Three Wishes(121)
He opened his mouth to speak but Lily got there first.
“I was so stupid to think you’d want me.” She pointed at the both of them in turn. “Stupid, stupid, stupid. You, the dashing, brilliant, wealthy, impossibly handsome, unbearably handsome hero wanting silly old me. The nobody Lily Jacobs. Fat, stupid, ugly Lily Jacobs.” She swallowed her laughter this time on a tear clogged gulp, not even knowing what she was saying anymore, her eyes shimmering with tears she refused to shed and therefore she missed Nate’s stunned look of disbelief and she continued. “Who you are now is the father of my daughter. That’s it. The end. You need to keep up the pretence and find somewhere to stay tonight and you’re taking Tash and Fazire with you. This is so you don’t see me before the wedding. Bad luck.” She did chuckle at that, again completely without humour. Then she finished with, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” And she said this with finality, this time her tone brooked no response.
She turned her back on him, opened the door and fled as fast as her feet would carry her (which wasn’t very fast seeing as, for confidence-building purposes, she’d put on a pair of fancy, strappy, hot pink, high-heeled sandals with a big flower at the toe to go with her fancy, body-skimming, hot pink sundress).
Nate did not follow.
It was her turn to leave a note to Tash, saying she had to get to work early.
Then she got in her fancy new Mercedes and drove. She didn’t go to work, not until it was time, she simply drove and drove. Blanking her mind and installing armour around her already frozen heart.
* * * * *
Now she was back at home, waiting for Nate to come and pick up Tash and Fazire. Steeling herself to spend a jolly night with Laura and Maxie, celebrating her last night of freedom before the big day. They’d planned champagne and an orgy of food and Maxine had brought CDs to which later they would dance drunkenly as Lily and Maxine and often Fazire had done in the past.
Lily was so far beyond celebrations with champagne and dancing, it wasn’t funny.
In fact, she wasn’t certain she’d ever laugh again.
The door flew open and Fazire crashed their not-yet-started party.
“Lily-child, I must speak to you now,” he commanded grandly.
Lily’s eyes went to the window and she saw Nate angling out of his Aston Martin and she immediately understood Fazire’s imperious and slightly panicked demand.
She felt the familiar thrill race through her at the sight of Nate as she watched him move gracefully toward the house but she tamped it down and looked back to Fazire.
“Not now, Fazire, we’re in the middle of a bachelorette party.” This, too, was a lie.
Fazire looked from Lily, to Laura, to Maxine, to the champagne that lay in its ice bucket unopened, the glasses unfilled sitting around it. Then his eyes went back to Lily.
“I will not be denied. My room. Now.” Then he stomped out and she knew he very much wanted to float and a little bit of her deep down inside felt badly for him.
Lily got up and followed him then at the door, she closed it and turned back to Maxine and Laura.
Maxine knew the consequences of disobeying Fazire and her mouth dropped open in horror. Laura, who didn’t know, still looked a little frightened.
“Sweetling, you should go with him,” Maxie urged.
“No,” Lily answered.
Maxine and Laura looked at each other again.
“Daddeeeee.” They heard Tash’s joyful shout in the hall.
Lily went straight to the champagne and started preparations to open it, deciding that getting drunk, very drunk and soon, was the best possible course of action at this juncture.
Again, Maxine and Laura looked horrified as Lily ignored her imminent and supposedly beloved beyond reason husband’s arrival to the beautiful abode one that he’d provided for her, doing five years of work at Lily’s pace in two months and far better than Lily could have managed or afforded.
“Aren’t you, erm…” Laura said hesitantly, “going to greet Nathaniel?”
“He knows where to find me,” Lily stated with deep and false unconcern and then popped the cork just as the door flew open again.
“Yipeeeeeeeee!” Natasha shouted and ran across the room. “Can I have some champagne, Mummy? Please, please, please!”
Nate entered the room behind his daughter and Lily ignored him too.
Mrs. Gunderson sauntered in, jumped up next to Maxine and settled in for the show.
“Ask your father, doll baby, he might have something special planned for you tonight.” Finally, Lily’s eyes met Nate’s. “And he wouldn’t want to be delayed,” she finished with ill-concealed meaning that Nate was expected to come and quickly go.
Maxine and Laura’s heads swung to look at Nate as did Mrs. Gunderson’s, tale twitching expectantly. He was standing in his expensive, superbly cut, dark grey suit looking impossibly, unbearably handsome.
Tash ran to him and threw her arms around his hips, tilting half her body back and she cried, “Can I Daddy? Please, please, please!”
Lily watched as Nate’s hand settled on the crown of his daughter’s head and then slid down to stroke her cheek gently, all the while he looked down at her with a soft expression on his face. She steeled herself, too, against the warm rush that the sight made her feel.
She hadn’t seen him since she ran out on her tirade this morning. She also hadn’t heard from him and she didn’t care. This, also, was a lie, now she was lying to herself and she didn’t mind one whit (that, too, was a lie).