"William!"
"David! You know besides my mother, you're the only one who calls me by my whole name-well, other than my late wife whenever she's mad at me," Liam snickered.
"Well, that is your name," David laughed. "So listen, remember you called about Reba a few weeks back?"
"Of course, I do." Liam took a seat, enjoying the view in his penthouse in New York. The view was nothing if breathtaking. He took a deep breath as he prepared for David's words, hoping he'd hear some good news.
"Are you busy tomorrow? Think you can fly up north here in Canada to have lunch with us-she'll be there with her friends-well, our friends, of course. I'll introduce you two and then you can take it from there." David Foster casually looked back at their table, his vision zoning in on the redhead that he was trying to set up with his friend. The singer was laughing with Melissa and looked absolutely tickled over what the goofy blonde said.
Liam, on the other end of the line, took a deep breath as he suddenly felt his heart on his throat. Was this really happening? Was he finally meeting the redhead he only saw once in New York?
Liam was having his usual morning walk when he found himself near the Rockefeller Plaza. The Today Show was live and he distinctly heard the voice of Hoda Kotb. Years of watching the show, whenever he could, made him realize there was a concert happening, though he couldn't see who the featured artist was. He was gonna change route when he heard a woman giggle. The voice he heard was unfamiliar and much to his chagrin, the laughter of the woman was contagious. The Irish actor caught himself smirking. He got curious and decided to walk around near the concert so he could see who was the mysterious woman. On his way, the woman spoke and he heard the sweetest, possibly the most genuine Southern drawl. He hated to admit it, but even before seeing who the voice and accent belong to, he already felt a tug in his empty heart. How was it possible that he felt something prior to seeing the woman? And then he laid eyes on her and saw the beautiful redhead. Her beauty wasn't as striking as one would suggest, but there was something about her he couldn't quite put a name to. Her beauty was kind. It was sort of mellow, but it has the right amount of spark that he was sure anyone who saw her would stop in their tracks to have a second look. But what draw him first, really, was her laughter which was nothing if not contagious. He ended up watching the whole show at the plaza, mindful not to be recognized by the other folks watching.
After the show, he immediately went home and searched who the woman was. He found out it's Reba McEntire and the woman was happily married. It ended there and all his plans of wooing the woman on stage was crushed, much to his disappointment. He hated himself for thinking in the first place-before he could think it through-that he was finally moving on and letting his late wife's memory to rest.
Then a few years later, he was in the airport looking for something to read when he spotted a rag magazine displaying Reba's face on the cover; the headliner was the singer's divorce. He couldn't help but be mournful; he truly felt sorry for the beautiful redhead. He knew not to believe rags, but a part of him still wanted to punch the redhead's ex upon learning that the bastard supposedly cheated on her. He ended up buying the magazine when he accidentally crumpled half of it, completely unaware of his reaction toward the news.
A couple of years had passed and Liam already dated a couple of women on and off. He tried his best to put Reba off his mind and at times, he was even successful. But whenever he came home to his flat, no matter how far and few in between that was, he would see the magazine on his coffee table and he would be reminded of the redhead again.
He wanted to get to know her but didn't dare to make any move in fear that Reba would think he was in over his head. As far as he knew, they didn't have any common friends. Add the fact that he was clueless on how he'd reach out to her up until a few months ago when David Foster, one of his good long time pals, invited him to attend the Celebrity Fight Night. David casually mentioned Reba's name among the other attendees, and just like that, Liam felt his heart about to leap off his chest from its hard beating. He thought the universe was finally opening a door for him, albeit it was just a crack.
Unfortunately, Liam was shooting a new movie and couldn't make it to the event, but he took that opportunity and asked David about Reba. He gathered that the woman was seeing someone, or at least that's what David thought. Liam shook his head thinking how awful his timing was. Once again, his potential happiness was snatched right before his eyes. He was starting to conclude that maybe, he and Reba were never meant to be more than anything-not even an acquaintance. He honestly felt pathetic. He was carrying a torch for a woman who probably couldn't care less about him. He read somewhere that the woman preferred comedy movies, so he doubted she had even seen any of his films.
