Chapter 3
Chapter Three
It was the end of another working day and Lilly let herself into her flat, dumped her bags in the hallway along with her shoes.
She loved to wear heeled shoes, but they were a joy to remove at the end of the day.
Moving through the flat, she flicked the switch on the coffee machine and headed for the shower.
She needed to clean off the day and make herself dinner.
The plan in mind was to spend an evening drawing.
There was a lot to think about and drawing relaxed her.
She could drift off into space and process what she needed to think about.
Everything Elijah had said to her today and over the last six months was good advice.
She was becoming short-tempered at work and less tolerant of the women she worked alongside.
Lilly never was one for confrontation. However, she had no issue with confronting the men that were mean, nasty and behaved disgracefully.
Lilly tried not to think too hard about why that was.
In her time at the law firm, Lilly had to work hard to prove herself. She had a lot to prove to her parents, spending most of her energy trying to show them she was good at what she did. The money that they spent on her was well spent.
It didn’t make any difference.
Her biggest supporter was her God Mother, Elizabeth, who was Harry’s sister-in-law.
She looked out for her and tried to guide her into an excellent lawyer.
Elizabeth had died a few years ago. Lilly lost her way, and Harry tried to help, but Lilly had lost all desire to carry on as a lawyer.
It didn’t stop her being the most successful lawyer in the business, but her heart wasn’t in it.
Harry’s birthday was coming up, and Lilly wanted to give him a present.
The gift was a portrait of Elizabeth for his office.
She left Lilly a pendant, it was one of a pair.
Elizabeth’s granddaughter, Catherine, had the other one, and she treasured it.
Elizabeth had always worn the pendant with every outfit she had.
She called it her lucky charm. The pendant, currently draped over the corner of the canvas, was the one that Lilly was painting.
Elizabeth’s photo was clipped there too, and she spent time each evening working away at the portrait.
Lilly had completed the sketching outline a while ago, and now she needed to start painting.
Stepping out of the shower and throwing on sweatpants and a t-shirt, Lilly padded out to the kitchen, scrunching her toes into the carpet as she went.
Reaching the countertop, she picked up her post. Lilly hadn’t remembered picking up the post from the floor at the door, so assumed that William had been in today.
That also meant that she was probably out of food.
Lilly lent William at least two hundred pounds a month and never saw the money returned, and he still raided her kitchen for food when she was at work.
Her brother was an insecure person. Lilly had offered her place as a haven because she remembered all too well what it was like to live at home with her parents and didn’t want to subject William to that if she could help it.
She wanted him to have a safe refuge if he needed it, but was getting fed up lately with his constant need to be at her place.
Lilly contemplated changing the locks and forgetting to give him a key, but would feel guilty if she did that.
He never used to come over when she was out, but now that was a frequent event.
If she saw him, she would tackle him about it, but he was either elusive or her parents were within earshot.
She needed to decide how she was going to bring the subject up with him.
Lilly decided on something light to eat, so she could eat and paint at the same time. Cooking for one was never something she enjoyed.
She didn’t feel like making an effort and often ate little in the evenings.
Taking her plate of food through to the morning room at the back of the apartment, she perched on a stool staring at the incomplete canvas.
Taking bites from her sandwich, she stared into space and daydreamed about Elijah.
To her, he was everything she wanted in a partner, a friend, and a lover.
She wanted to sketch him, but needed to finish Elizabeth’s portrait before she plucked up enough courage to ask Elijah if he would pose for her.
Lilly used charcoals. The naked contours of his body could be brought to life.
She had her work cut out to get him to agree to be sketched naked.
Lilly wanted him naked for other reasons, too.
Ever since she laid eyes on him, she had wanted him, but he was a serial dater, and he only treated her like a friend.
His advice was excellent, and he seemed to care very much about her life decisions.
It was disconcerting to have a perfect stranger be so demanding that she made the most of her life.
Lilly enjoyed the attention he gave and dreamed that it was more than simple, polite advice over the bar at lunchtime.
Thinking back to six months ago, after a stressful morning at work, she decided to have a lunch break.
Lilly hadn’t had a lunch break since the day she had started at the law firm over a decade before.
She felt a little rebellious, as it would cause shock waves through the corridors.
Lilly, going for lunch without an appointment, would be breaking news.
She hated it was that way, but it was. Working at the law firm and also being a senior partner’s Goddaughter had a few people annoyed.
They assumed she wasn’t any good and secured a job through family connections and not on merit.
She had spent the last ten years proving them wrong.
Grabbing her coat, she made her way past the secretaries and ignored the stares. The noisiest of the group asked her where she was going, as her dairy didn’t have any appointments. She ignored the heckles, walked by them and into the open elevator.
Stepping out into the overcast day, she looked around, deciding in which direction to go. Across the road, she saw the bar and looked at the name, Blue’s. She hoped they served food and had a quiet corner where she could hide.
