The Arrangement

11

The moment they stepped into Liam's bedroom, the warmth she'd been forced to grow used to over the last few minutes disappeared instantly, leaving an odd emptiness in it's place.

Behind them, Liam kicked the door shut without bothering to look back, the soft click of the lock echoed through the spacious room.

Joy was still standing close to the entrance and she turned to look at Liam. He walked a few steps further into the room before stopping beside the windows. Raising a hand, he pressed two fingers against the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

A slow, tired sigh escaped him, the kind that suggested he had already exhausted his patience for the day, this made Joy shift awkwardly around in her shoes.

She studied him carefully, trying to figure out what she'd missed. Everything had seemed... fine.

John Owen hadn't questioned them too much. Cameron and Sophie were cool, and Richard, surprisingly, hadn't caused any trouble.

Had she done something wrong without realizing it?

"You look..." she began cautiously before changing her choice of words. "You don't seem very happy."

Liam didn't respond.

"I thought everything went well." She said as she played with the hem of her shirt.

He finally dropped his hand and turned to look at her.

"Went well?"

Joy gave a small nod. "I mean..." She said uncertainly. "Your father seemed to believe us."

He simply stared at her. Then a quiet, humourless chuckle escaped him.

"We haven't done anything, Joy."

The words caught her completely off guard and her smile slowly disappeared.

"What do you mean?"

Liam slipped one hand into his pocket as he looked at her.

"The only thing we've accomplished today is getting you into my house." His voice wasn't raised, but she felt like she was being scolded.

"If you think that's the difficult part, you've completely misunderstood why you're here."

Joy felt the confidence she'd managed to build downstairs begin to crumble. She hadn't expected praise, but she certainly hadn't expected this either.

Liam continued before she could respond.

"Meeting my father was never the challenge."

He gestured vaguely towards the bedroom door.

"The real trial starts now."

Joy frowned. “I… Don't understand." She said in a low voice.

"You will." He walked past her towards the bed before stopping again.

"From this moment onward, every person in this house knows you're living here." His gaze settled on her. "They'll watch."

She blinked. "Watch… us?"

"They'll notice who leaves whose room every morning."

Her cheeks warmed slightly.

"They'll notice if we eat breakfast together." He continued as though discussing nothing more interesting than tomorrow's weather.

"They'll notice whether we spend time together, whether we argue, whether we avoid each other, whether you look comfortable around me."

Joy unconsciously wrapped one hand around her opposite wrist.

"And some of those observations," Liam said evenly, "will eventually make their way back to my father."

The realization settled heavily inside her.

"So even when your father isn't here..."

"He'll know." He completed for her.

She let out a quiet breath. "I hadn't thought about that."

"I know."

His answer came so quickly that she frowned.

"And how do you know?"

"You've been treating this like a single performance."

He folded his arms across his chest. "I'm letting you know that it isn't." His eyes remained fixed on hers. "It's a performance without an audience."

Joy looked confused, Liam noticed it.

"The audience isn't always standing in front of you."

The confusion was still on her face. "So… We're acting all the time."

"Except when we are alone behind closed doors."

Silence stretched between them and Joy lowered her gaze to the polished floor. She had assumed pretending would only matter whenever John Owen was around.

Now she realized she had stepped into an entirely different world. One where every smile, every conversation and every glance could be reported to someone.

Liam watched her quietly. When she didn't speak again, he continued.

"My father rarely comes here without telling me beforehand." Joy looked back up. "But rarely doesn't mean never. If he decides to stop by unexpectedly, don't panic."

"I'll try."

"No." His answer was immediate. "Don't try."

She blinked.

"Do it."

She pressed her lips together before nodding. "Understood."

"If he asks you questions, answer naturally." He said sitting on a desk.

"What if I don't know the answer?"

"You improvise."

She looked horrified as she took a step forward. "I'll say something wrong."

"You probably will." He said thoughtfully, making Joy's shoulders slump.

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"It wasn't intended to." He looked pointedly at her.

She couldn't help staring at him. For someone who looked as perfect as Liam Owen, he had an unbelievable talent for saying the least comforting thing imaginable.

Before she could think of a response, three soft knocks interrupted the conversation. Both of them turned towards the door and Joy hoped she didn't look tense.

Liam's expression remained unchanged.

"Come in." He called out.

The door opened carefully. A young member of the household staff stood outside, one hand resting on the handle of Joy's suitcase.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

The young man hesitated. "Where would you like me to put Miss Roberts' luggage?"

Joy watched Liam's jaw tighten. Very slowly, he walked towards the door and stopped directly in front of the staff member.

"I instructed Harold to prepare the guest room. Is that not?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"I also instructed him that it should be two rooms away from mine."

"Yes, sir." The staff answered as he looked everywhere else, avoiding Liam's gaze.

Liam tilted his head ever so slightly.

"So why," he asked calmly, "are you asking me where her luggage should go?"

The young man's face drained of colour. "I... I wasn't sure if..."

"If?"

"I thought perhaps you'd changed your mind."

Liam looked at him for several long seconds.

The silence alone was enough to make the poor man begin shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

"I don't recall informing anyone that I'd changed my mind."

"N-No, sir."

"Then don't waste my time asking foolish questions."

The young man swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, sir."

Joy swallowed as she watched the interaction, she could only feel sorry for the young man as she wondered what being at the receiving end of Liam's anger felt like. She shivered. She wasn’t interested in finding out.

Liam studied the staff for another moment.He didn't recognize him, Harold must have hired someone new.

He leaned closer, lowering his voice just enough that only the frightened employee could hear.

"You appear to be new."

"Yes... sir."

"Good." Liam's expression remained perfectly composed. "Then allow me to give you one piece of advice."

The young man nodded so quickly it was almost frantic.

"If you want to keep your job. Don't test my patience."

His voice never rose above its normal calmness.

Oddly enough, that made the warning far more frightening.

"I understand, sir. It won't happen again.”

"You'd better."

The young man immediately pulled the suitcase away. As he walked past, Joy caught sight of his trembling hands.

Poor man… She wasn't even the one being scolded, yet she felt nervous on his behalf.

Liam was about to close the door again.

"Where are you taking her luggage?" John Owen's voice carried clearly through the corridor.

Joy froze and her stomach dropped.

She shot Liam a quick glance but he wasn't looking at her. He rested his head on the wall with a fist next to it. She looked back at the hallway when she heard the staff reply.

"To... to the guest room, sir." A long silence followed.

Joy instinctively clasped her hands together.She honestly agreed with the whole seperate rooms idea.

Sharing a room with Liam? The thought alone made her anxious. He already made her feel self-conscious enough during ordinary conversations.

Living in the same room, she doubted she'd get a single night's sleep.

Liam finally let out a quiet breath before opening the door once more.

"I'll handle this." He said as he stepped into the hallway. Joy remained where she was, listening as her heartbeat slowly quickened.