Page 16 of Ruin
“And did you have lunch?” he asks, pulling out his wallet to put the black card away.
He doesn’t even ask how much we spent. Which is a good thing, because I don’t even know the answer to that. It had to have been more than a few thousand dollars, though.
“Lily wasn’t hungry, so I figured I’d just grab something here before my first clients arrive.” I don’t miss the frown on Sebastian’s face as he glances at me, but Annika doesn’t notice as she turns to smile at me. “I’m free after eight tonight, and we are definitely having a movie night.”
I nod silently, and she bustles off to do whatever it is she needs to do to get ready for her clients.
“Come on, it’s time I ate anyway,” Sebastian says, standing from his leather desk chair.
“I -”
“Humour me, please, Lily,” he says, cutting off my protest.
Imogen rises as well. I guess lunch is now a group activity.
“I’ll have someone take the bags upstairs,” Sebastian continues, noticing when I glance down at the mountain of bags at my feet.
I nod again, avoiding looking at Imogen, although I can feel her eyes on me.
I follow them both downstairs to a massive kitchen and watch as Sebastian pulls food from the pantry and fridge.
“This is the kitchen we all use, Lily, so help yourself to any of the food here. And we each take turns in preparing dinner,” Sebastian explains as he makes three chicken sandwiches.
“I can give her the tour if you want, Sebastian? You’ve got that meeting in half an hour,” Imogen says, and he nods before looking at me.
“Are you okay with that, Lily?”
“Okay,” I reply.
I force myself to eat the sandwich as they discuss the details of his meeting, but I can feel his eyes on me. It’s obvious Sebastian won’t be letting me exist on the one meal a day I was having before now.
I don’t know when I started to find eating difficult. I’ve never been great at eating when I’m anxious, and I’ve been living in a constant state of anxiety for years, so I guess it’s just become a thing now.
Imogen’s phone rings, and she glances down at it, a smile playing across her lips. “I gotta take this. I’ll be back in a moment and we can do that tour, Lily.” She excuses herself and brings her phone to her ear as she walks towards the door. “Hi, handsome.”
I watch her walk out the door, before turning back to find Sebastian watchingme.
“That’ll be her boyfriend,” he says before taking another bite of his sandwich.
“Oh. Okay,” I reply, nibbling on my own sandwich.
Guess I was wrong about them sleeping together, then.
We lapse into silence, but he continues to watch me. Part of me wants to tell him to stop hovering, but I know he’s just worried. And who can blame him? I’m nothing like the woman he used to know.
So I eat my sandwich and allow this man - the man who consumed so much of my brain space for years - to watch me until every single bite is gone.
7
THAT’S NOT PART OF THE TOUR
LILY
Imogen returnswith a small smile on her face and a bounce in her step, just as I’m finishing the sandwich.
“Ready for your tour?” she asks, and Sebastian pushes his seat back, collecting all our plates.
“I guess,” I reply quietly.
