by Cj Howard
James looked over at Delilah. They hadn’t actually decided on that yet. But James liked the idea. He hadn’t known Delilah for very long, but he didn’t like the idea of not seeing her again. “Uh… yeah. I think so. I’d love to stay friends. Also, Lilah was a huge hit at my family dinner last night. I have a feeling they would be very upset if I suddenly didn’t speak to her again.”
“Well, it’s hard not to fall in love with Lilah,” Melissa said. James quickly looked away and finished making the coffee. He could feel his cheeks burning. Was he blushing? James couldn’t remember the last time that he had blushed. He needed to get a grip on himself. He handed them each a cup.
“Okay, Melissa, I am going to make breakfast now. But I have to warn you – I’ve only made bacon and eggs once before. Yes – I do realize that I’m a spoiled rich kid who grew up with a cook of my own. No need to tell me what I already know. But I’m trying here – so there is no guarantee how this is going to come out.”
Melissa laughed. “That’s okay – I know many men that don’t know how to cook, and they don’t have the excuse that you have. Personally – I’m a terrible cook myself. I make oats in the morning – and sometimes I even mess that up. But… having said all that… can we help you?”
“Oh no! You’re my guests! You two sit back and relax. It shouldn’t be too long. And there’s plenty of coffee while you wait.”
“Now, this is the life,” Melissa said.
“Tell me about it. I quite like having a fake boyfriend,” Delilah said. James noticed that she was looking more and more relaxed. He thought back to that first day when he had met her in the club. There had been a sadness in her eyes that was unmistakable. But it had almost disappeared now.
Melissa still seemed to harbor a bit of that sadness. She hid it under layers of smiles and a lot of humor – but it was still there. He got to work and listened as the two of them spoke about people that he didn’t know.
They were obviously very close, and it was easy to see why. They seemed similar in so many ways. Delilah excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Melissa quickly used the opportunity to talk to him alone.
“Thanks for getting her out of Betsy’s. It’s what we’ve both wanted for so long, but we just didn’t have the guts to do it ourselves. I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. She’s one of the best people I know, that Lilah.”
“She’s great. But I didn’t do anything. In fact, I was the stupid guy who took a video of us and let the whole world find out what she did. She’s been so nice to me about it, but I’m sure a part of her hates me for it.”
“Lilah couldn’t hate anyone. She’s just not built that way. And yeah… you probably shouldn’t have filmed her. It’s a little creepy. But we all make mistakes, and we’ve all done things we’re not proud of. And you actually seem very nice.
But let’s take it as a blessing in disguise. She’s so much happier now. It might not have been the best way for her to get out of it – but it doesn’t matter. James, I’m just going to say this quickly before she gets out, but don’t hurt her, okay?”
“What do you mean? Why would I hurt her?”
“I mean, you seem like a great guy. But I’ve heard stories. I know I shouldn’t listen to what the media says. But I’ve heard how you use women – how you see them as your play things. And I’ve seen so many pictures of you with pretty girls on your arm. Do whatever you want when the two of you ‘break up,’ but please, just be a gentleman while you are with her. She’s my best friend.”
James smiled sadly at Melissa. He was well aware of the reputation he had. And he knew that it wasn’t just ‘media talk’ – it was all true. “I will, Melissa. I promise you. She’s one of the best girls I know.” And it was true – second to Martha, Delilah had suddenly become something very special to him. But what? What was she to him? And why did he feel so different around her?
Delilah came back and grinned, “Something smells great in here!”
“Yeah, it really does actually,” Melissa agreed.
“You sound surprised. Everyone has been so surprised lately when I somehow manage not to burn anything in the kitchen. I never knew people thought so poorly of me. Then again, I never knew I could actually cook. I didn’t realize the kitchen was such a fun place to be.”
“Seriously? I hate the kitchen. You’ve obviously found your ‘thing,’ James!”
“My thing?”
“Yeah… you know… everyone has something that they are good at. Delilah is good with words. You’re obviously good with cooking.”
She wasn’t the first person to tell him that these past few days. Could it be true? Had he really found his thing? “And how about you?”
“Me? I’m good at eating.”
“No wonder you and Lilah are such good friends!”
They high-fived each other and told him not to be stingy with the food.
They left a few hours later after helping James with the cleaning up. He had insisted that he would do it, but they had insisted even harder on helping. And he was secretly glad. He enjoyed the cooking, but he did not enjoy the cleaning. Thankfully, the dishwasher meant that they didn’t have to do all that much to get the place looking good again. They had a final cup of coffee and then left.
James felt satisfied with how the morning had gone. Even though Melissa’s warning ran through his mind – he had a feeling that she did actually like him. And for some reason, that meant something to him.
James opened up his social media accounts – something he had been avoiding the last week – and saw that he had hundreds of messages asking him about Delilah. He went into Google, typed in his name, and the first thing that came up was:
Where is party boy James Elton these days? The love-struck billionaire has found comfort in the arms of ex-stripper Delilah Turner. Are his party days over? Or will he soon get bored with her too? Ex-girlfriends have spoken up to say that James is a two-week-maximum relationship type of guy. As the two-week mark looms – will we see him falling into his same routine?
