Get Back To You

Seeing that Giselle left Jayce"s side, Lillian wished to escape joining him. However, Jayce"s loud calling made her acknowledge him without retiring.

"Hi, Jayce," Lillian greets with a formal handshake.

"It is a surprise to see you here," he exclaimed, holding a gla.s.s of pineapple rose sangria.

"Am I forbidden to attend KeyLine"s holiday party?" Lillian snapped back at him.

Jayce denied, enjoying his usual playful tease with Lillian.

"Congratulation! I heard that your book is getting a movie adaptation," Lillian said to praise him, quickly changing the topic. She doesn"t want anyone to suspect that she"s only here for Giselle.

Jayce returned the favor by wishing Lillian for publishing her new book.

Both let out a friendly smile.

Jayce then recalled something to his notice and looked around in search of Giselle. After spotting her, he signaled for her to join him.

Lillian Grey, flinching at the name, prepared herself mentally to meet the person she sought desperately for the evening.

Giselle, who got caught by the ladies to inquire about working with Jayce, saw him calling for her again. She sighed from the number of times people were to ask her about the prince. Nonetheless, Giselle excused herself to leave the group and marched to the glorious prince of KeyLine.

Her steps were little sluggish from the facing Jayce"s devotees. And closing the distance, let her notice another figure standing next to Jayce.

Lillian Grey!

Halting herself for a moment to take a keen glance at her, Giselle confirmed it is, in fact, Lillian Grey, standing next to her author.

Her boredom vanished, and she resumed her steps to a faster pace, rushing to Jayce, all while her eyes only set on Lillian.

"I forgot to introduce my new editor," Jayce proudly spoke as Giselle neared, "This is Giselle, Lillian," he said.

Meeting outside, formally at work, Lillian looked at Giselle. She wore a fit-and-flare embroidery dress with a bateau neckline, grosgrain elastic belt, and a telength hemline. It suited by highlighting her feminine features.

More than her attire, what caught and calmed Lillian"s heart is Giselle"s face, the hidden glee behind those orbs, and how it told her that she was happy to see her.

Lillian is enjoying these delicate moments, the way Giselle looks in her dress, and how her face changed to rapture from meeting her. It was just like those days back then, this shy girl who wore boring skirts and tops, and still managed to capture her heart, is even now capable of enslaving Lillian with only her glance. It"s been like this the same, every time she looks at this girl, Lillian gets fl.u.s.tered, especially seeing the grown-up version of Giselle.

"Giselle, you must have heard it already, this is Lillian Grey, goes by the pen name, Gill," Jayce introduced Lillian to Giselle.

"I"ve known her more and better than you- you highness!" - is what Lillian thought from a very business-like introduction as if they hadn"t met each other.

Nevertheless, respecting the place, both Lillian and Giselle, extended their hand to do a formal shake.

Lillian smiled more than usual that even Jayce found it weird. He could certainly sense the tension between the two.

"Have you guys met already?" he doubtfully asked.

Startled from his suspicion, Giselle panicked, unable to answer naturally. Still, she found Lillian to maintain her calm. Somehow watching it irritated Giselle inside.

"Yes," Lillian said.

Even more, astounded from her response, Giselle"s eyes widen momentarily, still remaining speechless. She stared at Lillian in trepidation.

"At work!" Lillian added, following Giselle"s desperate flare.

Jayce returned to calm, quickly. He would play to pry more if it was his usual self, but the sangria is already working in his blood. Slowly, he is beginning to lose his cool.

Meanwhile, the rest of the groups surrounding them began to stir in random talks.

Only a few were aware of Lillian"s ident.i.ty as Gill, but for most of the employees, they don"t have a clue about this sudden appearance, so they continued to enjoy the party while the ones that knew kept their lips tightly sealed.

Nevertheless, spotting this unexpected guest, the chief editor, Norman, unknowingly grabbed Shane"s hand, who stood next to him and was actively enjoying his fruity vodka punch.

"Mr. Ricardo!" Norman hovered close to Shane, not piquing the attention of the others.

