by H. Q. Frost
Justin listened from the kitchen.
"I'm okay now." She smiled at him and Justin came around the corner.
"Go with her. Let him drive, El." He glared at her and their gazes locked for a long uncomfortable moment for Kurt.
"Okay, come on." She forced a smile. "Anything in particular, Justin?" Her annoyance was thick in her tone.
"No, Princess, nothing." He forced a smile.
Kurt walked out the door.
"Maybe some compassion before you go," he quickly said before she exited.
"Compassion? Oh, Mr. Borg, I am not compassionate. Must be a different girlfriend you're thinking of."
"Oh, Ms. Tudor, I am not Mr. Borg. Must be my father you're thinking of. Also." He took a step toward her. "You are my only girlfriend and I know you're compassionate." He reached out, pulling her toward him. "I'm hurt." He pushed out
his bottom lip.
"Oh!" She began to laugh. "Now you're hurt? When I asked you to let me take you home you weren't hurt."
"I was hurt, I was just being a jackass."
The car horn beeped.
"He's an ass." She giggled and pulled away.
"Hey." Justin grabbed her wrist. "You'd tell me if he did something to make you uncomfortable, right?"
Surprised by the question, she scrunched her brows. "You don't trust your best friend?"
"I trust him but I know he can make girls uncomfortable. He wouldn't do anything that he wouldn't tell me about." He glanced away briefly. "Maybe he would for you."
"B." She pushed her lips to his. "You can trust me. We'll be right back."
He watched her walk out, wishing he was going. It was their chance to restart what should have never ended.
The idea of a new beginning in the form of conversation and planning out
their unconventional life didn't happen. After taking his pain pills, he passed out
soon after dinner, but it allowed Lilith to catch up on some much needed sleep.
"You want coffee?" Tash asked.
"Carmel, downstairs please." Lilith smiled at her and setting the items in her hands on her desk asked, "Richie's supposed to be at the gym, do you know if he is?"
"I don't know." The aggressive manner Tash set her stapler down in had Lilith sensing the animosity.
"You wanna tell me what happened?"
"Tegan happened," she snickered.
"Tash," Lilith said carefully. "What does that mean?" The last thing she needed was drama between the girls, but especially not between her assistant and one of the girls.
"We went and stayed at his apartment, she was drinking so she didn't leave because she didn't want to go home to her boyfriend that drunk, instead she went to mine."
"What does that mean?" Lilith repeated.
"She came onto him. He was in bed because he was sick and I was in the living room with my friend. She was gone way too long so I thought maybe she was getting sick and I was headed to the bathroom to help her and I found her on top of Richie."
In a surprised blurt, Lilith said, "They were having sex?"
"With their mouths," Tash snickered and began slamming things around her desk. "Richie said he thought it was me. I don't kiss like a Bassett Hound!"
Lilith couldn't help but laugh; Tash gave her a
disgusted look.
"Oh, Tash, I know it sucks." Lilith approached. "You don't believe him?"
She shrugged staring at her desk. "He was really
drunk and in the morning he swore he didn't remember much
but how can you not remember that?"
"Yeah." Lilith looked away, not sure if she believed Richie herself. "Well, Tegan is in the wrong for sure, did you speak to her?"
"With my shoe!" Tash blurted. "Bitch was out of there in two seconds. Stupid whore."
"When'd this happen?"
"Before Christmas."
"And you haven't spoken to her since? Tash, this can't affect work. You can't start screwing her over."
"I know that, Lily!" Tash snapped and Lilith frowned. "I'm sorry. God!" she groaned. "I hate her so much. Stupid, ugly whore."
Lilith began to laugh and put her arms around Tash. "I think you should maybe give Richie a chance. I don't think he'd intentionally do that to you, and if he was really that drunk ,there's a possibility he was mistaken." Lilith discreetly rolled her eyes.
Tash pulled away and looked at her. "Have you ever done anything like that?"
"Not like that." She tried not to laugh at the stupidity. "But I'm not the best for relationship advice." She grinned walking back to her desk.
"Yeah you are! You have a husband and a boyfriend!" Tash boasted.