Sources say that he has never looked happier. But only time will tell. And is Delilah Turner really in love with him, or is she just after his money? Again, time will tell. All we know is that for the moment – they really do seem happily in love.
James wasn’t sure if he was happy with that or not. He looked at his Twitter and Facebook accounts and saw that he had messages from girls, all asking him out. Some had sent pictures of themselves – showing off far too much than was necessary. He wasn’t surprised.
His accounts had always looked this way. He always had women throwing themselves at him. Begging him to take them out. Promising him that they would show him a good time.
He’d always found it easy to meet the next ‘hot thing,’ and he also found it just as easy to discard them once he was bored with them. He had never once worried about how it had made him look. He had always used the excuse of him being carefree and young.
He hadn’t always been that way. For a while he was just a regular boy attending a regular school with regular friends. Of course, when he went to their houses, he knew that he was not really regular at all.
But still, his father had managed to instill a sense of normalcy into his life, and Martha had made sure that he had remained as grounded as possible. He wasn’t sure when all that started to change. Probably once he had finished school and all his friends had gone to college or found jobs.
He had stayed at home with no idea what to do with his life and no sense of urgency to find out. What was the point? His father gave him money whenever he wanted. And when he had turned twenty-five and became a billionaire himself – well, the urgency of doing something with his life became even smaller. But he’d always felt that he was missing out on something, even though he pretended as if he had it all.
When the doorbell rang, he immediately thought it must be Delilah again, and he couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Melissa was right – there was no way he was going to be
able to not see her after the looming breakup. He grinned as he opened the door, but his smile immediately faltered. It wasn’t Delilah.
“Tammy?”
“What? Did you think I was your little stripper girl?” Tammy pushed her way inside and immediately made herself comfortable on the couch.
James sighed and closed the door, hoping that there were no photographers following her. “Tammy, what do you want?”
“What? No how are you? No nice to see you? God, what did I see you in anyway? You’re so damn rude. I deserve so much better than you.”
“Then why are you here? Did you really think I’d be nice to you after what you did? I know it was you who took the tape. Obviously. You’re just bitter about the breakup. But you really didn’t have to do that. I certainly don’t know what I ever saw in you.”
James looked at her as if she were an alien. He actually felt a little bit repulsed by her in that moment, and he wished he had never been with her in the first place. A small part of him realized that if it weren’t for her, his fake romance with Delilah wouldn’t have happened either. So in a weird and twisted way, he was somewhat grateful to her. Of course, there was no way he was going to tell her that.
“So you’ve gone and told everyone that the two of you are madly in love. That you met her outside of that strip joint and only found out about what she did afterward. That’s the story you’re telling everyone?”
“It’s not a story – it’s the truth.”
“Oh really? But when I came and saw you – the day I took the tape, which I openly admit to doing – well, why then did you allow me to give you a blow job? Surely you wouldn’t have let that happen if you were so madly in love?”
“I don’t recall that happening,” James lied.
“Oh please. Lying bastard. There can be only two reasons for letting me do that to you. Either you are just a sex-crazed idiot who has never been in love and never been in a proper relationship, or else you were never with her in the first place. That you said all that just to save yourself because you didn’t want the whole world to find out the truth – that you took a stripper home and then filmed it. Oh no, we can’t have the world finding out about that. What would dear old daddy think? And would he take away all my money?” she said, mimicking his voice.
“Tammy, please leave. You don’t know what you are talking about. I think you might be delusional.”
“No – I’m not delusional. In fact, everything is very clear to me. I know that you are lying about everything, and I refuse to look like a fool because of it. Do you know how hated I am at the moment? Apparently, I’m the crazy ex-girlfriend that wants revenge. Revenge? I’ll show you revenge. I’m sure the media would love to hear my version of the story.”
“Get out, Tammy.”
He took her hand and pulled her up. “Ow, you’re hurting me,” she cried. He knew that he wasn’t.
“I’m not, Tammy. Just go. Seriously – you are the crazy ex-girlfriend, and I really want nothing more to do with you. GO!” He practically pushed her out the door. Then he locked it behind her. She pounded on the door and told him that he would regret doing that to her. He walked silently back to the living room and put his face in his hands.
His day had turned sour very quickly. He knew that his past would always come back to haunt him. And Tammy was crazy enough to do exactly what she threatened. There was nothing that he could do about it.
He’d just have to let it happen and continue to assure the public that he and Delilah were in love. He was about to phone her and warn her about what was happening when his phone rang. It was Delilah.
“Oh, I was actually just about to phone you. Lilah? What’s wrong? Are you crying?”
“Hang on a second.” James heard her blowing her nose before coming back on the line. “Sorry – that wasn’t very ladylike.”
“Don’t worry about that. Tell me what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
James could hear her taking deep breaths in and out. Finally, she managed to get out, “Eric. He just came here.”
“What? Who? Who is Eric?” James mind was working in overdrive, but he couldn’t understand what she was saying.
