I passed my English exam and so as to celebrate, I'm posting this chapter sooner than intended. As usual: thanks to sparkyCSI.

Chapter 4 – Aftermath

Lily had gone back to work and she was with Mary, her best friend and the firm's receptionist going over some papers at the reception.

'A boy will come to get the envelope …,' was explaining the lawyer when she was interrupted by her friend.

'I hope he's not going to jail,' said the blonde woman while pressing the button to open the door, 'and that he's single.'

Lily looked up and saw a tall man she recognised too well.

'Don? He's a homicide detective.'

'Oh, not a doubt; New York's Finest,' said the receptionist while watching him intently.

The other woman rolled her eyes.

'Don't you live with him?'

'Yes.'

'Oh, you're so lucky! If you ever wanna share him …'

'Mary! For Christ's sake! He's my friend,' Lily blushed when she saw Flack was near the desk.

'Good afternoon sir, may I help you?' said Mary in what seemed a business like tone. But Lily knew better, she was trying to impress him.

He shook his head and talked to Lily.

'Could you give me your keys?'

'What happened to yours?'

'Left 'em at home,' he blushed a bit.

She raised her eyebrows.

'They were on the table, but we left in a rush and you closed the door. Didn't realise until I needed them,' he explained.

'You won't be called in before I get home?' asked Lily.

'I promise I'll be there when you get home,' he said rolling his eyes.

'You better be. I don't want to wait at the door until you get there four or five hours later.' He looked at her expectantly. 'I'll go get my purse.'

She walked to her office and appeared some minutes later, fumbling through her purse. She got her keys out and handed them to him.

'Thanks,' he said.

'Don't lose them,' she joked while he walked away.

Mary, who had been silent the whole time, spoke when the man was out of earshot.

'He's a good kisser, isn't he?'

'How would I know?' asked Lily puzzled.

'It's obvious he has the hots for you,' she said shrewdly.

'Have you inhaled nail polish again, or something?'

'I'm telling you, girl. Carpe diem!'

'C'mon! It's Don you're talking about.'

'Your point being?'

'We're friends, that's all,' said Lily slowly as if she were explaining trigonometry to a five year old, 'working on both sides of the fence and keeping a friendship is hard, imagine a relationship.'

'The guy's hot, single and he likes you. You're living together and you haven't dated anyone for a while, take the opportunity. Who cares about work?'

'I do!' she said and walked quickly to her office, where she would remain until it was time to go home.

She took the metro and enjoyed the ride. It was nice things were normal again. Dusby was in prison, waiting for the trial which would be in a couple of weeks, so she could enjoy travelling without being scared. Lily felt free again. She wasn't dependent on Don to take her everywhere and she wasn't frightened anymore.

She liked living with Don and not alone for a change, but she wanted to go home. She missed her apartment in Broadway. Well, not really. She never liked that apartment. The only good thing about it was its closeness to the theatres she liked so much. She wanted to be made a partner at the firm as soon as possible so as to move to that nice apartment in the Upper East Side. The one with the lovely garden and three bedrooms. The one she had been wanting to rent for the past two years. But she had to wait.

She got to the apartment she shared with Flack and knocked. A tall muscular blond man answered.

'Can I help you?'

Lily looked at the number on the door again, thinking she had made a mistake.

'Can I help you?' he repeated.

'Yes, you can let me in,' she said.

The guy was blocking the door.

'Look, we're busy now. Come some other time,' he told her.

She raised her eyebrows and was about to answer when Flack came to the door.

'Let her in, Matt. She lives here,' he told the blond man.

A confused Matt moved to the side and she walked in. Lily saw three other men in the living room and gave Flack a questioning glance.

'These are the boys,' he said, 'guys: this is Lily, she lives here with me. You already met Matt and these are John, Adam and Ryan,' he gestured towards the men sitting with beers on their hands.

They waved and she muttered a 'Hello!' before going to the bedroom and then to the bathroom.

'Didn't tell us you have a girlfriend,' reproached John.

'She's not my girlfriend, Johnny.'

'You have a more 'open' relationship, the no-commitment sort of thing?' asked Matt.

'No, we aren't together. She had a problem so I took her in.'

'A problem?' asked John.

'With her apartment,' lied Flack. He was about to change topic when Ryan, who was a smart guy spoke.

'But you sleep together.'

'We don't.'

'You've only got a room,' he pointed out.

'We take turns, smarty pants. One night I take the couch, the next one I take the bed.'

Flack changed the subject quickly.

Twenty minutes later Lily emerged from the bathroom with jeans and a tube top. She went to the kitchen and prepared dinner for herself. She was eating when Adam asked her a question.

'What do you do for a living?'

'I'm a lawyer.'

'My brother is one too. Where do you work?'

'White, Brandson & Jordan,' was her laconic answer. She was uncomfortable with Flack's friends. She really didn't want to talk to them. Especially when they knew where she worked and that she earned a generous salary. Lily hated the way some people looked at her when they found out she was a successful lawyer in a firm where legal aid was given only to people with lots of money.

'They're good. Heard they have the best young lawyer in the country: he's called Stewart. Maybe you know him,' said John.

Flack grinned and Lily blushed.

'The 'best young lawyer in the country' is a woman. And you're looking at her, Johnny,' Flack told him.

