Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Getting fully dressed in the middle of the night for anything other than to catch a flight to a holiday destination seemed alien to Lilly.
Angie had given her a quick call a few hours earlier.
Gareth had phoned her to say that Elijah was in jail.
He’d left her furious so could only imagine how the other guy looked, especially when it was Simon on the other end of his fists.
Lilly pulled her satchel over her head and tugged it about her body until it sat straight.
Going to a police station was the last place she wanted to go.
She felt like she owed him. Elijah had supported her in her recent decisions and that was the only reason she was going.
Pulling her jacket straight under her bag she made fists with her hands and thumped the sides of her thighs.
Giving herself a mental pep talk, to rise above her pride and help Elijah.
At four in the morning the streets were empty, she’d left him stew for a few hours.
If she’d gone any earlier the police wouldn’t have let him out.
When she called, the desk sergeant had advised her that Simon was not pressing charges as it was a misunderstanding and they were keeping him in until he cooled off.
The modern-looking police station was filled with people, the noise levels were high.
It seemed to have all the drunk and angry people that the city offered.
Police stations had always made her nervous, she much preferred the courthouse.
Lilly felt more comfortable with the predictability of people’s behaviour in a courthouse.
In a police station, anything could happen when emotions were high.
The early hours of the morning brought out the worst that Edinburgh had and she was among them. He would pay severely for this, she would make sure of that. The quicker she got him out of here, the faster she could get on with the rest of her life and it would pay her debt.
She waited in line to see the desk sergeant, there were a dozen people in front of her and she waited impatiently.
Trying not to make eye contact with anyone, she concentrated on her phone, playing an addictive game.
The constant arguing to her left was in competition to the constant sobbing to her right.
She couldn’t decide which noise would send her over the edge of impatience first. Thankfully, the queue sped up, and she was next.
“My name is Lillian Harrison and I am here for Elijah Geary, I’m his lawyer,” Lilly said.
“He said that he didn’t want one.” The police officer replied without looking up. He sounded weary and slouched at his desk.
“What he wants and what he needs are two different things. I’m sure you could use the cell. Where do I need to sign to get him out of here?” Lilly replied hoping to get this over with as soon as possible.
“Just sign these and I’ll get him, he should have cooled down by now.” The officer looked up, delighted with what he was looking at. Someone sober, a non-confrontational member of the public. It was a rare sighting at this time of the morning.
“I doubt it when he sees me,” she muttered under her breath. The police officer heard and smiled as he turned and walked through the door behind him.
“Oi, love, come over here and sit on my lap.” A drunken voice said to the side of her.
She shivered inside her warm jacket at the crassness of his invitation.
Trying to ignore the inebriated lout, she stared straight ahead to the door where Elijah would walk through.
She shivered again, he would not be happy to see her after the way they parted.
Blocking out further invites from other early morning drinkers, she waited for him to appear.
The cold dread that she felt when the door opened and the police officer came through made her heart drop through to her stomach.
She then caught sight of him and they locked eyes, they smiled for a moment and then the annoyance seeped through.
He was angry, and it showed, he tried to turn around and go back through the door but the police officer wouldn’t let him backtrack.
“Go and say thanks to the lovely lady who has bailed you out, otherwise you would be rotting in here with the other drunkards until dawn,” The desk sergeant told him.
Elijah grunted and moved forward towards her, looked at her and walked passed her. She suspected as much, but it still hurt to be shunned.
“You didn’t have to come and get me, they would have released me sooner or later, and they had finished questioning me hours ago,” Elijah said.
It angered her he was so dismissive, he didn’t have to be rude about it. It was her fault that he was in jail in the first place.
“Well, I’m here now and believe it or not I didn’t want you to sit in a jail cell all night because of me.
You were a world class shit to me earlier and I don’t know why but you’ll explain it to me tonight if you want to see me again.
So get your arse to my car and we are going to your place and sort this mess out,” Lilly told him.
“That’s a bit bossy Lilly, but you’re right, now where’s your car?” Elijah asked.
Lilly didn’t answer and left the police station assuming Elijah would follow.
She was in no mood to mollycoddle him and wanted to find out what had him all pent up.
Using the remote key, the car came to life, and they both got in the car.
The air was thick and neither of them dared talk for fear of saying the wrong thing.
It didn’t take long for Lilly to reach Blue’s and park around the back in Elijah’s parking space.
She got out, waited for him to follow suit and locked the door again.
Following Elijah through the back door of the bar, Lilly wondered what he was going to say to make up for his angry outburst that afternoon and his temper at his own bar.
It would have to be something pretty special, she didn’t like the abrupt change of mood with Elijah.
She didn’t like unpredictability in anyone, least of all someone she loved and wanted a future with.
Elijah stomped through the bar with Lilly following along behind him and he turned around and pointed a finger with the order to stay. He was in no mood to argue with her and needed to reach for some courage.
Whisky.
He went behind the bar, picked up a bottle with two tumbler glasses and walked back to where Lilly was standing.
“Right then Lillian, let’s do this. I’ll tell you what’s got me wound up and then we will see where the cards fall,” Elijah said.
Lilly frowned at his statement, his irritation with her was apparent in his look and his stance. She was not going to hang around for him to yell at her again. She wasn’t in the mood to be his verbal punchbag this evening.
“Don’t worry about it Elijah, I’m not going to bully you into telling me.
I’m not staying around here just for you to be pissed off with me.
I have an entire family who can do that to me.
Sleep the anger off and maybe we will talk again, but at the moment I don’t want to know this version of you,” Lilly said.
Lilly turned on the spot and walked purposefully out of his bar and back to her car.
She didn’t want him to chase after her. She was angry with him and wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say with a clear mind.
She couldn’t understand how she could be in love someone so much and then hate them at the same time.
She was disappointed that he could be so cold and demanding.
It seemed that he was punishing her for his secret, which he wanted to share.