One text from Lillian Grey rescued Lucy and her downcasted spirit. She returned to the set to perform as usual. A group of eyes watched her energy shift, gaping to themselves what bought in the switch.The director still considered and let Lucy take it comfortable, for the transformation in her att.i.tude surprised him. The hope of reuniting with her love gave Lucy the tenacity to move forward. The commercial ended with a pleasing appearance from the charming model.
Lucy returned to her station and panicked in search of her phone.
"Lucy,"
Lucy turned at the call. She saw her manager waiting outside the room, still not sure how and when did his client"s mood transform.
"Yes, Frank,"
"We"re wrapping things here, and you can go home for today," he said.
Lucy"s face reduced to the puzzlement because she knew that there was another planned photoshoot that evening for her.
"What about the photoshoot for the makeup brand?" she asked.
Frank, Lucy"s manager, ran his hand across his dense curls, and he explained the reason to push back her schedule suddenly.
"I don"t know what the reason, but from the looks of it, you"ve returned to yourself. Why don"t you take a rest today, maybe call that person responsible, have a long talk, and make up for the weeklong worrying? Tomorrow you only have a fitting session with the designer in the morning. Also, the makeup brand has yet to finalize the concept for the photoshoot. Therefore, I took the chance to free your schedule, only for today!" Frank addressed and explained the details. He is usually strict when it comes to working, and since he watched Lucy sulk the past week and seeing her suddenly changed moods, he worried about her well-being and let her have a day off.
His work seems to fulfill its duty as Lucy felt touched by him acting without a word.
"It is only for today, and you won"t get any breaks in the future, so make sure to use the chances I give you here and there. Now, pack your bags, and we leave," Frank said and left the scene.
Lucy played a shy smile from his masked caring, and she listened to him to pack her things, placing the phone aside for now until she boards a cab for a ride back home.
A final confession to the production crew, the director, and everyone included in this project gained more respect for Lucy. Satisfied with her performance, the director wished the rising model for success and hoped to work together again.
Frank and Lucy left, and Frank informed Lucy that he is stopping at the office while letting Lucy go home and rest.
Lucy agreed and boarded a cab to her apartment. The first thing she does is to take her phone out to read again the message Lillian sent, followed by a reply she intended to post.
The young heart at love wrote a long, doting, curious pa.s.sage, addressing things such as why Lillian never sent her any text or a call, what happened to her. It also includes the reason behind ditching Lucy for a week, which the model expressed with many sorrow-filled expressions. Adding to the paragraph of affection is a notice to learn of Lillian"s father and if something happened worth the visit. The connected lines contained Lucy"s emotions, and they were all condensed to the limitation of sending a text through a mobile phone.
At the end of typing, Lucy looked and felt if it was too intense to send all at once. After much debate, she chose to follow her heart and sent the long text.
Only then did Lucy lifted her eyes to view the city and see the outside world. No matter where her sight traveled, or what she perceived, her mind bugged with the message and yearned for a buzzing sound that notifies the response from Lillian Grey.
Her growing impatience reached to her tapping foot and rubbing hands together to generate mild heat. Her eyes kept wandering until she reached her apartment. Coming out, Lucy handed out the cash and rushed to her floor. Upon entering the home, she threw her bag away on the couch. Her right hand held the phone steady with eyes fixated on it, refreshing every two seconds to check if there was any response from the receiver.
Her excitement dropped over pa.s.sing minutes, and in her heart, Lucy feared to return to the same old slump. If one thing that added more terror, it is the feeling of what she went through the past week by herself, alone and abandoned. Lillian"s lifestyle coped Lucy to keep having faith and gave her fluctuating strength to hold expectations.
The day ended as twilight premiered before the night king appears, and Lucy still did not move an inch from her couch. Her phone on her hand, often switched for support, eyes fixed at the black screen, and the dropped branded handbag remained at the same spot she threw it.
Time stretched to her business, and she never ate. The bloomed happiness felt like it never visited. And that she did not deserve to be happy either. When her thoughts began to play the worst scenarios, she chose to call Lillian directly. The lack of communication gave her an absent-minded nature to not make the right decisions spontaneously.
Late into the evening, as the black sky stretched out to conceal the light and as birds flew back home, Lucy realized to call Lillian Grey.
She called to listen the ringing go on and on, stretch till no one answers.
Lucy feared to call again and hear nothing from Lillian Grey.
How dangerous one"s thoughts can be? - Lucy believed.
She left the spot, grasping the reality of time and the need to feed herself to live.
Lillian"s response made her immensely happy, but what she never learned was how Lillian"s busy schedule is going to keep her further disa.s.sociated from each other.
Late into the same night when Lucy prepared to go to bed, she received a buzzing sound of notification on her phone. Hurried instinctively to see what it is, Lucy moved. A message from Lillian again where the author admits about her occupied agenda.
The following week pa.s.sed with the revived young model soon sinking to her old habits. Since Lillian was working with her interviews, traveling within the country and outside kept her engaged throughout the week. The author could only respond when Lucy makes an effort.
"I"m busy, Lucy."
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"I"m outside."
"I"m traveling right now,"
"I"ll call you later. I"m busy now,"
Lucy heard the repeated dialogs to her drying excitement.
