"Lav, at least have your breakf-"
"I SAID I'LL HAVE IT!" Lavender snapped, tapping on her keyboard with lightening speed. "Holy, you have changed ever since you came back from Bilsburg." Claire gasped, holding her broken heart. "You know the rule, don't disturb me when I'm working." She snapped again, fingers still running over the keys.
"But you haven't been eating well since the past week! At least, let me feed you while you work."
"CLAIRE!"
"Understood." She bowed, placing the tray of freshly cooked eggs, honeyed blueberry waffles along with a refreshing ice tea at her table. Lavender felt bad for being rude to Claire but she didn't want to miss a thing that could be inside her next bestselling book.
That's when she hit the blackout phase.
"SON OF A- AAARGRGHHHHHHH" She growled unlike her personality. She slammed her fists onto the table before running her fingers through her hair. "I hate it. I hate it, I hate it...." She muttered over and over again as her head lowered itself on the desk. Thinking hard did not seem to bring back that catchy line she was going to write.
Boy, was it good.
She wrote the content on a sticky note and posted it on her desk, so that she could look at it later and magically remember the line. She looked at the tray of delicious food and rolled her eyes. She drank the ice tea first, gulping it down like alcohol. "I'm gonna head outside after this." Lavender mumbled to herself with her mouth stuffed with waffles.
After she was done, she placed the tray aside and went inside for a bath. Putting the transparent flowery body wash with tiny colourful exfoliators on her body, she let her thoughts flow like the falling water. Those droplets of water fell on her skin and slid down her body like raindrops on a window. She was remembering Tristen. It was quite understandable for her to fall in love with him. He was her first, after all. His heroic entrance to save her from the 'bad' guys was flattering enough. The situation itself was mysterious and left an enormous room for doubt. Maybe that doubt was the reason why she could not get him off her mind.
Was it even love? Or was it Lavender's reason to get a story disguised as love?
She did not know. But what did she know was that she was totally attracted to him. Taking a long warm shower, she dried herself off and wore a light purple short dress, her favourite white platform heels and grabbed a small white sling purse that had a platinum chain to it. It was a minimalistic casual dress, nothing special.
"I'm going out." Lavender said to Claire, who was watching TV. "Sure! Come soon." She smiled. "Sorry for being rude earlier. I faced a blackout." She apologized.
"Oh, then I'm the one who should be sorry. Be safe." Claire replied, watching her go.
Where to?
Lavender didn't know herself. She wanted to get rid of that writer's block. She walked down the driveway rethinking her choices.
Maybe Tristen was right. Lavender should have never met her. He had been living in her mind ever since they met and she was getting tired of it. Maybe she could not write another book. At least, not so fast. She decided to pay Jim a visit at the company and ask him to find someone else to write him a book. First she would persuade him into giving her more time, and if it did not work, she'd proceed with the latter. She could have simply called him and talked it out on the phone, but she rather needed an excuse to leave the house. Grab a drink at a café shop for a change, perhaps.
She drove her car to Kilns Word Publications and after what seemed like thirty minutes, she arrived at her destination.
"Look at our shining little star! Welcome, Lavender. You're here to tell me that you've written half a book, right? It's been a week, after all." Jim greeted her, more concerned about her work progress. "I'm here to tell you that I'm not writing another book." She said directly to his face.
"Why? If it's about a plot, just get a reference from some other book."
"I have a plot, Jim."
"Then what's the problem?"
"I cannot write it. Not so fast."
"Lav, come on."
"If you give me enough time I will write you one."
"How much time do you need?"
"Around four months, and that's a bare minimum Jim. Even you know that."
"I can only give you another three weeks."
"Fine. Ask Bates. Or Marcus, whoever. Not me."
"I'm begging you please! We need to publish another book to give Bates time to finish his! We always have some book published at this time of the year! It's going to look bad if we do not publish something quick." Jim fell on his knees. "My answer is final. Your request got me killed in Bilsburg." Lavender said. "Don't do this to me Lavender. You're the only person who can help me out!" He pleaded, holding her feet. "Jim! Get up!" She gasped, stepping backwards. "You need to do it." He said. "Why me? Did everyone else die?" She rolled her eyes.
"They refused." Jim made a crying face with a small child pout. "So, what makes you think I can be persuaded?" Lavender scoffed, making Jim look at her with a 'that's obvious' face.
"I'm out of here."
