Chapter 3
It seemed that Lily would never be in her neighbour Izaya Orihara's good books, even when she tried to apologise he was still angry at her. The last time was probably Erika and Walker's fault as they'd laughed at him she supposed that he just felt humiliated but that still didn't help, at this rate they'd continue being angry at her.
Today wasn't so bad though, she hadn't seen him when going to her interview at the maid café that her new acquaintances had suggested before. Since they were low on staff (and also because Erika apparently recommended her) Lily was able to get the job and she'd start the very next day. Perhaps she'd describe her job as being a waitress at a café instead of a maid if and when her parents asked about it.
At that moment life decided to betray her, she was obviously having too much of a nice day, needless to say she was face by Mr Orihara once again at the lift of their building. The crimson eyed man sighed in annoyance that he had to run into this little pest and made a move to take the stairs so he wouldn't have to spend any more time around the brown haired girl in front of him.
That was before she stopped him by gently tugging on the sleeve of his fur trimmed coat that he always seemed to wear, he obviously liked it, or maybe he just didn't have any other coats. But that didn't matter; Lily Addison had made her decision to commence 'Mission Apologise to Izaya and Get His Forgiveness'… The name was a work in progress for sure.
"Please…" she started timidly. "I-I want to apologise properly. Would you, um…would you please come over and have some tea?" she blurted out bravely all in one breath.
Izaya stared down at her, he wasn't going to make it that easy "I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
"…Why? Are you busy? You could come over another time, just tell me when," at last, Lily's stubborn side kicked in. She wasn't letting him get away without a fight.
"Ugh, that's not it, I just don't like tea."
"I have coffee," she pushed.
"Fine, since you're being so persistent," he sighed once more and they boarded the lift back up to Lily's apartment.
As soon as they got in Lily put the kettle on. Sasha wasn't there as she was out job hunting again, this time with Mai so it was just the two of them in the apartment now. Izaya leaned against a counter opposite the boiling kettle looking thoroughly irked, who wouldn't be, he hadn't been given much choice about coming here. At least she didn't drag him over, she wasn't childish enough (more like she wasn't strong enough) to do that.
Once the kettle finished boiling and both of their drinks were the way they wanted them Lily attempted a better apology. They hadn't had the best first impression but maybe they could at least take the lift together without having an uncomfortable, looming air hanging over them if she apologised, hopefully.
"I really am sorry for my rude behaviour before. I'm not very good at talking to people, I know that's not any excuse for being rude but…It's just difficult for me. I hope you can understand and forgive me for my actions," she said, staring down into the depths of her tea.
"Well that sure was dramatic," Izaya mocked making Lily panic, she'd annoyed him again! "Because of that entertaining display, blowing this situation so far out of proportion, I, the great Izaya Orihara, shall forgive you."
Mission success! What a relief it was to have that off of her chest, she could go about her life without worrying about running into the odd man again.
"I'm curious, how were you able to afford to live in one of these apartments?" he asked. "It's smaller than mine but don't believe that it'd be that cheap."
"You see, my grandfather passed away a few years ago, I helped him out before he died. Cooking, buying food, that kind of thing, so got an inheritance from him; also, I've had the idea of living in Japan for a while now so my roommate and I, including our parents started saving up."
"I see, that sort of dedication is hard to come by nowadays," Izaya remarked, taking a sip of his steaming hot coffee.
"You sound old when you speak like that," Lily gave him a small smile. "You don't look that much older than me, how were you able to pay for your apartment?"
"That's a secret," he smirked, not giving her a straight answer.
"…" she stared at him expectantly.
"…My job pays well, nothing all that exciting," Izaya gave in.
By the time they had finished having many different conversations, they'd already gone through three cups of their preferred hot drink.
"Thank you for the coffee, I'll get out of your hair now," Izaya walked over to the door, shrugging his coat back on. Lily nodded kindly in response, she'd hoped he could stay longer, she'd enjoyed the company and didn't know how long it would be until Sasha got back but she held the door open for him politely as he took his leave.
Almost as soon as Izaya had left Sasha returned with Mai so she didn't have to worry about being lonely for much longer. Seeing the look on her friend's face Lily wished that Izaya had left a little sooner. Her lips twisted upwards in a smirk, head tilted down, eyes wide and eyebrows raised; yes, she had definitely gotten the wrong idea.
"So," Sasha drew out. "Who was that handsome man that just left?"
"Our neighbour, I offended him recently so I invited him over to apologise," Lily ignored her friend's teasing.
"What were you thinking?" Mai suddenly roared out of nowhere. "Don't just let some random guy into your apartment. What would we have done if he tried something on us, if we were just a little later we could've been raped!"
Both Lily and Sasha were taken aback by the outburst. "I don't think that Mr Orihara would do that. He didn't strike me as that type."
"He's a man isn't he?! They're unpredictable beasts. They're all the same inside even if they act differently outside!"
"Mai, calm down, we're fine. He didn't do anything so there's nothing to worry about, right Lil?" Sasha tried to calm her furious girlfriend.
"I don't want you to put my girlfriend in danger ever again, you hear me? You are not to let any men into this apartment! Have I made myself clear?" Mai ignored.
Scowling slightly, Lily spoke up, which for her was a rare occasion. "I'm sorry but it's not really any of your business who I let into my home, nothing bad happened, we were just talking. I don't understand what about this situation has you so upset."
"All men have ulterior motives! Are you so blind that you don't understand that?"
"Not all of them do, you shouldn't discriminate people like that," Lily scolded, calming down a little.
"Mai, please try to calm down. We can invite who we want into our home, but we'll be careful about it. If we think anything may happen we'll make sure to phone the police okay," Sasha reassured before sending Mai on her way, thinking it would be better to give everyone space to cool off.
"Sorry about that, I just remembered that she doesn't really trust men all that much."
"You don't say," Lily sighed. "It's fine, but I don't appreciate having her dictate who we allow through the door. I have a couple of acquaintances, maybe even friends, and one is a guy. I just don't want to feel like I need to ask for her permission if I want to invite them over."
"Yeah, I know, she was out of order there. Maybe it'd be best to not have any men over when she'd round though."
"I expect her to be here," Lily defended.
"I meant in the future, sorry, I should've told you she was coming over anyway."
"Don't worry about it Sash."
"Thanks…"
