Untaming Lily Wilde (8 page)

“Here let me sort out your skirt…”

What, that’s it?!
Thought Lily.

Seb adjusted Lily’s knickers while she gawped at him, motionless. Then he smoothed out her skirt and offered her his hand.

“Another time,” he said, “Let’s try a slow build up. Like I said, I’m changing my ways.”

“I think I liked the old you,” Lily muttered. But she remembered her previous resolve, her irritation at the offhand way he’d dismissed his marriage. And before long she was certain she’d had a lucky escape. It would just have been complicated - like
Rubik’s Cube
complicated - and she was not in the market for complicated. Of that, she was almost certain.

“I’ll walk you back to your friends,” he said, “Where are they?”

“It’s fine.”

“Don’t pout, Lily. All in good time. Now answer my question; where are we heading?”

“A. I don’t pout. B. Leicester Square. It’s a bar near there. But you don’t have to escort me."

Seb grinned. "Better had, you look a bit wobbly."

She cast him a sullen glare. He looped an arm around her waist as they made their way slowly in the direction of Leicester Square.

"Control freak."

"Yeah, yeah," he smiled.

They walked slowly, Lily wondering all the while what the hell she’d done. Seb was just so good at messing with her resolve. They crossed Charing Cross Road and soon rounded the corner onto Leicester Square. The cocktail bar was tucked to one side, well lit, and sectioned off from the crowds of hurried cinema goers by a red cord.

"This is my stop," she said.

"Want me to go in with you? Make sure they're in there?"

Lily didn't answer immediately, fighting the urge to say yes. She'd have been fine in the bar, with or without her friends, but she couldn't quite bring herself to let him go just yet. She sighed, reminding herself he wasn't hers, only on loan, then unlinked her arm.

"Thanks, but no, I'll be fine," she said.

"OK. Get ready for an ambush from Cayley."

Cayley's the least of my worries she thought. Emma would be as hyped as a kitten in a wool shop by the time they regrouped.

Seb kissed her on the cheek then stood back, "Be seeing you then, Lily Wilde."

An involuntary half-smile graced her lips as she kissed him back. It wasn’t easy being mad at him. She’d have to try harder, she told herself. Entering the bar, she turned in the doorway to see him still standing there, watching her with an amused grin. She had the strong compulsion to stick her tongue out at him, but instead she wiggled her fingers in a wave and went in.

Not seeing Cayley or Emma, she sat the bar and dug her phone from her pocket to text them. But before she'd had a chance to type, an excited squeal from behind told her they were already here. Emma hopped up onto the bar stool next to Lily's.

"You're flushed! Cayley, look, she's flushed, right? That's definitely the flush of a ravaged woman!"

Lily rolled her eyes, "I've just come in from the arctic winter. Course I'm flushed."

Emma lent in closer.

"Did you just sniff me?!" Lily laughed.

"You've been smoking!"

"Oh, seriously! In all the time you've known me-" Lily started.

But Cayley interrupted, one step ahead, "Seb smokes."

Emma glowed with pride, "Yay! You kissed him didn't you! Go girl! Get in there! I'll drink to that!" She waved at the barman and ordered three Mojitos.

"Emma apparently never heard of pacing herself. This will be her third," said Cayley.

"Tsh, tsh, stop judging and drink up."

Cayley gave Lily a knowing look. Back in uni, Emma had been known for misjudging her limits, and Lily had spent half her nights out babysitting her best friend.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure her next one's a Coke," Lily said, absentmindedly scanning the place for an empty booth. A large group of twenty somethings spread across the main seating area. On the edge of the group, a tousled dark blonde lad in designer specs was giving Lily the eye. She looked away, embarrassed, out of habit. Then she stopped herself. She was single, relatively speaking, so why deny herself a little casual flirtation!

"I see a table, let's grab it, " she said, leading the way, making sure to flash her sexiest smile at the young man as she passed him.

"Oh my God, I saw what you just did there Miss Wilde! You hussy, I love it. Oh Cayley, don't you love it?! She's back on the horse. Lilian Wilde, sitting in a tree, F. L. I. R. T. T. T..." She sang, then flopped into a chair groaning, "Maybe I do need to slow down the Mojos."

The evening was just what Lily had needed, some unadulterated fun with the girls. Just like old times. She'd even danced a little as the night rolled on, and had skilfully managed to bypass most of the Seb questions, admitting only to a little peck on the cheek.
He's married, after all
, she'd told them, feeling slightly guilty that, in actual fact, his marriage hadn't been enough to stop her going much further than she really should have. It didn't seem at all clear cut, though. At least, there had certainly been enough doubt surrounding the state of Seb and Ana's marriage to alleviate her guilt while his hands were all over her.

A little after midnight, Cayley and Lily saw fit to call it a night. Lily propped up Emma, both a little worse for wear, and asked if she wanted to brave the night bus.

"Iffwuntoo," Emma replied.

"Ah no you don't, we're cabbing it,” Cayley insisted. “I'll drop you off on the way to mine.” And as events blurred drunkenly together, they soon found themselves in a black cab, hovering in front of Emma’s place, motor running as Emma and Lily got themselves in order.

"You're sujagood mate cha know that," Emma gushed, hugging Cayley and climbing out of the cab.

Lily followed suit, with slightly more control, and gave Cayley a peck on the cheek before waving goodbye.

As Emma fumbled for her keys, Lily's phone buzzed in her pocket. A text from Cayley:

U do smell of ciggies u hussy ;D! Want more details Mon morning xx

Lily shook her head with a smile and tucked her phone safely back into her coat pocket. Well at least now she had something saucy to put in her diary. Drunken giggles from further down the road hooked Lily's attention. Two figures were stumbling in their direction.

"Em!" shouted an all too familiar voice.