David noticed right away the change in Liam's demeanor, thus, went straight to the point and asked his friend what was going on. He already thought it was odd to begin with, Liam's asking about Reba. The actor explained it the best he could, trying not to sound like an old smitten fool.
To say that David was delighted upon learning Liam's feelings was an understatement. The musician was beyond excited over the new information he gathered. He promised his friend that as soon as he found out Reba wasn't seeing anyone, he'd try his best to do something so Reba and Liam could meet.
The chance to confirm whether Reba was seeing anyone reared its head earlier. Lucky bastard, David thought to himself thinking about his friend, Liam. The redhead was single and he immediately formed a plan in his head on how he could be the best match-maker this 21st century. He was pretty confident he could add this gig to his ever growing portfolio.
"Yes. I'll fly out. I'm currently in the middle of filming, but I have today and tomorrow free," he replied as a small hopeful smile graced his lips. "Think the universe is finally on my side and giving me a chance," Liam added with a playful smirk.
"You sound like struggling songwriter," David laughed. "Okay, we're staying here in Hilton's. I'll email you. Say 1 o'clock?"
"I'll be there. I'll head there straight from the airport,"
"Do you need me to book you a room?"
"You're going to book me a room?"
"Don't be silly. I'll ask my assistant to do it, of course,"
Liam laughed, "that's what I thought. Thanks, man, but no need. I'll head straight to the airport afterwards. I start at 5am the day after tomorrow."
The actor stood up and walked toward his kitchen where his laptop was to search and book himself a round-trip ticket to Canada.
"Sounds rough. But hey, all is fair in love and war?"
Liam let out a hearty laugh, "Nuts. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks, man-appreciate it,"
David nodded and smiled, forgetting that his friend couldn't see him. However, before he ended the line, he had the sudden need to remind his friend one thing, "Just don't hurt her. She's a decent person-I mean it. One of the very few left,"
Liam smiled, "I know. I won't screw this up, David. I'm telling you I've been waiting for this chance for years, literally,"
David shook his head smiling. "Alrighty then, Romeo. I'll see you at lunch tomorrow."
The guys finally hung up and David went back to their table to deliver the exciting news to his friends.
"So, he's definitely gonna be here tomorrow," David said. Pride was lacing his tone as he reached for his glass of white and took a healthy gulp.
Melissa smiled excitedly. "Okay, but who is this guy?" the blonde asked. "Are you sure he's single? Does he have kids? How old is he? What does he do for a living? These are very important things, David!"
Reba almost choked on her whiskey, laughing, as Melissa bombarded David with questions. The singer shook her head smirking and stopped her dear, albeit goofy, friend from asking any more questions. She was a little apprehensive when David said he'd introduce to her his friend, only because she's not sure whether she's really ready to date again-although she's been saying that to the press whenever she'd been asked.
"What is his name? How 'bout let's start with that?" The country singer asked.
David kept his wolfish smile. "Well, I want it to be a surprise, so I won't tell much-" He saw Reba and Melissa were about to protest, so he raised his hands to stop the duo. "-except to say that his name is William. He has kids-two boys. He's single and had been for years ever since his wife passed away, though he dated a couple of women, but he's not seeing anyone right now-I can assure you that. As for what he does for a living, let's just say that he's an artist,"
Melissa pursed her lips, "Okay. That sounds decent enough. No criminal records? Oh, wait! Is he famous?"
Reba kept her mouth shut, but was giggling at Melissa. Her friend's enthusiam was beyond palpable, it was almost comical. But, well, that's just how her friend got whenever the blonde actress was excited. Reba took another sip of her drink as she let her goofy friend ask all the things she wanted to ask.
David chuckled, "Just in some circle," the musician replied, trying to play Liam's stardom down.
The blonde actress nodded, "Hmm..you said his name is William? This isn't William Shatner you're talking about, right? Cause he's gay, right? Or if not he's like too old for Reebs?"
David and Reba both let out a hearty laugh as Melissa remained serious.
