Lilliana Ch. 03

Lilliana laughed loudly and passed the onion to him. "You know, other people would be so insulted if they were witness to what you just did. It'd sound cold and rude that you didn't say you loved me too. I'm so glad I'm not other people, aren't you?"

Rakell laughed as he took the onion from her and added it to the pot. "Yeah, but other people aren't as secure in themselves as we are. I love you too in a way, but I already have a wonderful woman I'm in love with and I wouldn't change that for the world. There is a reason we are hanging out with each other and not these 'other' people." He finished cooking and she went to set the table and grab James.

"You are getting so good at this James, when do you think you are going to start your own business?" She winked at him and he started laughing.

"Aunt Lily, I'm going to work with you forever. Even when I grow up, I want to stay with you and Rakell." He beamed at them and then started eating. Rakell and Lilliana looked at each other and laughed, both of them thinking about how wonderful childhood could be.

- - - - - - - - -

Lilliana thought back over her conversation with Rakell, she wondered if she should be insulted. But honestly she wasn't that type of person, she loved him, and he loved another. Love to her, was one way and did not require a give and take to be real. If the one you loved, loved you too, then it was wonderful. If the one you loved was in love with another, then it was still wonderful because the one you loved was happy and free to love as they chose. If it was meant for them to be together, it would happen in time, or she would likely find another whom she would love just as much or more.

Love wasn't the issue anyways, it was the idea of her "soul mate". No one could really explain how you knew, the best she got was that it would be obvious. Some could smell it, others felt it, and some even dreamt it, but considering how long she'd been around it was already becoming a pretty fantasy that she just didn't have the luxury of indulging. She'd make due with finding someone to love, and who would love her back for as long as they were able.

Eventually she was brought back to wondering about Damien, the last time she saw him was very confusing. Though her wolf wasn't confused, he had been rude and strange. There was also a weird hint of possessiveness in the vampire, only saying her name as a reprimand. What she needed to do was finish her discovery trip, and soon. Maybe after James was finished with training she'd take a break and do just that.

The telephone began ringing and she debated leaving it to the answering machine, but decided she might as well pick it up. She regretted it immediately.

"Lily my dear! I'm in need of a rush job and I'm willing to compensate you for any work you'll be pushing to the side. How soon can you come over to get the details?" As usual the bitch was assuming she'd take the job, and she was correct. The hag was her third or fourth step-mother, at this point it was hard to keep track. The only reason she ever called was to throw a bunch of money around so that Lilliana would come and see her father so that he'd be happy for a while again and dote on the woman.

She grit her teeth not to insult the woman out loud, "The name is Lilliana, and what do you need done. I'm sure you can give me the details over the phone or in an email, I've got a lot on my plate. There is also my apprentice I'm training, I can't just up and leave anymore."

"Oh hush now, you know your father will want to see you. He loves you so much Lily, talks about you all the time. Just take a weekend and visit him, make us something, and then you can get back on with your life. It has been over year, don't make this any harder than it has to be Lily." Then she hung up, honestly that woman was lucky Lilliana was generally non-violent or she'd find a way to kill her without being caught.

Lilliana took a deep breath and calmed down. There was no reason to get so worked up about it, the damned woman did the same thing every year since they had been married. If it weren't for the fact she actually liked her father she'd tell the woman to fuck off, that and the money she got from them was put back into her 'rainy year' fund. She was planning to take a break one of these years, and this made it that much easier. This might actually be the year to do that, and she'd probably talk to her father about either dropping the witch or having a little longer break between visits.

She went into the back of her closet and dug out her yearly "project", there was no reason to stop her other projects just for a family visit. Now she just needed to have everything set up so she could be gone for a few days without missing too much work, and let James know he had the weekend off. Maybe she'd make a small holiday of this, and get out on the town for once, if she was lucky she'd find "the one".

- - - - - - - As Lilliana looked around the room she was fairly pleased, for a cheap hotel room this place was pretty nice. Hopefully this was a sign of what was to come, and she'd have a wonderful holiday weekend. She began unpacking and got settled in, she had made sure to arrive Friday evening so she didn't have to rush off to see anyone as soon as she arrived.

Looking at the clock, she noticed it was only 7 at night. She pulled out her laptop and started looking up places to go, she did some research and actually found a club that appealed to her darker side. She'd be going mainly as an observer, but it would be nice to see whether or not it would be worth coming back for. Plus, maybe she could find someone who submitted regularly and talk with them about it.