Lilly's POV
“Hello,” I said as I took a step back from the mysterious handsome stranger. His blue eyes held mine, never leaving for a moment. A familiar warmth spread all over my body.
“Were you running away from something?” he asked. His voice was deep and smooth.
I glanced back at Jake who was clutching a wine glass tightly. His jaw was taut, eyes fixed on us. Smiling, I turned back to the handsome stranger.
“Not particularly,” I said. “Sorry for bumping into you.”
He shook his head. “It’s alright. I’m glad you did, because I was doomed to spend the evening alone. Would you like to join me? Your friend can join too.”
“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”
“Good,” he said. “Let’s find a table.”
We made our way back into the bar. I could feel Jake’s eyes on me the whole time. He had probably wanted to threaten me, but now I was out of reach. When I turned to glance at him, I saw him walking towards us with a furious and determined look on his face. He was out for war, it seemed. Just as I was about to nudge Leah, a camera woman burst through the door and started taking pictures of Jake immediately. Within seconds, security had grabbed the woman.
Jake whispered something to another security personnel before disappearing. I blushed when I realised I had been standing in the middle of the rows of tables, staring at Jake. Everything was now staring at me including Leah and the handsome stranger who had already sat at a booth in the corner. Picking up what was left of my dignity, I went towards him.
“Jake Rylland, right.” The man said. “All the girls in this city are crazy about him. I get that he’s one of the most eligible bachelors, but try to put into consideration the feelings of the rest of us regular guys. You were so obvious but it’s alright. I understand.”
I laughed, shaking my head. He thought I was head over heels in love with Jake, a totally ridiculous idea. Like I would fall for arrogant and entitled men like Jake who thought they owned the whole world.
“I actually hate him,” I said.
“Where you running away from him when you bumped into him?” handsome stranger asked. “Is he pursuing you?”
Leah and I both laughed. “You come up with the craziest ideas. I’m a journalist. I recently wrote an expose' on Jake and it went viral. Since I exposed his secrets, he threatened me. I wrote about that too and it came out to day. I always come to this bar and he has never been here. I knew he was here for only one thing, me. That’s why I was running out, to avoid confrontation. When it comes to writing, things are easy for me but when it comes to speaking, not so much. I’m not very articulate and I didn’t want a verbal altercation with the man who hates me. He could even slap me and get away with it.”
“He did seem to be holding in a lot of anger,” Leah said. “If you’re not careful, the man will kill you, Lilly. You can’t die because of a mere news story.”
“Wow, being a journalist does seem really interesting,” the stranger said as a server placed our drinks on the table.
“It can be very dangerous, especially when you mess with the wrong people.” Leah said before taking the first sip of her white wine.
“Who are the wrong people?”
“Criminals and the very rich.”
“Wow, oh I’m Ian, by the way. What are your names?”
“Leah.”
“Lilith,” I said
“Like the she-devil?”
I chuckled. We never talk about how some parents ruin their children’s lives with the names they give.
“I can see why Jake is wary of you,” Ian commented.
“You speak like you know him.”
“I’ve heard of him, definitely. But I don’t know much about him. You guys have told me enough to make that conclusion. I work at a construction company and we work all day. There’s no time for celebrity gossip. When we sit down at break time, we talk about sports, politics and women. Some billionaires come up, but mostly the older ones not these spoiled young ones who inherited all their wealth and soft life.”
Ian seemed really interesting. He stared at me in a way that made me feel like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. We continued to converse about everyday issues. At some point, Leah left the table and went to sit somewhere else giving us some privacy. I became so much more comfortable with him when she was gone. At first, I had been worried over which of us he actually wanted to get to know more. When I realised it was me, I made myself much more interesting.
I learned that Ian did not live in the city but came occasionally to visit his family. He was an only child so had a huge responsibility with the emotional needs of his parents. Seeing a guy talk so passionately about his family made me instantly like him. He also had a great sense of humour, and we had a great time making fun of the people around us and billionaires like Jake.
