Chapter Eight
Lillian sat at her desk, head throbbing once again. The only positive was that her stomach had finally stopped churning.
She couldn’t hardly think about what had happened to that man without feeling an odd sensation come over her, one she wasn’t totally comfortable with. Also one she couldn’t fully explain.
Although she’d never say it aloud, the fact was that she’d felt a relief when he’d passed on, like she could feel all his pain and then the relief that death brought. She’d never experienced anything like that in her life.
There was also something about a light that she barely remembered. Though maybe it was just a trick of the snow. She wasn’t exactly at her best in terms of concentration at the time.
That still didn’t explain her reaction. Lillian had never really thought of herself as the morbid type. She believed that everything had a purpose, even in death, but it wasn’t like she spent more time thinking about it than the average person. It just seemed like a fact of life.
Death would come for them all eventually, but it wasn’t something she exactly lived her life in fear of either.
She could still see the man’s face as he lay there in front of her, his body growing cold as he began to shut down. Somehow she knew that he wouldn’t make it just by looking at him.
The words she had used echoed in her head. That was, perhaps, the most unusual aspect of the whole thing.
They seemed so familiar to her. Maybe she’d read them in a poem or something. It was the only thing she could think of that made any sense.
Erik had tried to get her to go home, but she just couldn’t. For once, her cat couldn’t offer the comfort that she needed, and she didn’t want to sit in her quiet apartment alone, replaying the accident and death over and over. She wanted to see the life around her. To know that she was still alive.
Her thoughts returned to the man on the street. His family and the pain they must be feeling. It could have very well been her on that street. She’d tripped over the exact same spot. If the bus had been coming at that time, it would have been her lying there and not him.
Why did things happen as they did? Was there a purpose to it all?
Lillian wanted to believe there was. It was the only way to make sense of things in the world, but if that were the case, then it would have to mean that her purpose meant more than his.
The knot in her stomach came back. Maybe she was placing too much importance on the accident. Things happened all the time in a big city. The only difference was that this happened in front of her.
The trill of her phone startled her, and she nearly knocked over her hot cocoa on the way to answer the phone.
"Hello, Olsen Enterprises. This is Lillian speaking."
Her eyes searched the room as she picked up the phone. Margaret glared at her from across the room, but she’d barely talked to her the entire day. She wasn’t quite sure what Erik had said to the Dragon Lady, but whatever it was, Lillian had a feeling she would eventually pay. Her gaze slid over to where his closed door was.
She’d not said much to him other than that she’d like to stay for the day. Likely he thought her some sort of monster. After all, she’d just witnessed a man die and couldn’t even find the will to cry over it. Something was seriously wrong with her.
Maybe Erik sensed that within her. Maybe that had been why he’d been shut in his office all morning. He might be trying to come to grips with the sort of woman he’d hired.
It had been clear that Erik was disturbed by the whole thing. She watched as he picked up a feather from the sidewalk. Maybe it actually symbolized something to him. She didn’t get why. It was just a feather. Some bird must have just flown overhead.
Though the color was so striking and pure. Did they have birds like that in Minneapolis in the winter?
Lillian shook her head. She couldn’t get lost in thought. If she was going to be at work, it meant she still had a job to do.
"Oh, thank God you answered," a panicked woman said on the other end of the phone.
Lillian opened her mouth to ask just who it was until it dawned on her that there was only one woman who even knew how to call her desk number.
"I really fucked up," Gwen said on the other end of the phone. "I'm meeting with these clients later on tonight, and for some reason, nearly a quarter of the paperwork didn’t transfer over the cloud. I need you to do me a huge favor."
Lillian glanced at the clock. About half an hour until it was time to leave.
"Sure. Anything. That's what friends are for."
"I need you to go into my office, boot up my computer, password is beardsaresexy69, and pull up those files."
Lillian nearly snorted at the password. She'd wondered if her new friend might have something for the brooding and bearded vice president Leif. Apparently, her guess had been right.
"Okay I'll go do that," she said. "Give me your number and e-mail address, and I'll call you back when I’m finished."
Lillian copied down both the number and email address before quietly slipping away. Being so close to quitting time on a Friday, it was just luck that no one would miss her at her desk. She wasn't certain if Gwen could get in trouble for not having all her material, but if Lillian could avoid that, she would. Gwen was her only two-legged friend in the city, after all.
It also gave her something to do to help keep her mind off the accident.
Gwen’s office was dark when she stepped inside. Lillian was struck by the soft notes of caramel coffee that still lingered in the air. Lillian smiled. It was so very Gwen.
For as put together as Gwen was, it was nice to know that she still had hang-ups and missteps just like everyone else. A healthy coffee addiction was something she could work with, especially since she had something of a cocoa one herself.
Lillian slid into the seat and powered up the machine. It hummed for a moment before the screen popped on. She fiddled with her necklace and grinned at the picture of a very large dog smiling back at her. His tongue lulled over to the side as he stared lovingly back at the camera. She’d heard about him but hadn’t seen a picture of him before.
Thor. The giant black mastiff was a big lug that seemed the total opposite of the very put together woman. And despite how much Gwen said he annoyed her, it was clear to Lillian just how much she loved the dog.
Lillian chuckled to herself as she entered the password. It had always seemed like there was something between Leif and Gwen, or at least that she thought there should be something between them. It was always so hard to tell with either of them since they tended to keep those kinds of feelings hidden most of the time.
But there was just something about the two of them together that felt… right.
Finding the file was easy enough. When she opened it, it was clear that the initial transfer hadn’t gone through correctly. Maybe a hiccup in the internet or something.
Lillian sent off the file after logging into her email and was glad when Gwen instantly responded that it had gone through perfectly.
She grinned when Gwen promised a girls’ night out at a hot new club when she got back the next night.
It had been a long time since she’d done anything outside of work. It didn’t even really matter to her just what they did. Anything that didn’t involve yoga pants and Mr. Fuzzy Pants, as wonderful as he was, sounded great, especially after the day she’d had.
Feeling entirely better after the terrible start to the day, Lillian made her way back over to her own office space to pick up her belongings. It was then that she noticed a stack of papers sitting on her desk with a note scrawled on top.
Since you had no problem coming in late, I'm sure you won't have a problem doing this extra paperwork as well. — Margaret.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she groaned before sinking into her chair.
That woman was going to always be a pain in her ass. No matter how much she tried, Margaret seemed hell bent on getting her to quit.
Lillian stiffened in her chair. Not today.
She'd make the damn copies and have them nicely stacked on the older woman's desk. No way in hell she was giving up without a fight. For the first time in ages, she felt like she actually belonged somewhere.
"Sugar over vinegar," she grumbled.
Lillian picked up the paperwork. She would just get the work done, and then she could head home to figure out what the heck she was going to wear to the club the next night.