Hard Rock Love Box Set, page 31
Bella started explaining her past relationship with Lucas from the beginning.
She had gotten into a relationship with Lucas, one of the male dancers at her company, earlier on in her career. Everything had seemed normal at first, and she had thought herself in love with him. But gradually, he became controlling and manipulative, putting her down and then turning right around to give her love like she had never experienced before.
Confused, she had told herself that she was just misinterpreting things, and everything was fine. Eventually, Lucas decided to go on an exchange to London. With the distance, she began to realize how wrong things really were, and she broke up with him, saying that they needed to take a break, still too scared to tell him how she felt.
He had seemed to take it surprisingly well and was in London for a few more seasons. It had been enough time that Bella was moving on and past him, but he had begun to act like they should be getting back together and talking things out as soon as he came back.
She went on to elaborate on the current situation, and her fear for her own safety, as well as the safety of both of them.
Sebastian’s expression became increasingly concerned as he listened, looking to Lillian to make sure she was okay.
When Bella finished, she took a few deep breaths, then looked to her audience, as if asking what they thought she should do now.
“That’s a lot,” Sebastian said, his voice warm and compassionate. “I had no idea this was happening.”
“It’s not exactly something you bring up upon meeting someone,” Bella said, looking to the ground at her feet.
“Well, I can promise you that he’s not going to be able to do anything to hurt my reputation.”
“You don’t know him like I do—” Bella began, looking frantic again, but Sebastian cut her off.
“No, but I have a lot of connections in the media. And good security. He shouldn’t be able to do anything, and if he does, I’m sure I’ll be able to figure out how to move past it. Please don’t worry about it.”
Bella nodded.
“If you want,” Lillian said, still feeling a little odd as she didn’t quite know this woman, but still feeling a need to offer her support and protection where she could, “…you’re welcome to stay at my apartment—for as long as you need. I know Rebecca won’t mind.” Lillian flashed a look at Rebecca who was still sipping her tea and looking as peaceful as ever.
“I have other places I can stay.” Lillian directed the last sentence towards Sebastian, who nodded, reluctantly.
Turning back to Bella, he asked, “does that sound like something you would want to do? In the meantime, I can see what some of my connections can do about this Lucas character. If nothing else, we can at least find you somewhere new to live, and maybe get him to transfer permanently to London.”
“That sounds nice,” she said with a nod, and then tears began to well up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, I wish I could have taken care of this by myself, but I had no idea what else to do. Thank you so much, you didn’t have to do this.”
“It’s fine,” Lillian said, standing and walking over to sit with Bella and put her arm around her. “Sometimes things like this happen, and there wasn’t much you could have done.”
“You were right to call me,” Sebastian said.
Almost on cue, Coby perched himself up on the couch. As their feline friend, he knew when the humans needed his love. He rubbed his furry head on Bella’s arm, as to comfort her, meowing in the process.
Lillian got up and headed into the kitchen, and Sebastian followed suit. They were finally alone, and free to talk about what was happening between them.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine, why?”
“You just seemed a little tense.”
She shrugged it off. “It’s not exactly the easiest situation, you know?”
“I know.”
“And I’m trying my best, but I still feel weird, you know? She had a relationship with you― you know her and I don’t, and I don’t know anything about what you two were to each other.”
Sebastian let out a half-hearted laugh. “Lily, I would hardly call it a relationship. We satisfied each other’s needs for a bit, that’s all.”
“But you still were something to each other, even if it wasn’t romantic. I don’t know, I’m sorry, I’m trying my best to not make this weird.”
“It’s okay, this is my fault. It’s my mess and I’m responsible for fixing it. I’m sorry I had to get you into the mix of all this, I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Of course,” she said with a nod.
Things were still awkward and not back to normal yet. But this time alone, the tension in the air had more to do with their attraction towards each other more than anything else.
They both blushed as they found themselves in this peculiar predicament.
Sebastian was the first one to make a move, and he grabbed Lillian’s hand, holding them in his own. “Let’s try this again? Lillian.”
Lillian held back her blushing face as she felt the butterflies in her stomach resurfacing. She let out a half-hearted laugh, trying to make the situation less serious.
“I was hoping you would say that.”
Thirty-Eight
The two of them got into Sebastian’s car and started their way to his apartment. It felt almost like a dream, that this was all happening. One moment, Lillian had left his life, and now the next… Sebastian didn’t want to jinx himself. Although, he did have to pinch himself to make sure it was all real.
As they were driving, a song by Dreams of Compass Gods came on, and Sebastian immediately changed the channel, glancing at Lillian to make sure she was okay.
She was. Of course she was. It had been a while since the whole thing had had happened. But she appreciated his attention, and his understanding that she might not want to listen to their music at the moment. He didn’t mention to her about his run in with him.
Back at their apartment, it was just Rebecca and Bella alone.
“Are you hungry?” Rebecca asked.
“No, I’m okay. Thank you.” Bella didn’t want to trouble her anymore than she was already.
“Well, how about you help me on some of these orders?”
