A Wish Too Far

Chapter 1
Silly Little Crush

Chapter Description: Liam meets Lucy, a shy little girl with a big heart and a big crush.

The following story is a bit different from what I usually write, being mostly physical AR. It is my side of a story swap with Nico, so the idea for this story comes from him. I have to thank him for the brilliant story, Wiggle, he wrote based on my idea. I only hope this story is half as good as what he wrote for me.

Chapter 1

Bryce’s footsteps echoed loudly as he pounded down the spiral steps of the tower. The adrenaline coursing through his system seemed to give him extra agility, preventing him from tumbling down the steep stone stairs. Nevertheless by the time he reached the bottom he was dizzy to the point of nausea. There was no time to stop and collect himself though, his pursuers would not be far behind. As he dashed across the courtyard of the ancient Scottish castle he asked himself again how had they known he would come looking here for the artefact? Why was it these rogue Freemasons were always one step ahead of him?

Liam stared at his the computer screen flickering before him in the semi-darkness of the room. He read through the last paragraph he’d typed. Was it thrilling enough? He sighed, certain his editor would demand yet more revisions. But what could he do? Since the success of Dan Brown there had been a thousand copy-cat novelists trying to break into the thriller genre and Liam was one of the lucky few who’d written something good enough to get published, once. If he wanted to make this a successful career though, he’d need this sequel to be a success as well. Otherwise it was back to data entry and that was no alternative at all.

Pushing the laptop back Liam stood and headed for the kitchen. One of the perks of being a professional writer was working from home. No more hour long commutes to a cookie-cutter cubical in a soulless office for him. Liam knew he should be happy with his life, most of his friends were quite envious of him after all. Owning his own place and being his own boss at the age of twenty-six was a pretty big accomplishment. When he’d finished his English degree at Uni he’d quickly come to realise the only skilled job it prepared him for was teaching, and he hated teenagers so that was out of the question. Only publishing his novel Cathedral Dawn had freed him from the scourge of living with flatmates and subsisting on a diet of cheap noodles.

The kitchen was spotless, sterile as it always was. Liam believed in order, he credited his discipline for his early success. Working from home most guys his age would simply type their stuff on a laptop lying in bed, eating there too. Liam was different, he only worked in the room he’d set up as an office and he only ate in his immaculate kitchen. Most guys living alone in a bachelor pad would probably have lounged about in their boxers most of the day too, but today Liam was dressed in a stylish button-down lavender shirt and pressed black pants. His only concession to comfort was the slippers he wore to protect his feet from the cool tile floor. Liam liked to give off an aura of maturity and order, even his square black rimmed glasses added to his persona.

Liam was poking through the refrigerator looking for something for tea when the doorbell rang. Closing the fridge Liam glanced over at the microwave clock. Who would be coming by at 3:15 in the afternoon? For a moment he wondered if he should even answer, he didn’t like dealing with Jehovah’s Witnesses and the like. Then he recalled his friend Ben had said he’d be coming over sometime this week to discuss plans for a mutual friend’s stag party with him. Feeling silly for letting this slip his mind Liam hurried to the door as the bell chimed a second time.

Sure enough as he swung the door open he found it was Ben standing there with his usual mischievous smile, ready to plan a heck of a party. Liam was about to make a rather crude wisecrack but stopped himself short when he noticed Ben wasn’t alone. Holding his hand was a little girl who appeared to be about six years old. He knew Ben had mentioned having a daughter, but Liam had never seen the girl before. She was a cute little thing, her blonde hair tied in pigtails with a big black bow right on the top of her head. Ben had obviously come directly from picking her up from school. She was dressed in a blue polo shirt emblazoned with the school crest. Below that she wore a short little jean skirt over knee-length pink leggings. Like most kids her age she went barefoot, her dirty little toes brushing across the welcome mat.

“Hey there mate, sorry to drop by unannounced but I was in the neighbourhood picking up Lucy and I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone,” Ben explained.

