Under The Red Lights

3

Lilith closed her eyes, and as soon as she pushed herself to fall into the water, two strong hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her back to fall on top of a strong body. Lilith opened her eyes to look at whoever decided to save her, and her eyes widened in shock. Then she said, “You.”

He groaned from the pain in his shoulder as he let her go, then managed to shoot her a smile, then said in his flirty tone, "I know we are destined to meet."

Lilith rolled her eyes at his chessy sentence, then said, "Cut the act, Max; it's not funny."

Max then stood up and started cleaning his clothes from the dust, then said, "Well, I don't know what to say to someone about to kill himself; it's better than asking why, I guess."

Lilith ignored what he said, then asked him, "What are you doing here anyway?"

Max put his hands in his pants bockets, then said, "Not to jump off the bridge, I'm sure."

Lilith looked at him suspiciously. Max laughed and then said, “I didn’t follow you, I swear. I was just going to meet my older brother.”

Lilith said with greater suspicion, “You were crossing the bridge on foot to meet your brother.”

Max shrugged his shoulders and said, "I hope he gets tired of waiting for me and leaves."

Lilith raised her eyebrows at what he said, and Max laughed and then said, "Typical family issues, if you know what I mean."

Lilith nodded to him while she sighed and ran her hand through her hair. Max said, "I don't think you'll try to kill yourself again, so why don't I walk with you to your house while I tell you my family drama?"

Lilith scoffed. "Don't you think you're being very friendly?"

Max laughed and then said, "I like spelling the tea like my mother."

Lilith shook her head. She knew that her decision to jump from the bridge was nothing but a rash decision. She was very grateful that Max saved her, but she did not show it to him. She was also not raised to be like those girls who cry with every problem they go through. Lilith was tougher than that. So she nodded to Max and walked with him, then said, “What about your brother?"

He said, "Aughh, he hates my guts. He will probably call me, get angry at me, and won't send money for several months, and then everything will go back to normal."

Lilith said, teasing him, “Oh, so you are Mama's little boy."

Max ran his hand through his hair condescendingly. "Don't get me wrong, but who would say no to an extra hundred bucks, especially if it makes my brother angry as hell?"

Lilith shook her head with a small smile and then said, “Interesting.”

Max said, "You seem to be an only child by your reaction; you won't get my rebellious attitude when I run away from my family; I was super cool."

Lilith said, "Aww, that’s so cute, so you ran away to follow your dreams; what a story, baby boy.”

Max winked at her and said, "They call me Prince Charming for a reason."

Lilith laughed after that, and Max laughed with her, then said, “I have an extra room if you want to runaway and be a baby girl as well."

Lilith did not look at him, and while she put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and looked at the road in front of her, she said, “You will not get on my pants, Max; do not even dream about it.”

Max laughed and then said, "I'm offended right now, Miss Devil's name."

Then there was silence for a few seconds before he said, “I will not reject the offer, though.”

Lilith rolled her eyes while smiling, and then Max said, “I have a car shop too, if you are looking for a job."

Lilith looked at him, and before she could say anything, Max ran his hand through his hair, then said, "Don't judge me; it's the Prince Charming character that's talking now."

Lilith could not suppress her laughter, and even though Max was the typical bad boy, Lilith felt comfortable in his presence, and she turned the page of her suspenseful feelings towards him for a while now, to the point that she was seriously considering the offer of the room that Max had given her.

After a period of silence, Max said, "Any extra plans if your death plan fails?"

Lilith nodded and said, "I'll go back to plan A, I guess."

Max raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh, which is?"

Lilith stood up, then took a deep breath while hitting her foot on the ground and said, “Don’t kill my mother; wait for the university’s acceptance to arrive, and have a full night of peaceful sleep.”

Max's mouth turned into an "O" shape, and then he said, "Wow, what an excellent plan for a fifty-year-old. How about work?"

Lily pursed her lips and said, “By not showing up today, I think I have already been fired.”

Max nodded as he said, "Nice. What a miserable life, and your love life?"

Lilith's anger surged like a volcano, and she said, "It's worse than you can imagine. Someone took my virginity against my will."

Seeing how Max's face changed after this sentence, Lilith knew that she had screwed up. She did not know what had happened to her. It seemed that those frank sentences she had exchanged with Max had made her lose her privacy keys. Lilith regretted saying that, but her house was looming on the horizon, so she said, "See you later, Mama's boy."

Max stopped her, then took a pen out of his back pants pocket and wrote his phone number on her hand, then said, “I don’t think I will be that lucky to see you by chance for the third time. Call me.”

And then he left immediately.

Lilith kept looking at him until he disappeared from her sight, and what was strange was that he did not turn back to look at her, not even once, and did not take the path they had come from together either, while Lilith sighed and began to feel the pain in her body as soon as she stepped on the front step of her house, and then she breathed with relief and thanked her Lord that there was no one at home, so she went straight to her room, took a shower, and then achieved the first step of her plan, which was to have a peaceful night’s sleep.

* * * * * *

On the other hand, the relationship between Max and Lilith developed, and it became as if they had known each other for years. While Lilith was sitting on the doorstep of the house, remembering the events of this week, she heard a dang from her phone. She took it lazily out of her pocket; she thought it was Chris or Max, but it was an email from the university, and once she opened it, her eyes widened in disbelief, and she started jumping and screaming hapily. She didn't give a damn about that old lady neighbor who cursed her, so she took her bike and went to Max's work shop.

Lilith arrived at the workshop where Max was working. She left the bike lying on the ground and went inside, shouting his name with enthusiasm and joy. As soon as she entered the office, her smile fell, her body stiffened, and her world went black. He was there, sitting with all his pride, holding a cup of coffee. And his eyes were fixed on the door. It seemed that her screams had attracted his attention, and now his eyes were fixed on her. His mouth twisted into a smile, and he put down the coffee cup and said, “Oh, it seems that you came to see my little brother. He will be here in five."

Her limbs trembled and her eyes watered, and the shock ran with the blood in her veins. She was the one who thought that her life would change, and now she realized, with that malicious smile on his mouth and his bright eyes that looked at her with mockery, that she had changed for the worse.

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