บท 346: Accidental encounter!
The drive to drop Giselle first went quiet as the two barely entertained chatting. Lillian was slightly intoxicated, and her mind couldn't function to her will at present, yet she kept a content smile from resolving the little upset over the dress. That was all that ran in her head like it's in a state of euphoria. Meanwhile, Giselle misread Lillian's mood for a drunken act and chose to remain silent. Jenna occasionally broke the calm to chat about today's event, where Lillian would throw in her opinion. To all three, it was their first book signing event. Jenna had never been to one because of Gill's secret, eventually not letting Lillian as well. As for Giselle, it was her first signing event after joining KeyLine. So the three chatted heartily about things they enjoyed and disliked.
By the time all three agreed to look forward to their next signing event, they reached Giselle's place.
Giselle waited in anticipation to receive no special attention. She glanced sideways at Lillian bitterly before saying her goodbye to both and leaving the car alone.
Jenna watched Lillian staying idle to see Giselle leave.
"Ms. Grey?"
Jenna's voice struck as firebolt to frighten Lillian's plastered smile on her face.
"Ah-"
"What are you doing, sitting here?" Jenna asked through the rearview mirror. Her face was as tense as it magnified her glaring expression ten thousandfold.
"What?"
"I should be asking that! What were you thinking? Why did you promise to give a ride when all you did was sitting morosely and gaping outside the window with a stupid grin. Don't you care about Ms. Giselle's feelings! She watched everyone leave to stay for you, and what did you give her?" Jenna raged while tightly holding on to the steering wheel to vent out.
Lillian remained stupified as her slacking brain cells startled to wake up to regard. Dumbly she asked what to do from lacking the strength to think.
"First, never drink to your stupid temper. Second, get out right now, and go talk to Ms. Giselle, say your goodbyes properly," Jenna ordered as Lillian left the car in a hurry to obey.
****
Rushing to catch up, Lillian shouted the name until Giselle stopped in her tracks. From far, she heard Lillian's cry to come to a halt, suddenly feeling a selfish joy sprout from the desperate call. Instantly, she turned around to find Lillian panting from a small sprint.
Giselle almost felt sorry for having to rush out in a hurry to escape. Honestly, when Lillian sent the message to leave together, Giselle had assumed for more hearty conversations, but seeing how the reality turned out for her, Giselle left with sorrow, especially after receiving almost no grain of attention before leaving. Yes, she did enjoy the ride with Lillian and Jenna and had fun discussing today's event, but losing an opportunity to spend time exclusively together made her unhappy.
Nonetheless, realizing that Lillian had left the car to come to find her, the grieving heart eased from excessive joy.
Once regaining her breath, Lillian looked up to apologize, confessing how Jenna pushed her to get out and say a decent farewell.
Giselle chuckled from visualizing. She could feel Jenna's painful struggle and admired her tolerance level when it came to Lillian.
"Thanks," "Thanks!"
Both simultaneously said to surprise each other.
Giselle blinked ignorantly as did Lillian.
"Thanks for wearing the dress. It made me very happy, and you look- so beautiful," Lillian explained.
The silent trip gave Lillian enough rest to calm her dazed state. She could almost connect her thoughts cohesively and make sense now. Seeing Giselle in that pink dress, her eyes expand to engrave the image forever in her memory.
Giselle accepted the gratitude to feel flustered all of a sudden. However, Lillian was far from her sharp observation today. Hence, the flushed face disappeared in front of her sight.
Giselle went on to confront Lillian's careless drinking, expressing how she looked forward to their ride back home when things turned out contrary. Blaming it all on Lillian, Giselle sulked prettily.
Lillian admitted her blunder, yet refused to take the full liability.
"You were sticking with Jayce the entire time! How can I come to you in that situation? Do you think Jayce would let me have you just like that?"
Lillian shared the fair amount of blame on Giselle as well, and the two went back and forth, pushing the guilt onto each other.
Finally, it was Lillian who broke the childish argument with a loud smile. She took the loss for today on her account and apologized to Giselle for being negligent.
"Let's not fight when we say goodbye," Lillian grabbed Giselle's hands to squeeze softly. Fingers interlocked to play with each other as Giselle got distracted. Her features gleamed under the street lights, and a happy smile plastered on her face from seriously competing with Lillian's strength.
