“In a good way or a bad way?” They kept asking each other that question.
“A good way, of course.” She looked cosy on the sofa. She’d pulled a velvet cover over her legs, and clutched her breakfast mug in both hands to warm her. “It is a bit like Big Brother, isn’t it? Day three, and the housemates don’t know what bloody time of day it is, but they eat breakfast, because they just got up and they were hungry.” Flashing a smile his way, she sat quietly for a moment and then sighed, loudly. “It’s way different to the normal routine, for me at any rate. What would your average day be like?”
Adrian relished her question. “Well…there’s this woman who I like to talk dirty with, online…”
“No!” She laughed again, and looked at him fondly, as if she liked the joke. “I mean the rest, the bits that I don’t know about.” She really did want to fill the missing pieces of the picture. “What would you be doing now?”
“Right about now,” he glanced at his watch, “my secretary, Cassandra, would be breaking the endless cycle of figures with a cup of green tea and a large bowl of muesli.”
Seth coughed. “You’re a health freak? Damn, I missed that on the info sheet.”
They had info sheets? “Me no. I’ll pretty much eat anything. Cassandra, yes. She’s like this 1970’s super-efficient health freak, into yoga and the whole thing. She frets that I don’t eat breakfast, and—like I said—I will eat anything that’s put in front of me.”
“This is the grandmother lady who thinks you should get out and meet women?” A teasing, curious smile lit Lily up again.
“The very one.” He paused, remembering the time he had shared that with her, thinking about the times they had shared on line. It also made him think about Cassandra, who he cared about a great deal—thinking about the actual nuts and bolts of what went on when he was pulled out of his life. Looking Seth’s way, he knew he had to ask. “Will Cassandra know? I mean, will someone have explained it to her, and my brother. Will they understand what’s happened to me?” He wasn’t sure he wanted them to know, they’d only worry, but the question kept bugging him.
Seth nodded. “Normally you’d have had time to alert them yourself, but the way things panned out, members of my department would have moved in and checked out the office. Your next of kin and secretary’s details were already on file.”
“Good. She’d have been worried.” Why did he suddenly feel so weighted down by all of this? A moment ago it was good, it was free and easy.
“Yes, my flatmate will be worried too.” Lily’s expression had also grown more serious. She cast an accusing glance in Seth’s direction.
“That’s different,” he countered, quickly, a heavy frown developing on his forehead.
“Why?” Adrian asked.
“If my department tracks down the bloke Lily saw, she can go home.” Seth grew tense, his cheeks working as if he was grinding his teeth. “This will be sorted soon, Lily, I promise, and you’ll be able to get back to your regular life.”
Silence descended on them. Adrian felt gutted. Ultimately he was in a lose-lose situation. If Lily was gone, this would be so much worse, but he hated that she was here because of him. Confused, and regretting he had asked, he stood up. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Are you okay?” Lily said, concerned. “You already had a shower,”
“I need another.” He paused, looked back, and smiled her way. “I’m okay, just need to think.”
Limping off down the hallway, he realised that no amount of thinking—or showering—was going to help this particular problem. The one he’d unexpectedly found himself burdened with, the one that was extra to the Carlisle court case and everything that came with that. He didn’t want Lily to be here, but he did. Whilst he recognised that she was making the most of a bad lot, she’d never be able to forgive him not afterwards, not after they got back to their real life, and that brought him a whole of pain.
* * * *
Seth knew they were both upset, and he knew it was because they were talking about what they’d left behind. Adrian had to come to terms with it, but Lily didn’t. He had to out Lavonne, then she could go.
Simple as that. Except it wasn’t.
Looking over at her, he felt as if he’d learnt so much about her in these few days. He’d begun to know what made her tick, and he knew it was taking a lot of inner strength for her not to balk right now, not to shuck off his authority and make life difficult again. He was prepared; sometimes the witnesses needed to let off steam. Better that they attack him for his role in this than walk out and into danger. And she, more than anyone, had the right to attack him. He needed to sort it, needed to find a way to safely have Lavonne arrested so that she could go back to her normal life. No reason not to, right?
Problem was he was thinking about ways to do that less and less as time went by, because he liked having her there. He was honest with himself on that score. Nevertheless, it rested a heavy sense of guilt on his shoulders.
“Tell me about the online chat thing,” he said, asking about the grey area in his understanding of her.
“What about it?” She looked as if she thought he might be judging her.
“How did you get into it? I’m just curious.” He reached out and teased her tootsies with his.
She foot wrestled him, and then rested her head back on the cushions. “Oh, well it was kind of a joke, at first. I haven’t had a proper relationship since I was in training as a nurse. When Andrea, my flatmate, made the decision to open the sandwich boutique, I left nursing, and things only got busier. We’re in the first year of a new business.”
“That’s hard work.”
“Yes, in fact these past few days have actually felt like a bit of a holiday for me, one I probably needed.” She paused, a frown gathering between her eyebrows. “Anyhow, we have this guy who delivers salad and fruit to the boutique.”