Drive her away

“You think that was great?” I asked Johnny before hitting the ball with my golf club. It went right into the hole and I laughed. “Now, that’s what we call great.”

Johnny sighed. “It’s been a while since I last played. You know what, I’m tired. Let’s go sit over there.”

He pointed to a group of umbrella trees that had created a great and secluded shaded spot. 

“You boys are lazy.” Mr. Ark, an older friend of ours said while rubbing his bald head. He owned a small bank in George but lived in New York with his children. Golf was one of his favourite hobbies. It was a miracle to come to the golf course and not find it. “What will happen when you’re my age?”

“Look, James is here,” Johnny said. James Hacker was heading our way wearing a blue polo shirt, white cap and white pants. Johnny stepped down from the cart and I followed suit “You can play with him.”

“I don’t want to talk to him,” I said, and practically dragged Johnny out of there. James was quite a gossip and I knew he was going to talk about the articles and ask for my opinion so he could tell it to everyone willing to listen. He also worked in another advertising company, a rival to mine.

“Hi Johnny, Jake.”

We turned and waved at him, while walking away fast. Soon we had reached our destination, under a row of beautiful trees. Jake noticed a ball a few metres away and went to retrieve it, leaving me with my thoughts. I end up thinking about Lilith even though I didn’t want to.

Considering that fooling Lilith Hellman had been a piece of cake, she had not lived up to her name. But then again, our plan was quite fool proof so it was going to be quite hard for the she-devil to discover it was a trap. She had already fallen and thought Johnny was a hero, her knight in shining armour who had saved the two damsels in distress. I smiled when I imagined how furious she would be when she found out it was a well-laid trap.

In most cases, I would leave underhanded work like this to Cory but I was actually enjoying driving Lilith down the rabbit hole. She had too much audacity, wings which needed to be clipped. By the end of everything, one of us was going to be ruined forever and I was not about to let it be.

Johnny returned with the ball a minute later and slumped onto the ground, tired after playing only a few rounds of golf. Before he left the city, Johnny could play for hours on end. He had become totally unfit.

 “I still can’t stop thinking about how easy it was to fool that woman,” Johnny said. He looked quite pleased with himself and I was pretty sure it was not all about fooling Lilith. “She’s amazing. I don’t know why you’re obsessed with destroying such a sweet chick. She’s really nice and fun to be with. You’d like her if you gave her a chance.”

I sighed. “Are we talking about the same person here?”

Johnny chuckled. “I think you should give her what she wants. What if she just wants your attention? I’ve seen the enemies-to-lovers trope in movies. Maybe she opted for that strategy because she is not hot enough to come on to you.”

Having interacted with Lilith, I knew that was not the case. Not anywhere close to the real thing. If there was a hidden agenda behind exposing, it was wanting fame. Journalists are always looking for attention, wanting to be the next big thing and get paid higher. I was pretty sure that was why Lilith was not willing to let go of the story even after hearing my threats. She wanted to milk the situation for all it was worth. 

“Do you ever listen to the nonsense you spew?” I asked my friend. “Lilith wants money and fame. She wants to be known by the world and as long as this is still trending, she will not stop writing about me. That’s why I have to stop her before she goes too far and starts releasing information that would actually destroy me.”

“You might bring down this girl and regret. I don’t know what she has against you but she’s really nice not the type to hold grudges. Besides, she only said the truth in her articles. She even spared you from the kidnapping mess. If she had mentioned that, you would be in trouble. I tell you, she likes you.”

“Hey, will you attend the basketball match today?” I attempted to change the subject.

“Changing the subject huh? Did I hit a soft nerve?”

I chuckled. Talking about Lilith liking me made me a tad uncomfortable for some reason. I couldn’t even imagine dating that woman even if she was the only woman left in the world. “I just want to know. If you’re not attending I could give my ticket to someone else.”

“I’m not. I’m meeting the Arizona chic tonight.”

“Good for you.”

“So tell me more, why did you break up with Heather? She seemed nice. It does seem like you don’t like the nice ones anymore. Don’t worry, I’ll link you up with the craziest one of them all. You just need to show up in that dingy town.”

“I’m not looking for anything serious right now. Once I sort out this Lilith sh!t, I will go on to Illistra. Illistra was an island owned by an oil billionaire. It was where the richest of the rich went for vacations. The best thing about that island was that vast variety of beauties roaming around. Bill had even built a mansion that housed a number of them. And with all the daily parties, it was hard to get bored on that island.

“Whatever you say man,” my friend said. “Let’s go get some drinks. I’m thirsty.” 

We rose and made our way to the clubhouse.

Lilith reminded me of one person, one that I didn’t want to ever see again. She had hurt me so much that at one point, I thought it would have been better if she was dead. She was probably travelling around the world enjoying her life and partying like she was twenty. The fact that Lilith reminded me of her when all I wanted was to forget made me hate her even more.

She was one of the reasons I couldn’t stand fame hungry Lilith, using people’s lives to make money. 

My mother was dead to me, and I preferred it that way.

If I had to drive Lilith away like I did her, I would.