After they left the movies, it was past noon already and they were all hungry. They decided to head to a restaurant to have lunch. They arrived there and they all made their way in.
They sat at a table, Lily sat next to Nora while Malia sat opposite them.
“What are we having?” Nora asked as she picked up the menu.
“Anything you order is fine.” Lily replied and glanced at Malia who was going through the menu too.
“I will have the same thing Nora has too.” Malia replied and dropped the menu.
“Okay then.” Nora replied and waved at a waiter, he walked to them and bowed a little when he got to them.
“We will have pasta and chicken.” She told the waiter and he bowed before walking away.
“Lily.” Malia suddenly called and Lily turned to her, same as Nora.
“I realised that I don’t have your contact which is kind of bad. Can I have your phone please?” She asked with a smile and Lily looked at Nora, she shrugged her shoulders and Lily sighed before turning to Malia.
“Okay.” She muttered and brought out her phone, she stretched it to Malia and she smiled as she took the phone.
A couple of waiters walked to them carrying their meals, Nora and Lily were distracted as they paid attention to the waiters, Malia put in her number on Lily’s phone and then handed it back to her when the waiters had already gone.
“All done. It is saved as Malia.” She said and all Lily did was nod in response.
They all started eating and Malia kept bringing up conversations and it was only Nora that was giving her a response. Lily had nothing to contribute because the conversation was all about a lifestyle she couldn’t relate to.
“We should go shopping after we are done here.” Malia suggested and Nora glanced at Lily.
“Are you cool with that Lily?” Nora asked.
“Yeah, sure.” She replied and Malia giggled.
Lily still found this lifestyle a little weird, why go shopping when you have a lot of clothes already?
After their lunch, Nora drove to a familiar mall where she shops. They all walked out of the car and walked into the mall.
A lady walked to Nora and pulled her into a hug. Lily stared at her and admired how she looked, she looked classy and pretty.
“Malia, it’s been a while.” The lady said and hugged Malia too. Lily was surprised a little, it seems they were all friends.
The lady turned to Lily and smiled.
“You are the lucky Mrs. Blackwell.” She chuckled and Lily just smiled a little. She was a bit confused.
“Nice to finally meet you. We would have met earlier but I haven’t been in the country. I am Lydia.”
“Oh, Li… ”
“Lily, I know.” She cut Lily off.
“Oh, I don’t think Lily knows you at all. Why not do a proper introduction?” Malia asked and Lydia laughed and shook her head.
“Oh, no please.”
“Well, if you wouldn’t, I will.” Malia said with a wide smile and Lily wondered what they were talking about.
“Malia.” Nora called with a stern look but she rolled her eyes and ignored her.
“Lily, this is Lydia. Axel’s ex-girlfriend or fiancee.” Malia said and Nora glared at her.
“Oh, please. You don’t have to say that Malia. It is all in the past now. Axel and I only chat once in a while.” She chuckled in response and all Lily did was smile a little.
“Make yourself comfortable. You can shop all you want, I will have my employees attend to you if you need anything.”
‘Oh, she owns the store.’ Lily thought. Lydia smiled at them one last time before walking away.
“What was that about?” Nora asked Malia with a glare and she shrugged.
“What?” Malika asked with a confused expression and Nora rolled her eyes at her before turning to Lily.
“Hey, are you okay? If you want us to leave, we can… ”
“No, I’m okay. Why won’t I be?” Lily replied with a smile and Nora smiled back at her.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“You can go on without me, I will join you soon. I want to take a look around the place.” Lily said and Nora smiled at her before walking fully into the store. Malia also gave Lily a fake smile before trailing behind Nora.
Lily sighed and took a different direction in the store. She might have told Nora she was fine but she knew she was not. She couldn’t help but feel worried and insecure. Axel’s ex-girlfriend looks classy and pretty, she also owns a store and has achievements and she has nothing.
She is local, not classy or pretty, she has no achievements. She felt sad and heartbroken, she knew Axel could never be with someone like her. The contract marriage is the only thing that is keeping them together.
Lily fought the urge to cry as she stood at the corner of the store, she was emotionally weak.
She left Axel’s mansion because she needed a break from anything related to drama but here she is, in the midst of it.
Her phone suddenly beeped and she looked at it, it was a text from Axel.
“Where are you?” She read at loud. She was surprised he texted her. Was he checking up on her or was it just a random text?
Lily didn’t think too much about the text, she replied immediately.
‘At your ex-girlfriend’s store.’ She replied and waited for his response. She was typing and she anticipated his reply.
