Lila is not your ordinary kind of heroine. She flirts with men and gets precious priceless things from them. Her latest suitor Lyle isn't like the others... he's a huge jerk but he's the richest suitor she has ever had.

Things aren't looking too good until she meets a mysterious cloaked man. They become the best of friends. The cloaked man starts to fall for her, and realizes that Lyle is worse then what Lila expects. He comes up with an idea and takes action. What will happen?

My sisters like this one too. I never put a story up with out my sisters approval. Hope you like it.

Seasons Go By

"Elisa, if you are not otherwise engaged, will you honor me by walking with me by the seashore?" The old prune faced man asked.

Lila gave a fake smile, "Well, I suppose...it is my break..." She stretched the length of the words out. Forcing her face to contort into a thoughtful look.

The richly dressed man gave her a desperate look. "Please!..." He pleaded.

Her smile brightened, she had this man right where she wanted him.

"Fine, just let me change." She said airily.

The man gave a sigh of relief. "Good, I'll wait for you outside." He reached for her hand, but she quickly retreated up the stairs.

She opened the door to the room the inn had given her. It was better then the room she had gotten at home. This one actually had a window, even if it was small. She began to talk to herself, upset at the rich man. She had only just met him, and already he was certain about her! Thats totally too fast! She thought to herself.

"He's a jerk, jerk, jerk and did I mention absolutely disgusting!?" She opened her closet, all her dresses were simple. She took her time picking out her clothes. She wasn't quite ready to go to the slaughter house.

"It has to be a light enough material to swim in. If I'm going to be by the sea shore, I might as well swim!" Finally she chose her light, gray dress. She picked up her thin, worn sandals and walked over to a small mirror. Perfect!

She stared at her smooth marble like face which shone in the sun coming from the window. Her shining red gold hair made her . She admired her body shape and her perfect eyes. She watched the man outside by the exit. He was pacing and he looked annoyed.

"A little impatient, aren't we?" She murmured. She opened her window wide and stepped onto a thick branch outside. She had done this a million of times. She knew this tree very well. The branches were perfect for climbing, plus its trunk was wide and hollow. She had hid her most precious things in it.

She stepped down on to the other branches until she reached a particularly low branch. Then she put her worn out sandals on her small feet and jumped softly onto the level ground. Her mind telling her to flee from the mans presence. She dusted her self off and walked past the man, praying that he would not notice her.

Feeling that he had not seen her she started to run. But she had misjudged him.

Just at that moment the man turned and caught sight of her,

"Hey Elisa! Wait for me!" The man followed after her.

Lila didn't look back, and kept running. Lila was very fast when she wanted. A strange warning in her mind telling her to flee away as quick as possible. Lila obeyed it and didn't stop running.

Their was something so unusual about the man. He moved slowly and with sharp jerks, his teeth were too even. Plus in all the years of her life, she had never seen anyone with his excessive amount of wrinkles. Plus when she had met him she had felt hate, almost immediately.

Earlier that morning she had walked into the lobby. Sir Boss and Sir.. What was his name were talking together at a front table?

"Elisa, you are late..." Sir Boss said, his eyes already glued to her fair figure.

Lila resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She walked over to the pair and gave an elegant curtsy.

"Master, Sir.." She said acknowledging the two with a nod of her head. The old mans eyes had no expression and his face was like a great prune, red and blotchy, as if the man would loose his temper any minute. His skin was wrinkled so wrinkled that the skin on his chin sagged like a great bull dog.

The man regarded her with a steel black look, and watched her, his smile had widened. A strange automatic movement that made Lila puzzled.

Lila turned to Sir Boss. "I do apologize, master... but you see, I was having a wonderful dream about a certain someone.." She purred. Confident that her performance would create the desired look.

Sir Boss's smile widened to a grin, as if that certain someone was himself. "Oh.. well, never mind! Just hurry to your work, Elisa." He said airily.

Lila had turned to the pruned one. "If you will excuse me, sir." She said her eyes observing his now coal black eyes. A voice in the back of her mind sent a warning for her to stay away from this rich man.

Lila turned and hurried to her work. Not being able to shake off the image of that stare.

As Lila ran on aimlessly, her feet moved swiftly and silently over the land. Her heart was beating wildly, and for once in the three years that she had been in Arqueline.. Lila felt some hidden joy. The warning in her mind faded away, and a strange feeling overcame her.

She felt her self control fade. Suddenly she laughed. Why was she laughing? She didn't know why. Then for some reason she felt like dancing and running and singing. Acting on her wishes impulsively, she pranced, and hummed and ran.

Soon her insane moment melted away leaving her sad. She began to observe all of her surroundings. She caught sight of a handsome shirtless man. She strained her eyes to observe the man better. He was young, and from the distance she could see the most shocking blue eyes she had ever beheld.

"Elisa, where are you? Come out right now!" The rich mans harsh, raspy and choked voice, reached her ears.

Lila whirled around running for the shore. Even though she hated this man she didn't want to displease him. She ignored the warning voice in the back of her mind.

She sat down on the sand, far away from her once secret place. She shivered, her present suitor was the most eager man she had ever met. She hated being around him. It wasn't too long before he found her.

He looked annoyed but at the sight of her he relaxed. He sat down beside her, to please him more Lila laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. The mans hand lifted her chin, Lila's eyes flew open, instantly repulsed.

"Swim anyone?" She chirped up quickly, already desperate to get away. She turned around and dived gracefully into the sea. Lila loved to swim it was the one thing that she needed. The one place where she felt truly free. Being in the sea, sometimes it seemed that her troubles were washed away. At the time it did seem that there was no troubles, but she knew it couldn't last forever. She slowly swam up, breaking the waters surface.

She looked over at the man and a strong shiver ran down her spine. His eyes were literally red. But she could of sworn that he had grey eyes. She watched his eyes, they were indeed red. Was that the look of lust in those horrid red eyes?