Reminisce / Two Years Later

Lily got home and straight went for a cup of coffee before bathing, letting the warm water wash her and relax her muscles. She had to admit that it had been one of the greatest nights she'd ever had. The man just had an appeal to him which Lily couldn't put her finger on. But it was merely a one-night stand she had had, nothing more can come out of it. Plus, by the looks of it, James didn't even live in Cardiff.

"Lily! Get out of there, it's been a fucking hour!" Lily was brought out of her reverie by Ali's voice booming through the door.

"Okay, okay woman! I'm coming!" she replied back, and turned off the faucet from flowing. She dried herself and got into her gown, walking out of the bathroom only to be hurled by questions.

"Where the hell were you last night?! We were worried sick!" cried out Ali and Viv simultaneously.

Lily put up her hands in surrender, sighing. "Guys, can you please relax. It's not as if I went off alone for the first time!" she said as she poured herself another cup of coffee and sat down at the sofa.

"No, but it's the first time you went off with an extremely hot guy since you broke up with Sean and, to top that, without telling us." Viv complained. Lily merely shrugged and sighed, leaning back against the sofa. "So are we going to hear your account of the story or what?" Viv pressed, a smirk playing on her lips which made Lily look at her and smirk back.

Lily sipped her coffee, "Well, we went to this posh hotel, I assume he's here for a few days only or something. And then, you know..." Lily trailed off.

"And then you fucked." Viv finished matter-of-factly.

Lily looked at her, "You could have used a little decent word for it, Viv." She complained.

"How was it?" she asked with a smirk, ignoring Lily's complaint. Ali, unable to handle their pointless conversation anymore, went away into the kitchen.

Lily stood up from the couch and looked at Viv, "It was the best shag I've had so far." She answered with a wink and followed Ali into the kitchen.

"Well, I'm glad you keep yourself busy." Remarked Ali sarcastically. "Now go get dressed, lazy ass, we're going shopping today." She chirped.

Ali was as unpredictable as the weather. One minute she'd be angry and sarcastic and the other she'd be hugging you and laughing. Viv was more of a balanced type. Lily regarded Viv as much more closer to her than Ali and of course then there was Cliff and Jess to get the 'big brother' support from.

She retired to her room without a word and got dressed, she prepared for the shopping spree.

Two Years Later

"So you got everything you needed?" Luke asked, holding her hand as they walked down the street.

"Yup, only the shoes are left." She answered, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. Luke rolled his eyes and sighed which made Lily laugh.

"Woman, I'm not coming shopping with you the next time." He threatened playfully. "I don't get to see your dress until the day anyway so there's no point coming with you." He stuck his tongue out like a five year old and pulled her closer to his side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as hers wrapped around his waist.

"Aww, but you have to admit that they're always better unseen." Lily reasoned and pecked him on the lips.

Lily and Luke had started dating about a year ago when Lily came to London for vacations with her friends. It was vacations for the rest of them but house hunting trip for Cliff and Viv. They'd gotten married at around the same time Lily and Luke had started dating and had settled in London. Jess and Ali, on the other hand, still lived back in Cardiff.

Luke's feelings for Lily persuaded him to propose to her and she had accepted it, moving in with him in London although she kept her apartment in Cardiff, where Jess was now living. It had been three months since they'd been engaged.

They entered the shop, or more like Lily coaxed Luke inside and they began shoe hunting. Much to Luke's relief, Lily only took a half hour to decide on a pair of strappy heels. They paid and exited the shop.

"Well, well, if it isn't Luke McCarthy." Came a woman's voice from behind them, making them turn around.

"Mitchelle, hey!" Luke greeted, hugging the woman and kissing her on the cheek, " bet you're shopping for the awards night."

"Yeah, I was just out with my boyfriend. He's somewhere around." She said looking behind her and called out, "James, honey. Over here!"

The name made Lily look up from the pavement to see that the man making his way to Mitchelle was the man she had slept with two years ago. Suddenly, air around her compressed and colour faded from her cheeks before returning again. And though it wasn't that hot, she started feeling a little hot.

"Hey." He came up and kissed Mitchelle on the lips. Lily thought that he hadn't noticed her since she was practically hiding behind Luke.

"James, this is Luke McCarthy, a current colleague of mine." She introduced and the men shook hands firmly.

"Nice to meet you." James said with his astounding smile.

The action exposed Lily and James's eyes fell upon her. Noting this, Luke glanced behind his shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry, this is my fiancé, ..."

"Lily." James cut him off, shoving his hands in his pockets, a small smile playing on his lips. Mitchelle and Luke looked a little confused.

"You ... you guys know each other?" Luke asked, looking back and forth between Lily and James.

