Page 17 of Lily, Unwritten

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “Is he OK, though? I just want to know if he’s doing well?”

“He is. Him and Guy go out all the time, he’s doing great at work. Please don’t worry,” she tried to reassure me.

“Does he ask about me?” I was scared of the answer.

“I’m changing the subject now, Lily. What was that message the other day about Zack’s birthday?”

I knew there was no point trying to get her back to my question, she was a stubborn woman. Part of me also knew that she was right, and I needed to stop it. “We want to surprise him for his thirtieth, get a huge villa and have all his family there as a surprise. All his sisters and the kids. Do you guys want to come along?”

“That sounds amazing. He’ll love it. When’s his birthday again?”

“Not until February. Shall I add you to the list, then?” I warmed at the thought of us all there together.

“Yes, sounds perfect. Now, are you going to snap out of it?” Her voice was firm but kind.

“Yes,” I sniffed away the last few tears.

“You’re the luckiest girl in the world to have Zack. You just need a bit more time. You aren’t having second thoughts about the wedding, are you?”

“No,” I said. “I love him. I just can’t get rid of this ache about Luke.” The pain hit again as I said his name.

“It takes time. Are you going to be OK tonight? I can try and sort a babysitter and come over?” she offered.

“I’ll be fine, promise. I’ll put the wine down and get an early night.”

“Good plan. Call me tomorrow.” It was more of an order than a request.

“Will do. Night bestie.”

“Night, Lils.”

Six

Zack and I had never spent much time together at work, but it still felt odd him not being there. Anna strutted around like the cat that got the cream since she’d moved into his office, which was one of the bigger ones. Other than that, everything was normal. The fuss had died down about the engagement now, and, in all honesty, I missed people asking to see the ring. I often found myself in a daydream as I gazed at it, my manicures had never been so up to date.

Margaret stopped at my desk. I think I was just about forgiven for the ‘emergency leave’ episode earlier in the year. Her face was ageless, but I don’t think it was due to botox, or any other surgical enhancement, more likely due to the fact that she never showed any emotion. No danger of laughter lines on this woman. Her black hair was cut in a sharp bob, and she always dressed conservatively. If I had to hazard a guess at her age, I’d say late fifties, but it was impossible to tell.

“Lily, can you come to the boardroom in ten minutes please?” she asked in her usual abrupt fashion. Maybe I wasn’t forgiven after all.

“Of course.” She stomped away. This would be a long few minutes while I stressed on what she wanted.

I straightened my dress, flicked my hair back and knocked on the boardroom door. “Come in,” I heard Margaret say, her voice devoid of emotion as ever.

I gulped as I looked around the room. I’d always found this place intimidating. It was old school. Bookshelves full of ancient legal tomes lined the walls; an imposing oak table took pride of place in the middle of the lushly carpeted room and was surrounded by high-backed luxury office chairs. The chairs we had for our desks were not that fancy, or comfortable. Margaret sat at the head of the desk, flanked by Peter – our senior family law solicitor. A man not far off retirement with a genuine, friendly face and outlook. On the other side of her sat Gavin, who headed up PR and Marketing. He was your atypical hipster and had a stunning yoga teacher, named Sienna, for a wife, who wowed at all the staff parties. I wondered what I could have done wrong to need all three of them to speak to me in such a formal fashion. Pretty sure I hadn’t brought the firm into disrepute. I’d brought a lot of cakes in recently, maybe they wanted me to stop?

“Sit down,” Gavin smiled. “Don’t worry, you look like we’re about to fire you.” They all laughed. Funny how Margaret could crack a smile suddenly. I joined in, but the sound was high pitched, like a silly little girl.

Peter coughed and took a drink from a porcelain teacup that was much too dainty for him. “We’ve been instructed to represent a high-profile case. I can’t say too much at the moment. There’s an application going through for this to be kept out of the press, but I don’t think it’s set to succeed.”

I nodded at him and continued to listen.

“Our client will generate an unprecedented amount of media interest. Perhaps I could mention he likes to kick a ball about at weekends for a local, world-class club. He received correspondence from a legal firm yesterday, I can’t recall the name, but I’ve never heard of them. This documentation informed him of legal action with regards to a child, whom he didn’t know was his. Obviously, the first step will be to verify it is, indeed, his child.” He waved his arms around with an air of courtroom drama. “Sorry, I digress.”

I poured a glass of water from the chilled, expensive bottle in front of me, it was usually only for clients. Margaret began to speak.

“Peter will be the lead on this case, and he’ll need someone full time to support him. It would be a huge opportunity, Lily, hard work, but you’re just the person for it, particularly with your family law experience. I need you to be dedicated to it though, not distracted.” She glanced at my ring finger, and I immediately felt protective. Was she implying being engaged would affect my quality of work?

“Absolutely. I’d be more than happy to help.” I was excited that Zack wasn’t the only one with good career news and determined to prove to Margaret that I could do this.