by H. Q. Frost
"You're right." Lilith smiled, touching her hand. "Nice to see you again." She quickly ran to the car before Marie could stop her.
When Lilith got in Tony was laughing. "You're too nice, Lily."
"Shut up," she muttered, leaning her head back, needing a nap. "I'm so fucking late," she breathed.
Even with Tony weaving in and out of traffic Lilith was still late. With a groan she pushed the door open, getting out and buttoning her coat to protect herself from the cool breeze. Tony watched her in the rearview mirror, liking how her coat tightly hugged her waist and flared at the hips.
To block the harsh wind in her face, she walked with her head down, approaching the gate.
"I thought I was being stood up," Justin said and she quickly looked up.
Her straight face immediately turned into a smile, immensely relieved it was him. Running up to him, she threw her arms around his neck kissing him while he picked her up off the ground. Tony saw the odd greeting in his side mirror and opened the door to watch them.
"You're such a jerk." Lilith giggled. "Please tell me you didn't really pay."
"Yeah, I paid. I thought you were mad at me and this was the only way to see you. You didn't call after the flowers, and I pissed you off this morning."
"You didn't piss me off. The paper pissed me off. I didn't want to wake up to that, especially after the morning I had."
"Tell me about the morning you had." He let her go and took her hand, walking into the zoo.
"I'll get your card reimbursed."
"No." He nudged her. "I'm taking you from work so I'm paying."
"Justin, I don't like that." Grabbing his arm, she halted their steps.
"Lighten up, I didn't pay for it. My dad did. I've been in a shit mood all day and he came into my office and said he booked me a girl for some stupid ass luncheon thing."
"You're dad doesn't know about us?"
"No. Not yet, El. He thinks I'm still paying for you. Anyway, he booked me some girl Tegan and I called and had it switched to you, then cancelled the luncheon."
"Why haven't you told your dad?" Offended, she glared at him.
"Well, ZP, this all just happened like a week ago and I don't talk to my father about my personal life much. He'll find out when he finds out."
"That's nice, Justin." She rolled her eyes and began walking again.
"You want me to tell my dad?" He chuckled at her annoyance.
"Yes, I'm your girlfriend, not your escort."
"He doesn't like you," he admitted and Lilith looked up at him sadly. "You intimidate him. It's a good thing, El. Don't sweat it. The last woman that intimidated my dad ended up married to him." He chuckled.
"I want your dad to like me," she muttered. Her brows furrowed as she remembered he wasn't Ian, they weren't at the same place in their relationship like her and Ian.
"He will." He wiggled her hand and she walked to a railing that separated them from the monkeys.
"You think this is too fast? I'm pushing this too fast?" She looked at him.
"This? You and me?" he asked and she nodded. Contemplating, he looked out at the monkeys. "It is kind of fast. You've met my entire family, all my friends, but we also started out with different circumstances."
"I mean am I pushing you too fast?"
"Not at all." He turned to her, placing his hands on her hips to get some sort of contact.
"You just got out of a marriage—"
"No I didn't." He smirked. "I've been divorced almost two years."
"She's still around. You still see her."
"Because I'm stupid." He looked back at the monkeys. With a glance he asked, "Does that bother you?"
In burning light JUSTIN will write his first love song
I don't want her to think there's anything between me and Layna. I still see her because of the drugs and I'm trying to help her get clean, but at the same time I'm still funding her habit. I don't know why I do this shit. I'm not sleeping with her. I haven't slept with her in well over a year. She's tried but I've never done it. I don't think I could even get it up. There's nothing but resentment for that woman in me and yet I can't stop caring for her like it's my responsibility. I definitely have some issues.
El's silence is building and I don't know if I've pissed her off again. She still hasn't told me about her morning and I want her to open up to me, let me in, let me closer.
I turn to her and push her hair behind her shoulder so I can look at her face.
"Does it bother you?" I ask again.
"Yes," she finally answers. "I'm sorry. I have no right, but yes it bothers me you still see her."
"We're not sleeping together," I quickly say. "We haven't been together in over a year. She just runs in the same circle as me and we bump into each other." I don't want to tell her I'm financially taking care of her.
"You had her play your office party. That's not bumping into each other."
"Yeah well, she owed me a favor and we needed a band." I shrug. "That was before you too," I remind her. "You were my escort at that time."
She huffs and looks down at the bar, picking at the wearing paint.
"I won't see her anymore." I just want to make El happy.
"I hate I was your escort." She looks me dead in the eyes and this look is so intense I'm caught off guard.
It's completely genuine and repentant. I almost don't understand. I want to tell her I'm not, that's how I got where I am today, but I don't think that's what she wants to hear. What does she want to hear?
"That part's over—"
"You paid today, Justin," she dryly says and I smirk.
"That was more for the laughs."
"It's not funny. My boyfriend paying for my time is not funny."
"I wanted to see you and I wanted to see you right now. It's well worth it. You're not my escort anymore. I won't do this again unless I really need to see you." I'm still grinning and she finally cracks a smile. "Tell me about this morning." I want to get the subject off me and the stupid shit I'm doing to upset her.