Three hours later, I was ready to go home and rest.
“It’s been a really great evening,” Ian said. “Thank God for Jake who led you to me.”
“I agree. I have had so much fun too. I thought it would be regular evening, but it has been spectacular. I wish you weren’t leaving in a week’s time. We would have so much fun together.”
I looked around but did not see Leah. She had last been seen at the counter. Fishing out my phone from the purse, I dialled her number. After a few rings, she picked up.
“Heyyy” she slurred.
“Where are you, Leah?”
“Uhhh? Where am I? Where am I, Jake.”
“Jake?” I stood up and hurried to the counter. “Tell me where you are and I’ll come immediately.” I turned to the bartender. “Where is my friend, she has short dark hair and was here a few minutes ago.”
“Stop shouting,” Leah said. “I’m outside in Jake’s car. I might end puke on it but he says he’ll kill me if I do.”
I ran out while Ian followed. We hurried to the parking lot where I found Jake casually leaning on his car.
“You bastard. Where is my friend?”
“Inside the car,” Jake said, calmly.
“Open the door.”
“She entered willingly”
“She is drunk,” I countered. “I swear if you have taken advantage of her in any way, I will ruin you, Jake Rylland.”
“What if I don’t?”
“You’ll have to deal with me,” Ian stepped forward. “Open the door now.”
“No.”
Suddenly, Ian punched him, missing the nose, but delivering punch to cheek. Jake titled his head. Grinning evilly, he charged at Ian.
“You think that was great?” I asked Johnny before hitting the ball with my golf club. It went right into the hole and I laughed. “Now, that’s what we call great.”Johnny sighed. “It’s been a while since I last played. You know what, I’m tired. Let’s go sit over there.”He pointed to a group of umbrella trees that had created a great and secluded shaded spot. “You boys are lazy.” Mr. Ark, an older friend of ours said while rubbing his bald head. He owned a small bank in George but lived in New York with his children. Golf was one of his favourite hobbies. It was a miracle to come to the golf course and not find it. “What will happen when you’re my age?”“Look, James is here,” Johnny said. James Hacker was heading our way wearing a blue polo shirt, white cap and white pants. Johnny stepped down from the cart and I followed suit “You can play with him.”“I don’t want to talk to him,” I said, and practically dragged Johnny out of there. James was quite a gossip and I knew he was going to
Lilith’s PovI couldn’t stop thinking about Ian. No man had ever done for me what he had done for Leah and I. Although we were technically strangers, he stood up for us. The fight had almost got bloody but security came just in time and separated the two men, all exuding alpha male energy. Later, Ian had dropped us safely, first Leah and then me. Moreover he had not demanded anything in return except my number which I happily gave him.Being a junior reporter meant my life was full of work that the higher ups didn’t want to do. It was always piled on us. While we worked as slaves, doing everything handed to us, the bosses chose only what was convenient for them.Ian lived in my mind rent free the whole of the next day and night. On the day after that, I had an assignment to travel to New Jersey where I had an interview with a producer of a small budget reality show. He was an eccentric man so Leah and I were both going to see him. Sexual harassment and assault was a big problem for u
Ian and I met at The Alternative Ritz, a bar on the outskirts of the city with a daily live band. I was wearing a hot red figure hugging dress and red heels. My hair was styled, and fell in waves on the sides of my shoulders. That was all thanks to Leah who lectured me on putting effort to my appearance for dates. If it was up tom, I would just wear a clean shirt and jeans plus sneakers. Maybe that was I was still single. I literally didn’t try to look sensual or romantic. Only one guy in the office had expressed interest in dating me but then again, there was only a handful of men there. The place was overflowing with estrogenic and progesterone energy which was not a bad thing but it killed all my office romance dreams.“You’re lucky to have survived that mess,” he said. “I have never been in a shooting before but it sounds quite scary to be involve in one. I’m so sorry you had to experience something like that.”“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for being here. I’m glad you called b
