A SECOND CHANCE MAY BE TOO HOT TO HANDLE
They say there are no second chances, and for Lily Onassis, ever since she walked away from Formula World driver Max Becker, she's considered this true. Instead of a glitzy, glamorous life on the auto racing...
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LILY
We manage to get out of the hotel (separately) and to the private airport (in different cars) without being seen. Max, of course, is now swarmed with a new crop of press wherever he goes because of his record-breaking race times in Austin.
This means we've got to take extra precautions about being spotted together. I'm still able to move around without much notice, probably because I'm able to throw on a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and a ballcap and look like any other thirtysomething woman. I don't have the luxe look about me, never have.
Plain, the tabloids have claimed. I'd prefer to think of it as blending in, which is exactly what I want right now. I board the private jet a half hour after Max. Even on board, we keep our hands to ourselves and act professional, each tapping on our laptops from opposite sides of the aircraft — who knows if the gossip press is paying the flight attendants to keep tabs on Max.
When we land in Miami, I murmur a discreet goodbye to Max and climb in a chauffeured car to the hospital in downtown Miami, where Dad's still recovering from his surgery. Max has arranged to do a meet-and-greet with a Down Syndrome group, so he's in a separate SUV.
At the hospital, I find Dad and Mom doing what they do best: bickering.
"I will not leave this hospital and get you a milkshake. Absolutely not. Drink your green juice, Adrian." Mom pushes a bottle of something that looks like liquid grass toward him.
"Hey kids," I say, leaning down to kiss Dad on the forehead.
"Thank God you're here. Your mother's trying to kill me."
"He's impossible, Lily. Look at him." My mother, who is wearing some sort of pink gauzy duster over an all-white getup of leggings and a tank top, gestures with an arm adorned with bangles.
"Good to see you two getting along as usual."
"We're fine," Mom says, brushing me off as she always does.
Dad grabs my hand and I study his face. "You're looking so much better. The color's come back into your cheeks. When do you get to leave?"
"The doctors say soon. Your mother and I were thinking about staying at your place for a week or so."
The thought of the two of them in my place makes me uneasy, but it's not like I can say no. It's a perfectly good apartment, and empty. "Okay. Just don't let Mom kill the plants. The last time Mom stayed in my place, she massacred two Monstera plants."
A pang of homesickness goes through me, thinking about all my green friends at home. I'd been trying to cultivate a peaceful life out of the spotlight was fired from my job. Now I'm sneaking around the world with Max and letting my little plant babies fend for themselves.
"Lily? Lily!" Mom waves her arm, the bangles jingling.
She startles me out of my thoughts, and I shake my head. "Sorry. I'm a bit exhausted from..."
