Welcome back kiddies. I hope you enjoy the next chapter of my little Lester fanfic. I've been working really hard on this chapter, and I think it's pretty cute. Oh and Christine makes her appearance, boo! Remember that I do not own Primeval. Read on and review.
"So James, I was just wondering if you were going to wear anything special for the speech?" she asked and then took a tiny sip of sherry.
"Oh yes, I was thinking the purple shirt would go nicely under my new suit." I stated. I had just as many neatly pressed suits as Lilly had miniskirts.
"Very posh, very nice touch." She agreed. Lilly paused to take another sip of sherry. "So are you planning to take anyone to the election dance?" she asked. I looked up from my glass.
"Well no, I didn't have anyone in mind." I answered. "Are you going with anyone?" I questioned.
Lilly looked away "Well Jack is going to want me to go with him. He gets very jealous about these things." She answered sadly.
The smile was wiped off my face immediately. I completely forgot about that boyfriend of hers. "If he makes you so miserable, then why not break it off?" I asked.
She sighed "Love to, but I can't. He'd freak out, and I don't know what he'd do to me." She said.
"What are you saying?" I asked her. "It's not like he means it, but he can be a bit rough sometimes." She said. My mouth gaped open. "You mean he hits you?" She nodded feebly. "Not very hard, most times. It just might get worse if I were to make him mad." She explained.
"Pig." I muttered under my breath. "I'd like to see him attempt to touch you with those filthy mitts of his." I growled. Lilly's eyes flashed open. "Don't even think about fighting him! He could hurt you terribly James." Lilly cried.
"Just let him try." I said getting up from the table. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Cheerio Lilly." I said and gave her cheek a slight kiss.
That decision would be one I would regret because there at a corner booth sat Lilly's boyfriend Jack.
After that day, Jack Wellington kept a tight grip on Lilly. He wouldn't even let her come to me for tutoring. Christine came up to me one day with a smirk on her face.
"Where's that miniskirt wearing, pompom flinging Barbie doll that's doubling as your campaign manager?" she asked snottily.
"Oh she's around here somewhere." I answered. I really didn't know where she was, and for all I knew she wasn't even at school. "Don't tell me you want to kidnap her and force her to be your campaign manager. Christine, how diabolical of you." I added. Christine rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Hopefully nothing bad has happened to her." She said and turned on her heel."Oh and you might want to check behind the equipment shed. The Laurels are lovely this time of the year." Christine added over her shoulder.
I ran over to the other side of campus to find that Lilly was there, hidden under the Laurel bushes, crying her eyes out. I walked over to her and squatted down beside her.
"Hey, what's with the water works?" I asked. Her head shot up and her face softened when she saw me.
"I did it James; I told Jack I didn't want to date him anymore." She sniffed.
I ducked down into the bushes to sit beside her. "Well that's good right? You're rid of that man now." I encouraged, rubbing my hand between her shoulder blades. She gave me a tiny smile, but it faded quickly.
"He said he'd get back at me some day, that I'd regret dumping him." She sobbed.
"That's just his anger talking." I reassured her. Tears raked her body.
"It's the anger that I'm afraid of." She cried.
Her head gently found its way to my chest, and she wrapped her arms around my torso. I awkwardly placed my arms around her waist; this sort of thing was new to me. Girls had been attracted to me but most of them were looking for a one-night stand. My life ran similarly to the business world and as far as I was concerned, a one-night fling was not good business. If I was going to invest it needed to be in something credible. So as you could guess things had never come to a girl crying her eyes out into my Armani suite, well unless if she had been drunk.
"If he tries to do anything to you Miss Marx; you can count on me to gladly kick his unworthy butt." I reassured her. She looked up at me with shimmery eyes.
"You would do that for me?" she asked in a small voice. I put my chin on her head. "Of course, anything for my dearest campaign manager." I said. Lilly's tears slowed until she had calmed down completely. "Thank you James." She breathed into my shirt.
I pulled her up from under the bushes. "Come now, we still have a lot of work to do for the campaign. I suggest we go back to your flat. You can get dressed, and then we can go out for a nice little chat." I told her. She nodded and sniffled a bit.
"Sorry for getting snot all over your suite." She apologized. "Don't worry about it." I laughed.
"So have you started writing your speech yet?" Lilly called from her bedroom.
"Yes, I kept the one from last year. I thought I'd just"
"Don't do it." She warned.
"You just cut me off. How do you even know what I was going to say?" I asked.
"If you keep the same speech and just change a few words here and there people will think you're lazy. You're simply going to have to write a new one." Lilly informed me.
I sighed; she was right again.