Suddenly, he stopped typing and left the message read. Lily was confused about why he did that, she was about to start getting worried again when her phone started to ring and it was Axel calling. She hurriedly picked up the call and placed the phone on her ear.
“Axel.” She called with her heart racing in excitement. She was waiting to hear his voice.
“Why are you at Lydia’s store?” He asked and Lily looked around before speaking up.
“Nora brought us here.” She replied.
“Do you want to leave?” He asked.
“Why didn’t you say anything about your ex?” Lily asked instead, she ignored his question.
“What?”
“You never mentioned her. You never mentioned she was so pretty and classy. You never mentioned that she had achievements, you never mentioned that she was so perfect.” Lily said with her voice breaking and tears welling up in her eyes.
“Should I come and pick you up?” Axel asked.
“No, I’m fine.” She replied and ended the call. She tucked her phone in her pocket and sniffed.
Her heart was broken, she felt so sad. Ever since she has been with Axel, she has always had a reason to cry, she was never genuinely happy for a whole day. She thought things were different in Hawaii but it was all the same.
Her eyes were getting clouded with tears again, she raised her head and blinked back the tears.
When she felt better and knew she could control her weak state, she walked toward the direction Nora and Malia took.
She wasn’t interested in getting anything, she just wanted to go home and have a long nap and hope to never wake up to her miserable life.
She found Nora trying out heels and she walked towards her, she was glad Malia wasn’t around her.
“Lily.” Nora called as she looked up to see her.
“Hey, can we please go home?” Lily asked.
“Why? Are you okay?” Nora asked and Lily nodded.
“Yeah. I am fine.”
“Okay, I will hurry with… ”
“And can you tell Malia to get a cab back to her place? She can’t ride with us.” Lily said with a stern look and Nora smiled. She was a little surprised by her attitude. Lily isn’t the type to have stern looks.
“Of course Mrs. Blackwell.” Nora teased and Lily smiled a little. Only if she was so proud of bearing that last name, maybe she would have been if it wasn’t fake and temporary.
Nora packed the heels and a few dresses she bought and walked toward the counter, they met Malia at the counter too and Lydia was standing next to her.
“Can you sum this all up for me?” Nora asked the lady behind the counter.
“Yes, ma’am.” She replied.
“Are we leaving already?” Malia asked.
“No, we are. You can get a cab.” Nora replied without looking at her and she exchanged a surprised look with Lydia.
“That will be two hundred thousand dollars, ma’am.” The lady behind the counter said and Nora brought out her credit card and paid.
“Did I do something wrong?” Malia asked but Nora didn’t give her a response. Lily was also paying attention to the lady packing the clothes in a bag.
“Nora.” Lydia called.
“We will talk later, Lydia. Bye.” Nora said by just giving her a quick glance, she took the bag from the lady and held Lily’s hand and they both walked out together.
They got into Nora’s car and she drove out of the parking lot, Lily sighed in relief and Nora glanced at her.
“I am sorry you had to go through that. I shouldn’t have brought her along, I am so sorry.” Nora apologised and Lily smiled.
“It’s fine.”
“Can we not go home now? Let’s do something together, just the two of us.” Nora suggested and Lily nodded with a smile. Hanging with Nora isn’t a problem, she is comfortable around her and Nora treats her well.
**********
After hours of having fun, Lily and Nora headed home when it was getting late. They both had the best time alone, they visited different places and ended the day at a bar.
They just had a few drinks but stopped when they were about to get tipsy because they would be driving home themselves.
They got home and they both headed up to their rooms since they were already exhausted. Lily got into her room and decided to have a quick shower.
She was done after a few minutes and she changed into comfortable wear. She lay on her bed and in minutes, she fell asleep.
Lily heard her phone ring continuously from her sleep and she slowly opened her eyes, she stretched her hand to the edge of the bed and picked up her phone.
She looked at the caller and was surprised to see it was Axel. She slowly sat up and picked up the call.
“Hey.” She called sleepily and rubbed her eye.
“Did I wake you up?” She heard him ask.
“Yeah.” She muttered in response. Lily checked the time on her phone and let out a sigh.
“Axel, it’s almost three in the morning.”
“Yeah, I know. Are you in Nora’s room or the guest room?” He asked and Lily wondered why he was asking that.
“The guest room. Why are you asking?” She asked.
“Nothing much. Look out the window.” He replied.
“The window?” She asked as she glanced at it.
“Yeah.” He replied and she sighed as she slowly stood up, she walked to the window and opened it. She looked out of the window and saw Axel looking up at her. He was dressed in a tuxedo.
“Axel.” She was surprised and happy.
“Hi, Lily.”