Hidden Passion
Chapter 18

Nathaniel had shown her to her room which happened to be next door to his. He reserved two rooms when he had arrived and had given her the key to it the previous day when she arrived. And now that Lillian was thinking about it, she could not help but admit that he was such a sweet and caring person. Well, she had known that a long time ago when they were kids, and she was glad to know that had not changed about him.

She quickly got into her black suit and white shirt but spared herself the use of a tie. They would be meeting the investors in thirty minutes and needed to be on time with Nath.

The investors had arrived a few hours earlier and had called for the meeting immediately. The meeting was actually scheduled to be discussed over lunch, but since there had been a change of plans, they had to go with it. She carried her handbag and phone and headed for the door not bothering to eat the breakfast that was brought in by the hotelier.

She got outside her door and turned to the side to see Nath. That made her exclaim in shock. "You scared me. What are you doing here?" She asked as she realized they were wearing the same clothes.

Nath rolled his eyes at her absurd question and decided not to answer. Instead, he took hold of her hand and started walking her to the meeting point.

Lillian smiled at the way their hands fitted so perfectly in each other and could not help but love the soft feel of his palm against hers. How soft could his lips be? This time, she did not shatter her own imagination and let herself drown into her created world of LillyNath but was shocked when she was suddenly thrown out of her daydream when Nath released her hand. The breeze that came in touch with her palm seemed terrible and painful for a moment, but she realized they were standing in front of the investors who had risen up out of courtesy to exchange pleasantries with them.

She smiled when she saw who she recognized to be her mother's friend and had seen and interacted with a couple of times. "Mister Clifford, it's really good to see you again," she said as she shook hands with the averagely tall and bald man with grey hair.

The man smiled. "Yes, Lilly. It's really good to see ya again," he said in his American accent.

Lillian returned the smile. "Please, call me Lillian," she corrected, and the man nodded and took his seat with the other two investors.

Nath gave a smile as he wondered why Lillian did not want anyone to call her by her shortened name. Had she ever not chosen to correct people on that? He remembered there are a couple of times where she had said nothing about him calling her that. What was wrong with her, then? That never seemed to amuse him.

Soon, the meeting commenced and the two did all they could to persuade and convince the men about the investment as they showed them their proposals, plans and projects if they invested in El-En. But in the end, they didn't accept the proposals.

Lillian was not in the least surprised, shocked, or disappointed about the outcome. It was what she had anticipated. She just needed to make her move at the right time.

The investors rose to their feet, shook hands with them and started leaving. "Lillian?" Clifford called as he turned back to her. "I'm in room 502. You might wanna come see me," he added and winked at her.

That annoyed Nath. "Why would she-" he was saying, wondering why the old man was thinking she could go and see him in his hotel room. And alone? Who does that? Well, she did do that because she kept him shut by cutting him in. "Sure, I will. Thank you very much. You spoke my mind," she appreciated. She would not need to make her move anymore. She just had to grab the opportunity that was dangling at her face. She turned to Nath after they had escorted the men out. It was after lunch already. How could a futile meeting last that long?

"Tell me something I don't know," Nath started immediately when she faced him. "Is something going on between you and that old man? If not, why else would he wink and asked you to come to his room alone," he said, putting an exaggerated stress on the last word.

Lillian crossed her arms on her chest and maintained a cold physique. Within her, she was happy he was watching out for her, more like being a jealous boyfriend.

"And you agreed?" It looked like he was not done after all. "How could you "

"Do we have a problem?" came her nasty reply.

"Pardon?" God, was he shocked? He was not expecting that from her. Not in the least. She just shunned him to mind his own business. That stung.

"Why are you butting into my business? It's none of your "

He cut in abruptly. "Why would he want you to come to his room alone? You're a lady, Lilly, and I can't just—”

"It's none of your goddamn business, Nathaniel," she yelled. His full name tasted weird on her tongue, but she loved it nevertheless, but of course, she wasn't supposed to express that.

He looked taken aback immediately. She just yelled at him and drew stares and glares toward them in the lounge. It was written all over his face that he had not expected her outburst. "Oh! You're back to your cold self," he noted. "Stop making it seem as if I have a split personality?"

"Oh, you don't? Why else would you be friendly at one point and turned into a rude and cold enemy-like person the next minute?" He was already pissed off that he didn't get the investors, but now he was being maltreated just because he was watching out for someone he thought he could call a friend.

"What?" Lillian exclaimed in shock. "A rude and enemy-like person?"

"Look, I don't care what you do with that old man. I just can't place it right that you prefer an old man's thing to...to other guys' own," he shouted and started walking away.

"What?" Lillian exclaimed and noticed he had gotten the attention of more crowd on her than she had earlier. She immediately flared up and started stomping after him in her heels. "Wait... What thing are you talking about? I don't get you," she said as she followed him inside the elevator he had taken.

Luckily, they were the only ones there, so they could argue all they wanted.

"Dick," he burst out and her eyes widened. "Yeah, you prefer that old man's di—"

Her palm immediately went to his mouth to prevent him from saying more. "Are you crazy? How dare you say that about me? Old man's di-Gosh, that's dirty. Take that back, it's an insult," she commanded, but he only got out of the elevator when the door opened and started walking to his room. "Hey!!!" she screamed, and he stopped but did not turn back. So, she went to stand before him.

He looked away, looking annoyed.

Lillian sterned her look as well and stood with a wide stance in front of his door. "Take that back and apologize or you won't go in," she threatened.

Nath scoffed. He could just push her aside with one hand and make his way in and she had the nerve to threaten him? "I don't think I said anything to apologize for. Don't you like old man's di..." "Shut up, Nath. Did you realize it was an insult?"

"You did more than that to me," he retorted. He did not mean that as an insult, though.

"I don't care. Just take it back," she said with a mean look. "If you don't, you will regret it. I will make sure you regret it."