The Bucket List

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

word count - 1,424

Lilah stood in front of the very official looking building while she trailed a few steps behind her father. She dragged her feet across the marble tile inside the building, with her shoulders slouched, acting like an eight year old instead of eighteen.

“I don’t wanna go in there,” she whined. “I’ve never met any of your clients and I don’t wanna make them a first,” she emphasized ‘them’ referring to the five boys who sat just inside the conference room.

Her father ignored her childlike behavior and continued walking through the silent hallways until he reached the metal door with the nameplate that said ‘Cowell’.

He turned to Lilah and with a stern look on his face said, “If I could have dropped you off at home, I would’ve, but I couldn’t so you’re here. You won’t even have to make conversation, just say hello and let me handle business. Okay?”

Lilah rolled her eyes at her father, but when the serious expression didn’t drop from his face she stood up straight and plastered on a too cheesy smile.

The heavy, metal door swung open and she immediately spotted the boys in the corner of the room. Harry was sitting on the sofa laughing and clapping his hands like a seal at something that Niall did, I assume, because Niall stood in front of Harry doubled over in laughter. Liam sat beside Harry chuckling at whatever had just happened, while Zayn and Louis sat on the sofa across from them engrossed in their iPhones.

Simon walked through the doors with Lilah shying away behind him. He cleared his throat, and suddenly all five boys looked up from whatever they’ve been doing to see what the noise was. When their eyes landed on Simon, smiles grew on all their faces.

“Nice to finally see you, Uncle Simon,” Liam announced with the smile never faltering.

“Hello boys. How are you doing?” Lilah’s father asked. A mumble of “good” and “okay” were passed around the boys.

Niall’s electric blue eyes found their way to Lilah’s hazel ones as he scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “Who is this standing behind you, Simon?”

Simon turned to his daughter with a small smile and said, “This is Lilah, my daughter. Remember I told you about my little girl.”

When “my daughter” left his lips, the smiling boys’ eyes became less bright and a sad, sympathetic smile etched onto their faces.

Of course, she thought. They only think of her as Uncle Simon’s poor daughter with cancer. How unfortunate that such a young girl will be dying soon. She could feel the tears start to rim her eyes, so she covered it up with an awkward cough. “So, I’m just gonna sit over here until you lot are finished with whatever.” Before she turned, she glanced at Harry for a moment. There was something about the way he stared at her that made her uneasy, like he was trying to read her mind and thoughts. She held the small smile the whole time, but Harry knew there was something behind it. What he didn’t know was why she felt so uncomfortable being here with the rest of the boys and her father.

Before Harry’s mind could runway with his thoughts, Simon clapped his hands and told the boys to gather around the conference table.

-

Lilah was in and out of the meeting going on around her as she was in the middle of a game of Fun Run. She was about to win her 7th game in a row when she heard her name coming from the center of the room.

She picked her head up from the game and saw the voice belonged to her dad.

“Time to go?” she said a little too eagerly, grabbing her purse as she stood up.

“Not quite, I’m afraid. I have one more thing to wrap up here and then we will go, I promise.” Before Lilah good even let out a sigh he adds. “Stay here with the boys. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

“Why can’t I just go with you?” Lilah stammered out trying not to look at the five faces sneaking glances at her and Simon.

“I think you could use some company of someone your age and not a middle aged housekeeper.”

“I don’t think I need any company…” she rolled her eyes and Simon gave her that fatherly look that reads ‘Just do what I tell you’ and she let out a sigh and reluctantly agreed.

Simon kissed the top of Lilah’s head and walked out the office door.

There was an awkward silence that filled the room and Lilah felt uncomfortable. No one was engaging a conversation and Lilah told herself she would not be the one to start.

Harry was the one who broke the silence. “So…how bout Manchester United? They played one hell of a game last night. Did any of you lads catch it?”

None of the boys responded to his question. Mostly chuckles filled the room at Harry’s lame attempt at a conversation starter.

Lilah however did catch the game. She modestly picked at her chipped manicure and said, “Yeah… Liverpool never had a chance. 14-2, really? They were dominated.”

Five necks all snapped in her direction and she continued to look at her hands.

“So, she speaks,” Harry said with a smirk as if he just did the impossible.

Lilah looked up from her nails and rolled her eyes. “Listen, don’t take this personally but I really don’t want to be here right now. I’m not in the position to be making new friends, and if I were, they definitely wouldn’t be people like you.”

All of their eyes looked like they were about to fall out of the sockets and their jaws dropped to the floor. “What are you implying?” Louis questioned with a slight humor in his tone.

“I don’t really go after people that work for my dad. Especially not people with a fan base filled with crazed teenagers that’ll rip me apart if I breathe by you. Not my cup of tea,” Lilah replied.

Despite not having the best as first impressions go, Harry will admit that Lilah was really fit. Her long, brown, wavy hair cascaded down her back and her hazel eyes had a certain sparkle in them as if she enjoyed egging the boys on like this. Her hips and bum looked fantastic in her leggings and her boobs and curves were accentuated in her form fitting top.

Of course they all knew she had really aggressive cancer, Lilah is the daughter of one of the most famous people, but you could never tell she was dying. In fact, she acted and looked like any normal teenager. Granted, in a short while her body will fail her, but for now it was nice for Harry to pretend she was a random girl he could be cheeky with.

“but anyway, I’m going to catch a cab home, I suppose. No offense, but I have other things to do. It was very nice meeting you all.” Lilah stood from her chair, gave a short wave to the five boys who sat bewildered in front of her, and exited the room.

-

“Lilah!!!” suddenly Lilah heard her name being echoed around her large house. Clearly the person screaming the name wasn’t very happy.

Simon appeared in Lilah’s bedroom and the look on his face was anything but pleased.

“I thought I told you to stay with the boys until I returned. Did I not?” It was a rhetorical question, so Simon continued. “Instead, you only thought about yourself and didn’t listen to me. Why can’t you do one thing I say? It was a simple task, and you failed to accomplish it!”

Lilah sunk down in her bed and let out a sigh, “I’m sorry, dad. I just didn’t want to be there with them. You know how I feel about being near your work. It’s uncomfortable, and to be completely honest, it wasn’t the greatest first impression.”

Her response wasn’t cutting it for Simon, so again he continued with reprimanding her. “Being in bed all day and not having any social contact is not good for you. You need to be up and active while you still can. This is why I asked the boys to spend the day with you tomorrow!”

Lilah’s jaw dropped a mile wide and her face drained of color.

Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day.