'You're Stewart?' he asked surprised.

She nodded.

'I'm Lillian Stewart.'

The men were a bit taken aback.

'Is it true you earn 10,000 dollars per month?' asked the ever ambitious Matt.

'On a general basis,' the men didn't understand, so she explained, 'that's what I earn for being a counsellor. For each trial I win as an attorney, I get a percentage of the fee the client paid.'

'I chose the wrong career!' said Adam, 'I earn 3000 per month as a fire fighter, putting my life on the line everyday.'

'Me too, buddy,' agreed Ryan.

'So you two are fire fighters,' said Lily trying to take the spot off her.

'Yeah. Johnny there is a paramedic and Matt a patrolman,' explained Adam.

'You save this city on a daily basis. That must be great, you know, the sense of accomplishment.'

'Usually you feel on top of the mountain. But then somebody is shot, somebody dies or there's an attack like 9/11 and you wonder if you're gonna be next, if you're ever gonna wake up the following morning,' explained John.

'Yeah, but the next morning you wake up and forget all about it. If you have to die, it should be defending the people of this city, not being cautious and wondering if it's your turn or not,' added Flack.

'Oh, I really admire you. I could never do that. I don't think I'd be willing to die for someone I don't know,' said Lily honestly.

'When you're in a situation where another person is in danger you don't think about the consequences, you don't think about anything, you just act,' confessed Adam.

They kept talking for a while until Flack's friends had to leave.

Lily got the bottles of beer and put them in the trash. When she turned around she saw Ryan was helping her tidy up.

'Leave it, Ryan, I'll do it.'

'It's okay, I'll help you.'

They worked silently and when they finished, he spoke.

'Lily I was wondering … well, if you want to …' he stopped and she gave him an encouraging look, 'If you want to go out with me.'

She was nonplussed for a bit and then she answered.

'Yeah, sure.'

'Tomorrow at seven at Ray's?'

'Eh, sure. Meet you there.' She gave him a shy and insecure smile as he walked out of the kitchen and then left the apartment.

The following day, at five thirty Lily took her briefcase and her purse and left her office. On the way out she stopped at the reception to talk to Mary.

'You're leaving early today! Are you about to die or something?' Mary asked.

The other woman gave her a warning glance.

'I have a date tonight,' she said.

'Is there an epidemic I haven't found about?'

'I'm not in the mood for your nasty jokes, Mary,' Lily warned her friend.

'Who is he?' asked the blonde with a smile playing on her lips, 'New York's Finest?'

'Fire Department.'

'Oh, Bravest. Is he cute?'

Lily shrugged. 'He had some trouble asking me out, that was cute.'

'Oh, he's date-challenged, just like you!'

'Hey!' protested the lawyer.

'What is it about fireman, even when they aren't that cute, they're cute... ya know?' asked Mary.

'It's that whole hero complex. Or maybe it's because women just really want to be rescued.'

'Typical! No wonder you've been dateless for a while. Nobody's too fond of your psychological mumbo-jumbo.'

'Good to see I have caring friends!' was the lawyer's sarcastic response, 'I've got to go.'

'Good luck. Call me when you get home!'

Lily rolled her eyes. She got home and saw Flack wasn't there. She had a quick shower, put on a nice and simple dress, a bit of make up and left the room. Flack had arrived and he was sitting in the couch watching TV.

'What are you cooking for dinner?' he asked. 'I'm a bit hungry.'

'Sorry sweetheart, I'm going out tonight, you'll have to manage yourself. If you remember how to hold a knife,' she smiled.

'Cute. Am I ever going to meet the friends you go out with?'

'I'm not going out with the girls,' she stated.

'Really?' he raised his eyebrows.

'Why are you surprised?'

'You haven't put a lot of effort on your appearance.'

'It's always nice to receive compliments from friends! Why do you care?' she didn't wait for an answer and called for a taxi, 'Goodnight, Don.'

'Don't come too late!' he yelled at her back when she was leaving the apartment.

'Yes, dad.'

She had a nice time with Ryan. He was a good guy. But the sort of guy you can only see as a friend. After stifling a yawn, she told him she had to wake up early the next morning and needed to rest. They left the bar and he drove her to the apartment she shared with Don. He walked her to the door.

'Thanks for everything,' she said, 'I had a nice time.'

'Yeah, me too.'

He leant for a kiss but she didn't respond. Lily smiled apologetically.

'Maybe we can see each other again,' he suggested.

'I'm sorry Ryan, but I don't think it's a good idea.'

He nodded and left while she opened the door. Flack was sitting in the same spot she had left him in.

'Have you moved at all, tonight?' she asked jokingly.

'Cute. I heard Ryan's voice out there, why was he here?'

'You're the detective, you find out.'

'I say you didn't want to kiss him good night. Or see him again, for that matter.'

'Were you spying on us?' she asked, her hands on her hips.

He looked guilty.

'Sometimes you behave like my dad!'

'Just worried about your safety,' he said with his hands up.

'I'm going to bed,' she said tiredly. She didn't want to argue with him.

'Good night, Lily.'

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Opinions, suggestions, ideas are always welcomed, so send a review and let me know what you think. Prepare for the next chapter (which won't be posted until mid-March):

Chapter 5 - Trials and tribulations

Dusby's trial: important decisions are made.

LaUrIsHa-just me