20 Returning to their daily life
After having breakfast, Lillian Grey and Lucy went shopping, hitting the local streets, visiting jewelry shops, antique places, and so on.
Throughout the journey, Lucy appeared in high-spirit and enjoyed dragging her lazy companion all around the places that seemed to attract her. With no other option to flee, Lillian Grey went on a short tour with her girlfriend.
Shortly, Lillian remembered to get some souvenirs back home.
***
Finishing their shopping spree, at last, Lillian took Lucy out for a pleasant lunch date, which appeared to be the final touch to their short and crazy little adventure trip.
***
They flew back to New York that afternoon in a rush. Dropping her girlfriend at her apartment, Lillian returned home after long, traffic-filled ride.
The biggest hurdle was to be patient until she reaches the 12th floor with her baggage and jetlag.
The trip cost both severe body ache from continually moving without proper rest. Though it was short, Lucy braved and never complained for one moment. Her liveliness affected Lillian and influenced her to go along without a fret.
For the first time after a prolonged period, Lillian felt that she should treasure and cherish her time with her current girlfriend, Lucy.
Unlike her previous relationships, which she thrived aimlessly and with no passion, Lucy is the first one to strike Lillian emotionally, causing her to lose herself. Lucy also invoked Lillian's past, which not any of her old associations could achieve.
As a result, Lillian hurt Lucy willingly, but the girl did not give in to insults and retained her love for Lillian visibly, making Lillian eventually give up her fits. That night, Lillian made love to Lucy, ignoring her past.
Acknowledging this girl who flipped her world lately, Lillian genuinely felt the need to work hard.
Despite her decision, a few unalterable news reached her ears after many years. Lillian's new resolution shuddered under the weight of the message she received from Jenna.
Regardless of what, this trip remained a precious memory for the two women.
**
Standing in front of the door, Lillian sighed, finally able to get some rest.
Lillian's home welcomed its owner with overwhelming darkness; it was absolute blind with no lights turned on.
The house enters into a single way alley and then extends to the majestic living room and the rest.
Sensing the indulging darkness, Lillian Grey searched for the switch near the entrance. Soon, upon pressing, the alley got illuminated with pretty golden-yellow sconces at definite intervals. As if the lights are leading to a treasure map, Lillian Grey followed them cautiously. Both sides of the walls had colorful graffiti drawings as wallpapers.
Soon, the alley opened up to a modernized grey color themed living room, so grand and expansive.
The only colors one can find would be white, black, and grey. Lillian did not prioritize the colors in the living room and kept it simple and classy.
The living room did not bask in the sunshine. Lillian always keeps her drapes shut, making it only dark inside, and the only light she could embrace is from the artificial sources.
Welcomed by the Grey themed living room, Lillian Grey placed the bags aside and fell on the couch instantly.
The L shaped furniture also used for long hours lounging is Lillian's favorite place to take naps. Whenever she feels exhausted, the sofa serves the best spot for her to relax and reenergize.
Resting comfortably, Lillian glanced around.
The place looked exactly the same as she left.
Her eyes maneuvered over to the most related spot of the living room, the mini-bar setup.
The empty bottles of alcohol were piling up with only a few loaded once rested on the racks while the final drink she had, just before departing to meet Lucy for their vacation, still left on the counter.
'I have to wash that up,' - Lillian noted on her list as top things to do.
..
Her eyes, moving on, settled at the fireplace that stood in front of the lounge. It's purpose only served during winter days, the furnace appeared neat, by default. Shifting her eyes above the fireplace, stood the wall-mounted television, used both to play video games with her buddy Shane as well watch random programs that Jenna recommends.
The head of the fireplace extends a little over the edge to form a sturdy ledge that holds some of the dearest photographs of Lillian Grey.
'Keep this as a memento of this trip!' - Lillian suddenly recalled Lucy's gift from the trip.
Both took a picture at the Grand Canyon, and Lucy, while doing her shopping, managed to get it framed. She gifted to Lillian as a memory from the vacation.
Remembering, Lillian stood up and searched for her bag. After finding the photo-frame, she glanced at the picture.
Lucy appeared tired yet happy hugging Lillian, as she stood close to her while Lillian Grey- she saw herself in a very complex outlook. They took the picture a few minutes before the sunset settled, and so, the frame ended up having a scenic background.
Under such magnificent surroundings, Lucy, who was tired, still managed to appear stylish and cute while Lillian held a lot of intensity in her gaze.
"..."
'I was thinking about her when we took this picture.' - Lillian mumbled and snickered while placing it on the shelf.
**
Dragging the luggage to the first floor, Lillian went upstairs, straight to her bedroom, and put the bags near the dressing table.
Stripping down, she entered the bathroom and took a cold shower to soothe her muscles.
Coming out of the shower, Lillian got dressed up. She unpacked her bags to start organizing. Collecting her laptop and files, she walked out of her bedroom, across the hallway, and entered her office.
The apartment itself is extremely spacious and designed to have only two huge bedrooms on the first floor while the living room, along with the kitchen and dining area, settled downstairs.