She lets out a long sigh and looks back at the monkeys. I want to touch her, pull her close and keep her there but she's kind of isolated herself by wrapping her arms around her stomach and leaning against the bar. Her tight skirt is hugging her plump ass that's pushed back because she's leaning. I like the view but I know other people probably do too so I stand behind her and pull her up to me so I can wrap my arms around her.
"You know I don't have a mom?" she asks.
"Uh, no." I don't understand, but I'm not going to tell her how weird it is to start a conversation like that.
"I mean my mom left me when I was ten. I have a mom, a stepmom, but my real mom left me when I was ten."
"Okay." I nod.
"Well she just walked out one day, no explanation, so it was me and my dad until we moved in with Peachey—"
"Peachey?"
"Justin." She laughs and bumps her ass into me. "That's her birth name. She had a cruel mother who's an old witch." She giggles and I smirk at her giggle. I push my lips to her ear and I keep listening. "I don't really want anything to do with my birth mother but I was drunk the other night and found her online. I passed out, leaving the search up." She stops and turns toward me.
Her arms slide around my neck and I step closer, leaning into her so our pelvises are touching while she leans against the pole.
"So Ian," she says slowly like she's afraid to say his name. "He saw the search and he did more searching of his own and drudged up all this information on her. Stuff I don't want to know. I don't want him to know. I want to know nothing about that woman and I already know too much! But he took it upon himself to locate her, find out her family history, what church she belongs to. Stuff I don't want anyone close to me to know because I hate her." Her eyes are wide and she seems like she really means that.
I don't understand what Jacks did wrong. He thought she'd want to know this shit. She did search the woman first. Unfortunately, I think he was
trying to help and I'd like to be able to bash him, point out how much of a better man I am, but I'm not that petty.
"I'm sure he thought he was helping but he probably should have talked to you first." I swipe my hand across her face to her hair. "No one's forcing you to go any further with it, so if you really feel that way about her, just forget her. You've managed twelve years without her and I can attest you've done well for yourself. Jacks didn't do it to hurt you, but he was an ass for not talking to you first." At least I got in a small jab.
She's smiling at me almost like she thinks what I just said was lame and I'm a pussy.
"What?" I ask defensively.
"I love you just said that," she says and at first I swear I thought she was going to say something else. End her sentence after you.
Admitting how happy that would have made me has me feeling weak.
"Kiss me."
Our lips connect and she keeps it sweet and simple. I'm assuming because we're at a zoo surrounded by screaming kids.
"As much as I hate you paid for this I'm glad this date was you," she says softly.
"Come on." I take her hand and start walking toward the aquarium.
I can tell something's still bothering her. I think I may have fucked up and made her wish she was with Jacks or some shit.
"ZP." He ran his finger down her cheek while she stared into the blue water behind the glass. "What's on your mind?"
"Do you think I'm a bad person for not wanting to pursue finding her?"
Trying to hide his unclear observation of it all, he shook his head. "No. She left you."
"Yeah and then made a whole new family. She has two little boys, like five year olds." As if he should be stunned too, she looked at him with raised eyebrows.
His immediate thought was who would leave her as a little girl and then make a new family. He reached out, softly touching her cheek.
"How do you know this?" he questioned.
"It was on her profile online."
"So she left you and your dad then made another family."
"Exactly." Pulling out of his touch, she looked back into the water.
"And that pisses you off. What'd you feel about her before you knew she had the two kids?"
She looked at him surprised; no one had ever asked her how she felt about her mother.
"I felt like she must have had reasons. I was under the impression she was a drug addict. I thought she was stupid and wrong but I didn't resent her as much as I do now that I know about the two kids. I think most of my problems stem from the abandonment of my mother and the way my dad handled it. He kept telling me she'd be back until I finally stopped asking about her."
"What problems do you think you have?" He grinned at her and she started to laugh.
"Where do I begin?" She put her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.
"What if you confronted her, told her how you felt. You think that might close some gaps in your life?"
"I think if I could claw out her eyes it might."
He laughed, pulling her closer to kiss the top of her head.
"That'll cause you more problems."
"Justin," a loud voice called out and they both turned. "All set." The man gave him the thumbs up.
"Thanks." He started walking her toward a door that said 'DO NOT ENTER'.
"Where are we going?" She hesitantly followed.
"Shh." He chuckled. "We're not supposed to be in here."
"I gathered that," she whispered, tightly holding his hand.
Just past the doors, they entered a dark room, but a skylight in the center of the room lit a small circle. He brought her over to the light and looked up. She followed his gaze and watched the ceiling close over the skylight. Immediately her hand flung out, grabbing him tightly because it was pitch black. He put his arm around her back and pulled her into a kiss. The intimate kiss was what he wanted by the monkeys, but it was worth the wait. A loud popping like a light was turned on startled her and she pulled away.
He chuckled and put his fingers to her lips. "Shh," he said into her ear.
