I have loved you with a steadfast, jump out of a plane, kind of love. 

Taylor was Zara's best friend and fellow barista at a coffee shop called Cuppa. As her closest confidant, it was Taylor's self-appointed duty to convince her that things with Nathaniel weren't as bad as they seemed. 

"Don't freak out. He's not going to say anything to Nathaniel."

She stood next to Zara stacking paper coffee cups so high Zara would need a step-stool to reach the top. Taylor was giant status compared to Zara's 5'2". 

"Besides, you know Liam. He always has an angle. He's been like that since Middle School." She teetered the last cup with a flourish. The stack just out of Zara's reach. 

Not to be deterred, "I need more cups."

As Taylor went looking for more cups, Zara grabbed some off the top of the stack and began a second one next to it. 

The bell above the door clanged. A mother, with what looked like her pre-teen daughter, walked in and immediately made their way to the counter. The daughter followed slightly behind with a look of annoyance that could win a golden popcorn at the MTV Movie Awards. Teen angst vibes hung off her like Twilight fans on Team Edward. 

They walked up to the counter while Zara stood at the register. "What cuppa can I get you today?" She forced a smile as she said the dreaded line their manager insisted they use with every customer. 

"Do you have smoothies here?" The woman searched the menu board, but they knew she wouldn't find smoothies there. 

"No. I'm sorry. Just coffee and tea. We do have a tea cooler. It's chilled and we put fresh strawberries in it." She gave the lady her most practiced, and winning smile. She hoped the lady would latch on to the suggestion and make her life easier. 

The woman turned to her daughter, who shook her head furiously 'no.' Smoothies were a thing now. Zara and Taylor constantly begged their manager to add smoothies to the menu for just this reason, angsty pre-teens, but she continued to refuse.

Zara waited patiently for the look of disappointment and resign, and at least she wasn't disappointed. 

"That's okay." The woman sighed. "I'll take a cup of coffee to go. Light roast, if you have it." 

"And there it is, the mistrust." Taylor whispered to her as she pretended to wipe the counter.

"Would you like to stay for a Cuppa, or..." Zara said, deflating a little towards the end as she saw the confusion on the lady's face. Curse her manager for making her say these lines. 

"I'm sorry. I don't understand."

Of course you don't. I don't either, she thought.

"Sorry about that. Would you like it here, or to go?"

"To go. Please." She was practically begging for this conversation to be over, desperate to leave. Who could blame her? 

Taylor, taking far too much enjoyment in this interaction, handed the lady a cup of coffee as soon as she paid. They both watched as the mother and daughter argued all the way out to the parking lot.

"I don't think they will be back." Taylor hopped on the counter. 

"You think? I mean, I get that other coffee shops have smoothies, but clearly we are a coffee shop." This was such a usual occurrence that Zara was ready to bring in their home blender and start making them herself as a side job. She leaned her elbows on the counter. Taylor jumped down and leaned into Zara, doing the same. 

"So, back to Liam and Nathaniel. I don't think Liam will tell. He does have an angle, of that I am sure. There must be something he wants." Taylor stopped talking when the bell on the door rang again. 

She nudged Zara. "Speaking of Liam."

They both craned their neck as Liam made his way to the counter. Taylor stood up and walked towards the coffee machines. She pretended to make more coffee. 

"Hello Liam. Are you here for a Cuppa?"

"Hardly. Do you have to say that every time? It's kind of obnoxious."

Oh Liam, you always know how to humiliate, she thought. "Can I help you with anything?"

 He looked around, checking out the empty coffee shop. He nodded at Taylor, who was staring at him, then turned his attention back to Zara. "I wanted to talk to you for a minute. Do you have a break coming up?" 

Liam looked back at Taylor. She didn't hesitate to volunteer. "Go. I got this. I think I can get the cups to reach the ceiling."

Zara flashed Taylor an, I'm-going-to-injure-you-later, so you better put-it-in-your-calendar look, while reluctantly following Liam. She tried to take the lead and walked to a table in the corner, but he didn't follow her. 

"Let's sit by the window."

"Why? So there will be witnesses?" 

"Sure." 

Being seen with Liam wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He was hot. She could admit it. Next to him, and in her uniform, she looked like a little kid he was mentoring. He's the reason the expression "out of your league" was invented. No one would confuse the situation and think they were anything like friends. 

They sat down, scraping the chairs backward on the black and white checkered linoleum. Liam leaned forward so quickly that she reacted by leaning back just as quickly, like magnets repelling each other, except she was the one being repelled. 

"Look, I'm not going to tell Nathaniel." 

"Ha." Zara heard Taylor exclaim. 

He shot her a quick look. "What?"

"Nothing, just got a fly." Taylor had a rag in hand and was suspiciously cleaning a table nearest theirs. He just shook his head. 

"Okay, but you want something from me?" She sat ramrod straight in her chair, on alert.

It was Liam's turn to lean back in his chair. She watched him. He was considering her before he answered. This gave her time to observe him. 

And what did she observe? He was one of those boys who always wore their hat backwards, leaned backwards, looked backwards, liked to spin his car in reverse. If he was walking forward, he was still looking back. 

"Is your sister dating anyone?"

Zara's mouth dropped. Taylor's rag dropped on the floor. Liam folded his arms across his wide chest. 

She backtracked. "Are you really friends with Nathaniel?"

"Yes." He answered her like he was brushing lint off of a sweater. "Your sister?" 

"I feel like this is a game of chess." She folded her arms to match his. 

"Are we?"

She wasn't good at making people wait. If she bought a gift for someone's Birthday they would get it that day, even if she found it months before. She itched to answer Liam's question as much as she wanted to make him suffer by waiting. 