Lillian Grey turned one of the bedrooms into her work area by redesigning it entirely to her taste.
Naming it as 'Gill's chambers,' the room had a workspace where Lillian spends most of her time writing, researching, or even reading. The room also has custom designed shelves to keep her books for display. One of the reasons why Lillian turned this particular room into her office is because it came with the view. Apparently, it is the only window that is always kept open in the house.
Also, this is the room where Jenna forces Lillian to have their work meetings. Usually, Lillian prefers to have all her work meetings downstairs, lounging on her comfy sofa while sipping a drink. However, Jenna forced this habit out of Lillian when she took over the position as her editor. Although, Lillian played hard to agree over this, soon she had to give in to Jenna's pampering. Jenna practically became a family to Lillian from the years of time they spent together.
Now entering the office after the vacation, the things were still messy just like she left. The papers were disorganized on the table. Lillian spent the next few minutes cleaning her workspace neatly.
Once everything settled in its right place, she chose to retire.
Walking towards the door, Lillian paused; there was a message board in the room which contains messages, important memos to remember, meetings, deadlines, and so on.
Studying the board, Lillian took notice of the upcoming schedule. Plus, taking an impromptu vacation led her to pushback a few meetings with Jenna.
'Well, this might get busy- Nah, I can handle it.' – Lillian cheered herself.
Coming out of the room, she spied her custom-built library.
The hallway that connects the two rooms upstairs is the place where Lillian Grey installed her library. Being the best spot of the entire house, also her top favorite place preceding the lounge area plus the bar setup.
Lillian's library is custom-designed with modern white shelving. The library ran across both sides, extending sideways, grandly dominating the entire space.
From the corridor, one can have an aerial view of the entire living room.
..
Lillian made sure to let the library ran across sideways because she can avoid using the sliding ladder as it sounded so old-school.
She wanted to grab any book at any time without wanting to use the ladder or so. Hence, the customization focused mainly on expanding the shelves sideways rather than giving the usual stacked appearance.
No one would want a library put in the corridor, but Lillian Grey wished for that. For her, it seems appealing to walk across the path and grab a book to read. Owning a library inside a room, Lillian found it traditional and uninteresting.
When choosing a place to put all of her books, Shane dared if she can install it in the hallway. Considering it a challenge, Lillian spent days working with various designers to come up with a plan that can satisfy as well as inspire her. After weeks of searching, finally, she found a young designer who made her vision come alive. Thus, it gave birth to the stunning modern art that possessed all of Lillian's precious collections.
While on a short vacation with her girlfriend, Lillian still managed to acquire a few new books to add to her collection. Nothing makes her more excited than finding new novels to read. Returning to her bedroom, she found the purchased volumes on her bed. Grabbing all three at once, she came back to the library and put it on the spot of 'To be read' space.
Finally settled in, Lillian sighed, exhausting on her favorite couch.
While resting, she decides to report her return to the people she is indebted to inform.
As she switched on her phone, the notification popped out. She received a message from Jenna.
Lillian's eyes grew at an instant from reading it.
'This girl!'
She looked around to examine.
'Is there a camera in here?'
"How did she guess that I might have returned already?"
Lillian Grey felt goosebumps ran all over her body. She then replied to Jenna, informing her to stop by tomorrow.
**
Time - 09:00 PM
Lillian had pizza delivered to her for dinner. Eating them while watching television, the time passed slowly. Lillian spends most of her time at home alone, and it felt tiresome.
After dinner, she went back to grab one of the newly purchased books from her personalized library, came down to the couch, and commenced reading it.
**
Time 11: 45 PM
Reading halfway through the story, Lillian heard her mobile ring.
It was Lucy.
She picked up the call to answer it.
The two began talking. Lucy joked about how the new job isn't about lingerie. Lillian laughed as she heard his girlfriend speak so cheerfully even after a hefty day at work. They both enjoyed the chat and had fun.
"It's going to be a busy weekend for me," Lillian informed her tentatively. She didn't want to ignore her girlfriend just after confessing her love.
"The book release, huh? That's okay. I'm looking forward to it. Send me your personally autographed copy, directly delivered by the author, herself," Lucy flirted in a sexy tone.
Lillian got caught in the fire of love, and its desires flamed deeper. They both took the direction of a conversation from talking to shamelessly flirting with each other until someone interrupted it.
"Wait, I'm getting another call," Lillian excused herself.
It is from Anna. She remembered their conversation this morning. Returning to Lucy, Lillian spoke, "Lucy, can I call you later?"
"What? Why?" Lucy felt discontent from the sudden interruption.
"It is the top authority. I have to answer this call, Lucy," Lillian replied in defeat.
She heard Lucy sigh heavily on the other end.
"I seriously wish for you to make me your top authority, Lilly. Anyways, you will be busy soon for your book release. Good luck then. Bye."
Lucy pouted while saying 'goodbye' before kissing her through the mobile phone.
"I Love you," Lillian declared out loud.
Lucy got blushed from hearing it. She cheekily smiled while waving goodbye before hanging up the call.
