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“I love, love this.” Lilly reaches with her other hand and touches the fabric of her sweater. “It’s so soft.”
“Thank you.” Amari loves her clothes; so she welcomes the compliment. “I love your hair. Oh. My. God. I die. It’s so gorgeous.”
She’s not fucking wrong.
“Ren!” Amari says still in awe over her, or maybe just the entire situation. “You didn’t tell me she is so beautiful.”
“Well, actually, I didn’t get the chance.” I mumble into my drink, but out loud I ask the most pressing question. “How the fuck did you get Isabella Baker to go to Eve’s school?”
“Please, she owed me big time.” Lilly says, smiling back at me. “I introduced her to her agent, back when she was still Irene Mueller. Just lucky she was in town this week.”
“Aren’t you full of surprises.” It makes me realise, I don’t know much about her.
She had a life in Sydney. One that I’ve only had a glimpse of from the little she’s told me. One that she gave up.
“Oh, you have no idea.” She smiles sweetly at me, but sweet isn’t always safe with her.
“Where’s Tommy?” I ask the other obvious question.
“Where do you think? He insisted hehadto make sure she got home safely.”
At that, I laugh. I bet he did, and I bet he loved every minute. Now the distracted phone call I had with him all makes sense.
She strolls around the counter to where I stand. And again, swipes my drink that’s sitting on the counter and takes a long drink, her eyes playfully locked on mine.
If you were none the wiser, we’d actually look like a couple. The ease at which Lilly and I fit together seems to be the same for both of us.
“Okay!” My sister snaps. “What the actual fuck? Where the hell am I? What is happening?”
Two swearwords, and the big ‘f’ word. It’s safe to say my sister is about to explode. Lilly must sense that too, because she looks at me with a mischievous glint in her eye and enjoying the fact she thinks I’m in trouble.
Why don’t I get the sweet Lilly everyone else gets the privilege of enjoying?
There’s no way around answering the questions, so I simply take Lilly’s free hand in mine and look at my sister. “Were getting married.”
13
Lilly
“We’regettingmarried,”hesays, as if it were a simple fact.
“Ah, no shit.” The mystery woman tears her eyes away from our locked hands, and stares at Ren bewildered.
Whoever she is, she’s gorgeous and sweet. Eve had called her Zia, but to her everyone is an aunt or uncle. Maybe she’s a relative, or a lover? Either way, I’m enjoying the show. Ren’s discomfort is oddly comforting to me.
It’s been a phenomenal day. The sheer joy on Eve’s face, and all the kids when we arrived at school was worth it enough. But to see Eve show off her hair proudly after feeling so low about it, it truly made it a memorable one too.
It didn’t start off as all rainbows and sunshine, though. When I first called into my local salon, I was just grateful the owner was able to squeeze me in. Although, I have spent my fair share of money there, so I wasn’t surprised she bent over backwards to accommodate me. But that was the problem. As I sat in my usual chair, the visions of Sergei walking through the doors had me on edge.
And before that it was even worse. Every store, every car, every corner, I thought I saw his men. It was hard to shake the feeling of being watched, but since Tommy didn’t see anything, it probably was my over active imagination. It wouldn’t be the first time. The first few months after I escaped, were torture. Every shadow made me jump and every noise got my heart racing. It all settled down after a while, but the memory of Sergei’s message yesterday was enough to send me loopy again, for sure.
Luckily I was able to busy myself in today’s tasks. I dug deep and remembered the anger and sadness I felt hearing the little girls story. It kicked me into gear and turned the fear into action.
Everything fell into place after that. It was a perfect storm: Isabella was in town and the owner was looking to venture into a new market. After steering her creative thinking in the right direction, the tween market was born and so did the idea of showcasing Eve’s beautiful curls.
But being back home has ripped open my wounds, and those memories are flooding back. I can’t look anywhere without feeling my skin crawl. I’m sure Sergei is coming for me, and even though today rocked on many levels, I need to get as far away from here as possible.
That’s why now that the sweet little angel has gone. It’s back to Plan A; Drive Ren crazy.