"Lav! You need that extra attention from readers!"
"What I need, is a vacation. I'll be leaving for Rome next week."
"Lavender!" Jim cried on the floor like a child, watching her leave. Lavender walked down the building with a flawless look that made the employees go 'wow'. They always stared at her whenever she paid a visit in the company. It wasn't her fault that she was beautiful, after all. Her phone rang the moment she reached the entrance building.
Jim.
"Why is he like this?" She whined, walking out of the main gate before even checking the way. She got startled when a car honked at her face. She lost her grip on her purse which sent it flying away, getting frightened. She tried to back up in a panicked state which caused her to trip and fall backwards, only to be held by the hands she didn't know she would be touched by again.
"Y-You..." Lavender muttered, staring at the man. "We meet again, Ms. Hills." Tristen smiled, holding her by the waist mid air. A small shy smile appeared on Lavender's face as her hands held his shoulders, which she suppressed.
"Mr. Killings." She said with the same formality. "Ahem, ahem." Brendon coughed from behind them, breaking the moment. Tristen pulled her back up and she quickly took a step back. "Your bag, Ms. Hills." He said, handing it to her. "Thank you, Mr..." Lavender trailed off.
"Brendon. Just Brendon."
"Thank you, Brendon."
"What're you doing here?" Tristen asked. "I'm here for work. I should be asking you instead." She replied. "I'd say the same." He smirked. There it was again. That glimmer in his green eyes which made Lavender lose herself in them. "So, you finally found me." He scoffed, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Yes, let's just say I did." She said rather sarcastically. "You look beautiful." Tristen said, out of the blue. "H-Huh?" Lavender dropped her sarcasm in an instant. "Your dress, you look just like your characters; as if you were living inside a book. It's beautiful." He said.
"How did you know about me?" She asked out of surprise.
"You came out of Kilns Word Publications."
"Cut it out, you just talked about my characters. You knew about me all along, didn't you?" She smirked, getting a little flirty with her body language. She took a step towards him to close in the distance.
"Hm, let's just say I did." He smirked back as he winked before taking his leave. She was surprised. Did he really know her? Was he just messing around? It was common sense to perceive someone as a writer if they came out of a publishing company, but then he talked about her books as if he had read them. But then again, he could just be making things up given the fact that she came out of a publishing company; she did have that writer aura around her so one really would not mistake her for an employee. She could not figure out if he was messing around or being serious.
"Tristen!" Lavender called him, spinning around. "Anything?" He asked. "A-Are you available, right now?" She gathered some guts to ask him. His guards started chuckling amongst themselves. "What do you think I do for a living, Ms. Hills?" Tristen asked, stepping closer back to her. "Business?" She guessed, shrugging.
"By all due respect, Ms. Hills, do you think I have time?" Tristen asked, without any intention to mock or belittle her. "I was going to a café near by. I thought it'd be polite to ask you, since we knew each other." She made up an excuse. "Despite what I said last time?" He raised his brow sarcastically. "I did not bump into you by intention. We happened to cross paths." Lavender stood her ground this time and stared him back in the eye. She was the type of girl to try her best before giving up. "Would you, or would you not like to join me for a beverage, Mr. Killings?" She clearly was not going to back off. And Tristen saw that in her eyes. Although he knew it was not right and that he was running out of time to seal a deal, he could not find the will the turn her down. He had been trying to keep her out of his mind just like her.
"I'll join you in a while." He said to Brendon, who rolled his eyes.
"Tristen, it's impor-"
"That's it." Tristen cut off Brendon, declaring that he will not be discussing about it any further in front of Lavender. Brendon took the cue and sat inside the car. "Shall we?" Tristen asked, pulling his arm out for Lavender to hold. Such a 'gentleman'. Lavender hesitantly took his arm, feeling shy. "Lead the way." He said, falling into a trap he never knew existed.
A trap of addiction. An addiction worse than that of any drug; the addiction of love.
Lavender guided him to a quiet location, further in the streets and away from the city mess. It was her favourite coffee shop. She came there very often to find some peace of mind and for a little change in her routine. The café was empty since it was still quite early in the morning, which meant that they had the place to themselves.
"You do have a unique sense of places." Tristen said, pulling out a chair for Lavender. He was not the one to usually do such gestures of kindness, but he was with a woman. His parents did not teach him to disrespect a woman, although they raised him to take lives.