"Why do you care?" She gave him her signature pout, which Maria said made her look like a goldfish. 

"Zara?" 

"Fine. No, she isn't. But..." She held up her hand so he wouldn't speak. He waited for her to finish. He wore a self satisfied grin regardless of what she might say next. Oh how she wanted to puncture a hole in his certainty and pride. "She's not dating. She doesn't want it to interfere with school. You, my friend, would be an absolute distraction."

She could feel herself blush. Heat spread up her collarbone to her cheeks. She noticed the slight curvature of his biceps, which were flexed as he leaned back in the chair and held onto the table. She noticed the soft hazel color of his eyes when he looked at her. If she were honest, Liam was another reason to be jealous of her sister. 

Liam understood his power all too well. Any girl would fall for his charms. This made her even more surprised that he signaled out her sister. She was also suspicious. 

"10 o'clock." Taylor whispered in her ear, which freaked her out. 

"It's like 3:00 pm." Then she turned to see what Taylor was looking at through the window. 

"No. 10. O. Clock." 

Liam turned. The three of them were facing the window while four Darlings headed their way. 

"Crap." Zara got up hastily from her chair.

"What? They're nice." Liam was unfazed by their presence. 

Zara was dumbfounded when he began waving at the group. They mirrored his response, waving back. 

He stood up and started towards the door, but before he did he whispered to her, "To be continued..."

She and Taylor skirted back behind the counter when the clang of the bell sounded her doom. Liam held the door as Heather, Tiffany, Lisa and Monica entered.

"I'll take this one." Taylor winked at her. She was practically bouncing with excitement. "4 Waters." 

"What? No. We haven't even looked at the menu." They didn't look at the menu once. Instead they focused all their attention on Liam. They were practically purring in his presence. 

"What are you doing here on a Saturday?" Monica was on the volleyball team. She was a head taller than the rest of the Darlings, and almost as tall as Taylor. She was also the nicest one of the group, as long as there weren't any other Darlings around. 

"Just thought I would stop in a get a smoothie."

Zara couldn't help the groan that escaped when he mentioned the dreaded smoothie. It became the groan heard around the world as it reminded them of her presence. All eyes turned on her, while her hand flew to her mouth.

"A smoothie sounds great actually. Can we get four açaí smoothies?"

Zara could only see Taylor's side profile. She knew enough of her friend to imagine the pure enjoyment she was getting by savoring her next word. It was a victorious moment for them. And Zara felt nothing but gratitude for their manager's insane policies. 

"No," she said at last. "We don't make smoothies here. This isn't the mall."

Zara tried to hold back her laughter. A small snort escaped. 

"Whatever. 4 waters. To go!"

"You got it miss."

When they finally left Zara was surprised to find Liam was still there. She thought that later meant another day, or rather she hoped. 

Liam leaned against the counter. She busied herself with a napkin holder that was overflowing with napkins.  She tried stuffing more in to it, but it only made it worse. 

He didn't seem to mind that Taylor was in ear shot, because he said, "I figured it wouldn't be easy with your sister. She isn't like anyone I know."

She knew her sister was great. She was constantly making this comparison. It was a mountain of insecurity to overcome. She loved her sister. Absolutely. No questions, but when Liam said it, it put an exclamation point on it. 

"I'm not helping you." She began pulling out the napkins. Stacking them side by side in groups. 

"Then, I'm not helping you."  

She stopped. "Fine. I don't need your help." She started putting the napkins back into the holder.

A slow grin spread across his face. It immediately made her regret this bold rejection of his plan. She now knew that if the deal was off he would tell Nathaniel. He was going to make her regret it. 

She swallowed hard. 

"There's nothing more to discuss here." He pushed himself up from the counter and grabbed a napkin from one of her stacks. "Nice talking to you Zara."  He nodded. "Taylor."

He left her staring after him. The bell rang on his way out. 

"You're screwed." Taylor took a stack of napkins from her hand. 

"I know." And she did know. She knew Liam would make her pay one way or another. She needed to be prepared. 

At the end of their shift Taylor dropped Zara off at home. The whole car ride she replayed  the conversation her head while Taylor blasted ZZ Top's "Gimme All Your Lovin'". 

She went straight to her room. Her sister was at their desk typing on their shared laptop. She threw herself onto the bed, kicking her legs like a fish on shore. "He's so infuriating." 

"Who?" Maria asked. 

"No one," but then she had an idea. "Hey, do you know Liam?" She looked askance at her sister to try and judge her reaction. Maybe their were sparks she didn't know about. 

Maria stopped typing and turned around in her chair, "Of course. Is this the infuriating person you were just describing?"

"Maybe." Zara couldn't lie to her sister. "He's cute, right?"

Maria turned back in her chair, "He's alright. Do you like him?" 

"No. I just wondered if you did, or could." Even from the back of Maria's head there was no reaction. If anyone even mentioned Nathaniel's name to Zara her shoulders would tense like a scared lizard. She would blush. She might even faint. Maria, however, gave no reaction.  

"You know how I feel about dating." The very thing about which she warned Liam.

She still had Liam's phone number from Middle school. She only hoped he hadn't changed it. She texted. "Liam, this is Zara. No-go with my sister."

She watched her phone. A minute later it showed on read. The ellipsis pulsed at the bottom. She waited for 15 minutes, but no message came. Frustrated, and even more annoyed at Liam, she threw her phone into the dirty clothes hamper. 

She decided to go to bed, and fell asleep cursing his name. 

https://youtu.be/TG2JtdUEMJU