Hidden Passion
Chapter 30

"Hey, Lilly. Do you mind if I use your phone?" Nathaniel asked as he made his way into the living room and sighed Lillian watching a movie. He smiled as he wondered why she was so obsessed with watching dramas. He never liked it. "I need to copy this file on your phone and then resend it to myself," he added as the lady turned around and looked at him.

He had been working from home for some days now after he found Lillian, not because he only wanted to spend time with her. That would be lame. But because his condition had worsened. Every lady now seemed to have the same face, likewise all the men. He could no longer recognize himself in the mirror anymore and he could not even distinguish between pictures of people. So, why should he risk that and ruin his business?

His illness was something that must never leak out. There was nothing she could do since he was left with no option, but to avoid people totally. He even got tired of taking notices on people's special features to recognize them. He got tired of everything.

Nester had been amazing, and he owed her a lot. She had been managing the company and going to business meetings on his behalf and he could have never been more grateful to her for being a loyal friend and amazing assistant. She had also been the one who found the woman he had been looking for his whole life.

Lillian had been there for him as well, checking up on him every time just as she was doing right then. Finding her had been the best gift he had ever received and even though he was not able to recognize her now, he assured himself that he would be able to very soon after he would risk the operation which had a very low percentage of success. And if he, perhaps, did not make it through the operation, meeting her and knowing she was found would be enough joy for him. Her words snapped him out of his thinking world. "I told you not to call me Lilly, sweetheart," Linda corrected with a smile. She did not even understand why he would not yield from calling her that name. She did not like it in the least that he was only calling her that because the real Lillian liked it.

"Oh! I'm sorry about that." He wasn't sorry at all. He loved the nickname, and he would have said before he even realized that he had. He just did not understand why she didn't like the name. Well, maybe because people changed all the time and so did their likings. "So, can I get yours? Your phone, I mean."

She shook her head and gestured for him to get closer, and he did, taking a seat beside her. She got up from where she was and straddled him before a few seconds could pass by. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him. Nathaniel was the perfect definition of handsome and sexy, but she did not know the reason he hadn't touched her. If he had really missed her as he always claimed, not her, though, then he should never even hesitate to touch her. She just did not want to believe that he was not romantic.

Nathaniel leaned back on the chair and smiled. "What are you doing?"

"I want to kiss you, Nathaniel. I don't know why you haven't had sex with me. You've not even kissed me. Am I not sexy enough for you?"

"Wow! Brave," he muttered to himself. How could she just say it like that? Well, he badly wanted to as well, most especially now that she was grinding on top of him, but he would not have that kind of intimacy with someone he couldn't recognize. He wanted to be able to recognize his woman and take in every of her features during such moments. "Uhm..." He cleared his throat, not finding the perfect thing to do or say.

His eyes strayed to her hand and he narrowed his eyes. "Lin-da? Linda? Who is Linda?" He asked as he took his eyes off her tattoo and into her eyes. He knew she had many tattoos, but he wondered why he hadn't seen that before. Linda was shocked as she looked at her hand and thought of what to say. She met his eyes and realized that he did not seem to suspect anything, he was just curious. So, it should be easy to make him believe anything. "It's my best friend's name. She also has my name tattooed on her arm as well," she lied with perfection.

"I thought you said you had no friends?" He did not seem suspicious, yes, but he was unnerving her with his questions.

"We were the best of friends," she replied and looked down at his chest with lust and licked her lips.

He nodded. "Alright, then," he said and before he closed his mouth, she lunged forward and kissed him hard on the lips, catching him completely off guard, but could he resist. No man would resist something sweet and tempting, but he did. "Come on, I just want you to fu-" she was saying.

"Wow!" He exclaimed, surprised at her choice of words. "Let's do this la-" He was cut short by his ring tone. "Sorry, I need to take this." He said and she reluctantly rolled off of him while he stood and went upstairs to his room. "Hello, mum." The excitement that flowed through his phone was overwhelming as her mother screamed in joy. Why was she so happy? He had not even told her he had found Lillian.

"I have good news, my dear." His mother's voice was radiant, and he must admit he missed that.

He smiled, wondering what could be making her very elated. "And what's that?"

"I just saw Lillian's father."

Nathaniel paused for a while to take in what he was hearing. What was she talking about? How could his mother see Lillian's father when she had told him her parents were dead? Perhaps, he heard wrong. "I can't hear you properly, mum. Can you please come again?"

"You know that childhood friend you've been looking for? I saw her father just now and we talked for a while. I found out that Lillian is doing fine and now running her mother's company."

Nathaniel staggered for a while until he dropped himself on his bed. He was more than shocked. He started shaking his head. "Her parents are dead," he uttered, and her mother was silent for a while.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I asked about his wife and he told me they had reconciled and were now living-"

"Oh, my God!" Her mother couldn't be lying. She was a friend and neighbor to Lillian's father, so she would not have taken another person for him.

"Nathaniel, are you okay? Is everything fine? I am even planning on coming to you for a while "

"I thought you never liked this place," he said, remembering how he had invited his mother every time and how she had refused.

"Yes, but I have to help you look for Lillian this time. I have her father's contact info now, so it will be a piece of cake."

He shook his head. "No, Mum. Don't come here. I'll let you know when you should." He could not take the risk of sighting his mother and not being able to recognize her. He would never be able to forgive himself if that happened. "I will call you back, Mum. I need to do something." With that, he hung up and placed his head in his palms.

If Lillian's parents were alive, then why did she lie? Was she hiding something? What was going on? It was actually very simple and obvious to detect what was happening, but he did not want to believe what his mind was telling him. He could not have been fooled. How could she not be Lillian?

His mind started remembering the mistakes he had not taken into consideration which had proved to him that she was not who he was looking for, but he shut his thoughts out and walked out of his room. He needed to confront her and figure out the truth.

"Linda, can you get me some fruit juice?" He asked and started watching her reaction. He was praying she would laugh and corrected him that she was Lillian and not the one bearing that name. But she didn't.

He watched her back as she nodded and rose to her feet. "Do you want apple juice?" She asked and then halted in her steps and looked at him with a shocked expression, realizing the name she had just answered to. "Who are you, woman?"