What kept her going was the fact that Lillian still maintaining the contact without deserting her alone.
***
Meantime, not having the confidence to face Lucy, Lillian kept dodging her calls and replied only to text messages.
Their relationship slowly descended, and regardless of Lillian"s attempts to ignore Lucy, the model kept reaching out to her lover relentlessly.
Lucy"s tireless efforts tightly gripped and held on their fragile feelings.
..
A week pa.s.ses, and Lillian finally had the time to sit down for a drink, without ever worrying about where she needs to go next or whom she is to meet! With Jenna"s help, all of her rescheduled events went successful one after another. After Jenna left her place, Lillian went back to watching TV for filling the silence and ate old pizza from hunger.
A call"s notice interrupts her lonely routine, and she looked at her phone to see Lucy calling.
A lot of contemplation simulated in her head, and she reached the end of her thinking.
Lillian Grey answered the long-ringing call.
"h.e.l.lo," Lillian spoke first.
Startled from an unexpected greeting right away, Lucy ran sweat all over.
Two weeks of desolation trained Lucy to be the only one taking the initiative to reach out to Lillian Grey and not the vice versa.
"Lilly, I mean Lillian Grey, is that you?" she asked carelessly.
"Hmm,"
"Lillian? Lilly?"
Lucy repeated until she could believe that it was Lillian who is talking to her and not someone else in her place.
"Lucy," Lillian called in her rough tone, distant and different from the way she typically calls her. Lucy broke out from hearing Lillian"s voice address her as such after a long gap.
"Ah, yes," the model battled to talk.
"I called to see if you are doing okay with the events- I guess I keep calling to hear your voice and-" Lucy stutters poorly.
"I know," Lillian admitted.
Not once their past conversations were so artless or even silence thrived until now. Both got hurt with their separate concerns. Lucy wondered how the relationship turned this way. As for Lillian, she couldn"t bring herself to face Lucy with a straight face. Giselle is still in her heart, and their meeting triggered the dormant flame. It finally woke up after several years of disconnection, demanding to return to her first love.
"Lillian?" Lucy calls, disrupting the dominating stream of dreams.
Lucy struggles if she should express more or not. What went inside her head and all the crazy misconceptions she developed during this lonely course.
"Exactly what happened? Between us? Why?" she cut, clearly failing to confront her girlfriend and their lack of engagement.
Lillian Grey being the oldest in this relationship- understood her intentions behind the broken words, and yet, she refused to speak. The image of Giselle returning to her life and the committed crime of kissing her past love despite being in a relationship with Lucy choked Lillian, letting her unable to speak.
For a long silence, Lucy received the silent treatment. As a result, she changed the topic immediately to drive away any possibility of confrontation.
"Forget about it! I understand that you were busy with work."
Even if she tried, Lucy"s heart never settled with no response, contradicting herself.
So what if Lillian doesn"t answer!
That doesn"t imply that she shouldn"t express herself better. The determination to vocalize the pain she endured all these days of isolation from her lover gave Lucy a new strength to expose her wounded feelings.
"Just say one thing, are we still there together?" Lucy asked, controlling the growing pants and the rising pulse rate.
The poor girl tried to endure to herself and never resorted to anyone"s shoulder. The weight of sorrow she carried appeared open to Lillian Grey.
"Why are you asking such questions?" she asked worriedly.
It only lasted mere seconds, and Lucy already lost all that confidence. She dreaded to hear the answer and refused to listen to anything that could possibly make her feel worse than she already seems. In the end, all she could do is to distract herself and Lillian with tales.
"haha, don"t worry. I didn"t see you for a long time, correct? I must be hallucinating, such an idiot. Anyways-"
She was seemingly joking with her feelings, and Lillian waits silently, wrenching her heart from not being able to console Lucy comfortably.
"I know that you would tell me when it is time, I guess."
The expression hurt Lillian, but not as much as it did for Lucy.
"Forget about it, so, are you free today? Can we meet? We can go out for dinner- no, it"s alright, even for a cup of coffee-"
"What do you say, Lillian Grey?"
Lucy had new hopes since Lillian spoke longer than she usually does.
"Ah- I have-" Lillian stuttered.
Lucy"s sharp ears already heard the first half of her answer and a.s.sumed what follows would only hurt more.
"It"s alright. Alright. You are already busy, and I"m disturbing you-"
"Lucy, no- wait-"
"Alright. Take care, Lilly. Don"t be sleeping on the bed without eating. Eat properly, take a bath, will you? Don"t go to work without cleaning yourself. You will stink awfully."
"Lucy, wait-"
"Call me- if you need anything. For now, this is okay to survive each day! Take care. Love you-"
Before Lillian could gather her attention, she heard the call cut sharp at the end of her words. Lucy is no longer alive on the line.
None of her previous relationships caused Lillian this much pain, as ignoring those people resulted in an instant breakup. However, not with Lucy. Up until recently, Lillian lived with only seeing Lucy, and this girl happens to get past the hardships and impress the stubborn author somehow. Nevertheless, the appearance of Giselle multiplied the crime of backstabbing Lucy"s feelings, and it made Lillian dive deep into the horror of hurting either of them. Before anything could go mayhem, she needs to face herself.