The Girl Before Eve (2 page)

Eventually, everyone apart from Lily left the house he had shared with the love of his life. Before the accident it had been a home filled with love, lust, and laughter. Now, however, being here with his best friend just wasn’t the same.

♥♥♥

Lily leaned against the doorframe and watched Adam as his six-foot-plus frame slumped onto the sofa. He huffed out a long, hard breath and loosened his black tie, undoing the first two buttons of his crisp white shirt.

He scraped a shaking hand through his thick, dark brown hair and ran the same hand over his face. “Well…that’s it, then. It’s official. I’m a widower.” He glanced up at Lily, his bloodshot eyes still glistening. Her heart ached for him. “What the hell do I do now?”

She walked over and sat beside him, nudging his shoulder with her own. “You carry on, Adders. You take a deep breath and you carry on. You’re twenty-nine. You
have
to move forward.”

Adam took a faltering breath. “I know. I do know… It’s just—”

“Hey, no one expects you to get over this in a week. There is no time limit on grief, but just know that you have a long life ahead of you and you
have
to live it. Don’t disappear into your own head and never come out, okay?”

“No…I’ll try not to.” He turned to face her. “Thank you for everything. I mean it, Lil. Having you here…it’s just… I mean…just…thank you.”

“Hey, I’ve told you before; we’re family, you and me. You need me and I come running. You’d do the same… Mind you…I have to find someone to love who actually loves me back first.” She blushed.

“You will. How could you not? Who could
not
love you, eh?” He nudged her now.

Lily forced a smile. “Hmmm, no one worthy of my time up to now, but I never give up hope.”

Adam looked thoughtful for a while. “The thing is…you’ll go back to working abroad for the TV station…and I’ll…I’ll be here on my own.” Tears escaped again and his bottom lip trembled.

It killed Lily to see him like this. Why did this have to happen? It seemed so
unfair
.

Taking his face in both hands, she stared into his eyes. “Look, I’m here for the next week. Then I’ll be here for Christmas. And in between that, I’m at the end of a phone or at the end of an email. I’m not
leaving
you. I’ll
always
be here for you, Adam. And if it all gets too much, then you just ask and I
will
come home.”

He covered her hands with his own. “Thank you.” He pulled her to him in a tight embrace and sobbed again.

Adam and Lily had been friends since…well…forever. They met at primary school, and from long before he told off Stewart Campbell for pushing her and pinching her snack, they had been inseparable. He defended her at every given opportunity. They were two halves of the same whole. Two peas in a pod. They were the couple most likely to
become
a couple at high school, but had never actually made the transition from friends to something more than that. Always together but…never
together
.

And here she sat by his side on the day of his wife’s funeral. Offering whatever she could of her time and closeness—anything to ease his pain and suffering. Taking time away from her job was not something she did lightly. But she would cross the fires of hell if he needed her and she knew he would do the same.

Chapter Two

Wicked Game
(Chris Isaak)

Many Years Earlier –1998

Adam and Lily had always been there for each other. It was just how things were and everybody knew it. Primary school was fine. Everyone thought it was sweet that they were best friends. It didn’t matter to anyone. They never suffered teasing because it was just
the norm.

As they grew up, Adam was always the one to oversee the potential boyfriends Lily had chosen. If he didn’t think they were good enough, he would tell her straight. More often than not she agreed and the boy was rapidly kicked to the curb. Likewise, Lily had very strong opinions when it came to potentially sacrificing time with her best friend to another girl. She didn’t beat about the bush making her feelings known.

High school had been a nightmare for Lily. She developed quickly and got a lot of attention—very positive attention from boys, but jealousy, spitefulness, and negativity from the girls. She earned a reputation not at all befitting her, learning very quickly that teenage girls can be very cruel. She made no female friends, and so her reliance on Adam was further compounded. He tried on so many occasions to stop the wretched rumour mill from turning. But his efforts were futile. Regardless of what he said, people would believe what they wanted to believe. She appreciated his efforts and told him so frequently.

