“You don’t see what I see. Please consider it,” Elijah pleaded.
“Ok, I will think about it.” Resigning herself to the possibility that she might have to face the fact that she needed to change the direction of her life.
“Good,” Elijah said, grinning from ear to ear.
“I said I would think about it, so stop grinning. I haven’t made any decisions yet. Tell me about Elaine. It looked like you had an argument yesterday?” Lilly asked to change the focus from her life.
“It was more of a discussion, really. She thought going for a coffee constituted a marriage proposal. I ended her notion of being Mrs Geary. She seemed to think me offering her a job meant more than it was. I should never have started it, but I wanted to help her and then started dating her without realising. I won’t make that mistake twice,” Elijah said with conviction.
“I will remember that Elijah, it’s good to know you don’t want to date the people you help,” Lilly replied, her hurt feelings filtering through her words.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Lilly. I’d like to help you and wouldn’t object to dating you either,” Elijah said, cursing himself for his careless words.
“Wouldn’t object to dating me? Is that your romantic side coming out there?” Lilly said, keeping her face straight and her tone flat.
“You know I am digging myself into a deep pit. I’ll stop talking now.”
“Oh, don’t be so sensitive, I’m just teasing you,” Lilly said and pinched his cheek.
“I’m an idiot. Let’s get back to your job and not my appalling romantic skills,” Elijah said and rubbed his cheek.
Elijah could have kicked himself. He was single in the presence of Lilly, and he made a total arse of himself. It was a good job Mickey wasn’t here to witness it, or he would never hear the end of it. Lilly completely floored him when he was near her, and anything he planned to say flew out of the window.
“Do we have to talk about my work? We always talk about that,” Lilly asked, desperate to change the subject.
“Yes we do, now. Tell me, Lilly, do you love your job?”
“I’m excellent at it,” Lilly said proudly.
Elijah took Lilly’s hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb, soothing her stresses and encouraging her to answer him. He bore holes into her face as she had dropped her head so he couldn’t see her eyes. Elijah thought they were beautiful and lifted her chin so that he could see them. He had caught a flash of sadness before she put her mask back in place.
“That’s not what I asked Lilly and you know it. Do youlove your job? Do you wake up in the morning and look forward to getting dressed and arriving for work? Do you stay late because you love your job enough to get the job done?” Elijah asked her softly.
“No.” Lilly replied quietly.
“Then why are you wasting your life there, Lilly? I don’t understand.”
“I’ve already explained, my parents have paid for my education and paid for me to go through law school.”
“But you’re a partner. You’ve paid them back tenfold. You’ve studied hard, best in your class, and have won hundreds of cases. They should be proud,” Elijah argued.
“They aren’t proud. Until I’m a senior partner with my name on the letterhead, I have not paid them back. They have social circles that depend on this, and I am failing in their eyes. I’ve been a lawyer for over a decade and still haven’t managed it. If I left now, my parents would see me as a complete failure,” she said and straightened her jacket.
“Lilly, this is your life to make the most of. Why do you feel the need to make your parents happy?”
This question stumped Lilly. She didn’t know the answer, and she assumed all children needed to make their parents happy and proud. Elijah could see Lilly was struggling with the response and asked a different one instead.
“Lilly, if your lawyer firm closed down tomorrow, what would you do with your life? Which career would you take? Would you find another law firm to work at?”
“No, I wouldn’t. I would take some time off and draw.”
“Draw?”
“Yes, it helps me relax after significant cases. I draw and paint,” Lilly revealed.
“You don’t strike me as the arty type Lilly, aren’t theysupposed to be egotistical and needy?” He asked and chuckled.
“Maybe, but my parents wouldn’t tolerate such a character trait. It’s bad enough that my brother, William, wafts around with no direction. If I did, they would never tolerate it.”
