A Burning Impulse

Chapter1

(Two years later, current timeline)

“Hello, bestie,” my best friend, Lilith, peeked her head into my office with her cheeky smile. I was discussing an upcoming event with my secretary, Sam, when she popped into my office. Seeing me in the middle of the discussion, she stopped in her tracks and said, “Shall I come back later?”

Her eyes shifted from me to Sam and when their eyes met, she froze, making me raise an eyebrow at her. Even Sam was shocked, though he composed himself in an instant and gave her a “caught you” look, which sent my eyebrow up to my hairline.

I smell something in the air, I thought to myself as I gauged their reaction.

“You can stay, our meeting is over,” I said to Lilith then turned to Sam, “Prepare everything as I have told you. I will go over and check the progress later.”

“I will do as you instructed,” Sam saluted me and left. As he walked past Lilith, he gave her a ‘you can't escape me’ look. When he was out of my office, I couldn't hold back my curiosity and asked her what was going on between her and Sam, and how they met.

"Do you remember I told you about the guy I liked when I was an intern? The one I rejected because I was bullied by the girl who liked him? That's Samuel," she said, plopping down on the chair in a daze.

“No way!” I exclaimed, to which she gave me an ‘I wish I was kidding’ look. Short story short, Lilith had a crush on a guy but she was scared of confessing to him because of his best friend (girl) who was possessive about him. Unfortunately for her, the best friend sensed that she had a crush on the guy and she started bullying Lilith.

Lilith being the softest-hearted person she was, couldn't take it and decided she should leave the crush behind (as she was leaving the town to follow her dream, her decision fell in line with her departure) but before the night she was leaving, she somehow ended up in bed with her crush.

She was both mortified and scared when she woke up next to him so she left without so much as giving him a reason for her leave, which she greatly regrets now.

All in all, my girlie is smitten with him and can't seem to get over him.

“This is fate, Lilith,” I teased her but as she was still in shock after reuniting with her long-lost crush, everything I said went over her head.

At her reaction, I smiled and thought, I'm glad they met again. In the past, Sam opened up to me about his past and told me about this girl he is in love with and is trying to find again. Their backstories match, and after considering relief in Sam’s eyes, I'm confident the girl he is in love with is none other than Lilith.

“But why haven't I met him before? In the past year we have become friends, I haven't once seen him here,” Lilith asked. Before we continue with the story, let me tell you how we became friends.

Lilith and I bumped into each other two years ago at an event I had planned. I was the event planner while she was the photographer they hired. It was right before I divorced Mason. After that, we exchanged numbers as in this line, it's inevitable for us to not bump into each other here and there. We both wanted to have a cordial relationship and expand our connection.

A few weeks after our first meeting, she messaged me for the first time with a photo of Mason walking into a hotel with his secretary. Following the photo was her message, “Hey, I don't want to offend you but I think your husband is banging some other coochie.” As funny as it sounded to me at that time, it was just as heartbreaking knowing the husband I trusted blindly was betraying my trust in such a way.

That was our first chat that wasn't us asking each other about events we would bump into and that was the beginning of our friendship. After my divorce, she invited me to dinner and profusely apologized because she felt she ruined my happy marriage.

After a single dinner, we kept meeting, and before I knew it, she shared everything and anything about herself and vice versa. We became each other’s ‘ride and die’ in the last couple of months and now, I can't imagine my life without her in it.

“He often works on-site for a smooth transition of work and is rarely seen in the office. It just happened that he was always out for business whenever you visited me,” I said. “Also, you have only been into my office five times (this time excluded) and we usually meet each other in the coffee shop down the street.”

"How come we managed to miss each other for so long? One f*****g year! This has to be a joke," Lilith held her head in her hand. "Is fate making a joke out of us? If so, then fate has a cruel way of making jokes."

"It wasn't fate, it was you. You always denied my offer to visit my office because you feel like you will be disturbing my employees if you visit often," I pointed out.

"It's not my fault your employees are so diligent when they work that I feel guilty for visiting without a business purpose," she whined. "I shouldn't have minded them and just visit you daily. I wasted one year looking for him elsewhere when he was within my grasp."

"Well, at least, you visited me without warning today and met him. It's never too late to meet your fate," I said. "So, what made you visit me today?"

"I came to give you an invitation to Jane's bachelorette party," Lilith presented the invitation to me with a "Ta-Da".

"You know I don't like clubs, right?" I said.

"This club is different. She has booked the whole club and the only other people we would find there would be strippers. Male strippers!" she screamed, her cheeks blushing, showing her excitement for the upcoming event.

"Why are you so excited? " I asked, chuckling.

"I want to capture the beauty of the sexy male strippers. That would be the highlight thirst trap for my blog viewers," she smirked.

"I pity your viewers. All you do is tease them with thirst traps. That's illegal, madam," I commented. Lilith shrugged and said, "I like teasing my viewers."

"One of these days, they might be fed up with your bullshit and leave you," I commented, feeling bad for her viewers. Poor guys always get a thirst trap but never the real deal. She keeps them hanging without any shame.

"Please, they love getting teased," she rolled her eyes.

"I highly doubt that," I said.

"Don't believe me then," she grumbled, giving me an offended look. I chuckled, getting up.

"Let's grab our lunches now that you're here," I suggested but she shook her head, saying, "I wish I had time to eat lunch. I came here to give you the invitation during the short break I got. For the rest of the day, I'm booked."

"You shouldn't be skipping lunch," I said, getting concerned. Lilith often skips lunch when she is busy.

"Look at the kettle calling the pot black," she chuckled. "If someone else said this, I would have understood but this came from a workaholic like you who often skips her meals because she is too busy preparing for the event."

"I don't skip my meals, ever," I said, a little offended because she was right.

"Would Sam agree to the same?" she raised an eyebrow at me, effectively shutting me up.

"I don't know. I'm not letting you walk away hungry. Take this," I handed her the lunch I made for myself this morning. I got up early today so I thought about making myself a wholesome lunch.

"What will you eat then?" she asked, refusing to take the lunch.

"I will quickly grab lunch from the restaurant down the street. I have plenty of time to kill today. You, on the other hand, need it more than me," I forced the lunchbox into her hand, making her pout.

"You're godsent, girl," she hugged me.

"At least you know. Now, go before you get late," I reminded her of the lack of time she had on her hands.

"I won't be late. I will race like a professional racer to get there on time," she said, determination lacing her voice. "Let's plan dinner this weekend. We have a lot to talk about."

"Sure," I agreed. She hurriedly left after hearing my answer but the dinner we planned got postponed further because of our busy schedules.

The next time we met was on the day Jane held her bachelorette party.

~•~