"It's not William Shatner, Melissa. Jesus," David was still in stitches, laughing his butt off.
"Okay then..William... H. Macy? Nope, he's married," Melissa said, her hand was counting down all the Williams she could think of. "William...Shakespeare? Nope, he's dead. William... Petersen! William Petersen! Is it him? It's got to be him! I like him!"
Reba was cackling so much at her friend's antics, "Ya goof!"
"Nope," David chuckled. "Though he seems like a real nice guy, but I think he's married, too. Also, we are not friends. I only knew him from CSI,"
Reba unconsciously played with the napkin on her table. She was really curious now, too, and was anxious to find out who this William guy was.
"How old is he?" Reba asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"Good question. But I don't know, to be honest. He's older than you, I think. Or about the same age as you, but you'd still look younger beside him-"
"Cause I bet he looks old and frumpy," Melissa chided, cutting David off. "You know, Red here is a kind woman, but she got taste, too, David. You can't set her up with some ugly guy," The actress added indignantly, pretending to be offended on behalf of her best friend.
David shook his head smiling, but rolled his eyes, "No. Of course I wouldn't set Reba up with some random old poncho. This guy is handsome, and is a big hit with the ladies, but not more handsome than me. I'm the better looking friend, if I may say so."
Reba snickered, "Right. That sounds promising."
"Hey!" David cackled. "Alright, he's good looking, I assure you ladies. I'm positive you won't be disappointed," the musician added sincerely.
"Fair enough," the blonde actress finally relented-for now, at least. "What time are we meeting him tomorrow?" Melissa took her fork and gently stabbed the last baked potato on her plate.
"Yeah, cause you know our flight back home is tomorrow afternoon," Reba added.
"Oh, shoot. I almost forgot. What time's your flight?"
"5:20 pm," Melissa answered.
"That's fine. We still got time. We'll all have lunch together and then you can head straight to the airport afterwards," David replied, already thinking that would benefit Liam, too, since the actor mentioned that he'd head straight to the airport after their lunch.
Liam was anxious as heck. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this nervous over meeting a woman. He didn't even feel this way when he first met his late wife, Natasha. Probably because he didn't know anything about her; she was just a colleague on a play in New York. Their romance bloomed as they worked together and then he pursued her afterwards. But with Reba, he'd been holding a torch for years for the singer, it was almost ridiculous, really. He knew all about her, or at least knew stuff that was written about her.
Right after he hung up the phone with David, Liam spent the rest of his day reading articles upon articles about Reba-anything that seemed interesting enough on Google. He noticed that there was basically no negative write up about the country singer-which pleased him immensely-but it definitely added to his nervousness.
He felt like he was a wreck and had nothing to show off or offer the singer. Yes, he's a well-known actor, but it seemed to him that Reba wasn't really impressed by that kind of glitz. He had no idea how to ride a horse and no idea whatsoever how a proper cowboy should behave. He's a decent man, sure, but he's also an arse most of the time, or he thought so at least. Reba, on the other hand, could almost be called an angel, based on all the articles he'd read. He could only hope the country singer would at least give him a chance. He sighed and shook his head, but decided he'd check YouTube since he was getting pretty restless from reading. He ended up watching several interviews, concerts, and music videos. He felt rather silly, but he couldn't help it; the woman was such a sight for sore eyes and seemed like the most real down to earth artist out there. He also couldn't deny the fact that Reba's a great story teller with an equally notable sense of humor. He was completely in awe and forgot the time until he noticed the lateness of the hour and felt the strain on his eyes.
He's not sure if he'd be able to fall asleep from all the excitement he was feeling, but he was thankful enough that he managed to doze off only a few minutes after his head touched his pillow.
Now, looking at his watch, fidgeting on his first-class plane seat, he was starting to get pissed, more than anxious, at how delayed his flight was. David texted him earlier reminding him to be on time, if not earlier, since Reba and her friend are flying back to the states that afternoon. He sighed for the nth time at how fate was trying to mess this one up for him.
