Chapter 3: The Morning After


"Lilia! Hope you're decent, 'cause I just let myself in," a voice called out as Nick heard the door open. He looked up and saw Paul standing in front of him.

"Shh," Nick admonished, gesturing to Lilia's sleeping form on his lap. Paul looked surprised to see him, which was understandable.

"What's going on? How long has she been like this?" Paul whispered.

"About twelve hours," Nick said frankly, a touch of boredom in his voice.

"You've been like this for twelve hours? You didn't try moving her at all?" Paul asked, incredulous.

"And wake the girl? Never," Nick smiled, looking down on the peacefully sleeping woman. "Paul, I don't know if you've realized it, but I have a feeling she's in a lot of trouble."

"I know. I've been hoping, but ever since Genuine went under, I knew things had gotten bad for her. But she'll pull through, I know she will," Paul sighed, not sounding very hopeful.

"Genuine went under? Shit," Nick sighed. There was a lot about Lilia's life he didn't know.

"Yeah, I know. It's not like she's badly off, her mother left her with a trust fund large enough to support her for the rest of her life, but it was never about money. It was a purpose, something to fill her days. And it was a legacy, the part of her mother that was still alive and always would be. But now..." Paul trailed off.

"You don't have to tell me how important Genuine was to her."

"Anyway, back to my original nosey question. What are you doing here?"

"Unresolved issues. They will be resolved before I leave, or else I won't," Nick sighed, thinking about how much he had enjoyed just watching Lilia sleep for the past few hours.

"So she finally told you. It's about time, too. I still can't get over the way she reacted, but that's to be expected, given what she was led to believe about her father," Paul said.

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked, fearing that Paul was about to let something slip. He couldn't hear it from him, it had to come from Lilia, or else it would mean nothing.

"You mean she hasn't told you yet? Shit! When will she get over her fear and just say it,?"

"Soon, hopefully. But I refuse to leave until I know once and for all, Paul."

"Just make sure you listen carefully when she tells you, and listen to all of it," Paul advised solemnly.

"I will."

"So, what are your plans for today?"

"Let sleeping beauty wake up. Maybe visit Genuine," Nick answered thoughtfully.

"No, wait. It's Thursday. She visits with her father today," Paul informed him. Nick did a double take.

"Her father?? Okay, now I'm confused."

* * * *

"You're still here?" Lilia asked groggily as she woke up. She had thought that it had all been a dream, that when she woke up, he'd be gone. But he was still there, staring intently at her.

"It's not my policy to take off in the night. I'll leave that to you," he said, knowing full well what that would do to her. Her eye flared with anger and he almost smiled despite his resolve to be mean.

"That's not fair. You don't know anything about me anymore," she exclaimed, her eyes piercing with intensity.

"You're right. Who's this?" he asked as he held out a picture. It was of her and her father, one night in Genuine. She smiled wryly.

"Someone," she answered.

"Lilia, tell me who it is. C'mon," he pleaded.

"That's my father."

"Okay, so if he's your father, why is he still standing?" Nick asked, remembering how she used to talk about what would happen if she ever met her father. None of it was pretty.

"I listened to his side of the story, and realized that a lot of what I was told wasn't true. Daniel told me about everything that he knew and I now know exactly the events that led up to my mother leaving," Lilia explained.

"Your mother leaving? I thought it was the other way around," Nick said.

"Yeah, well, so did I. But in fact she left him. Why am I telling you all of this?" Lilia asked suddenly, in the middle of her explanation. "You are not part of my life anymore, and I don't owe you anything."

"Like hell you don't. Look, Lily, if I'm not part of your life anymore, it's because you wanted it that way. And believe me, you owe me more than that stupid note," Nick protested.

"Go to hell."

"That's right. Take the easy way out, like you always do. You can't face this conversation so you result to stupid sayings that aren't even insults. You couldn't face me the night the tour closed, and that's why you ran away before you could," Nick yelled, tired of being the sappy, supportive ex-boyfriend who was completely understanding. He was tired of being patient.

"Do you want to know why I couldn't face you? Because she was glaring me in the face! Holy shit Nick, I thought that you had more taste, but you sure know how to pick them. Miss Congeniality she is not."

"Don't bring Sasha into this. She has nothing to do with us."

"She has everything to do with why I left. Look, I found out that you moved on, you were happy with that…well, if I weren't arguing with you right now, I would have an insult ready for you, but right now I don't. But I digress. I saw that you were happy, and I didn't want to stir things up and cause any trouble. And who the hell told you I was there??" she demanded.

"Sasha."

"Bitch," Lilia muttered. "Look, with your new little woman breathing down my neck, I couldn't very well go into that room and tell you what I needed to tell you what I needed to tell you, okay?"

"So what's stopping you from telling me now?" Nick asked logically. Lilia looked away from him and remained silent. Moments passed.

"Are you happy with her?" she asked quietly.

"Not anymore," he said simply. She looked up at him, surprised.

"What happened?"

"Let's just say that's it's not the wisest course of action to keep the fact that a certain someone came calling for me, and I couldn't trust her anymore. And you know how I feel about trust."

"There are so few people to trust in the world. But the people you can truly trust never seem to go away."

"You're wrong."

"What?"

"I trusted you, and you went away," Nick said. Lilia was unable to look him in the eye. Feeling that round one had been one, Nick decided that it was time for him to duck out for awhile. Quietly, he walked towards the door, and was about to leave when Lilia stopped him.

"I don't blame you for hating me," she said quietly.

"And I don't hate you," he said as he left. In the now empty apartment, Lilia sighed. She had no idea how long she was going to keep up her strong front, but he was breaking her down. Slowly, but it was working.


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