Shane replied casually to his employee"s panic calling.

"Mr. Ricardo!!" the second time sent the anxieties, and Shane responded to them with his stern face.

"What, Norman?" he groaned.

Norman did not dare say a word, but his eyes anch.o.r.ed the scene to his boss.

The picture of Lillian Grey, Giselle, and Jayce!

Shane opened his eyes wide enough to take another notice and confirmed it to be Lillian.

"Excuse me, guys," he said to free himself from both his vodka and his company.

On his way towards Lillian, he saw Jenna and tapped on her shoulders to signal. Jenna caught the sign, "Ms. Grey! What is she doing here?" she thought and instantly responded by following him.

"Did she tell you about coming here tonight?" he whispered to Jenna as they made their way to the three.

"No! I did ask her, though, but she refused me straightaway."

Shane can guess for her reason to make an appearance tonight, and it is because of Giselle. However, to intrude the party suddenly when not everyone could recognize her seems precarious.

"Let"s hurry!" Shane said to pick up his pace.

Having done with the introductions, Jayce moved onto sing praise of his new editor to Lillian, bragging about her skills and her dedication to work, all while replacing his empty gla.s.ses with a fresh pineapple rose sangria. If not for Giselle, Lillian would have already ignored this fancy pants. Since her Giselle is with him, she had no choice but to listen to his sad brag.

"Oh we"re getting bored, are we?" he noticed, "Now, Giselle, let me spoil you a little about the ever interesting and mysterious Gill here as well," and added, changing the topic instantly with the power of fruity c.o.c.ktail after noticing the looming silence.

Suspecting where this will end, Lillian tried to stop Jayce, but he won"t listen.

Giselle being the only one who heard to his rant until now in patience, showed an active interest to listen as it involves her Lillian.

"Jayce!" Lillian calls him sternly, trying to eye him to zip his thin running lips.

"Sssshhh-" Jayce hushed her.

The sound of his silly move bought attention from the nearby audience. Troubled if anyone else hearing it, Lillian obeyed him momentarily.

"I may write romance novels, but Lillian here is just more romantic than you may think-" he said in his now funny voice.

Lillian did not like where this is heading, but her ears are keen to catch one wrong, unnecessary word, she wouldn"t care about the place or the people and would move to shut him down.

"She has numerous love stories in her hand-" Jayce said.

Lillian loses her patience now.

"I keep telling her to pick one and write it," he added to her uncertainty, "but she rejects my idea."

Lillian is now worrying if its worth whether to slap his loosely running mouth or punch his gut so hard that he won"t wake up the rest of the night.

"This is nothing new, Giselle. Everyone knows the rumor of Gill playing with lots of girls and guys- her wild dating-"

Having lost her calm completely, Lillian hushed him with her glare.

"What? Am I wrong?" Jayce returns playfully.

Shane and Jenna arrived on time, almost hearing the dating part, as Jayce said. Having more audience now, Jayce forgot what he said already.

"Jayce! h.e.l.lo, Giselle! And- Lillian-"

Lillian stormed out bitterly before letting Shane finish.

"I"ll go with her," Jenna said to signal Shane as he agreed it to be the best solution.

He then turned to see the tight prince, losing his cool.

"He"s drunk!" Shane said to read Giselle"s face, wondering for her reaction to his earlier comment on Lillian"s love life. But nothing dwelled on her complexion.

Signaling for help, Shane caught Jayce"s unstable body.

"I"ll send him home. He won"t stand till the rest of the party in this state," he informed to Giselle.

"And Giselle," he called, "about what he said earlier- It is only natural that a broken heart yields to darkness," he looked at her, "Now that the light has returned, I pray that the lost soul is also returning to its rightful place, bright, blessed, and happy."

Giselle watched the two leave while others still gossiped about the prince"s departure.

Following their disappearance, Giselle searched for Lillian Grey, amongst the large crowd. Only after a great effort did she find Lillian far away, in a corner, along with Jenna, looking unpleased.