"Shh! Tash! Shh!" Lilith snarled.
"God! Sorry. Sorry. I'm just fucking up your whole day! I'm so sorry."
"Calm down. Go get us coffee and we'll talk more about you and Richie. Can you see if he's at the gym please?" Tash stared at her a minute until Lilith looked at her sternly. "Please?"
"Yes." With a nod she begrudgingly left the
office.
Lilith smiled at a text she received from Justin just as Ian walked into her office.
B: I know you just left me a few hours ago but I can't stop thinking about you. Can we get some lunch?
Justin was ready to consummate their relationship but
Lilith wouldn't even kiss him deeply.
"Lunch, Lily?" Ian asked, scowling at her smirk.
"I have plans."
"With Borg?" he snapped.
"Ian," she breathed. "Don't start."
"You've been with him two days. When do I get you?"
"He's healing, Ian. That's the only reason I've been with him more than you," she harshly whispered.
With a sigh he shook his head and left the office.
At lunch, when Justin stepped off the elevator, Veronica smiled and looked at the flowers in his hand. "Hi."
"I'm just here for Lily." He glanced at the giant picture of Lilith's naked silhouette that hung behind the front desk.
"I'll buzz her."
"It's okay, I know where her office is."
"Well I should buzz her," Veronica stammered.
"It's okay, I'm her fiancé," he said walking around the corner.
Flustered, Veronica picked up the phone. "Mrs. Luxe?" she blurted but could hear Justin already made it to her office.
"Hi." Lilith grinned and stood.
Deep red calla lilies were in his arm; they'd become her favorite flowers.
"Hi, beautiful." He grinned at her.
"Hi, Justin." Tash smiled at him.
"Hey. How are you?"
"Good, could be better, but good." Tash turned back to her computer and Justin looked at Lilith with a
smirk, wishing he hadn't asked.
"Good, you keep working on that," he said to Tash before holding out the flowers to Lilith. "I wanted to bring you these."
"Thank you, B. So pretty." Running a finger over the petal she asked, "Ready?"
"Whenever you are."
"Borg, pleasant surprise," Ian said stopping in the doorway of Lilith's office when he saw Justin.
"You're so sweet to me, Jacks."
They firmly shook hands and Lilith watched discreetly,
afraid of what Ian would say or do.
"How you healin' up?"
"Getting there. I need this cast off. I know my tattoos are fucked under there."
Tash nervously watched them interacting; her eyes kept darting from the men to Lilith.
"Oh shit, man, I didn't think about that. It's just a cast though?"
"No, they cut me open. I have a rod and screws."
Lilith didn't understand why they were acting so normal, maybe it was for Tash's sake.
"Fuck that." Ian cringed. "What about." He waved his finger in the direction of Justin's side.
"Had to get that shit re-stitched the other day." Justin opened his coat and pulled his shirt up, showing Ian the stitches.
"Nasty. Is that
right over the face of the Statue of Justice?" Ian leaned in closer to observe his tattoo and the placement of the stitches.
"Fuckers. They fucked me all up. I should send them a bill for the shit I'm gonna have to get done to salvage my tattoos."
"No shit," Ian snickered.
"You could have just not been riding your motorcycle on a dark road in December." Lilith cockily smiled. "Ready?"
They both stared at her, sensing her bad mood.
"Yeah," Justin answered quickly.
"Tash, can you?" Lilith held out the flowers.
"Um, yeah." She popped up, sensing Lilith's sudden irritability.
"I'll get them," Ian said taking them from Lilith's arms. "Mind if I put them at the front desk?" Ian looked at her then Justin.
"Her flowers." Justin shrugged.
"Thank you." Lilith didn't want him to take them, she was worried he'd throw them away. "Ready?" she uncomfortably asked Justin when Ian walked away.
"Ready, ZP." He smiled at her, hoping she wasn't upset with him.
She grabbed her coat and stopped. "Are we just going to grab something downstairs?"
"Up to you, princess."
With her back to them, Tash smiled. She liked Justin, she liked Ian; she had no idea how to act when they were in the same room together.