"I win!!!" Giselle yelped from victory as Lillian smirked to play generous, who led her loved one to triumph.
Giselle demanded a rematch, and Lillian agreed. The two thumbs battled vigorously. Giselle's eyes set on defeating Lillian honestly while Lillian had a great time enjoying Giselle's expression. Discerning how Giselle worked hard, Lillian shifted her focus from the radiant face to the thumb that moved on lightning speed.
"Oh- no-"
Lillian began to fight fairly. The thumbs wrestled, seizing any chance to conquer the other.
"Giselle?"
"Is that you?"
A male voice cut through the low murmurs. The distraction let Giselle yield, and Lillian won the fight. She had a huge grin to brag her victory when Giselle's focus went somewhere else.
Following her sight, Lillian found a tall silhouette emerging out on the street randomly. It was quite far from where the two ladies stood, but the distinctive voice alerted Giselle.
"Is that you, Giselle?" another call came, and she knew who it was.
The person emerged out to reveal himself under the street light.
His tall figure towered Lillian, exposing his polished face with a soft smile, almost feeling both curious and nervous.
"Ethan?" Giselle called out hesitantly.
His striking appearance shocked Giselle to her core. Meanwhile, the name rang a bell to Lillian's memory as she scratched her mind to remember.
"It is you, Giselle," Ethan exhaled loudly.
"I got worried if it was someone else-" he rejoiced to express his relief.
"Ethan!" Giselle was still in shock that she repeated his name to register.
'Ethan Ruz! Lia's father?' Lillian finally recognized.
The first impression of him was his sculpted face brightly smiling at Giselle. His kind face and gentle presence revealed his soft nature, or at least he was like that with only her. Somehow it irritated Lillian deep within her to find another person who would look at her with such fondly gaze. She stared at him from far until noticing his eyes centered where their hands intertwined.
On an impulse, Lillian removed her hand swiftly with an unease. Giselle remained unaffected as she already received a blow with his presence.
"How come you are her- when did you-"
It was highly unexpected that Giselle found it hard to utter and kept faltering her words.
Upon Lillian's withdrawal, Ethan returned to focus on Giselle as he explained,
"I told you that I would arrive tonight. Well, the flight landed early, and so- Surprise!" he replied to rejoice merrily.
Still, Giselle found it hard to believe as if she kept seeing illusions of Ethan. Seeing her alarmed state, Ethan explained how he was fixing dinner for Lia and noticed that there was no cheese. He stepped out to buy some, and that was why he was out all by himself.
Somewhat Giselle's frozen state released itself from the shock to finally react. She greeted him back to neglect Lillian's presence momentarily.
Ethan had assumed that this other lady was someone from work or an old friend. He nudged Giselle's attention over to her, alerting on her ignorance. Giselle returned to find Lillian silently standing with a casual smile on her face.
A shiver ran down her spine as she trembled from seeing her in such a situation.
"It's-" Giselle stuttered again poorly.
"Hi! I'm Lillian! Lillian Grey!!"
Ethan guessed a while ago, but he didn't assume so without confirming. Now that she introduced herself, his face grew rigid, and his features became numb from hearing the name. Frankly, he had heard it numerous times in his life, but getting to meet the person finally made him act cautious.
Lillian extended her hand for a friendly gesture, and Ethan followed.
As soon as their hands met, Ethan knew that Lillian's grip was too firm for a friendly gesture.
'Wow! Someone's already- jealous- hurts a little!' he thought to smile and cover the pain and the pressure while the handshake lasted for a while.
"Nice to meet you, Ethan," Lillian added with a wide grin that practically sent several invisible threats to intimidate Ethan right away.
He broke the pact politely to continue smiling.
All he could do is to smile along the way and escape for now. He himself wasn't expecting to meet this person. Thus, it was best to take a break before entering the encounter.
Giselle stood in the middle to watch them exert such tension and worried if it'll become worse.
"Lia must be so happy!" Lillian remarked, signaling her intention to retire.
She faced the sweating Giselle, who appears to have lost her glow from the turn of the event. Lillian couldn't help but chuckle inside from imagining Giselle's position. She knew that this meeting is not going to end here, but as of now, Giselle needs a break to breathe.
"Later!" Lillian said to leave before gently nodding at Ethan.
Ethan responded with a faint smile from being overawed by her demeanor.
