
They finished serving when the trays had been emptied. Liam thought that it was very little food for such a lot of people. Liam approached the table where the woman and her children were eating.
“Can I sit with you?”
The woman smiled. Liam gave Eve a look that was an invitation to get closer.
Eve did so.
“I’m Liam, and this is my friend, Eve.” Liam introduced himself.
“Are you Liam from X69?” asked the older boy.
Liam nodded.
“I knew that your face looked familiar to me. But we haven’t had a TV for so long that I’ve already forgotten many things.”
Eve sat next to Liam.
“We used to have a good house.” said the boy who had been served first. “I’m Sebastian, by the way.”
“Luca,” said the other boy, “and he’s Benjamin. The youngest of the four of us.”
“I see,” replied Liam with a smile. “Then I guess that the order, from younger to older is: Benjamin, Sebastian, Luca and...”
“Richard,” answered another boy.
Liam deduced that the youngest boy would be two years old.
Their mother looked at Liam with a combination of exhaustion and shame.
“My husband took his own life after all our belongings were seized. Our family was left destitute by the crisis. I have a job that barely pays the room in which we all live and" the woman’s eyes got red. "We have to eat in places like this because I can’t afford the food and we’ve slept for some time in the streets, but I don’t want that for my children."
Liam felt a strong handshake under the table. He looked at Eve and sighed. All that was more than Eve could tolerate. Even for himself, it was more intense than he had thought.
“I don’t know what to tell you...”
“April.” The woman smiled again looking tired.
Liam couldn’t let that family continue living in that condition.
“Would you accept a gift, Ms. April?”
“I can’t refuse. Because of my children.” Liam could see how the woman’s eyes filled with hope for the first time.
Liam wrote down her number on a piece of paper.
“Please, call me first thing tomorrow, and I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. Meanwhile, here you have money.” He opened his wallet and took some cash. “Tonight, go and stay in a hotel where you can all rest and be comfortable. And call me tomorrow from the hotel. I need you to write here your full name, last and current address and also your ID number.”
The woman did everything that Liam asked her with trembling hands.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I was in your place many years ago and, if it was a terrible situation for me, I can’t imagine how you feel going through all that with your children.”
April broke down and cried.
Liam got close to her and hug her.
The person in charge approached them.
“Is everything okay?” he asked worriedly
“Yes.” Liam looked at him in the eye. “From now on, many lives are going to change.”
***
Eve left that place wanting to get home and indulge in a huge chocolate ice cream bowl that could relieve the sorrow that hit her in the middle of her chest.
How could life be so unfair to some people? How could a working family, who strived to get stability for their children end up like that?
Eve looked at Liam with awe. She had never imagined that the vocalist could have been in such a critical situation. Actually there was not much information about his past.
How long had he starved?
How long had he slept in the streets?
Maybe that was the reason why Liam was the one who squandered the less money in the band.
They left the center in silence, with red eyes. Eve felt an unpleasant lump in her throat that she didn‘t know how to ease.
There were fewer reporters on the street, and they tried to ask them some questions, but they both got straight into the vehicle that would take them back home.
“How are you planning to help them?”
Liam shrugged.
“I always help in one way or the other, a percentage of my salary is devoted to diverse NGO’s that help needy people, children mostly.” Liam sighed. “I‘ve been thinking for some time, and I think that today I‘ll finally take the first step. I‘m going to create a foundation that allows me to look into these people in order to know the real reason why they lost their belongings and help them to have a more decent life if everything goes well.”
“Don‘t you believe what she told you?”
Liam looked her in the eyes, showing complete sincerity.
“Eve, in these situations, people tend to adopt the role of victims. They disregard why they end up in these conditions, which are not always a by-product of embargos due to a crisis. Many people lose everything due to vices, wrongdoing, or other things.”
“Don’t you think they deserve a second chance?”
“Of course, but helping someone who is sincere and whose ruin wasn‘t caused by themselves always prevails.”
“How did you wind up like that?”
Eve noticed how his facial features hardened.
“It’s something really personal that I don‘t want to talk about. But I assure you that I have it very clear that it was me who brought about this hard experience in my life. I decided to leave everything behind without analyzing the consequences, and it was really hard for me to overcome that situation.”
“I‘m sorry for that.”
“I’m not.” He looked her in the eyes again. Eve felt that she was talking to a stranger. A mature man who was well aware of everything and was extremely kind. “I had to go through all that to realize how stupid I was and all the things that I lost. I’m not talking about the economic aspect.”
Eve understood that he was speaking from a sentimental point of view.
“Today I really value what I have,” Liam went on, while he looked through the car window. “I do crazy things. There’s no doubt about that,” he looked at Eve with a smile, “but I do them because I’ve learned that we have only one life and we have to live it with whatever we get.”
Eve nodded. Although her sense of responsibility didn’t let her understand clearly that last point.
Yes, she was also in favor of enjoying life with a touch of insanity, but with certain limits, and above all, with responsibility.
“I’d like to help in any way.”
Liam nodded.
“Do you want to set up the foundation with me?”
Eve looked at him mockingly.
“Liam, so far, we have done nothing but fight like cats and dogs. Do you think we could possibly work together?”
“We are doing it now, aren’t we?”
Eve tilted her head. He was right.
“Are you aware that when you set up an organization of that kind you have to set an example for the rest of society? You’ll have to leave your outrageous life behind.”
He looked into her eyes with irony. “That’s what you made me do several days ago.”
“I haven’t made you do anything.”
“Right, as you prefer. Are you joining the project or not?”
“I have to think about it first.”
Liam took his cell phone and after a couple of minutes, Eve’s phone beeped.
“That’s my email you’ve just received. It contains all the information about the project.”
Eve looked at him, amazed.
“I told you, Eve. I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”
“Tonight, I’ll go through the information and tomorrow, after visiting the orphanage, we can sit in my office and discuss it.”
Liam frowned when he listened to the word orphanage.
“Is there anything wrong?” Eve asked.
Liam shook his head.
“Sleep well,” Liam said pointing at the car window. Eve hadn’t realized that they were already in front of her building.
She didn’t understand the sudden change in Liam’s mood.
Could it be because they were going to visit an orphanage?
It would be reckless of her to comment on that. That day she realized that Liam would only tell her the necessary information about his past and she learned that he would be the one to decide when to tell her things. Eve was discovering that the man was a better person than she had thought and not just a pretty face with vocal abilities and a lot of money. She was discovering that the rebelliousness he hid behind was no more than a way of diverting people’s attention off the sensitive and kind man he really was.
And, for a moment, she felt the urgent need to find out many more things about Liam Woods.