410 No more time to flee

It was another winter morning in a different setting- a rejuvenating beachfront view surrounded by its calming landscape. Jenna remained confident that this would be their last stop. They can finally go home after this. She boosted herself with lingering strength left to see through the remaining days.

She sat down by the large French windows facing the beach and waited patiently while looking outside at the dancing tides. Soon, a call came to welcome Jenna. She was asked to join downstairs along with Lillian Grey.

"We'll be there shortly!" Jenna responded to send off the guest.

She glanced at the door and hesitated before choosing to intrude. Just as she managed to open the door cautiously, Jenna found Lillian in another typical aftermath- a face she pulls following her routine.

"You done, Ms. Grey?" Jenna inquired with an expected sigh.

Lillian finally looked up to notice Jenna's presence. She gave the usual nod to keep looking at her mobile phone.

"If- you're done, they're calling for us, Ms. Grey!" Jenna hinted.

Lillian's focus finally came to an end. She stood up to glance at herself in the mirror before leaving.

Jenna and Lillian exited the room together and traversed downstairs side by side. On their way, Jenna filled Lillian in her responsibilities for the day. Jenna was busy explaining today's list of agendas to fulfill, but she couldn't help to notice how serious Lillian appeared on the outside. Despite her efforts to distract with work, Lillian's face expelled recurring remorse. It was nothing new but an old feeling. However, they never followed Lillian after her routine for the past two weeks. Maybe it's because this is their last stop. Lillian's suffering settled nicely on her features.

Jenna worried if it might affect their work, so she stopped Lillian before they reached downstairs and asked her if she was feeling alright.

Jenna learned about Diego, his feelings for Lillian, and several attempts to separate Giselle from Lillian Grey. Jenna could finally relate to why Diego always had an eye at her. When Lillian admitted severing her friendship with Diego, that's when she grew worried about Lillian's state of mind. Nevertheless, She went along with her decision to go on writing retreats abruptly. When it was suggested as a form of a request to Shane back when Lillian returned to his house late after the party, Shane was kind enough to hint at a few events for Lillian to attend.

Lillian invited Jenna to tag along and the two packed bags immediately.

Now that they're at the end of their short vocational detour, Jenna grew concerned over Lillian's prolonged temperament.

"I am not the one suffering, but if I can say so, once you return, you should consider meeting Ms. Giselle. You are only troubled since the secret is out accidentally. But I feel that Ms. Giselle will understand if you two sit down and talk. Who knows, she might be the help you needed."

Hearing Jenna's words did put Lillian to consider it sincerely.

She couldn't make any promises but agreed to think about it. Lillian also urged that they were running late. Jenna rolled her eyes from the ideal excuse and followed Lillian to reach downstairs.

It was a small writer's retreat workshop with selected applicants from all around the country.

These passionate people were given an opportunity to get mentored by Lillian Grey. Thanks to her idea to bring in Jenna, which provided a golden opportunity for the participants to hear from an experienced editor's perspective as well. Together, Lillian Grey and Jenna helped the emerging talents to reach their full potential.

Located in Seattle, this winter retreat was hosted at a private property rented for a few days by Keyline publishing house every year. Last year, it was Caesar's turn to mentor the participants, but this year Shane changed it to Lillian at the last minute upon Lillian's request.

Situated about thirty-five miles northwest of Seattle, this charming island became the perfect spot for hosting this year's writer's retreat. The two-story beach cabin comes with a breath-taking view of the beachfront.

***

Jenna settled in a room she and Lillian got to share during this retreat. It was late in the evening, and dinner was getting prepared downstairs. The entire day went by so quickly. At the end of the workshop, everyone was allowed to indulge in their own activities, which necessarily included writing. The participants went by their tasks while Jenna returned to her room to rest.

Lillian was out and away, so she had the time to relax and reply to work emails. Jenna was impressed at how hard Lillian worked to maintain a joyful upfront throughout the day, so much that she took pity on her and chose to avoid giving any more advice. She let Lillian blow off some steam.

Not much time passed by idling that Jenna fell asleep for a small nap and only woke up at the sound of loud knocks incoming.

A couple of participants wished to play board games. They wanted to invite their mentors as well and stopped by Lillian and Jenna's room. Greeted only by Jenna, the ladies asked about Lillian's whereabouts.

"I believe Ms. Grey had gone out for a walk!" Jenna informed.

"Yeah- but she usually goes for a walk early, right?"

"That's why we waited to invite the both of you!"

"What should we do?"

The ladies mumbled amongst themselves when Jenna requested them to leave Lillian by herself. Instead, she agreed to join them. It took a moment before the ladies all rejoiced.

Jenna promised to see them downstairs and had sent them off. She quickly sent a message to inform Lillian and then headed out to join the party.

***

Meanwhile, far from the beach cabin, Lillian walked along the shorelines, occasionally getting her feet soaked from the approaching waves. It was still lasting winter, and the water was cold, yet none of it bothered her mood. The thought of running away from Giselle kept her occupied.

