Her steps were light as she strode to the receptions of the Gray Empire and told the receptionist that she has an appointment with Matthew Grayson.
The woman, who was about the same age as her, smiled. She wasn't the one working when she came here last Monday.
"You may go ahead," the girl smiled at her again, handing her an electronic ID card.
She smiled back and murmured her thanks and thought to herself that she liked this girl more than the other one as she turned on her heels and headed to the elevator that would take her to Matthew's office.
She was optimistic about her visit to Matthew this time because she had already talked to her father and he didn't disagree with her idea. He told her to ask Matthew and if he agreed then that was what they were going to do.
Another reason for her optimism was the fact that her father agreed for her and her friends to use their Catamaran in their graduation trip to Mykonos. Her father had already told the captain of the yacht to be in Mykonos on the same date of their schedule. They don't want to take the yacht going there, for it would take time.
They are going to fly down, the yacht will be waiting for them there. The same thing going back. They are flying. The yacht was just they were going to use to party. She had already informed Tiffany about it because she would be the one planning their trip.
Now, she just has to convince Matthew to agree on what she wants for her to breathe easy. Her marriage with Matthew would be just a little hiccup in her life. She was grinning inwardly at the thought that she would be living with Matthew since she would be away for college.
She was deep in thought when she stepped out of the elevator that if a man didn't bump her shoulder accidentally she wouldn't look up and see her mother coming out of Matthew's office.
A crease appeared in between her brows and she didn't know but she dashed back inside the closing elevator.
"Sorry," she mumbled over the man who hit her shoulder. "I'm going to get off on the next floor."
The man just looked at her and returned his attention to his phone.
Lilly's heart was thumping wildly on her chest. She had no idea why she ran away when she saw her mother. Her body just moved on its own.
She got out of the elevator a floor above Matthew's office. She was confused and looked around on what to do to kill time. She wanted to make sure that she wouldn't accidentally meet her mother.
Looking around, she saw the familiar green sign. She strode along the hallway to the door with the signage of the stairwell. She pushed the metallic door and breathed a relieved sigh when it opened.
She took her time going down the stairs, thinking that her mother was about to leave and she was going to use the elevator down to the lobby.
Taking the steps one step at a time, she thought of a possible reason for her mother to come to Matthew's office and could not think of any. Her mother knew that she had an appointment with Matthew this morning. Why in the world does she have to come without telling her when they had breakfast together at home.
She looked at her phone and saw that she had wasted about twenty minutes, going up to the 17th floor then taking the stairs one floor down.
She fixed her hair and strengthened her dress and pushed the exit door open. She looked furtively around the corner and when she saw the empty hallway in front of Matthew's office, she hurried inside and saw that Matthew's secretary was startled by her presence.
"Good morning," she smiled awkwardly at her. "Is Matthew available?"
"Miss Morgan," she smiled politely at her without any warmth. "Mr. Grayson is waiting for you half an hour ago."
"Thank you," she mumbled under her breath. The way she emphasized her lateness didn't escape her. She decided that she didn't like this secretary as she knocked twice on Matthew's door before opening the door.
"Good morning," she greeted Matthew who, just like the first time she came, had his nose buried in a mountain of documents on his desk.
"Morning, Lilly. Please take a seat," he said without lifting his gaze from the paper that he was signing.
Lilly took the same armchair that she sat down on last time. She was wondering if Matthew would make her coffee this time when his secretary came in.
"Make us two coffee," he barked at his secretary without throwing her a glance.
The secretary, who forgot the name, gave her a look before she made coffee. There was no friendliness with the way she served the coffee towards her, the same way that she asked if she still needed something.
"No, thank you," she said politely. It would be useless to try to be friends with her with the way she was acting. It was clear that she didn't want to have any connection to her other than work. It made her a bit sad since she would be coming here every week and she thought it would be nice to have an amicable relationship with Matthew's employees.
"Here's your new card."
She jumped a little in her seat. And took the card that Matthew handed her even before he took his seat and picked up his coffee.
"Uhm," she fumbled around her wallet and pulled out the previous card that Matthew gave her. "Here's the—"
"Keep it. For emergencies."
The coldness in Matthew's tone made her lose the courage that she had to tell him about her plan for the wedding. Instead, a question came out of her mouth.
"Did my mother come here?"
Matthew creased his forehead and stared at her with an unreadable expression. "No, she didn't."
Lilly felt an invisible fist hit her stomach and dread washed over her.