Favor From Above

Chapter 4 ~ Lily

[Edited]

Lily was exhausted as she entered the house. She didn't have enough energy to cook. She didn't even have enough energy to eat. That was an odd thing considering that she never missed a meal. Good thing she wasn't working the next day. Just before she drifted off to sleep she remembered she had to call Rhys.

Rhys and Lily were pretty close. It was a pity that they were not allowed to socialize during work hours. They usually hung out on weekends and public holidays. They had been friends for as long as she could remember. He was the one who told her about the job opening at the Hillside Hangout. She took her phone, ignoring all the messages, and dialed his number.

"Hello," Rhys answered.

Lily was now sure that something was wrong. Rhys always answered with an "I knew you couldn't spend a day without talking to me" or a "you miss me" or something of that sort.

"Rhys, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay. How are you?"

What was going on with him? He was being way too formal. Rhys was always fun when he talked. It was one of the reasons they were so close.

"I'm fine just missing you. How come you took off like that. I was hoping to chat to you." Lily said.

"I had things to take care of," Rhys said.

A lie. He was hiding something. Lily could sense it. She had to make him talk.

"What's going on Rhys?" Lily asked.

"Nothing is going on. I'm okay." Rhys lied.

Another lie. He was definitely not okay.

"What do you mean nothing? Something is happening and you have to tell me what it is. " Lily demanded.

"Okay then. My uncle is back in town."

"Oh no." was all Lily managed to say.

"Yeah," Rhys said.

Rhys's uncle, Jack, was the biggest criminal Lily knew. At one time he kidnapped Rhys because he refused to share some money that he inherited from his oldest uncle. Rhys feared his uncle and him being there could mean that Rhys' life was in danger.

"What are we going to do?"

"There is no 'we'. I'm doing this by myself, Lily. I can't afford to put everyone's life in danger."

Typical Rhys, always trying to protect everyone else but himself.

"We are a team, Rhys. I can't let you do this alone." Lily insisted'.

"Fine. I hear you, so what are 'we' going to do?".

★★★★★★★

Lily woke up at 8am. It felt so good to actually wake up after five. The first thing she did was check her messages from the day before. Over ten of the messages were from her mother. It was the normal 'how are you?' Or 'have you eaten'. Lily called her mother and assured her that she was still alive. She also told her that she was coming over for dinner that night.

Lily's day would not be a busy one. All she had was grocery shopping and bible study then dinner.

Lily picked up her phone to call Matthew and she realized that she didn't have his number. As if on cue, her phone started ringing. It was an unknown number.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Why are you not at work?" A deep voice asked.

Lily knew only one person who could be that rude.