One Night Only

Lillie

My gaze shifts from my mother to that mysterious man standing beside her bed. His eyes betray a hint of concern. I know her very well, and that’s why I know something is wrong. I hope it’s nothing serious.

I walk towards her to get a bit closer. The stranger keeps staring at me. It’s not a leering gaze that might make one uncomfortable; it’s something else, something strange, as if we know each other, as if we’ve seen each other somewhere before, but we haven’t. I’ve never crossed paths with this man in my life. If I had, I would never have forgotten. He exudes an air of power, mystery, and elegance with his presence. I don’t know if everyone who knows him feels the same way, but it’s how I feel.

“Daughter, come closer,” my mother’s voice carries a hint of nerves.

I reach her and give her a gentle kiss on the cheek and a brief hug.

“Mom, how are you feeling?”

As I pull away from her, I delicately take her hand. I can see out of the corner of my eye how the mysterious man steps back and puts some distance between us. He stands by the window, ignoring us.

“Better now,” she fixes her gaze on me. “There’s something important I want to tell you.”

I look at her, puzzled by her response. I hope it’s not something bad.

“What’s wrong?” I start to worry.

I already know about the situation with her illness, but her tone of voice and the look in her eyes make me panic. When my sister told me about it, she seemed different. Yes, she was concerned but calm, very unlike my mother, who seems like she wants to bolt. Her nervousness is palpable. Or maybe she’s scared. That’s strange because she never liked showing weakness in the face of this illness. She didn’t want us to be sad or worried. That’s why she had always been strong. However, maybe it’s starting to affect her now. I don’t want to think like that. I don’t want to think that my mother might falter, give up, and see her depressed again. There was a time when she fell into depression, but she always wanted us to see only her brave side, her strength, especially me. She said I was very fragile and everything affected me. That’s why they always used to protect me, her and Alex, but I felt very strong. Maybe I wasn’t ready to lose her or maybe nobody is ever ready to lose their mom, especially me, who is very attached to her.

She is my everything.

The man remains in his place. He doesn’t turn to look at us for a single second, nor has he introduced himself, so I have no idea who he is. I think I’ll have to ask, as this is very strange. He’s just standing there as if nothing, and the worst part is that he’s a stranger listening to our conversation.

As I’m about to ask, my mother takes the words out of my mouth to dispel my doubt.

“Darling, first I want…” Then she stops looking at me to look at the man. “He’s a friend,” she pauses. I don’t know why she’s nervous. “Lionel Bachman, an old distant friend,” she finishes saying. She keeps looking at him. She doesn’t look at me, and she doesn’t even tell him what my name is; she just introduces him, as if he already knows about me, or maybe those are just my strange ideas.

The man looks back at me. I can’t decipher those eyes; they’re a mystery. They’re very deep, but they shine every time they see me, or maybe that’s just how they are, not because of me.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he speaks after a long time. His voice is very powerful and hoarse. I could sense kindness and affection in his words, as if he genuinely enjoyed meeting me.

“This head of mine.”

Without taking my eyes off him, I walk around the bed to approach where he is and introduce myself properly. My mother always taught me that education is very important, and proper introductions are part of it.

“I didn’t know my mother had a distant friend,” I approach. “Nice to meet you,” I extend my hand to greet him, “Lillie Watson,” I smile. I don’t know if my mother told him my name, but I said it anyway.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

He doesn’t respond and stops looking at me. I think he’ll leave me hanging with my hand extended waiting for the handshake. My smile fades slowly. Just as I’m about to withdraw my hand, he responds by taking it quickly, but as he does, he gets closer to me, turning the handshake into a hug. I don’t know when it all happened. It was so fast that I didn’t even notice. He envelops me in his arms, and I freeze at his reaction.

It’s strange. Even though he’s been a friend of my mother’s for years, he’s a stranger to me. It’s uncomfortable because of the situation, but it’s also out of the ordinary because I feel calm, as if this hug shows affection and protection. It’s a sensation somewhat similar to what I felt when my mother hugged me, but the curious thing is that it’s as if I had expected that affection. I don’t know how to respond or explain to my mind the strange sensations I feel.

I don’t know if seconds or minutes pass, but they seem like more minutes when the man reacts to his sudden hug and steps back somewhat embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he says embarrassedly.

He steps back to a decent distance and averts his gaze.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.”

