The Color of Your Eyes

Chapter 4: Lilly

I sighed as I put my phone back into my pocket. Great, the first person I'm seeing is Phil. What is he up to? I continued heading for the motel.

I peeked into the reception area, and I saw Lilly! She was there, not as a picture, but in real life. I started to get nervous. Will she recognize me?

In my mind, I facepalmed myself. Of course, she won't recognize my face, but my voice and name are probably a dead giveaway. Well, only one way how to find out. I approached her, and I saw her being on the phone, nodding before she saw me and smiled at me friendly. She excused herself from the caller and put her phone away.

"Hello," I said timidly. Lilly didn't react much, only waiting for me to tell her my name.

"Emilia Clarson, I reserved a room for three days," I said nervously.

Lilly looked at the computer and typing my name into the system. I was counting the seconds, expecting her to recognize me any second.

"Ah yeah, I found you. We have prepared a room on the first floor. Here are your keys," she said as she gave me a key card along with a note about the most important information about the motel. "First time in Duskwood?" she asked, smiling.

My heart leaped. "Y-yeah, I'm here for personal reasons."

"I can suggest you a couple of places to visit. Most of tourist information are in this brochure. If you have any questions regarding Duskwood, you can ask me anytime," Lilly put a brochure on the desk in front of me.

There was the pain again, along with disappointment. I nodded and thanked her. Lilly immediately went back to work on the computer. I turned around and climbed the stairs to my room.

I opened the door and entered. In normal situations, I would have been inspecting the room and feeling excited being in a new place, but right now I feel like sobbing my heart out.

Either Lilly truly didn't recognize me, or she was obviously pretending like she didn't know me. I dropped my backpack on the bed and left the painting leaning against the wall. I sat down on the bed and tried to gather my thoughts, thinking about what to do next aside going to the police station.

I could reassure myself first that everyone was safe before continuing finding Richy's and Jake's whereabouts. I made a mental list of to-dos.

First going to the police station, then visiting the Aurora, tomorrow I can try to find and see everyone. Once I'm sure they are alright, I will drop the painting off at the gates of hope and then finding clues about Richy and Jake. Depending on how far I get, I will decide whether to continue staying in Duskwood or going home.

I have a feeling I won't have a great time here, so I put my hair into a bun, before going into the bathroom to wash my face with cold water. I looked into the mirror then patted my cheeks to pull myself together.

Okay, you got this Girl!