"Ian has a meeting in an hour so I don't want to be gone too long. Someone has to keep an eye on the place."
"Oh please." Tash giggled. "Enjoy your lunch, Lily, we're fine. It's always quiet on Fridays, you know that."
"Just call if you need me." Lilith pulled her coat on.
"Bye, Tash."
"Bye, Justin, feel better."
Justin took Lilith's hand as they walked down the hallway. Turning the corner, she saw Veronica arranging the flowers nicely in a vase.
"You don't mind do you?" Lilith quietly asked Justin.
"They're your flowers, ZP." He smiled, kissing the side of her head.
"I love them. They're my favorite." A reassuring squeeze clutched his hand tighter. "Veronica, I'm going
to lunch, call if you need me."
Ian exited the bathroom. "Later, Borg," he called out with a slight wave.
"Jacks." Justin nodded when he looked over his shoulder.
Heading through the lobby of the plaza she kept a tight grip on his arm as they walked toward the doors. Some sort of commotion at the building entrance held up the busy plaza and no one was allowed to exit.
Lilith looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. She leaned into Justin and whispered, "The whole building's going to blow up or something."
"I could die right now," he said pulling her closer.
"You're so twisted." She was pressed against him with her lips inches from his.
"You have to idea." His teeth clamped to her bottom lip and she giggled pulling away then kissed him softly.
"Lilith!" A very familiar voice startled her. She jumped away from Justin
and looked in the direction of Peachey's voice. "Honey! Oh my god! Hi!" Wearing a huge grin, Peachey ran up to her.
"Hi, mom," Lilith nervously said.
"I can't believe you're here!" Peachey was all grins and laughs.
"I work here, why are you here?" She looked around anxiously.
"You do? Here?"
"Yes, mom, this is where Luxe is located. Why are you here?" Lilith asked more firmly.
"I just came with a girl friend who's meeting with a lawyer whose office is in this building. I was trying to leave but they have it blocked at the moment." Rolling her eyes she looked toward the doors. "Then I saw you. I can't believe I saw you!" She giggled until her gaze drifted to Justin.
"Yeah, for real." Lilith managed to hide her
annoyance but she was feeling tense. "Mom, this is Justin—"
"Justin! Ian's good friend Justin?"
"Nice to meet you." He smiled and shook her hand then glanced at Lilith.
"Justin, this is my mom Peachey. Uh, we were going for lunch but apparently we're not leaving the building."
"I was going to grab a bite to eat while Carolyn's upstairs." Peachey pouted, glancing toward the blockade again.
"We can eat here." When Justin gestured toward the restaurants behind them, Lilith's eyes went wide.
"Seriously?" Noticing Peachey's odd expression, she quickly added. "A good idea. Mom, you hungry?"
"Yes!" Peachey laughed.
"Yes, El, she just said that." Justin chuckled.
Lilith smiled, letting some annoyance slip and Justin clamped his lips to hide his grin.
When Lilith stormed toward the restaurants, Peachey touched Justin's arm with a chuckle. "She must be hungry."
Justin smiled at the woman who stared a little too long.
"Where do you live, Peachey?" he asked, walking with
her.
"Princeton. You know where that is?"
"I do." He nodded. "There's a hell of a roller derby team from there."
"There is?" Peachey's smitten grin made him smirk. "That's skating and beating each other up, right?"
"Something like that." He chuckled.
Able to hear their conversation, Lilith rolled her eyes. She wanted to spend an intimate lunch with him, now she had to act like this was Ian's best friend Justin.
She slid into the booth and Peachey sat next to her, enamored with Justin.
"What do you do, Peachey?" he asked.
"I retired but I worked for a private airline, just a little thing. I didn't do much. Mainly office work."
"Did you get free transportation?"
"I didn't." She laughed heartily.
Not finding it funny, Lilith rolled her eyes.
"My husband did. Lily's dad. I sent him a lot of places." She smiled and draped her arm around Lilith, giving her a squeeze. "I stayed with Lily."
Lilith forced a smile then scowled at Justin. He was loving every minute of it.