The ceiling began to light up and she realized they were in a planetarium. She slowly spun, taking in the amazing show above them that projected outer space with millions of stars in spinning colors. What faint light the show offered allowed her to see he was watching her.
"It's not open yet but my buddy got us in pre-opening. They're working just outside those doors." He pointed. "So we can't be loud 'cause they'll kick us out. Brooks is keeping an eye out for us."
"Who turned on the lights?"
"Brooks. It's not finished but there'll be live shows. We should come back when they open it. This is nothing compared to the real thing, but it was the only slide he could find." He pointed up then looked around.
She threw her arms around his neck. "I love spending time with you." Her lips assaulted his mouth over and over, making him chuckle.
He let her kiss him then stepped away and put his finger up. "Stay right here," he said walking away.
Lilith looked around again. The giant open space was unnerving because she couldn't see what was beyond the light from the illuminated stars. When Justin disappeared into the blackness, she began looking around for him more frantically than she should have. There was something about a wide-open space full of darkness that made her uncomfortable when she was alone.
He returned a few minutes later and laid out a blanket, not noticing how panicked she'd become. When he took her hand and sat her down, she began to relax.
"You know your constellations?" He grinned at her, laying back onto the blanket.
"Barely." She giggled following him. "Will people come in here?"
"Brooks locked all the doors except the one we came in at. He said people don't come in here yet. We have at least an hour before he's got to turn the lights out because his boss will be back."
"This is so cool, Justin." She stared up at the view while on her back. "Aquarius." She pointed.
"Where? I have no idea what I'm looking at." He laughed.
"Hercules." She pointed.
The projected stars didn't hold his interest like she did, and as she went on naming, he stared at her, enamored. She tried to line them up for him, connecting the dots with the stars, but he was more interested in connecting them.
He rolled onto his side. "You have fun in Canada?" It'd been a long time since he talked to a woman just for conversation.
"The exhibit was interesting. It was Ashley's conceptual anti anti-graffiti and she actually sold a lot of pieces. She made a nice sum of money and if you read the article this morning she outsold all of the artists at the exhibit."
"How many other artists?"
"I saw six setups I think. She drew on me for three hours, but it was really relaxing, like a slow massage with only a fingertip." She grinned. "It was really amazing and the colors she put into it. She's really a confound artist. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe the things she can do. Then she splashed me with white paint, covering her hours of work and it didn't even faze her. She wasn't looking at it like 'I just wasted three hours', she wanted her message to be heard."
"Which was? The article said anti-religion."
"It wasn't that." She rolled her eyes. "Nothing to even do with religion. When that photograph was snapped of me I was stretching my arms. I stood as a statue for three hours."
"Shit."
"Yeah, I was tired. I was stretching my arms, and not to mention I couldn't see or talk so I wasn't exactly sure what was going on."
"I thought you had a gag in your mouth, but the picture wasn't that good."
"Her message was I will be seen. I won't be silenced."
"Why? Are people trying to put a stop to her art?"
Her eyes locked with his and she just stared, not sure if she could tell him about Ashley's graffiti, but staring into his eyes made her want to tell him everything.
"Kind of. She does a lot of the graffiti around the c
ity," she quietly told him.
"Oh shit." He chuckled.
"You can't say anything though," she blurted with worry. "She could get into a lot of trouble."
"I'm not saying anything. My buddy Tomo would love her. He's from Paris and he was heavy into graffiti over there. He came here, got caught once. They threatened to kick him out of the country and he stopped."
"Paris?" Lilith smirked. "I think she speaks a little French. You should get them together."
"Yeah?" He grinned. "I'll talk to him."
"She did that huge piece that was on the side of the energy building," she said in a whisper like people were around.
"Oh hell." He began to laugh. "I was the prosecuting attorney on that case. The city tried charging three underage kids. Oh shit, that's fucking awesome."
"They didn't go to jail, did they?"
He found the worry in her voice endearing.
"No. I fucked up that case intentionally. I knew those kids didn't do it. They weren't smart enough or talented enough. I actually had to present pictures of their other work and the style was different, but also looked like it was done by my nephews. The whole case was a waste of time, waste of money. It was one of my firsts."
"You're not going to tell people, are you?" She stared at him.
"I would never do that to you." He leaned down, pressing his lips to hers.
Releasing a soft moan, she tugged him over her. Half the lights on the ceiling went out, making her jump.
"It's okay," he whispered and looked up. "Probably a glitch." He went back to kissing her.
The soft dotting kisses grew more frantic as Lilith began pulling at his clothes. After she undid his belt, he slid her skirt up and her thong down. She wiggled out of the underwear and spread her legs while he hurriedly kicked his pants and boxers off. Wanting to make sure she was ready for him, he slid a finger inside her, finding her wetter than he'd expected.
"Justin," she breathed. "Make love to me."
Replacing his finger with his cock, he slowly slid inside her and her mouth opened as she took in a pleasurable gasp. He could faintly see her with what was left of the lit ceiling, but he wouldn't have minded if the skylight opened and bathed her in a light that projected her like the angel she was.