Her Spanish heritage, womanly curves, bright blue eyes, and dark unruly curls gave her a combination of being both exotic and a little wild, rather like the character Cathy from
Wuthering Heights
. She already had the personality, and all the boys wanted to take her out. Looking back on it, she knew Adam had done his best to wheedle out the wheat from the chaff, but there came a point where he had to grow up and realise there were only so many times he could butt in. Playing the big brother was hard work.

Adam was there for Lily through every bad boyfriend, through every heartache. He came running when she needed a shoulder to cry on. He was such a
good friend
. Aside from her parents, he was the one constant in her life.

During the summer of 1998, after they had both turned eighteen, however, there was one heartbreak he couldn’t help her through. Why could he offer no solace? Because he could never know about it.

The summer break prior to starting university had been a fateful one for Lily. One that in some ways broke her, but in many more ways she couldn’t possibly regret. It was the year she realised she was in love with Adam. She didn’t
mean
to fall for him. It was a complete accident. But fall for him she did.

Hard.

She didn’t
want
to be in love with him at all, but as she discovered the hard way, you simply cannot help who you fall for nor can you help
when
it happens. She knew Adam simply didn’t see her that way. He never would. He had always been her big brother, her protector, and her guardian angel.

He was tall and had dark floppy hair back then. His chocolate brown eyes sparkled when he spoke and his full lips were so kissable. He had saved up and bought a set of weights, which he used religiously. She used to laugh at him and call him vain. At first. But other girls started to notice.

Looking back, she couldn’t quite put her finger on when she
actually
fell for him, but she could remember the day she
realised
that it had happened. It was the day they had played tennis at the local outdoor courts. He had overheated and removed his T-shirt…

♥♥♥

July 1998 – Jedburgh

“Forty thirty!” Adam huffed as he pulled his black Pearl Jam T-shirt over his head and tucked it into his belt. In doing so, he exposed a broad chest and shapely biceps. His abdomen was sculpted and almost every muscle was visible under his tight, olive skin. He bent to rest his hands on his knees.

Lily may have been losing, but she was putting up a good fight. She was thankful that she’d put her shorts and a tank top on, as the summer heat was almost unbearable. Sweat ran down her spine, and she pulled up her hair into a scruffy knot on top of her head, securing it with a band she carried around her wrist.

Lily panted. “Well, that last ball was out as far as I’m concerned.”

“It was
not!
” Adam’s voice rose an octave. “You’re just a sore loser.”

“Ha! Says the man who emptied a bag of cheese puffs over my head when I beat him at gin-rummy!”

Adam straightened and pointed his racket at her. “That was an accident and you know it.”

Lily huffed. “Accident-schmaccident. You don’t
accidentally
do something like empty a
whole
bag of snacks on someone’s head! If it’s an accident you stop when you realise! I wouldn’t mind but I’d only just washed my hair and the crumbs made it all greasy.” She pretended to sulk.

Adam bent double again but this time it was through laughing. “Yeah…you smelled pretty bad too. You came close to getting a new nickname from that incident. Well…I say
pretty
close…
Cheesy
.”

That was it. She decided to seek revenge and there was no time like the present. Dropping her racket, she set off running toward him at full pelt, and before he could protest or get out of the way, she launched herself onto his back.

“Time to pay, Adders.” She clung onto his body with her thighs.

“What are you doing?” He gasped in between loud guffaws. Spinning around, he tried to release himself from her grasp. His laughter caused him the weakness she needed to finish him off and so the struggle ensued. “God, you have the thighs of bloody She-Ra!”

“And don’t you forget it. Maybe you’ll think twice about pouring snacks on my head in future, eh?” She squeezed him, making him cough.

“Gerroff me, you loony!” He struggled, still laughing, but she was relentless in her attack, and he stumbled toward the grass at the edge of the court. He slumped to his knees and then onto his stomach. Lily fell flat on top of his back still holding on.

It was then she began the tickling. “Do you surrender?” she asked as her fingers dug into his sensitive ribs.