Liam recovered from his bafflement and managed to smile. “Oh, no problem at all man. I had no idea you lived nearby. Did you move recently?”

“No, no we still live over by the shore, but Sarah, my wife, teaches here so little Lucy here goes to the same school,” Ben explained.

“Oh right, must be easier,” Liam agreed, feigning interest. He noticed the little girl was staring up at him with her big blue eyes, still not having said a word. “So you must be little princess Lucy then?” Liam asked the girl, bending over to be less intimidating.

But Lucy didn’t reply or smile at his joke. Instead she stepped quickly back, squeezing her daddy’s hand and trying to hide behind his legs. Liam quickly pulled back, feeling a bit stung by the rejection. He wasn’t really that comfortable around little kids, but he didn’t like to think they found him scary. Lucy continued to hide behind her dad’s legs even as he prodded her not to be so rude. Liam could see that her cheeks were blushing bright red.

“It’s okay Ben, you can let her be, I’m sorry if I frightened her.”

But Ben just chuckled. “Frighten her? Oh I don’t think so Liam, nothing scares my little Lucy the lion. No, when she gets all bashful like this it’s because she has a little crush.”

Lucy’s cheeks went even brighter pink at this announcement and Liam could see that it was true. He had a chuckle at his foolishness for thinking he’d frightened the child. Feeling mischievous himself now he leant down to Lucy’s level and told her, “It’s okay sweetie, I think you’re as cute as a button.”

Even though she stayed hidden behind her dad’s legs Liam could see that there was a big smile on her face now.

“So, shall we sit down and make some plans for Greg’s party?” Liam asked Ben, standing up straight again.

“Yep, Lucy can colour in her book while we make the plans,” Ben agreed, pulling the bashful girl along behind him as they followed Liam inside.

In the living room Ben set down Lucy’s school bag and took out a Barbie colouring book and a set of crayons for her. Liam thought it was very cute the way she motioned for Ben to lean in close so she could whisper in his ear, but still spoke loudly enough that Liam could hear her. “Daddy, I’m hungry,” she said, hand concealing her mouth.

“I know honey, we’ll have tea very soon I promise. Just be a good girl for daddy and colour quietly while the grown-ups talk. If you’re really good I’ll give you an extra sticker for your privileges chart. How about that?” Ben told her, not bothering to whisper back.

The little girl nodded eagerly and dropped onto her tummy on the floor, going quickly to work on the colouring book. Liam felt bad for the girl, having to wait to eat when she was hungry. It wasn’t really fair the way kids had to do whatever adults told them to. “If she’s hungry I have some cereal in the kitchen that she’d probably like,” he offered.

“No, it’s fine, that would just ruin her appetite for dinner. She can wait, little kids need to learn patience,” Ben assured him.

He and Ben sat down in chairs on either side of the coffee table and Liam pulled out a note pad to write down all the things they needed for the party. While they talked Lucy simply coloured away, swinging her legs back and forth in the air behind her, oblivious to the grown-up talk. Liam glanced over at her every now and again, partly out of concern for his carpet, having a little kid with crayons lying on it. But he also looked out of curiosity. A twenty-something single guy didn’t really have much contact with little kids and Liam in particular had made an effort not to be around the messy, screaming, crying little brats. Yet this girl was so quiet, playing with crayons in total innocence while they planned all sorts of debauchery for their party.

Half an hour later they had their plans in order and Ben was ready to head off. He picked Lucy up and carried the giggling girl to the door while she still tried not to look at Liam. “Thanks man, this is gonna be one hell of a party!” Ben declared.

“Yeah, should be awesome dude,” Liam agreed, then tried to catch Lucy’s eye as he added, “But I’m sorry we kept little Lucy from her tea so long.”

The girl blushed and then buried her face in her dad’s shoulder. Ben chuckled and brushed her hair. “Okay, I’d better get little miss bashful home. See you later!”