Not only did Lillian come to learn why Giselle had left her without a word, but she also discovered Diego's feelings. It struck a huge shock, and she needed space to process. Now that Lillian rushed her way to break off her relationship with Diego. What's next?

Giselle isn't aware of Lillian knowing her secret.

How should Lillian act around her from now onwards?

How should she behave while hiding the knowledge of Giselle's secret?

Lillian worried a thousand times if she should admit overhearing them at the party. However, she worried if that might scare Giselle again. After all, this was something that Giselle protected for several years, even refusing to share after a long time. Lillian can't come out and admit that she knew right away. But at the same time, Diego's betrayal and the pain he caused to her behind her back, while believing that it was all for the sake of his affection, Lillian was enraged just thinking about him. She hated herself for leaving Diego without a scratch. All that anger and guilt Lillian carried from that day onwards weighed her down emotionally. She feared how she might react in front of Giselle. This has caused her to run away. She hoped that this trip might help her to heal the scar but who knew it did nothing. Lillian couldn't get out of her despair, and the fear of meeting Giselle only grew harder.

Ever since leaving Shane's party, she had been doing her best to avoid meeting Giselle. She was lucky to escape that night, but as dawn appeared and Giselle's call came to alarm Lillian, she hesitated to answer. Days passed with her eventually accepting the phone calls while strictly refusing to meet her in person. Even when Giselle herself asked her out on a date, Lillian declined by mentioning her suddenly crammed work schedule. Being so patient, Giselle didn't see through Lillian's mask and believed in her words.

Seattle was her fourth and the final stop before heading back home. Lillian first attended a conference before leaving for a couple of retreats. Now that it's all coming to an end, Lillian feared to face reality. She'd been on the run for the past two weeks since New Year's Eve, and the retreat is coming to an end by the following day. There's no more place to flee, which troubled Lillian to face her reality.

While rumbling with her own thoughts, Lillian ignored being out in the cold and getting wet. Her mind was ahead of thinking about solutions.

All while she walked around a mile without a worry about her surrounding, Lillian ended up getting far away from their cabin. Thankfully, she didn't get lost by taking turns and simply kept striding ahead.

She went far enough to witness another cabin having a party outside. It finally bought her to a stop, and she looked around to read her surroundings. There were beach cabins either occupied or abandoned at intervals. Lillian took out her phone to check the time. It was late than usual. She'd been walking for so long and lost track of time without a clue. She even forgot to make her timely calls to Giselle.

Without taking another step forward, Lillian turned back to return. She planned to call Giselle on her way to the cabin. However, to her awe, the phone rang aloud to surprise Lillian.

It was Giselle. Lillian sighed heavily in regret and hesitated before answering the call.

"You were going to miss today. That's why I called you," Giselle spoke first.

"I didn't forget. I was going to call you now."

"But you didn't!"

"Are we going to have this conversation now?" Lillian asked wearily.

"Forget it!" Giselle sighed.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"It went fine! How about you?"

"You know it already. I had meetings with the marketing department."

"How did that go?"

"Let's just say that we came to an agreement!" Giselle replied with a heavy heart.

Lillian chuckled. It's never an easy task to face the marketing team when it comes to publishing a new book. They have their strategies to fight back. Lillian could understand Giselle's pain, but not being in her shoes made her relieved. Besides, Jayce is a well-known author in this industry, so Lillian hoped it would only turn the best for him. Now that they've exchanged about their day, it was time for some personal chat.

"What is Lia doing?" Lillian inquired quickly to pivot the conversation.

"Reading. She has a quiz tomorrow."

"Well, good luck to her!" Lillian wished.

Giselle didn't reply, and her voice disappeared for a few seconds before it returned to strike nonetheless.

"How long are we going to talk like this?" she asked.

"Like what?"

"Like this!"

Lillian realized what Giselle meant and was put in a tough spot to answer.

"Again, you're answering me with your silence," Giselle cried.

"I'm not."

Lillian heard Giselle visibly grunt. She shut her eyes in despair.

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm running out of patience. What happened? Is it something I did?" Giselle asked again.

"Giselle- it's not what you think."

"Fine. Have it your way. I'm sorry for bringing it up again.

Alright, now that we finished discussing the usual, I'm hanging up."

"Wait-" Lillian panicked.

"What's there to talk about anymore! I'm hanging up. Good night. See you-" Giselle sighed dejectedly to add, "Talk to you tomorrow."

"Giselle- wait," Lillian tried to stop her, but the call ended already.

It was expected since the pattern repeated again. The two weeks had gone by seconds and their conversations reduced to formal chat. Lillian felt the tension rise between them. Giselle had been patiently waiting for her until now. She believed when Lillian kept running away, but there's not much time left before Giselle gets fed up with their distance.

Bitterly, Lillian realized that she could no longer hide and that she had to come to a compromise soon, or she might regret it big time.