Rebecca pulled out her basket of yarns and knitting needles, passing one of her favorite pairs to Bella. She grabbed it and picked up a yellow ball of yarn, unraveling one of the ends, and starting her double stitch.
She was really lovely, and if she didn’t look so straight, Rebecca might fancy trying her luck. But she knew much better by now than to hit on straight girls, it always ended up very wrong.
She was wearing a pair of flowing silk pants, a tight shirt, and a very soft-looking sweater that made Rebecca want to give her a hug.
After a few minutes, Bella brought herself back into the real world, wondering what all this knitting was for. “Do you run a knitting business or something?”
Surprised, Rebecca responded, “I do. And I’m getting pretty busy. It’s nice being able to stay at home and play with Coby all day.” Coby stalked over to the two women and laid himself out for them to pet his tummy.
“He’s pretty cute.” Bella rubbed Coby on the stomach.
“He likes you. He has good taste.” Rebecca gave Bella a little flirty wink and Bella didn’t really know what to make of it. She blushed, not knowing what Rebecca was getting at. Either way, her feelings were becoming unfamiliar. She’d never experienced this reaction towards a girl before. She remembered back in elementary school when she had a fondness of a girl in pigtails, although, at this moment, she could not recall her name.
“Let’s keep working.” Bella wanted to change the subject as a feeling of warmth crept up in-between her legs.
They worked diligently into the night, not realizing how late it was getting. They’d become so lost in their work that they forgot they were even tired. They decided it was time for bed. And Rebecca showed her new companion to Lillian’s bedroom, this is where she would stay for the time being.
Before Rebecca could close the door, Bella perched her head up and said, “Hey, do you think you might be able to stay up with me for a little bit longer?”
Rebecca blinked sleep away from her eyes, and Bella immediately felt guilty for asking, but Rebecca replied with a somber, “sure, what do you need?”
“It’s…it’s nothing. I can tell you’re tired.”
Rebecca laughed, and Bella felt something stir within her. Just a little bit of something. “I mean, yeah, I am, but I’m also self-employed. There’s no particular time I have to get up tomorrow, and there’s always coffee to keep me awake. So what is it you need?”
Bella nodded her appreciation as she pushed back the bedclothes and stood, walking with Rebecca back into the living room where they sat on the couch.
“I don’t know if I can go to sleep just yet, you know, with everything going on. I still feel…I don’t know exactly how to say it. I just know that I don’t want to be alone.”
“Of course,” Rebecca said with a nod. “I can understand that. Now, do you want some tea? Maybe a mug cake? I can make one of those in the microwave in about two minutes, though I can’t promise it’ll be the tastiest thing you’ve ever eaten.”
Bella thought for a moment, thrown back to her college days when she had made many a thing in the microwave. Her face lit up then. “Have you ever made pizza in the microwave?”
“I mean, I’ve microwaved pizza before, sometimes even those frozen ones that you’re really supposed to bake, but full-on make a pizza?”
“It’s not exactly a full pizza, but you can make it in the microwave, given a mug,” Bella explained with a smile, loving the expression that Rebecca’s face was making. Something between confusion, apprehension, and absolute childish delight.
“Okay, well, you’ve got to show me how to make this now. I’m not going to be able to rest until I taste this magic microwave mug pizza.”
Bella laughed, and she thought to herself, that this was a real laugh, that she was enjoying herself, that she was connecting with someone that she met only a few hours ago. “Well come on then, we have to be in the kitchen to make these ‘magic’ pizzas.”
Rebecca was more than happy to follow Bella into the kitchen. If she was being honest, she would be fairly content to do just about anything that Bella needed her to in that moment. Despite herself, she definitely found herself attracted to her. She was lovely, interesting, funny, and just a little bit magical to Rebecca.
But she definitely didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, especially knowing the situation she was coming from, so there wasn’t much that Rebecca could do besides try her best to make Bella happy, and hope that they might become close enough to meet again, under different circumstances.
A short conversation later, and Sebastian and Lillian were on the way back to his apartment. It felt strange, Lillian thought, staying with him in this way after they had just entered a new kind of relationship, but she didn’t particularly mind it.
Far from it, in fact. She was delighted at the idea of getting to spend more time with Sebastian, especially in such a place as intimate as his home.
If they were younger, they may have attempted to have sex again when they got back. But as it was, they were adults, and they were tired, and they both had work the next day.
Oh, how much Lillian wished it was a Friday instead of a Sunday, that tomorrow was Saturday instead of Monday. Because then they would have the whole weekend, just the two of them all alone in that large, expensive apartment. And she knew that they would find no end to the ways in which they could entertain themselves, and each other.
But Sebastian was yawning as he drove the two of them back. And when they got up to the entryway of his place, he turned to Lillian with a sleepy look on his face.
“Bedtime?”
“Bedtime,” Lillian agreed. They both looked at each other with ‘I know’ eyes, both wanting to put off ‘the talk’ for tomorrow. Sleepily, they dragged themselves in Sebastian’s bedroom.