"Why do they make these things so hard to do up?" I heard her whisper. I flushed up. I couldn't see anything, but I could imagine what she was talking about.
I picked up one of her sketch books and started to flip through it. There were some pictures of people or animals, but it was mostly designs. I picked up a smaller one, and as I flipped through I could see this one was different. There were a lot more hearts and flowers.
I went to turn the page when there was a loud scream from Lilly's room. I dropped the sketch book and ran down the hall.
"Lilly!" I cried as I ran to her door and flung the door open. I caught a brief glimpse of her before Lilly shrieked and slammed the door in my face.
"Sorry. I'm fine; there was just this big spider. I hate those things." Her muffled voice said. "I'll be out in a minute."
Feeling totally embarrassed I walked back to her kitchen and stuck my head in the fridge to look for a soda. I almost walked in on her half naked. Smooth James, really smooth.
I could hear her high heels clicking into the room. "So are you ready to go?" she asked as she put an earring in. I turned around trying not to go red. She didn't seem fazed by what had transpired, so why should I be?
"Yes, I am ready to go." I answered, nervously smoothing my pants.
She spied the album that I had dropped on the floor. "How'd this get down here?" she asked me. "Oh I was looking at it." I answered. "You were?" she asked, sounding almost frightened. Lilly quickly put the album under a pile of papers and books. "Well let's go." She said.
"Are you nervous about the speeches?" Lilly asked. I shook my head. "I think that I've got this in the bag. And it's all thanks to you." I said tipping my glass to her. She smiled and took a drink of her sherry.
"So, now that you've kicked Jack to the curb, are you going to go with anyone to the dance?" I asked. She looked up with those green eyes. "Well maybe. It all depends on who's asking me to go with them." She answered.
"Well I'm not going with anyone, and we are a team, so it only makes sense that we should go together." I suggested. Lilly smiled lightly. "Yes I suppose that we could go together." She said, staring shyly into her glass of sherry, occasionally glancing up at me.
There was a slight awkward pause as we both tried to think of something to say. "So uh do you have any family?" She asked me. I nodded "Three sisters and two brothers, all older." "Explains why you're very good at convincing people." She laughed. "What about you?" I asked her. She shook her head "I'm an only child. My parents live in Bristol." She answered.
"Why aren't you going to school there then?" I asked. "My aunt's an artist, so I came here so she could teach me a thing or two." Lilly explained. My brow furrowed in confusion. "But then why do you bother coming to school? Why not just stay at home and learn art?" I said. "I figured I should get another job, like a secretary, just so I can have a stable income." She said before lifting the glass to her lips.
"What'd you want to be?" she asked me. "I was thinking of working in the Home Office, Government stuff you know." I replied. She laughed. "Perfect for you. Maybe you could be the head of the national science department." I gave a small chuckle. "Yes, and with my luck, I'd get stuck with a bunch of juvenile employees who continuously get themselves into trouble."
Our laughter subsided and yet again awkward silence crept between us. "I'm ready for you to take me home now." She said.
My face showed no emotion, but I felt like I had been stabbed in the heart. "It's just that I have an art convention to go to tomorrow, so I have to get up early." She explained. I sighed quietly, so she wasn't just trying to get rid of me.
I got up and helped her into her jacket. "Your Jaguar awaits Miss Marx." I joked. She laughed heartily. "Lead the way good sir." She said with a sweeping gesture.
Lilly hadn't turned on all the lights in her flat, so I sat in semi darkness. I could see shadows darting across the glow from the light in Lilly's room.
"I'm sorry; I'll just be a minute. I have the posters here somewhere." She called to me. "You can come to the room and get them if you want." She said.
"I can't really see; it's too dark." I retorted.
She paused. "Oh yea, that's right. I'll come over to you." She said.
I waited to hear her come padding down the hallway, but I didn't hear a thing.
Without warning I was knocked to the ground. "I'm sorry James!" Lilly apologized. "That's okay." I answered breathlessly. "It would really help though if you could get your elbow out of my stomach." I weakly added. Lilly scrambled off of me and flicked on the lights. I couldn't help but remember that awkward moment in her flat earlier today.
"Here are the posters." She said and thrust them into my hands. "I suppose I should be going then." I said. "Yes, I suppose you should." She replied. "Good-bye then." "Good-bye James." She said opening the door for me. I headed out the door. "See you tomorrow." She waved. I waved back "Yes; I'll see you tomorrow."
Well children, that's all for this chapter. I'd love to know what you think. Until next time!
P.S. There might be a little violence in the next segment, but don't worry your pretty little heads, no one dies, yet Mwahaha... just kidding.