A lockdown love story

Promotion

Chapter ten

"Remind me who Davina Louis is. She kinda sounds like a bitch." Scarlet said down the phone as she balanced it against her shoulder, attempting to paint and talk.

Lilah was too happy to scowl her best friend on her insult. "Davina Louis is the writer I pushed for in one of the meetings. I've loved her work for months, and they've finally given her a contract." Lilah told her with pure excitement. This was the first time since college she had felt the feeling of achievement. Finally, she was making a real difference.

"That's amazing Lilah!" Scarlet congratulated as she fixed her full attention of Lilah's call. "So, what happens now?" She questioned. Scarlet had no clue what the big deal was. She was proud of her friend, of course she was always proud, but she couldn't help the disappointment that Lilah was making someone else's dream come true, and not her own.

"I get to lead the whole thing! I edit, call meetings with the design and promotion team. I'm finally in charge. And of course Davina gets the recognition she deserves."

"You mean to tell me you've got a promotion?" Scarlet cheered. Lilah was going to stop her over excitement considering it's not exactly a promotion. "We have to celebrate! Starting with Cassie's, we're having a wild girls night out."

Lilah chuckled, she could imagine Scarlet dancing around her studio. "How could I possible decline?"

"You can't! I'll meet you at Cassie's at eight." The phone went dead before Lilah could reply.

Scarlet's excitement made Lilah even happier, no matter what Scarlet was her number one fan.

Today was a day Lilah would never forget. The smell of the printed contract Davina signed opposite her. When they slid the contract to Lilah to make her end of the deal. The ink from the pen flowing as she tried not to shake with excitement. And the sight of the official contract, signed and final. Lilah had finally made a mark in the publishing work. The joy in Davina's face was indescribable, but Lilah knew she must be on cloud nine.

A night out with Scarlet meant going full out. Lilah was her own glam team, all she could think about when Carmen let her go was celebrating. Lilah curled her hair before perfecting her makeup. She steadied her hand as she glued on a row of silver gems onto her eye lids, Lilah always made sure to keep up with the trends. She took a deep breath after the most stressful part of the routine. Despite being early she couldn't help but slip into her outfit. She secured her lacy black cropped corset, exposing her tanned waist. She matched it with a leather mini skirt . Lilah looked proudly in the mirror, admiring her appearance at different angles, this was the confidence boost she needed after the blow up with Cole. Lilah dug through her collection of shoes, groaning as she found all the wrong ones. She really wished her room was bigger, it was functionable but her love of shoes was being punished due to the lack of space. "Got you!" She smirked as she pulled her leather platform Chelsea boots out of her cluttered wardrobe. She checked the time and figured it wouldn't hurt being early so she walked out her room expecting to see her roommate, but she didn't. "That's weird." She said with furrowed brows, she swore Cole wasn't on schedule till late. She shrugged it off, hopping around the living room to zip her boots up. The silence in the apartment was nice, unusual but nice. Lilah had become used to the racket Cole made even when he didn't realise. She grabbed her bag and swiped her keys off the table, but as she claimed her keys, another set were sat right beside them. "Idiot." She sighed, holding the cold bunch of keys Cole had left behind. Lilah debated on what her options were. Leave him stranded and make him learn by his mistake by being locked out. Or be a good person and take them to him. She debated, but remembering that he waited for her to come home after their argument, she figured the choice was already made.

***

There are a lot of myths in this worlds, but the saying the city never sleeps, is the truest of all. New York was always alive, maybe even more in the night. And Lilah never failed to pass her favourite spots, the food cart where she got her first pizza slice, the newspaper stand, even the corner shop. They always shot her a smile and a hello as she went on her way. She was a people person, even in the big bad city, a few friendly faces made her world a tiny bit brighter.

Lilah made it to Cole's bar, and all eyes were immediately on her. It was like a scene from a wild west movie, the unwelcomed cowboy walks through the barn door, the only thing missing was the tumble weed. Although, Lilah's audience wasn't looking at her in disgust, on the contrary they were all stunned by her beauty. Including a certain bar tender.

"Lilah?" Cole questioned, throwing the bar towel over his shoulder. His voice was uncertain, was the girl he pissed off only hours ago here to see him. "What are you doing here?"

Lilah rolled her eyes. "Relax, I'm not here to stay." She slammed Cole's keys on the wooden bar. "You left these behind."

Cole nodded and collected his keys. He now classed himself as a fool for thinking she would have possibly dressed up to see him. "You going on a date?" He asked.

Lilah chuckled, if she were going on a date she might have won something a little bit more reserved and not clubbing attire. "Actually I'm celebrating."

Cole's mind wondered. Is this her way of telling him she's moving out. He wouldn't blame her considering his behaviour but she sure seemed pretty happy. "Celebrating what?"

Just as Lilah was about to reply a voice called her name. "Lilah!" She turned with a smile to see Duke. Her newest friend, calling her over to the table he was occupying along with Jesse and JP.

"I'll tell you later." Lilah said, dismissing Cole's query. She tapped the bar and made her way to the boys table. She couldn't help but body her confidence, the noise her boots made drew the attention of her surrounding, and she was enjoying it. This was the feisty girl who first moved to the city.

"You are looking gorgeous as ever." Duke complimented when she arrived.

Lilah chuckled. "You've only seen me fresh out the shower or in my sleepy morning state." She replied.

The two other boys looked at Lilah and Duke with wide eyes. "Did you two?" JP questioned. It sounded an awful lot like a hook-up situation.

Lilah and Duke both shared a laugh. "He crashed on the sofa when you guys left. Nothing happened." Lilah confirmed.

"Good, because Cole would kill Duke." JP said, receiving death stares from his friends. Clearly he had spoken before his brain filtered. Lilah was about to ask him to elaborate but Jesse quickly interrupted.

"How about we get a round in, you looked dressed for a party, but direly sober."

"Actually, I'm meeting my friend." Lilah said, feeling bad at declining their offer. They still wanted her around despite her performance with Cole.

Jesse shrugged. "Well tell them to come here." He simply said, Lilah was conflicted, if she spent time here it would mean seeing Cole for longer than necessary. "Plus, we could really use you help at convincing Cole to finish early to make it to our gig."

"Gig?" Lilah asked, still hovering over their booth, she hadn't quite decided to stay or go, but right now she was being swayed to stay.

The boys looked at her in confusion. "Yeah, our band just got a last minute slot and Cole's our lead guitar."

"I'm sorry. WHAT!" Lilah shouted.