Crazy = Genius

Chapter 29: Say Love

"You're going to stack your arms next to each other with your hands flat, palms up to the ceiling. Tuck them close to your chest." She instructed as he fumbled to make his arms into a proper cradle formation. Once he was still she laid the baby in his muscular arms.

"Oh, this is weird." He breathed, shifting her slightly so she was better supported against his torso.

"You're fine. Keep her like that, don't move much, support her head and neck, please. If she stirs, hum a tune softly and rock your arms ever so slightly. She's only been out for thirty minutes so she should be good for at least another hour. I'll be back. Okay?" She assured him, making her way to the door.

"Yep. I think I can do this." He nodded hesitantly, eyes drifting back to the baby.

"Good, have fun." She waved, walking down the hall and towards his office.

As she neared the office she started to panic. What was she supposed to say to him? She can't just waltz in and hold a civil conversation with him. That was unlikely and awkward, two things Lilianna did not want to put herself through.

She settled on telling him the truth about why she was talking to him. Just admitting she was forced to be in the same room as him because the other men were done with his bad attitude. She rested her hand on the door to knock, took a deep breath, and tapped twice.

"What the fuck do you want?" He screamed, yanking the door open and glaring at her. As soon as he registered the body before him, his anger disappeared and he resembled a lost puppy.

Lilianna cowered back at his harsh greeting, eyes wide and glued to him in fear of what he would do.

"Lili, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you I just-" He stuttered helplessly, taking a few steps towards her with his hand outstretched.

He longed to feel her blonde locks between his fingertips, his warm and rough hands pressed against her torso. He wanted her to snap at him and be sassy. He wanted to feel her peel his arms off of her in bed and hear her tell him off for being handsy.

"Don't, Terrence." She stopped him, her voice wavering.

"Lili please."

"Don't call me that!" She snapped. "That was what my mother called me and only she called me that and you have turned that against me. Don't you dare!"

"I'm sorry." He apologized, voice soft as he looked at her with worried eyes. Her bottom lip trembled slightly and he took a step forward to reach for her but she just shuffled back in response. "Lilianna I want to fix things. Please let me make this right let me do this for us, please."

"For us? Us! There is no us, Terrence! There is only you, you and a dream. It is only you and a phantasm about a dead girl! I am not your girlfriend! I am not your pretty little angel, I am not Annalise. I am Lilianna Price, I am the woman who was sent to you by the American government to rip into your head and bring you to tears! I am not your Annalise." She yelled, her hands flying furiously as she spoke and her eyes glossy with anger and emotion.

Terrence stared at her in awe. His jaw dropped and he spluttered like a fish as she hit him with verbal punches one after another. He wanted to yell back, tell her to stop, tell her she was wrong even though she wasn't. He just wanted the chance to breathe.

"I know that Lilianna, I am very aware of the fact that you are not Annalise. But that does not mean that I do not have feelings for you that are similar to what I had for her, that what I feel for you is false." Terrence spoke softly, his voice cracking at the end.

"So it's not just because I'm a carbon copy of your murdered young love? It's not because I sound like her, or talk like her, or anything?" She laughed dryly. "You're lying Terrence and you're not lying to me. You are lying to yourself and I can't let you convince yourself you love me with false facts."