“Eric – from that party the other night. The documentary event.”
“Eric Talbot!”
“Well, I guess. I don’t know his surname. But yeah, the guy that was sitting next to me.”
“He came to your house?” James hoped that he had heard that part wrong.
He heard Delilah sniff into the phone again. “Yeah. He just showed up at my door. He seemed a little drunk, too. He was swaying a bit. Unless he’s always like that. I don’t know.”
“But what did he want?” And how the hell did he know where you stayed? James thought.
“He wanted me. ME!”
“You? Why?”
“He wanted sex. He told me that he would pay me for sex. That he knew I needed the money. In his words – ‘I want to help you to reach your goal of finally going to college’ – after he actually licked his lips.”
James felt bile move up his throat. He thought he was going to be sick. “He came to your house for sex? Are you serious? Delilah, I’m so sorry. I’m shocked. I mean, I knew he was an idiot – but I never thought he’d do something like this. Never. Are you okay? What happened after he said that?”
“I’m okay. I just had to phone you. I’m in shock too. In all my time working at Betsy’s, I was never treated as badly as that. What an idiot. Of course, I said no and told him to go away. He just laughed and told me that he wouldn’t tell anyone if I wouldn’t.
He said that he had just as much money as you. Then he went on about how much better he was at everything and how you had no ambitions in life. I told him that he would never be half the man that you are. Which he laughed at.
Then he tried to make a grab for me. But thankfully he wasn’t in the door yet, so I slammed the door in his face and locked it. I heard him mumble something like ‘whatever, your loss.’ Then he walked off.”
“Delilah, I’m so sorry. I cannot believe this. I knew there were idiots in this world, but I hadn’t quite expected anyone to go to those lengths. Especially since I know him. I’m certainly not his friend, but we do run in the same circles.
He should know that I would find out about this and that I would be seeing him around. I always knew that he was a scumbag, but still – doesn’t he have any sort of dignity? I guess not. Man, I cannot believe what just happened. I’m so sorry. What was he thinking?”
“To be honest, James, I think that’s how little he thinks of me. I think that all he was thinking was that I was an easy target. And that might be what the rest of the world is thinking. That I’m just some idiot girl who needed money so badly that she was ready to sell herself.
And you know what – they’re probably right. Isn’t that exactly what I am? They’re right. What was I expecting? That everyone would think I’m this wonderfully brave soul? No – they can see right through that. And it’s probably about time that I admitted it to myself.”
“Lilah – no. No! Don’t say that. Nobody has a right to treat you the way that Eric did. Nobody. He’s an idiot. And sure – there are many idiots in the world just like him – but that doesn’t mean that you should ever be spoken to like that. You did what you had to do, Lilah.
You did it to keep your house, the house that will always remind you of your parents. You should be so proud of yourself for that. Your parents would be proud of you. You’re not a bad person. In fact, you’re one of the best people that I know.”
He could hear her crying again. “I’m sorry, James. This is just so much harder than I thought it would be. I’m still grateful for everything. I’m grateful that I’m finally out of that line of work. I’m grateful that I am finally going to be doing what I want in my life.
I’m grateful that I can actually look at myself in the mirror in again. But I’m also ashamed at myself – the things that I’ve done to get here. And it’s hard to ignor
e all of that. Especially when it gets thrown in your face.”
“Be strong, Lilah. I promise you – soon, all of this will be over. This is just a small bump in the road. After this, everything is going to feel like a breeze. You’ll see. You’ll look back on this and laugh. Everyone will forget who you are, and you can carry on with your life.
Trust me – people are fickle that way. And anyway – at least you’re being honest about everything. That’s more than most people can say. Do you know that Eric has a girlfriend? Yeah – he’s not exactly Mr. Honesty himself.”
Delilah scoffed. “But I’m not being honest, James. We’re lying about the whole thing. That’s all my life has been. Just lies.”
“I’m sorry.” James suddenly realized that all of this was his fault. Everything she had done had been for him. “For everything. I’ll be out of your life soon, I promise.”
“No way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean – you, I can certainly say goodbye to. But Mrs. Bean – no, I cannot just easily walk away from her.”
Relief washed through him. “Want to come around for a cup now?”
“I do.”
Delilah was over within half an hour. He made her coffee, and the two of them sat together to watch a movie. They were both tired of talking about their problems and wanted to just sit with each other and forget about them.
James kept glancing over at her – especially when she laughed at all the funny bits in the movie. She looked so content sitting there that his heart swelled. He tried to focus on the movie, but all he could think about was her.
Lilah Delilah. He wanted to run his hands over her naked body again. He didn’t even care about himself – even though he could feel himself getting aroused. All he wanted to do was to place his fingers inside of her and to make her happy.
She laughed and he quickly laughed too. He looked at the screen and realized that he had no idea what was even going on in the movie. Lilah was the only thing on his mind. He had never felt that way before, and he felt a sudden wash of fear come over him. Was he falling in love with this girl? The same girl that he was going to break up with in just a week?