"Thank you." Lavender smiled. "I'm coming here for the first time. I like this place." Tristen said, looking around while resting his back on the chair. "Will I be finding you here again, then?" She asked with a smile. "You seem to be really curious about me, don't you?" He grinned.
"Why? Aren't you?" Lavender asked, making him chuckle. "What do you want to know?" Tristen asked. "Everything." She replied.
"That seems too vast. Be specific."
"Tell me about yourself." Lavender said after she placed her order to the waitress who came to serve them. "What about me?" He shook his hand and refused to order the waitress, sending her away. "What do you do for a living?" She asked, putting her chin on her palm. "Are you really that innocent or you just want to play?" He scoffed in disbelief. Any one should have taken a hint about Tristen given how Lavender encountered him. "What do you mean?" She creased her brows in confusion. "There's a reason why I asked you to stay away from me. If you get involved with me, your life will be done for." He said.
"Why, are you some mafia?" Lavender giggled. She saw the look in his eyes change. "What happened?" She asked.
"I don't know what I was thinking. I'm such a fool." He scoffed before he rubbed his temples. "I don't understand." Lavender said. "I actually thought this could work out. I'm really sorry, but I need to leave now." He put an estimate of the bill on the table, got up from his seat and started walking towards the door.
"Tristen, is it because of what I said?" She panicked. He did not reply her, nor did he look back. "Tristen!" She jogged towards him with her heels clacking the stony floor. She held his hand causing him to turn around. "I'm sorry." Her lower lip trembled. Tristen looked into her eyes and saw how she was clueless about what had happened.
Yet, she was apologizing.
How do I tell you? Tristen wondered. "Have a beverage with me. You can leave if you still feel like it isn't working out." She said, desperately waiting for his answer.
I hate lying, I cannot lie to her. He thought. But she looks like she's going to cry.
Tristen exhaled loudly, walking back to their table and took a seat. He grabbed the money off the table and put it back in his pocket. Lavender happily followed him and sat down, as the waitress brought her drink. "Bring me the same." Tristen ordered. "Let's talk about you. How many books have you written?" He asked. "I have written about fifteen books up till now. Five out of them became bestsellers." She replied in a boastful tone. She wanted to impress him, that's all. "Amazing." Tristen replied, without being judgemental.
"I've won an award for the best romantic book of the year, but it was the only one. It was for my work called, The-"
"The hopeless romantic?" Tristen cut her off, surprising her. "So you do know me!" She smiled.
"You charm everyone who reads your book." He smirked, gently touching the tip of his shoe to hers. "R-Really?" She blushed.
"I do not lie. You can trust my words." He said, looking around for the drink he had ordered. Lavender followed basic table etiquettes and waited for the server to get his drink before she could taste hers.
"Why didn't you tell me that you knew about me?"
"Didn't want to come off as one of those crazy stalker fans, that's why I did not mention it. I love your books."
"Thanks. It means a lot to hear such words from a..."
"From?"
"I was going to say a fan. Sorry." Lavender giggled, stirring her drink with the stirrer while the waitress brought the same order for Tristen. "You're not wrong." He smiled, doing the same. "Oh my god, I'm flattered! Are you, really? Or you're just saying that to make me laugh?" Lavender exclaimed.
"Yes, it's true. Would it be rude if I said that I want to keep you to myself?" He asked, sipping the drink. "W-What?" She blushed, looking down in her glass. "I don't like sharing something I like with others. So can I keep you to myself?" He repeated, placing the drink back on the table. "Ahem, um, yeah, s-sure." She smiled wide, hiding it under a palm. Tristen's eyes sparked at her cheerful blushing face, which led to his smile surfacing.
"I like the place you brought us to. Let me pick one next time."
"So there's going to be a next time?" She asked surprisingly. "Do you want there to be?" Tristen smirked, touching his foot to hers again. This time, it was not a gentle brush. He was teasing her to see her blush once again.
"It'd be lovely." Her cheeks burned.
"Great. I'd have dropped you home but..." He looked at his wristwatch. It had miniature diamonds around it. "Do not worry, I'll be fine." Lavender smiled, watching Tristen pay for the drinks. He did not even bother asking or looking at Lavender before paying. He payed as if it was his duty. "I could have paid the half-" She started. "You made me have a nice time, Ms. Hills. Thank you." He cut her off, before spinning around to leave.
"Mr. Killings!"
"Yes?"
"You didn't leave me your number."