"This is your captain speaking. We are shortly landing in Victoria International Airport..." he heard the voice overhead and sighed. Finally, he thought to himself.
He just got through immigration when his phone rang. He took it from his pocket to check and saw that it was David.
"Where are you? It's past 1 o'clock, man,"
"I know. Bloody flight got delayed. I'm already heading out of the airport-about to hail a cab, actually. I'll be there in 20 tops. Hopefully, the road won't be too bad at this hour,"
"You better. Reba's starting to think you're not gonna show up. They have a plane to catch in a couple of hours,"
"I know. I swear if I could fly, man, I'd be there in a minute, but I can't," Liam uttered, frustration lacing his tone making his Irish accent thicker and more pronounced. He had waited so long for this moment and just as he thought his luck was finally favoring him, another obstacle got in his way.
"Yeah, yeah. Just be here soon. I'll see you in a bit,"
"Count on it." Liam finally managed to hail a cab and gave the driver the name of the hotel he needed to be at. He said he'd pay him extra if he could get there in half the time of the usual drive.
"He'll be here soon. His flight got delayed," David said as he pulled his chair and sat.
Melissa shook her head unapprovingly, "He should've left-wherever he was from-earlier or booked an earlier flight or somethin'"
Reba rolled her eyes at her dear friend, though she knew Melissa was only sort of kidding. "We still got maybe an hour-"
"You know Reba's never late?" Melissa interrupted Reba, and took a sip of her lemonade as she made a mocking face at David.
The musician chuckled, "I know, but trust me ladies, William would be here as soon as possible. He just got a minor issue with his flight. Trust me, he wouldn't miss meeting Reba for the world,"
"Of course he wouldn't. No one would pass up the chance to meet miss Reba McEntire," the blonde replied, purposely mocking-though goodnaturedly-her country singer friend.
Reba just stuck her tongue out in reponse to her goofball of a friend.
"Oh, yeah. This guy has been carrying a torch for Reba for years. He's just really shy and was clueless on how he could approach the Queen of Country,"
"Years, you say? He's not some sort of a stalker though, is he?"
David chuckled. Just as he was about to respond, his eyes went wide as he noticed Liam looking for them. David raised his right hand to catch his friend's attention. Melissa followed his line of sight and the blonde immediately lost his voice, unable to believe what and who she was seeing. Reba, on the other hand, didn't notice what was happening as she got busy with her phone when it dinged, signalling her that she got a message.
Liam smiled and noticed Reba right away, sat beside a pretty blonde woman who was looking at him a little weirdly. He took his coat off and handed it to the maitre d and made his way toward David's table. Years of acting prepared him as he fought off the pounding of his heart.
Melissa remained speechless as she saw Liam Neeson walking towards them. Liam...William. She immediately looked at her redhead friend who still seemed oblivious at what was happening. The singer was still busy with her phone, so Melissa roughly held on to Reba's wrist to catch her attention.
"He's here, Reba! It's fucking Liam Neeson. He's William Nees-" Melissa whispered harshly, but didn't manage to finish her last word. David stood, and Reba looked up. Her eyes bugged out as she realized who was standing in front of them. Melissa stood up, and so did Reba. The redhead didn't have much of a choice as Melissa basically lifted her from her seat, holding onto her arm.
Liam smiled at them, but his eyes focused on Reba. "I'm so sorry I was late. My flight got delayed. I'm William, by the way," Liam spoke. He did his best to make sure his voice wouldn't shake, but there was nothing he could do about the redness that he was sure starting to spread from his neck up. Nevertheless, he gently extended his right hand, offering it to the beautiful redhead standing in front of him. Her videos didn't do her beauty any justice, he thought to himself.
Reba just stared at him awestruck, then broke into silly giggles. She could feel her face getting warm. "So you're William... Liam Neeson. Hi," Reba replied, her Southern drawl even more prominent than usual as a result of her wracking nerves. The singer extended her hand in return. "I'm Reba McEntire."
Liam took Reba's hand in his and at that moment, he swore to hold her hand every chance he could, as long as the redhead would allow it.