"Yeah, we umm ... we went to," deciding to lie about t but not finding any valid one, Lily stammered. Seeing this, James took over much more confidently.

"We met at a party when I went to Cardiff two years back and became friends." James explained, looking at Lily with a half-smile and half-smirk.

"Yeah. We ... did." Lily said and nodded in agreement, glancing at James for a second before turning to look at Mitchelle and Luke. By the looks on their faces, they seemed to buy the explanation and inwardly, Lily sighed in relief where as James kept his cool.

"Okay, well we were just headed for lunch, care to join us?" Luke invited Mitchelle. James began to open his mouth to refuse politely but Mitchelle beat him in speaking first.

"Sure, we had the same plans. The more the merrier, right?" she said and winked at Luke which went un-noticed by both Lily and James who were busy trying to look anywhere but each other.

Lily ate her fries in silence, sitting beside Luke and directly across James and only spoke when spoken too. Not to mention that Luke and Mitchelle only kept talking among themselves, leaving out James and Lily.

Luke's phone rang and he looked at the screen, "Ummm ... sorry guys I gotta take this." He excused himself as he stood up.

Mitchelle turned to Lily, "So Lily, will we have the pleasure of seeing you at eh awards night?" she asked, looking at her with a judgemental look which made Lily a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah."

"So tell me, how did the two of you get ... engaged?" she asked sceptically.

"Ummmm ... well, I was here on vacations in London and ..." Lily was saved from the narrations of the story of her love life when Luke interrupted.

"I'm sorry but apparently our boss wants to see the both of us right away." He declared, pointing at Mitchelle and looking apologetically at Lily. "I'm sorry." This time he said directly to Lily.

"It's okay. Work first right?" she said and kissed him once before he bid her good bye.

"So, I guess it's just you and me." James said looking at her and taking time to note the changes in her since the last time he saw her and appreciating them.

"Hmmm ," Lily said with a sigh, "You live here?" she asked, trying to make a conversation.

"What? Here, in this restaurant? No!" he scoffed, smirking which made Lily roll her eyes playfully at him.

"Funny." She said sarcastically, "I meant here, in London." She clarified, sipping her drink.

"Yup. You're still in that shell of yours?" he asked.

Lily straightened up, "Hey! Cardiff is not a shell! And no. I live here now. With Luke." She answered and that was the first time James noticed the ring on Lily's finger.

"Luke huh?" he questioned with his eyebrow crooked as he leaned back and picked up his glass to refill it.

"Ahan." She replied shortly, "and if I remember correctly, you were more of a man-whore type guy. Where does Mitchelle fit in the picture?" she asked before widening her eyes dramatically, "You aren't cheating on her, are you?" she asked with a smirk.

"James clutched his heart dramatically, "Ouch Lily, you just brutally hurt me." He said playfully only to cause Lily to reach over and try to smack his hand only to be unsuccessful as he pulled it back. "Well, what can I say? After you there were only two others and then Mitchelle. So, basically, it started off as a one-night thing too." He paused, looking closely at Lily as she looked around the room.

She had a much more mature look to her. She turned even more elegant and beautiful than before and he remembered how she looked. Oh yes, he could never forget and at than moment, he made a confession.

"I tried to find you, you know." He said softly which made Lily look up at him.

"Why?" she asked after a moment of silence.

James shrugged "I don't know why I did, but I just did. Spent two more days in Cardiff than i was supposed to." He finished with a wink.

"Wow." Lily said, faking surprise, "Two more days? James that's a lot." She said sarcastically and James chuckled. She looked at her watch and back at him, "I should head home. I have some work I've to attend to." She announced and started getting up, gathering her bags.

"okay, well are you gonna drive?" He asked.

"No, it's getting pampered at the showroom. But I'll be okay." She replied.

"You sure? I mean, I could drop you off. That is if you want me to." He added.

"Oh no. No, it's okay. I have to make stop somewhere else as well." Lie. A downright lie.

"Okay, well I hope to see you at the awards nights tomorrow." He said somewhat awkwardly.

"Yeah. Tomorrow then. Bye" she said with a smile and turned to walk away.

"Lily." James called out, making Lily turn around to look at him questioningly. "It was good to see you again." He said awkwardly once more. Lily smiled at him which clearly said 'I am too' and walked away, calling out for a taxi and getting in the back seat, before it drove off.

James, on the other hand, kept watching her before running a hand through his unruly hair and making his way out to leave.

A/N: Hey guys! So ..... a long chapter. I have to say thank you for all the reviews i got for the previous chappie but the feedback wasn't as I'd hoped for. So please Review! It wouldn't take much of ur time to just click tht little button down there :P