Spending the hour she had in a bar seemed inappropriate, but she didn’t care. This was the most rebellious she had been in many years. If her mother caught her, she would be very disappointed in her daughter. Lilly almost wished her mother would walk in. She was fed up with her demanding ways.
She was just about to pull the door when a gorgeous couple walked out.
They were laughing hard and holding hands.
She envied what they visibly had, and she wanted that.
She needed to feel that carefree and happy.
Too many years wasted in a job she didn’t enjoy.
The man held the door open for Lilly to step through, but didn’t look at her.
He was too busy looking at the woman he was with to notice her.
“Don’t come back in here until you can behave yourselves, or at least tone it down to PG rating.”
Surprise took her by the tall man standing in front of her, shouting over her head through the open door at the couple. His voice made her jump as it had startled her. She breathed in his scent and was instantly attracted to him.
“I’m sorry to make you jump. I just needed to warn my brother to stop trying to have sex with his fiancé in my bar.”
Lilly was dumbstruck. She didn’t know what to say. She’d taken in his height, good looks, fantastic body and now his voice. She had the urge to wrap her arms around him for a cuddle and never leave. She was in lust with this man and yearned to know more about him.
“That’s ok,” Lilly said absent-minded, she was lost in lustful thoughts.
“Are you ok there? Am I standing too close? Sorry about that, I have a habit of being too familiar.”
Lilly felt herself redden. She had no problem with his proximity, in fact, it wasn’t close enough.
“I’m fine, I’ve not been in here before, my name is Lilly, is this your bar?”
“Hi Lilly, it is a pleasure to meet you, I am Elijah and yes this is my bar. Come in and have a seat at the bar, I’ll get you a drink, on the house, by way of apology and you can tell me everything about you.”
“It’s lovely to meet you too Elijah, lead the way.”
Elijah smiled down at her, held out his hand for her to take. She took it without hesitation.
It was warm, surrounding hers. She felt tiny in his hand but loved it all the same. She could get used to holding this man’s hand.
“Take a seat and I will be right back. What can I get you to drink?”
“Elijah, I have been waiting for my drink for ten minutes while you’ve been talking with your brother and that girl of his. Any chance you can get it before you get this girl’s drink?”
“Yeah, sorry, coming right up.” Elijah winced Lilly’s way while he walked back to the woman at the end of the bar. “Lilly, I’ll be with you shortly. I’m not a very attentive friend. Take a look at the menu and choose what you would like to eat,” Elijah told Lilly.
Lilly’s heart plummeted. He had a female friend who was demanding. That usually meant they had a history. She shouldn’t be surprised. He was a stunning-looking man and seemed friendly, kind and humorous. It still stung that she wanted this man, and he might have a girlfriend.
“No hurry Elijah, I have plenty of time.”
That was the first time she had met Elijah and since that day she had been in Blue’s at some stage during the day every day as her escape from her job.
Over the months, she had told Elijah about her career and her parents.
He had listened intently and had given her advice from day one, and that was life was too short to be miserable.
He had tried to talk her into leaving her job from the first day.
She had tried to do it many times but had backed out at the last moment. Harry, her boss, must have thought that she was losing her mind, cancelling meeting after meeting with him. Making an appointment was as far as she had got with handing in her notice.
She focussed on the canvas and was surprised by how much she had painted while thinking back to her first meeting with Elijah. The picture was coming along very well, and she hoped Harry would be thrilled with the surprise.
Putting down the paint brush, Lilly swigged back the last of the fruit juice she had next to her and called it a night.
Thinking about Elijah had sparked a decision in her.
She would speak with Harry tomorrow. The letter had been written months ago.
She had written it in the evening after meeting Elijah that first day.
She mused she didn’t need to hand it to him, she could just talk to him about how she felt.
Picking up her phone, she dialled her best friend’s number.
“Angie, it’s me.”
“I know it’s you, modern phones have caller ID,” Angie said in a bored tone. She kept just for Lilly when she was in her efficient mode. Angie adored Lilly and made her pay for her lawyer tone when she used it.
“Excellent, good to hear your sarcasm is in full swing. Just so you know, I’m quitting my job tomorrow,” Lilly said and waited for the questions to come.
“Thank God for that, you can stop being miserable now, are we celebrating?” Angie asked.
“That’s it?” Lilly asked.
“What do you want from me? I’ve told you you’ve needed to leave there for years, I’m not going to talk you out of it,” Angie replied.
“Good. Pleasant chat, as always,” Lilly said and laughed aloud.
“You love my straight talking, can I go now?” Angie asked.
“Yes, you may go.”
Lilly laughed as she heard Angie sniggering at the other end of the phone before she hung up.
Lilly would still sleep on it, but was happier that she had heard Angie’s confirmation that she was making a good decision.