When I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar room. Sitting up, I looked around. There was a bed with blue sheets, and a table next to it. My bag was on that table. Grabbing it, I opened and saw all the contents inside. Everything was intact. I sat back and tried to rack my memory.Ian. Where the hell was he? Most importantly, where was I? I pulled out my phone and unlocked it. 10missed calls from Leah. What the hell. I dialled her number immediately. She didn’t answer which made me panic even more. My clothes! They were nowhere to be seen and I was wearing a blue nightdress I had never seen before. My heart was pounding as I tried to remember how I got there. All I could remember was leaving that white building. Shit. How did I become so stupid to trust a man whose surname I didn’t know. I had finally done it, gone crazy and made a mess of my life.It was already ten am and I had no idea where to get clothes. I dialled the phone on the table but no one was answering. What the hell was this
I stabilized a few minutes later. There were pictures of me on a full page, all kinds. Me entering the so called whore house, me kissing two men, dancing with men and women. There was one of me in bed with a man but thankfully I was still wearing my clothes. That was the only saving grace.“What is all this?” I asked. An ache had developed in my head. I could process what I was seeing. This was no doubt the worst thing that had ever happened to me. I thought of my relatives, who were probably glad they kept their distance from me.I ripped the paper into pieces.“That will not solve anything.”Why, why me?I think it’s Jake Rylland,” Leah said. “I don’t know why some random guy would do this to you and hire a reporter to document it.”“That sly bastard. I only reported what was true about him. I should have reported the kidnapping. If I do now, they will say I’m trying to ruin his name because mine is ruined.”“That’s not the worst.”“What could be worse than that?”“I think you might
It was like I was floating out of the building. It felt as if I was not really there and my mind seemed to be lost in some unknown dimension. There was a bit of dizziness disturbing me, but I felt stable enough to reach home without collapsing on the way. A taxi passed by and I did not bother to stop it because I wanted to walk. Home was over two kilometres away. I decided to walk until my legs gave out.My mind was shut out from almost everything around me. Everything that had happened to me was a mess in my blurred mind. Vehicles cruised past, people passed by, I bumped into some of them because of my disorientation. Life was going on normally for most people, except me and probably a few others with disturbed minds. At some point, I was just staggering along the pavement, pushing myself. I got weird looks from people who probably thought I was homeless and hungry or crazy but didn’t care. The good thing about my job as a newspaper and magazine reporter was that most people did no
I stayed home the first two days after my suspension. I could have stayed for longer if not for the loan I needed to repay. Although it was possible to buy a new TV and computer at some point, I didn’t want to let go of the ones Miles had taken. He had even gone with my hard drive which was really inconveniencing but motivated me to look for the money.Leah offered me what she had, only a quarter of what I needed. The money I paid was a lot considering how serious the crime was.Hailey had kidnapped her daughter from her ex-boyfriend’s place, after stabbing his current girlfriend who had refused to let go of the girl. Hailey was in the wrong because she and the father had shared custody. She was supposed to be with the child during the weekdays. That Saturday, the father had picked up the child a usual. They were together but he ended up being called for an emergency meeting at the school he taught at. He left the child with Carly who actually had no problem with de and always treate
“If you want a drink or anything to eat, find it in the kitchen. You should have called me before you came because this is a wrong time. I have to get to spa. My man is arriving today so I guess you know why I have to go there.”“Why do you have to go there, mommy?” Amy asked.“Yes, why? Hailey.” I asked, raising an eyebrow.My sister rolled her eyes and walked into the bedroom.“Mommy doesn’t like to answer my questions,” Amy said. “I don’t know why. Do you think she hates me?”I pulled her closer. “Oh no, of course not. Some questions require answers that children may not understand so it becomes hard to answer.”“My teacher explains something when I don’t understand.”“Well darling, teachers are trained on how to deal with children. They know better that the rest of us. Don’t worry about it. What are you watching?”I could not tell the child that her mother was a b!tch who only cared about herself. It seemed losing one child had not taught her to treasure life with the living one.