Emma seemed to suddenly sober. "Oh shit. No, she wouldn't-" she gasped, as her cousin slowly hobbled closer.

"Em, it's me! Can we kip at yours? Pleeeease?! Oh... Lily. Shit." She started to giggle again then took control of herself. "Look, I'm not with Tom, I'm with... Jay now."

"Jake, " corrected her partner.

"Shit. Yeah, Jake. Couldn't do that to you could I, Lily - not after what you…"

Emma stuffed a tenner into Celia’s hand. "But you did do it, didn't you! Go on, just piss off out of here. Get a cab or something. "

“Aw, come on, Em!” Celia begged.

Jake, the more sober of the pair, linked his arm in hers, and mumbled something in Celia’s ear.

“Fine,” she mumbled, “You’re paying me back though. It’s
my
tenner!” and together they did an about-turn, heading off in the direction they’d come in.

As Lily followed Emma down into the flat, she was aware she should be feeling something - something other than cold and tired. But she just didn’t have the energy. The sofa bed in the spare room was ready and waiting for her. They each did the bare minimal getting ready for bed - make-up removal and showers could wait until morning - and with a final, weary wave goodnight, they each disappeared into their own lands of nod.

8

“Coffee for the sleepy head!”

Emma had clearly been up for a fair while, and looked surprisingly chipper all things considered. Lily, on the other hand, was feeling ever so slightly like she’d been knocked on the head multiple times with a cocktail shaker.

“Mmm - coffee - Em, you’re amazing.”

“Wait, there’s more,” Emma added, “Your phone's running out of juice so I've plugged it in. See how angelic a house-mate I’d be?! If I could,
I'd
live with me.”

“Ha! I do remember what you were like to live with, crazy lady,” laughed Lily. Her throat felt like sandpaper. “The service is definitely showing signs of improvement. Two months, then I’m all yours, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that. Toast?”

“Thanks but no. Bleh. No food.”

Lily sipped her coffee slowly until she felt almost human again, then joined Emma on the living room couch, grabbing her nearly recharged phone.

“Yay - lucky me - texts from Tom. Oh
look
, he still loves me. Great, that's us back on track then. Delete.”

“Don't even joke about it,” Emma warned.

Lily kept reading, “And- aw - poor baby - he can't eat for thinking about what he did. Delete. Urgh - more of the same - blah blah effing blah. Delete. Oh this one’s good - he thinks he had commitment issues, but he’s working on them and wants to talk! Ooh - an enticing thought - but - no. Deleted, deleted, deleted. There. Much better. And now for the five emails. Wanna bet at least one's from Tom? Oh yes, here we are, 1, 2, 3 times a feckless moron. Ooh and one half-price offer on a penis extension. Always useful.”

“You could forward it to Tom,” suggested Emma.

“Ha. Tempting!” said Lily. Then, all at once, her voice dropped to a low whisper. “Oh my God…”

“What's up?” Asked Emma, craning her neck in an effort to read over Lily’s shoulder.

“It's from a client.”

Emma sank back disappointed, then suddenly a light bulb flicked on, “Not one of the
male
clients I keep semi-hearing about? The sexy American or the guy you snogged last night?!”

“Uh-huh. The American, and - Oh Christ...”

“What?! Show me!”

Lily checked the email for any details of a private nature, remembering the 32 page contract of doom
,
then, satisfied, she read it out loud:
“Dear Lily, I've been thinking about your resolution-”

“You told him?” Emma was awestruck.

“It just - kind of - came up. Anyway:
I've been thinking about your resolution and I think you should join us next weekend. Nothing flamboyant. Just an informal gathering - a few similarly minded friends having fun with the last of the party supplies. We're preparing a room for you so don't let us down!

G x

Eep!

She decided not to share the P.S. which read:
Email/Phone Dr Bellamy (based on Harley Street - map and contact details attached along with official invitation) to arrange a sexual health screening tomorrow- you can go after work, right? She’s expecting you. It’s on us.

Of all the presumptuous little… Oh shit.
Suddenly bile rose up I her stomach, as she considered the situation with Tom and Celia. Could he have passed on an STD?
Ick
. She thanked her lucky stars she’d been on 3 consecutive courses of antibiotics for a throat infection, which had compromised her contraceptive pill, meaning Tom was forced to wear condoms for the last 4 weeks of their relationship.
But what about before that? Oh crap, she thought, I’m going to have to ask him.

Lily suddenly became aware of a noise which sounded very much like ‘
SQUEEEEE!’,
which seemed to be
coming from Emma, now jumping up and down on the sofa, doing a little happy-dance.

“You
have
to go!” She gushed. “I can't believe you told him about the resolution. I'm so proud of you!”

Lily rolled her eyes, “It wasn't like that.”

“Right. Sure.”

“I was ranting about Tom and Celia and it slipped out.”

“As these things so often do.”

Emma flopped back down onto the sofa and looked squarely at Lily, to show she meant business, “So you're going right?”

“I can't go. Seriously. The
other
male you’ve been semi-hearing about would be there - it would be way too weird.”

Emma waved that away, “You're a free agent. He's not. If he doesn't like that, it's his problem not yours.”

Lily agreed, in part, but a piece of her wondered if it wasn’t a little more complicated than Emma’s black and white synopsis. “I guess. I'd feel so awkward though.”

“Because you always put other people’s needs ahead of your own. Which is totally sweet and lovely but
totally
counterproductive to the resolution!”

Oh yes
, thought Lily,
that
. She had to admit, any party involving Grayson would probably make for a colourful diary entry. Possibly technicolour. But what about this whole ‘
I think you should sleep with my husband’
thing?! More than likely
that
would be the outcome of going.
That’s got to be a bad idea, she told herself.
I can’t
. Can I?!