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Lilah and her gardening club had been responsible for several community urban gardens in impoverished areas, all of which were flourishing now. They’d helped a few primary schools start vegetable gardens… and, of course—on a smaller scale—often spent time helping out in one another’s gardens. They’d all met years ago in college and despite coming from completely disparate backgrounds and having vastly different interests—apart from gardening, of course—they’d hit it off and had all been fast friends since.
They chatted for a while longer and exchanged a few hilarious memes before the conversation petered out as everybody drifted back to work.
Lilah was reorganizing her digital portfolio when a quiet voice disturbed her concentration a couple of hours later.
She looked up to find Ben standing beside his desk watching her.
“Forgive the disturbance,” he said.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“A couple of minutes, I called your name at least four times, but you were engrossed in your work.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I live here,” he said, deadpan, and Lilah gave him a flat, unimpressed stare, which seemed to amuse him if the wry twist of his lips was any indication. “I needed my tablet.” He held up his hand to show her the device he held. “I forgot it.”
That wasn’t like him. Ben was ultra-efficient, and had the memory of an elephant. He didn’t forget, or misplace, items.
“Okay.” She wasn’t entirely sure what else to say in response to his words and he hesitated.
“I don’t have to rush back,” he said, tugging his shirt and jacket sleeve back to glance at the Patek Phillippe watch that Gramps had given him for his twenty-first birthday. He’d rarely worn the watch before, saving it for special occasions, but Lilah had noticed that he’d been wearing it almost daily since Gramps’s death. “It’s nearly lunch time, you want to grab a bite somewhere?”
“I was just going to have a sandwich,” she said, and he straightened the knot of his already straight tie. An unnecessary gesture that—on anyone else—Lilah would have considered nervous.
“A change of scenery would be good for you. You haven’t ventured out since…” His didn’t complete the sentence, but obviously she didn’t need him to.
“I’m going out with my hoes on Wednesday,” she said, and he shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes boring into her face intently.
“Oh. Well, that’s good. It’s great. I’m happy to hear that.” And yet he looked disappointed.
“But I think lunch would nice too. A low-stress way to ease my way back into the world.”
His eyes lit up and she stared at him in wonder, fascinated by his uncharacteristic animation.
“Do you need some time to finish up what you were busy with?” he asked and Lilah shook her head, and pushed her chair away from her desk.
She was wearing an oversized ivory colored off-the-shoulder knit pullover top, with charcoal grey drawstring yoga pants. It was a chilly day in mid-April, and even though the apartment was climate controlled, and kept at a perfectly comfortable twenty-two degrees Celsius all year round, Lilah liked to dress for the season.
She had fluffy socks on her feet, which tended to make her slip and slide all over his heated marble floors. She saw him eyeing the socks askance, and—knowing what was coming—resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
She saw him battling the impulse to say something, but Mr. Know-It-All was incapable of curbing his tongue when it came to imparting his “wisdom” upon others.
“You’re going to fall on your arse if you persist on wearing those damned socks around the flat, Lilah.”
“So you’ve said before,” she reminded him with an irreverent grin. “But they’re so awesome for floor surfing. Look…”
Without warning, she took a few running steps and launched herself at him. She whooped like a kid and flailed her arms for balance when she skidded across the floor at ridiculous speed directly toward him. In the few seconds it took to get from point A to point B, she wondered if she should have given him more notice, because she was in serious danger of body slamming him.
But she should never have doubted him. He stepped aside at the last second and hooked an arm around her waist in an attempt to bring her to a stop. But her momentum took him in a complete circle, and his arms wrapped securely around her, while he swung her around with him. Her arms instinctively wound around his neck for balance and by the time he staggered to a standstill, she was laughing in wild exhilaration. Her laughter eventually faded and she grinned broadly up into his glaring face.
“You could have hurt yourself,” he admonished in a stern voice, but she could tell his heart wasn’t in it. His eyes were warm as they scanned her face.
“Nah,” she denied, and nonchalantly waved his concern aside. “I knew you’d catch me.”