'She is bold!' he thought to glance at Giselle, only to find her speechless.
Out of the three, it was Giselle who felt extremely uncomfortable from the situation. Not even in her dreams did she thought that these two would meet together. However, when the nightmare occurred, she felt her whole body paralyzed.
Despite receiving the silent threat from Lillian, Ethan also happened to notice Giselle getting stressed. He stirred her with a beacon of light, hinting Lillian's departure.
Giselle saw her already moving far.
"Excuse me, Ethan," she said to rush out, following the track.
Lillian heard the faintest whine in the air. Giselle's voice was naturally soft, so piercing it through threw the wind was most painful under the cold weather.
"Lillian- Wait-" she yelled out of her lungs for once in desperation.
Lillian stopped to turn and see Giselle approaching. Her steps kept staggering from the wrong choice of footwear to run. The heels refused to cooperate, but still, she kept the pace.
Upon reaching, she kept gasping for a while before opening her mouth to talk.
"You- P- promised-" Giselle said to exhale for every word.
Lillian blinked unsurely.
"Lia's school event- You said- you would- come- please-" Giselle paused for every word.
As soon as she turned to leave, Lillian's felt downright miserable. Somehow she was raging deep inside, yet couldn't find herself feeling angered actually. However, finding Giselle run to her and now appeal, the burning rage disappeared to a soothing harmony.
Closing the distance, she leaned forward to cover the trembling body for a tight hug, sharing the warmth while receiving its care.
"I promise I won't miss Lia's event!" Lillian whispered in her ears and continued to stay in that position for a few more seconds. She found her gaze following Ethan and got caught in a surprise. Immediately, she released the hug to say goodbye finally.
Giselle looked better now as Lillian finally left her for the night.
***
Rushing back to her car, she stepped in quick to ask Jenna to leave at once.
"What happened, Ms. Grey?"
"Just drive, Jenna, soon-" Lillian raised her voice in a panic, and Jenna obeyed. She started the engine to move.
Without a word, she quietly drove until they exited the neighborhood.
"What happened, Ms. Grey?" Jenna inquired again from seeing Lillian's eyes shut since her return.
"Nothing."
Jenna asked no more to continue driving, hoping that sooner or later, Lillian would volunteer to share by herself.
"I- met Lia's father."
As expected, Lillian admitted on her own.
Jenna hit the brakes hard to halt abruptly. She picked up again as they bumped in the middle of the road. They stopped barely for a few seconds, and still, the cars coming behind honked nonstop to cause a commotion.
"These people!" Jenna raged to drive again. This time, she had her eyes fixed on the road, carefully watching the traffic.
"So- what happened? Did you punch him and escape or so-" Jenna guessed while crusading between the vehicles.
"As if I could- he is- maybe legit someone important to her,"
"Ah, yeah! He is Lia's father, so- legit influential!"
Lillian sighed.
"What did you do then?" Jenna asked again.
"Nothing," Lillian repeated.
Just when Jenna was sure to assume that Lillian did nothing, another confession came out loud.
"I shook hands with him!"
Jenna sighed to shook her head in ache.
"Did you break his hand then?"
Lillian denied dramatically, calling out on how could a woman like her could break a man's hand.
'Poor soul! Sacrificed his hand on the first meet!' Jenna thought.
"Don't you dare pity him!" Lillian remarked.
"I didn't!"
The ride continued in silence before Jenna spoke again.
"So, you left Ms. Giselle- just like that!" she asked curiously.
"I did!" Lillian replied to sigh heavily.
Due to the red signal, all the vehicles waited in line. Jenna relaxed.
"How are you feeling then?" she asked again.
Had Giselle didn't stop her before reminding the promise, then Lillian's mood would have been definitely affected. Thanks to Giselle's initiation, she appeared relaxed.
"I'm alright, thanks," she replied at leisure.
Time passed as the red light switched to green, and the cars began moving slowly. Jenna changed the lane to turn streets. She drove skillfully with ease as it was the familiar route. She grew comfortable.
"Do you regret shaking his hand?" she asked out of concern.
Lillian knew what Jenna meant and answered, "I kind of regret crushing his hand!" she admits to shutting her eyes again while the lips curved up cheekily.
"Good Luck, Ms. Grey! Go back to rest!" Jenna said to reassure as she played the radio and drove back to Lillian's place.
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