Love At Last

CHAPTER 71

A TWITCH IN LILY’S DEMEANOR

“Your stay here is strictly professional, you say?” I asked.

“I wasn’t stuttering.”

“Fine then, I yield. You can stay here since this is all strictly business. We really should not be arguing over this.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Well you were the one telling me how brazen it was for us to stay together,” she replied with sarcasm.

“Fine, whatever,” I walked into the house.

I decided to let it go as a coincidence and not as something she planned from the start. If we were going to work together, we needed to avoid needless arguments and unnecessary suspicions.

Ever since I returned from New York, it’s been forever since I last visited Lily at her bakery. I had less to do today, so I decided to pay her a surprise visit though I wasn’t so sure she was going to be happy about seeing me considering the way she stormed off the last time.

On getting there, the place was booming with a lot of customers; everyone seemed busy either serving or savoring. I looked around and saw that all of the seats were occupied by customers – a really overwhelming sight. I decided to be a gentleman and wait patiently outside for someone to leave, so I’d be able to get a seat for myself.

About two minutes later, my wish came through – a pair walked out. I went in and found a vacant seat by the window which I took. I sat down and scanned the entire hall for Lily but I didn’t get a glimpse of her anywhere. ‘Where could this lady be?’ I asked myself. Soon, one of Lily’s staffs, apparently, came to take my order.

“What should I get you sir?” her tiny voice asked me.

“Your boss,” I replied.

“My boss?” she was definitely fazed at the nature of my order.

“Why? I thought you came to get my order,” I teased.

“Your order for food, sir.” She was quite bold.

“Well, I don’t want food. I want your boss,” I insisted.

“Okay. I’ll tell her someone’s asking of her,” she said and walked inside.

Some moments later, I indeed got what I ordered for – Lily. We went outside her shop to talk properly as we could barely hear ourselves amidst the chattering sounds inside her shop.

“What do you want here?” she questioned authoritatively.

“Umm…I realized it’s been a while since I last saw you so I decided to check in today.”

“Okay you’ve seen me now, you can go,” she turned around to walk out when I held her back.

“I thought to surprise you by coming over today. What’s with the attitude?” I asked mildly.

“What attitude?” she retorted. “You saw the crowd in there…,” she pointed towards the door, “right?” she completed. “Yes I did,” I nodded. “So what other explanations do you need?” she asked me in a rather rude and unwelcoming tone. “I’m busy,” she clearly stated.

“Lily what’s up with you today? Why are you acting up? Is something wrong?” I was actually very concerned about her.

“Nothing happened, I’m just fine,” she replied hastily. “Can I go in now?” she was unusually impatient. She wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible.

I heaved a sigh and said: “How about the next phase of your competition? When is it coming up?” I asked.

“Never mind my competition, Cayden. It’s my business,” she retorted harshly.

“What’s wrong with you today? You’re scaring me. Are those ladies troubling you?” I was referring to the women who bad-mouthed her the other day.

“For goodness sake, can you just mind your business and stop butting heads with mine?!” she barked. “It’s my life, okay? I’m no longer a child, I can take very good care of myself,” she scolded in the coldest manner I’ve ever witnessed her speak.

“Lily if I’ve done something…,’

“Please excuse me,” she cut me off and walked out on me.

“Lily! Lily!…” I called out repeatedly but to no avail.

Lily treated me with so much disrespect that day. I planned on ordering as much as I could to buy us time to converse heartily – as we hadn’t done so in a while – but her cold reaction towards me did nothing but push me away. I thought of persuading her further to talk to me as I knew what buttons to push to get to her but then again, the Lily I saw minutes ago wasn’t the same Lily I knew whose buttons to push – she gave off a completely different aura. I decided to let her be for now and just go home to think things through hoping that our next meeting was going to be different from today.

Feeling frustrated and disappointed, I got into my car and zoomed off; I headed straight home.

On getting home, I was welcomed by the sweet aroma that emerged from the direction of the kitchen. I had thought of ordering something to eat – as I didn’t have much – on getting home. The sweet aroma I inhaled through my nostrils brought life back to my soul. I followed the trail of the aroma all the way to the kitchen and found Brielle in the center of it all, with headphones over her head she made rhythmic movements – danced. I watched her in awe and for a moment, I forgot all about the frustration Lily inflicted on me few minutes ago.

“And what do we have here?” I savored the aroma that filled the whole kitchen.

“Oh, you’re back?!” she jerked a bit on seeing me as she didn’t know when I came in.

“Yes I am. What do we have here?” I looked into the pots.

“Food. What else would be in pots?” Brielle sure had a way with her words.

” And here I was thinking of ordering food.” “Ah!” I exclaimed, “you’re a life saver. Thank you so much,” I warmly expressed my appreciation for her kind gesture.

“You’re welcome,” she said while stir-frying the fish.

”You went grocery shopping?” I asked because I knew I didn’t have fish in the house.

“I had to. I suddenly craved fish,” she said. “Actually, I ordered.”

“Oh okay,” I replied and made my way to leave.

“Umm…Mr. Cayden?” she called in a bit seductive manner and made me pause.

“Yes?” I turned back around to stare at her.

“There are areas we need to survey , maybe in two days?” she said.

“Okay?”

“You know what? Just go in, I’ll tell you everything over dinner.” “Alright, fine,” I concurred to her message and walked out of the kitchen.