Chapter 31

Lily and Tallulah sat in the small cafe. Lily took a drink of her coffee and said, "I want to thank you for the record and the player. I think I wore out the needle." She laughed.

Lily's smile was bright, and she was clear-headed and sober. She pulled out an AA red sobriety coin and put it on the table. "I've been sober for 30 days," she announced.

Tallulah smiled at her. "That's great, Lily. You look good. Do you mind if I record you while we talk?" she asked.

"No. I don't mind. I find it funny that you're so interested in my life," Lily said.

Tallulah pulled out the small recorder and placed it on the table. She pushed the red record button. "Okay, so after meeting Sharon Eckerson, she came to me and said she wanted to run my story about you and the shelter in You & Me. How do you feel about that?" she asked.

She looked at the recorder, then at Tallulah. "I'm getting better every day. I'm finally okay with accepting who I am. I went to see Owen. It was so good to see him. He put a lot of energy into my career. I plan on paying him back."

"And what about Sylvia?" Tallulah asked.

"I'm not sure how I feel about her. I'm not sure if I'm ready to meet her, but I'm okay with her magazine having my story. At least I know, since you're doing it, it'll be the truth."

"Okay, tell me about Owen and you seeing him again," Tallulah said.

"I haven't seen Owen in years. I used to write him or would call, but then I just stopped. It was so good to see him. I've always felt guilty for the fire to his studio. I mean, they never found out who did it, but we both know. Then once we were blackballed from the industry, he almost lost everything, but he never said an unkind word to me. Never. He was always kind to me. Even to this day. We spent the entire day together, looking at old pictures, remembering the good times and the bad."

She paused and took a drink of her coffee, then picked up the sobriety coin on the table. "I told him I was in a program and going to sing at the open mic. He told me I should have been singing, and maybe he's right. It wasn't the money or fame that captivated me; it was the music."

"So what now, Lily?" Tallulah asked.

"Well, I'm going to stay sober, keep working my program. I have a little money, so I can maybe get a place of my own and a job. Stay off the street," she said.

"What about singing and your career?"

"Career?" Lily chuckled. "I don't have a singing career. I'm going to sing for the shelter. Do you see any producers lined up to sign me? No one knows who I am, and I'm sure no one cares."

Tallulah looked at her. "Well Lily, that may be true today, but once the story breaks, I think you'll be surprised at what'll happen. The world is different today, especially with social media. Trust me, people will want to hear you sing."

Lily half-smiled and looked at the coin in her hand. "I never had a career; I had a shot at a career.���

"Well, you have a week until the open mic. Do you know what you're singing?" Tallulah asked.

"No, not yet. It'll be a surprise," she said, grinning.

"There will be a photographer there, especially for you for the article for You & Me."

A look of concern and dread came over her face. "What do you mean, photographer? I don't want my picture taken. Look at me. I'm an old, withered up woman. I don't want my picture taken. I've seen that magazine, it's all models and glamour. I won't do it."

Tallulah sat there, with her mouth slightly agape. "Lily –"

Lily held up her hand in protest. "I won't have my picture taken, Tallulah. I won't. It's a national magazine. I won't do it."

"What if we had your makeup and hair done?" Tallulah asked.

Lily slightly raised her eyebrow. "Look, I appreciate everything you've done for me, but I can't go wasting my money on hair and makeup."

Tallulah perked up. "It won't cost you anything. Let me do this for you."

Lily sighed. "It won't cost me anything?"

"I promise," Tallulah said. "I'll make all the arrangements, but you have to promise to show up."

Lily nodded. "Okay, I'll show up. But if I don't like it, then no pictures, okay?" she said. Tallulah nodded. "Okay."

After Tallulah finished with her interview, she walked Lily to the bus stop and waited with her until the bus pulled up in front of them. "Lily, please call me tomorrow. I'll have everything set up, okay?"

Lily nodded and stepped on the bus. Tallulah watched the doors close and the bus pull away from the sidewalk, then pulled out her cell phone and dialed Chloe.

"Wat up, girl!" Chloe shouted into the phone.

"I need a favor. Are you up for Chloe's makeover boot camp?" Tallulah asked.

"Are you gettin' rid of the locs? Fuck yeah, I've got so many styles for your hair. We can do weave or –"

"Chloe, stop, it's not for me. It's for Lily. I told her about You & Me bringing in a photographer, and she freaked. I need you to give her one of your extra special, I'm a badass bitch makeovers."

"It's not for you?" Chloe said, sounding disappointed. "No, for Lily. Wait – what's wrong with the way I look?"

"Well, you barely wear makeup, your clothes are all wrong, and although pretty, I think we could do something else than the locs," Chloe said.

"Well, I'm sorry, you'll have to work your magic on Lily. Will you do it? I don't think we could do it before the open mic, but we could do it that day," Tallulah said.

"Okay, but we need to do it early. I'm going with Stanley, as his guest," Chloe announced. "What? Wait, I thought you didn't get involved with your clients? Sounds suspect," she said. "Girl, this man was sending me roses every other day. I finally had to call him and tell him to stop."

"No shit. I never get roses," Tallulah said.

"You will. Yes, I'll do Lily's makeover. Maybe I'll get my hands on you, too."

"Not happenin'. Just stick to Lily. I'll set everything up. We can do it at my place."

"Okay. I'll bring the stuff. But remember, it has to be early," Chloe said.