JUSTIN's owned this life forever
I somewhat feel bad but mostly relieved. She was already in a shit mood when I showed up at her work so I imagine we'd be arguing through the short hour she'd spend with me. I can't wait for this evening.
I keep engaging her mother in conversation and see El pinch the bridge of her nose. She's either stressed, annoyed, or both but I don't care at the moment. This is El's mother. I want to get to know her even if she only knows me as Jacks's 'good friend'. We're good friends all right. We share the same woman. Your daughter.
I stare at El while she reads the menu in front of her. I can feel eyes on me so I gradually look over and El's mom is definitely staring at me. I smile and ask her plans for the rest of the day. She's going on and on and talking with her hands. It's kind of funny because it's pissing El off; she keeps scooting farther away.
When the waiter approaches I order my drink last and I'm sure to get a beer. If I'm stuck home from work for the week I might as well enjoy it.
"Is Ian joining us?" Peachey asks with a perplexed look on her face while she looks at me then El.
"No, mom. Ian's upstairs."
"Oh. You two were getting lunch together." She smiles at me but I see it all over her face. She thinks it's weird.
"We're friends, mom," El snickers.
"I know. I just thought you were meeting with Ian." She smiles at me but she's wary now.
This beer cannot come fast enough.
"Do you know what's going on out there?" El asks the waiter when he approaches with our drinks.
"Someone famous was comin' in."
"Oh! Who!" Peachey amuses me. This is not who I pictured raising El.
"I don't know. I've heard like six names."
"Who?" Peachey giggles.
The kid starts rambling off names and I take a big drink of my beer. El's watching me so I lock eyes with her while Peachey is entertained, until the kid says Rayne's name.
"I don't know who any of those people are except for Rayne Bronson and Trudy Wilson." Peachey giggles.
"
Mom." El's smirk right now is dangerous; it's an evil smirk. What the fuck is she going to do? "Justin's dating Rayne Bronson."
"No!" Peachey's bassy surprise makes me smile and
I could kill El.
"We went out a few times. We're not dating."
"No, that's dating," El says while casually picking at her nails.
"What do you do, Justin?" Peachey's way too enthusiastic now.
"He's a lawyer. To the stars. That's how he met Rayne."
"Oh shut your mouth. Shut your mouth!" Peachey's laughter makes it hard to hold my own in. "You were on TV! I didn't even put it together. Lily told me her friend was hurt and in the hospital and I saw Rayne's lawyer was hospitalized. Holy moly, it's all coming full circle."
I smirk while playing with my beer bottle.
"I feel like a celebrity." She's laughing and El pinches the bridge of her nose.
I just want to say 'you did this, princess', but I keep my mouth shut.
The waiter approaches again to take our order and it makes Peachey shut up, not that I want her to. She's entertaining but I think I'm taking advantage of this. She's more of a spectacle than someone who actually amuses me. I feel guilty about it so I try not to encourage it anymore. I'm just going to keep to myself.
"I'm going to use the little girls' room before our food gets here." She stands and smiles at me.
When I know Peachey is out of earshot, I look at El and she doesn't look happy with me but it's unwarranted.
"What?" I let out a chuckle.
"B," she huffs. "I didn't want to have lunch with Peachey!"
"El, we weren't leaving the building and she's stuck here too."
"Maybe you can call your girlfriend and ask her for permission to leave. Ask her to stop holding up the rest of the building too."
I don't like this side of her. Catty El. I hate it because I know it's my fault she's acting like this. She's jealous of Rayne for no reason other than I have a tie to her.
"The only girlfriend I have, princess, is you." I smile at her, hoping she stops.
"Surprisingly," she mumbles and I briefly close my eyes.
"I don't know why that's a surprise. I only love you. You have a secret
boyfriend, El?" I smirk playfully.
"Yeah, you." she snickers at me. "I'm at lunch with my husband's mother-in-law."
Well fuck me… This shit isn't going to end. I finish the rest of my beer in a few gulps and I'm trying to calm down but it's not going to happen and I'm not going to fight with her right now. I stand and pull out my wallet. I planned on buying my girl lunch so that's what I'm