It didn’t take long to fall asleep.
The day was bright, the Sun shone through the blinds of Sebastian’s apartment; bright and early; illuminating the entire floor. Lillian wanted to kill the infernal alarm clock when it rang that morning. She was in no particular mood to get out of bed, especially with how little sleep she had gotten the evening before.
In the morning were when the cuddles were the best, the two of them were intertwined under the sheets. And then Sebastian kissed her, and she forgot about everything.
His good-morning kisses were just as sweet as him, and filled with a longing for more time, so that they might have the opportunity to know each other again before it was time to rush off to work. They’d realized that this was the first kiss they shared since a long time ago. And it felt so good to be extra affection towards each other because of their grogginess.
“If you get up and get ready,” he said, his voice a little broken still, from sleep, “I’ll make you breakfast.”
It sounded tempting, but Lillian’s eyelids felt heavy, and all she wanted was to curl back up under the blankets.
“Can’t we just stay home today,” she pleaded, kissing him and drawing him back down next to her, wrapping her arms around his sturdy waist so that his back was pulled into her stomach. “I’ll be the big spoon.”
Slowly, Sebastian extricated himself from her arms, as if it hurt him to do so. “No matter how tempting that offer is, I think you and I both know that we have important work to do today. I wouldn’t be surprised if your editor—what’s her name again? Mable?—wants to talk to you about your next story. So you better be ready to go by the time I finish making breakfast—or else.”
His voice was stern, but Lillian didn’t really believe any of his threats. Still, as he left the room, presumably to make breakfast, she realized he did have a point. She had no idea what she might miss by calling in sick today, and there wasn’t really any sort of excuse to. She was functioning perfectly fine, and she was sure that the day would be over before she knew it.
Besides, she enjoyed her job, no matter how much she might grumble about waking up.
So she forced herself to emerge from under the pile of blankets, taking a quick shower in Sebastian’s pristine and modern bathroom, and then dressing herself in some of the clothes she had grabbed from her place before they left.
As she looked at herself in the mirror while she brushed her teeth, she realized she probably could have done a better job of choosing a top to match the skirt she was currently wearing, as both were prints and did not mix particularly well. In the end, she shrugged it off. She had been grabbing things in a very exhausted hurry, so she couldn’t particularly expect anything more.
Emerging into the kitchen, she discovered by the wonderful smell, that Sebastian was making chocolate chip pancakes with fruit.
It reminded her a little bit of the mornings she had shared with Ash when the two of them were still together, except he had always made his pancakes into strange shapes in an attempt to make her laugh, while Sebastian’s were downright perfect.
She wouldn’t be surprised if he had counted out the chocolate chips for each one to make sure they were equally distributed.
She sat down at one of the bar stools, thanking Sebastian as he slid her a steaming plate, complete with maple syrup and cut strawberries.
“I see you decided to get up after all,” he said with a wink.
Menacingly, Lillian pointed a fork in his direction. “That’s all your fault, you know.”
“I think you mean, ‘thank you Sebastian for making sure I got up and making me a wonderful breakfast.’”
“Thank you Sebastian for making sure I got up and making me a wonderful breakfast,” Lillian mocked, snorting as he pointed his spatula in her direction.
“We might have to do something about that attitude later, young lady,” he said suggestively.
“Don’t you young lady me, I’ll young man you right back,” Lillian teased.
Sebastian laughed, and kissed her. “That’s definitely the Lillian I know. Now, eat up.”
The breakfast he made was quite delicious, Lillian had to admit. It was just the right amount of crispy, and the strawberries tasted so fresh. She could barely speak a word as she ate, Sebastian devouring his own plate next to her. She felt a sense of peace during this interaction. That, maybe, everything was going to be alright.
It was nice that the two of them could be comfortable in this silence. It was something from when they were younger, the ability to exist together without the need to say or do anything. She was comforted by just his presence.
They finished breakfast, and Lillian was pulling out her phone to order herself some sort of ride when Sebastian spoke, making her look up.
“Want me to drive you to work?”
“Don’t you have to get to work too?” she asked, a little confused.
“I can come into the office late if need be. Besides, none of the cases my firm has currently are too large, so I can afford to be a little late. I have other work that I need to attend to.”
Reality came back to Lillian in that moment. Of course, he had to make sure that everything with Bella was taken care of, in that way only he could.
“Are you absolutely sure you don’t have connections to the mob?” she teased, and he just kissed her.
“Maybe one day, you’ll actually find out.”
It was late when Bella finally woke up.
She still felt exhausted though.
It probably didn’t help how late her and Rebecca had stayed up the night before, exchanging stories as bad TV played in the background. It turned out that the two of them had a lot in common, especially in the creative field.
Though Rebecca was someone Bella would probably describe as a messy creative. She herself worked better when things were organized, clean, methodical. But Rebecca’s creative process was wonderfully haphazard. She learned things quickly and made stuff up as she went. This meant that she might not have the best technique out of anyone Bella knew, but she certainly had an abundance of creative energy and innovative ideas.