“Yes, I have to apologize. I shouldn’t have. I don’t know what came over me,” his gaze goes to my mother. “Maybe it’s because you reminded me of someone.”

Now I understand why he had such confidence to hug me affectionately. Nevertheless, it’s strange. It was as if with that hug he wanted to tell me something, but I don’t know what.

I don’t pay it more attention and return to my place next to my mother. She observes the man. I take her hand again to bring her back to the present. It’s as if her mind is elsewhere or rather with him.

“Well?” I express to make her see me. “What was that important thing you wanted to tell me?”

With that question, I have her full attention. Finally, she looks at me again.

“The doctors said…” She exhales the breath she had been holding and sighs. “Th-the illness has returned,” she makes sure not to sound sad. I know she’s making a greater effort, but let’s not alarm ourselves; there’s still a solution.” That’s what I love about her, her positive and warrior side. She’s my strength, my admiration. “That’s why Lionel is here, in case you were wondering why he’s here since you didn’t know him.”

When she said “know,” I realize that maybe my sister does. Why didn’t I know about him?

“Alex told me something… So it’s true.

“What did she tell you?” she asks, concerned. Her gaze shifts to Mr. Lionel.

“What the doctors said. I know you need to travel to Europe to see specialists for your illness.”

I don’t understand why she reacted like that, but as she hears me, her face relaxes, and she looks at me again.

“That’s right. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. The doctors have given us all the information, and they’re finishing up the final tests. As soon as everything is checked and settled here, they’ll arrange for my transfer to another country.”

“Where will they take you? I need to know where you’ll be.”

Her gaze moves from Mr. Lionel to me. I don’t know what’s going on with her; she’s very different.

“We’ll be going to Germany,” she replies.

I imagine she’ll want Alex to go with her, but that will affect our finances, as we’ll need more money now. The good thing is I have some money saved, what Dante gave me as payment. Of course, I don’t want to use it; I plan to return it. It’s no longer in my plans to have sex for money, well, it never was, and now even less. I’m in love with him. I never cared about his fortune, it was just a desperate need to help my family, but now things are changing. I didn’t take a single penny from anyone. In fact, I’ll return what he gave me. I want him to realize that his millions and everything he has don’t matter to me. I care only about him. I want only him. I already miss him. Since he left me at the hospital door, I’ve been yearning to kiss him again and be in his arms.

“Oh, my God, he’s driving me crazy.”

My crazy mind wanders, thinking about him, forgetting about the present, they’re looking at me as if waiting for me to speak. I don’t know if they said anything else. I dream like a fool about my Devil.

“It’s okay.” I don’t know if they were waiting for my acceptance or what, but that’s what I responded. “I’ll ask for more hours at work, so I can help you from here, because I imagine Alex will resign.”

I’m clear that now I’ll have to work twice or maybe even three times as hard. It doesn’t bother me. My mother and my sister have already done a lot for me, so now it’s my turn to do it for them. What worries me is Sandy. Alex hardly spends much time with her anymore because she’s almost always involved in my mother’s affairs. I’m worried that all this will affect my niece because none of the three of us spend enough time with her. She spends more time with the neighbor, Alex’s friend. Or maybe she doesn’t notice things, as she’s still very young. However, that girl is very intelligent; I doubt she doesn’t notice what’s happening around her. I can’t ask my sister to leave her with me because I’ll be very busy too. Besides, she needs her mom more than she needs me.

“Yes, Alexa will quit her job, and you will too. You’ll make a change at the university.”

Did I hear correctly?

My mother said I’ll also quit my job and request a change at the university. I can’t believe what I heard. I didn’t think she would want me to leave too, and it’s not for a short time. Asking for a change at the university means it’s for a long time. This leaves me unable to utter a single word. I can’t leave. I don’t want to. I have my life here. Maybe it doesn’t affect my studies, and my job isn’t a big deal, but here I have my friends, people I care about deeply. This is where he comes to see me, the place where he knew I’d be. It will be harder to see each other with this. We’re already at a considerable distance, but now it’ll be different. I no longer have a reason or something to make him travel. He comes here for his business, although he told me he’d only come to see me. I don’t want to leave. However, I want to be with her and support her, but from here. I feel that if I leave, my whole life will change. It won’t be easy to see him either. Maybe I won’t even look at him anymore. He won’t do anything to find me if he can’t find me here. No, I can’t just think about him. It’s about my mother, my family. I always give up everything for them, and now won’t be the exception no matter how much I want to be with him.