"You got it. Thanks, girl," Tallulah said and clicked off the phone.

Lily stepped off the bus and walked a block until she was in front of the bank. She peered inside, cupping her hands around her eyes. She took a step back, took a deep breath, and walked inside. The security guard nodded and smiled at her as she walked past him. No one seemed alerted by her presence this time. She walked up to a teller and asked to speak with Mr. Franklin.

The teller smiled at her and said, "It'll be just a moment. You can have a seat right over there." Lily nodded and took a seat, then watched people come in and out of the bank. She noticed the young woman who stopped her last time. She just walked by and smiled. After several moments, Mr. Franklin was standing in front of her.

"Hello, may I help you?" he asked.

"Hello, Mr. Franklin. It's me, Lily Blass."

Mr. Franklin's eyes widened, and he smiled at her. "Ms. Blass, I didn't recognize you. You look wonderful. Please come into my office."

She followed him into his office. He shut the door behind her.

"Please have a seat," he said.

"I'm here about the trust. The money for the shelter."

He pulled out a file from a desk drawer. "Ms. Blass, it would appear someone has gained access to your trust. The funds were withdrawn from the account without my knowledge. I was contacted by an attorney and my superiors several weeks ago regarding the trust. Although the trust cannot be re-established, this attorney has delivered a check for $300,000. I have the check right here. I would have called you but didn't know how to reach you. Now, this is highly irregular, but if you agree to take the money, we can drop the entire matter. My instructions were to wait for your response. Please keep in mind, Ms. Blass, I'm only the banking manager and have been given instructions from my superiors on how to handle this matter. How your trust was accessed, I don't know, but whoever took the funds is now returning them, with interest."

He handed a large manila envelope to her. She took the envelope and opened it. Inside was a cashier's check for $300,000, made out to Lillian Blass. She held the check in her hand, then looked up at Mr. Franklin, who was nervously waiting for her to reply. She looked down at the check again. She took out a folded piece of paper from the envelope, opened it, and read.

Mr. Franklin shifted in his chair. He placed his hands on his desk and scooted his chair closer to the desk. He didn't understand any of this. When he realized the trust wasn't intact, he immediately alerted his superiors at the bank. He was told not to do anything, that they would handle it, then all his access had been removed.

One day, a nice looking attorney named Carla Avery came to see him. She gave him the envelope and instructions on what to do if Lily should become angry or want to press charges. She told him the trust wouldn't be re-established, but the monies would be given back with interest. She told him he would be receiving a call from his superiors to confirm. Twenty minutes after she left his office, he got the call.

"Mr. Franklin, I want to donate this entire check to the Marigold Homeless Shelter. I want the donation to be anonymous. As for the trust, I'm not a lawyer, but I'm sure laws were broken…but all that matters is the shelter gets the money. I want it to be donated next week, not a day before," she said.

He secretly let out a sigh of relief. "I'm happy to initiate the donation to the shelter on your behalf, anonymously of course. I'll need you to sign the check, then I'll start the process. Will you be needing anything else?" he asked.

She grabbed a pen sitting on his desk, signed the back of the check, and handed it to Mr. Franklin. She stood up and said, "Thank you, Mr. Franklin," then walked out of the office with the manila envelope in hand.

"I can't believe you got the cover. It just happened. I'm so proud of you," Marc said, smiling at Tallulah.

She grabbed one of his fries and laughed. "I know, right? One day I'm begging Michael to let me write this story, and the next thing I know, I get the same story for the cover of You & Me. It's crazy."

"You did a good thing, Lula," he said.

They both sat on the bench near the foundation where they had their first date. They ate their burger and fries in comfortable silence. She felt at ease with him. He was easy to talk to. It's not that she hadn't dated before, but he wasn't like the others. He had goals and dreams of his own. He was self-motivated and determined. Yet, he had a kind and soft demeanor.

"I told Lily a photographer was comin' to take pictures for the You & Me story. She freaked. I promised her a makeover," she said.

"What kind of makeover?" he asked.

"I called in the big guns: Chloe."

Marc laughed.

"So, I was thinking about doing a lil' somethin' somethin' for the open mic," she announced.

"Really. You're a poet, too?" he joked.

"Maybe," she said.

"What's it called?" he asked.

She thought for a moment. "It actually doesn't have a title." "Can I hear it?" he asked.

"No." She gave him a little shove. "You'll have to wait until the open mic."

"Okay, okay." He laughed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. The smell of her perfume lingered in the air. He breathed it in and exhaled.

"You wanna come see my place?" he asked.

She tried to withhold her excitement. "Yes. Maybe we can watch a movie or something?" she said, trying to sound casual.

"Sure." He stood up and reached for her hand. "Can I read your article before you publish it?" he asked.

She stopped walking and looked at him. "You wanna read it?"

He leaned in and slowly kissed her. She leaned into his embrace and kissed him back. She could feel a warm sensation in her spine. It started like a small wave, then slowly expanded through her entire body.

He pulled away and said, "I want to read everything you write."

Her eyes were still closed. She slightly puckered her lips and waited for him to continue. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes to see him smiling at her.

"Very funny," she said and leaned in and kissed him.

As they started walking, he squeezed her hand. "So, can I read it?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, still under the spell of his kiss.

She felt the warm sensation slowly faded away from her spine, then her stomach. She smiled and squeezed his hand.