He squealed in a high-pitched, girly voice. “Never!” And so she continued her revenge assault. “Get off, Lily! Pleeeease! I’ll pee in my boxers!”

Out of breath, she finally stopped, and he rolled onto his back. His chest heaved as she laid half on and half off of him, her hands flat on his toned, bare, glistening chest. She locked her eyes on his and suddenly felt trapped in his melted chocolate gaze. Her smile disappeared. His smile faded too as he stared up at her and his hold on her upper arm tightened slightly. His heart pounded underneath her fingertips. His cologne, mixed with the manly scent from his damp body, infused her nostrils and her heart rate accelerated. God, he was stunning. She inhaled sharply at the realisation, and heat rose in her cheeks. He frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but she broke the spell.

Clambering to her feet and turning away from him, she spoke as breezily as she could. “Come on. We need to get going. I think we can safely say that you won.” She turned to where Adam still laid on his back, propped up on his elbows, brow furrowed and looking confused. “Adders! Come on!” She feigned frustration and made her way out of the tennis court.

Back at home, after they had parted at the end of her street, neither willing to discuss the moment they had shared, Lily went straight to her room and sat on her bed. With her head in her hands, she recalled his toned body and his smell.
Oh shit. Not Adam. Please not Adam
. She sent up a silent prayer to God, willing her feelings to revert back to the norm she was used to.

She had never really had a first love—until now—she’d had several boyfriends but none of the heartbreaks had been
that
serious. She always made them out to be worse than they were simply because she liked the attention she got when Adam thought she had been wronged in some way.
Now
the pieces had clicked into place.
Now
she understood
why
his attention had always meant so much.
He
was the reason.
He
was the one she was in love with.
Please let it be a phase. Please. Just a phase…please?

Neither broached the subject after that. Things did go back to normal, whatever normal was. It turns out that God had more pressing issues to deal with, and so to Lily, normal became loving Adam from afar.

It seemed that Adam’s normal was playing tennis and dating girls,
lots
of girls. How different one person’s normal can be from another’s.

Chapter Three

Adam and Eve
(Paul Anka)

October 1998 - Edinburgh University

Unwilling to be apart from each other, Adam and Lily had applied to the same universities and when they had both been accepted at Edinburgh—Journalism for Lily and English for Adam—they had been overjoyed and had gotten a little drunk to celebrate. It was just a continuation of life as they knew it. Always together,
never
apart.

Edinburgh University had been the first choice for both Adam and Lily for several reasons. First of all, it wasn’t a million miles away from home in the Scottish Borders. Second of all, it was the most amazingly bright and culturally varied place making it exciting to spend time there. The atmosphere was electric and the history was enough to keep even the most enquiring minds sated. The multi-coloured buildings of Grassmarket’s curved street brought a smile even on a dull day, and the multitude of bars and restaurants meant that even a student’s meagre purse was not negated.

Another attraction for the pair was The Fringe Festival that took place annually in the month of August right in the city centre. It was such a blast with comedians and street performers taking over every available inch of the Royal Mile and every venue with a room to spare. The place came alive with laughter, fancy costumes, and vivid colours. Myriad aromas wafted through the air from vending carts, tantalising the taste buds, and a wide variety of music vied for the attention of each person’s auditory senses. A person could walk down the street and be accosted by all manner of characters, wielding leaflets and free tickets, trying to entice you in to see their shows. Both Adam and Lily made the trip up to the capital every year, together. When they were younger they would travel to the festival with their parents, but once they got older, they would travel by themselves, feeling very grown up and independent.

Although they had spent many Christmas shopping trips in Scotland’s capital, both Lily and Adam never failed to be overwhelmed by the stunning stonework as they gazed upward. The Scott monument stood in its proud position overlooking the main shopping thoroughfare of Princes Street. The imposing castle, high on its rocky precipice, peered out over the city below. History and hidden stories from days past oozed from the very mortar of the churches and tenements in the Old Town area. Edinburgh truly was a spectacular city and the decision to study there had been made with very little trepidation.