The News

After talking with her family on the phone and meeting the cutest dog in the whole world, Lillian leisurely spent her time getting dressed to go out to a cafe at the other end of the road.

The cafe space had a modern yet feminine quality to it with ample amounts of natural sunlight shining through it's large glass windows that doubled as walls. It was still relatively busy on this Sunday afternoon, so Lillian was lucky to find herself a seat at the end of the wooden bar that faced out through the windows of the front of the store. She put down her jacket on the stool to save her spot, then ordered a fruit infused herbal tea to enjoy alongside a delectable looking almond shortbread biscuit. The woman at the service counter gave her a number stand to place at her spot for her order to be delivered, so she returned back to the seat which she had saved.

After a couple minutes of scrolling through an useless article on how to enhance your resume to stand out from other job applicants, a woman came to bring her the herbal fruit tea and almond shortbread biscuit on a small wooden tray.

She scrolled through a couple more articles on how to get chosen for an interview and the 7 steps successful people do daily. The second article was full of unreasonable advice, such as waking up 2hours earlier than usual to complete a morning exercise routine. Frustrated with what she was reading online, Lillian put her phone down and wrapped her hands around the glass tea cup to keep herself warm.

The weather was quite sunny today. Though it was still cold out, the subtle signs of spring could be seen creeping its feet in little ways. The deep snow that had coated the ground just after Valentine's Day was nearly completely gone and tiny specs of green could be seen on the tips of trees' branches. It would not be long until those tiny specs turned to buds, then eventually turn to small pinkish purple flowers that would bloom into a wide blossom before fading away during the heart of summer.

"Marianne Von Maur has just signed an all exclusive 2 year contract to represent the Geldan Group as their official brand ambassador. It's reported that filming for her first commercial for them will be shot at our city's very own Geldan Hotel." Lillian turned around to see the Geldan Group being covered in the news. After images of the familiar actress flashed by, Andrew surprised her by appearing on screen. It was footage from earlier that day of him and who she assumed was the president of the small travel airline - QuinAir - who he had gone to secure a deal with.

Lillian couldn't help but chuckle a bit internally. It was funny to see Andrew Geldan walking outside of a tropical beach resort wearing his signature full suit and tie look, though very on brand for him. She tried picturing him in a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts, but it was too unbelievable to even imagine.

"Hey, don't you think Von Maur and that Geldan CEO look great together. That's a power couple in the making right there." Lillian's attention immediately focused to the two ladies chatting at the table next to her.

"Aren't they already dating in secret? There were rumors that they were seeing each other a couple years ago and just recently they were spotted together at a hotel! I bet that's why she's their new ambassador. A beauty like that can bag any man."

Huh? I guess the recent spotting would've been during his marriage arrangement meetings, but dated?

Lillian covertly turned back in her seat and took a sip of her tea before pulling out her phone from her pocket.

Hmm, let's see. 'M-a-r-i-a V-o-n M-a-u-r and A-n-d-r-e-w G-e-l-d-a-n.' She typed out their names into the browser search bar and patiently waited as the webpage loaded. She'd already reached her data limit for the month, so she had to rely on the slightly slower cafe wifi.

The first few hits were articles about the new brand ambassador deal, but after scrolling through a bit more, she found photos of them together at a charity Gala from 2 years ago. Maria had her arm wrapped around his in the picture and they looked to be having a pretty good time. Not much else was photo'd of them together outside of that event. There were some images of other large gatherings where they both happened to attend and then...wait. What appeared to be a paparazzi image of the both of them leaving a hotel together early December of the previous year. Maria did not look very happy to have that picture taken of her as she was trying to hold up her hand to block the camera. The next photo in the series showed Andrew using his jacket to cover her face as they moved to a car.

Maybe they did date? But she recalled when she brought Maria Von Maur to the hotel meeting room. The atmosphere between them didn't feel like that of those who had dated. But, thinking back to how Andrew is, she figured it's plausible.

Lillian put her phone down to take a bite out of the biscuit in front of her. She then looked out the window and sighed.