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 holdinghands. 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 meetingwith 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.
