Lily of the Valley

Lily Bane walks down the stairs of her quaint home in a tangerine spring dress. The chiffon on the sheer dress danced every step she took, depicting the beauty of her appearance all the way to the end of the stairs.

“Oo~ you look stun-ning, sweetie!” Justin exclaimed, complimenting his best friend.

Lily turned to face her tallest mirror that was mounted on the wall beside her, unsure of the garment she had chosen.

“You think so? Do you think it’s too … revealing?” she questioned, grazing her dainty hands on the fabric, letting them slide further down her petite hips.

“No! You always dress like you're going to church. Now this …” then Justin came behind her, placing his hands on her shoulder, and joining her in the reflection of the mirror.

“ ... this is fun … and sexy! Brings out your lovely golden skin. Honey remember, first impressions are important.”

With a sweet smile she swept her hair away from her face, warming up to the idea that the bold choice made her look vibrant, alive and most important of all … alluring.

Then, Justin rotated her like a lazy Susan, making sure he had her undivided attention. Staring at Lily like a coach, ready to pep talk to his star player at game time.

“Look, I know you haven’t been successful on first dates in the past and dating has got ... trickier, even ruthless. You need to be extra careful these days ... especially for a girl like you.”

He paused mid-thought, like a war veteran having a flashback, but snapped back to reality where he took a deep, and cleansing breath.

“Don’t let anyone take advantage of you. Take it from somebody who has been on a lot of sketchy dates. You never know who you are going to meet, so be careful.” Lily nodded, respecting and understanding her best friend's advice

“Then, I guess I’m ready” Lily said with an air of optimism. Before they left her house Lily stopped by her nursery to check on her children, the lights in the room beamed over a collection of different small plants and flowers. Lily proudly looked at her babies, scanning them like a teacher doing attendance, making sure all her children were accounted for. She even named each of their pots human names.

Garry, Bill, Peter, Jessica, Andrew and Crystal. All here.

“Okay we can go” Lily said and turned towards her entrance way, her dress swaying in time with her walk.

A podgy, greasy man makes his way to Lily’s floral sofa while she heads to her kitchen. “This place is kind of nice ... for a small house” Harvey remarked at Lily, kicking his feet up on her sofa, dominating most of the space with his frame.

He quickly checked if Lily was still focused on her task in the kitchen, then swiftly removed his wedding ring, hiding the band in his pants pocket allowing him to fully relax, Harvey continued to examine the kitschy, green inspired home, silently judging how sad it looked to him.

“So you’re a gardener, guess that means you’re not afraid to get dirty?” he shouted from the living room and laughed at his own joke.

“My mother was a gardener, spent most of my childhood in the dirt.” Lily called back from the kitchen, laser focused at preparing refreshments for her guest.

“I bet you are very good with your hands.” he whispered to himself.

Lily was pulling berries from the branch with care, while she waited for the kettle to boil. She peered out to the living room to see if her guest was comfortable. Harvey was disinterested in what Lily was doing, distracted by the designs on the coasters she had laid out on her coffee table.

Then her kettle finally blew its top, whistling and howling to break the silence. She gracefully took it off the stove, pouring the boiling hot water in the clear glass cup. Once shriveled and dead herbs now awakened the dormant flavors, like the living dead small flakes of leaves twirled and pieces of dried up marigolds bloomed in the cup. She added some finishing ingredients, then set the beverage on the tray alongside a plate of berries and shortbread cookies. Lily picked up her perfect creation, and strolled into the living room.

“Tea and cookies, Harvey?” smiling sweetly as she offered it to her date.

“Oh… alright. I wasn’t expecting high tea.” he balked, judging the tray of delights she had prepared.

As Lily laid her hospitality on the coffee table and seated herself down beside Harvey, he erected himself to sit closer to her. She crossed her legs causing the dress to drop a little, revealing her flawless legs for Harvey to gawk at. Harvey’s eyes veered to Lily’s legs as he took his drink and slurped it. Slowly, he scanned up her body like a creepy spider, until it ended at her fresh, innocent face.

He finished his tea then reached one of his heavy hands towards the tasty spread. She watched as Harvey savagely devoured the cookies, crumbs falling every which way, some ending up on his shirt, others falling into the cushions of her sofa. Licking his fingers of the cookie remnants, he burped loudly and glanced over at her.

“Not bad … What are these?”

“Marigold shortbread.” she humbly answered, taking a napkin off the tray to offer Harvey.

Refusing the napkin, instead he used the back of his hairy hand, crumbs sticking to the sweat and the hair like old Velcro.

“What a little home-maker you are, every man’s wet dream. These cookies are decent, but bake me a fresh batch next time.” Harvey demanded.

“You got anything else to drink? This tea is weak, and tastes weird. Do you have beer or vodka I can wash it down with?” he demanded, while slithering his hand up Lily’s thigh.

She didn’t flinch.

Calmly, she replied “No, I don’t have anything like that here. I don’t have many guests and haven’t entertained anyone at home … for a while ”.

She grabbed the plate with only the berries left, and before she could take it away, he seized a bunch, popping them in his mouth like candy and disappointedly said “It’s a shame”.

More and more, Harvey assumed she was naïve, lonely, basic and subservient. Easy Meal, he thought.

Finishing the berries, he moved in even closer and began to persuade her like a wolf to a rabbit.

“You didn’t invite me back to your place just for tea and cookies? Come on, stop with the foreplay baby. I know what you really want, I’m not stupid.” then he smoothly wrapped one of his arms around her waist.

“Why don’t you show me more of your house? Like your ... bedroom” he whispered to her, forcefully laying his hand on the back of her neck, almost collaring her with his hand. Eyes wide with hunger as he viewed more of her supple figure, his mouth salivating, and his pants getting tighter.

“You sure don’t beat around the bush ... I like that. I’ll take you to see my marigolds … they’re in the bedroom.” she said seductively.

His eyes flashed with ecstasy, like a moth drawn to the light and as Lily stood up, Harvey followed her lead almost losing his balance as he stood up.

“Woah! Head rush. Stood up way too fast” he said and laughed it off.

Lily smiled and took his hand for support, then with a soothing voice she said

“It was probably all those drinks you had at the restaurant, you should lie down for a while.”

Harvey didn’t hesitate making his way to the stairs, quickly climbing up like he was on the staircase directly to heaven. Lily sweeped the mess of crumbs her date left for her in her hand, clapped them away on the tray and her smile morphed to a devious grin as she listened to Harvey clamber up the stairs. She followed, carefully savoring each step and enjoying how her plan was coming to fruition.

It was a bright and renewed mid-morning, Justin was admiring Lily's garden in progress on the patio. Lily walked out of the doorway with a tray of drinks, appetizers and a vase of fresh cut carnations and marigolds.

“Here you go. I Hope you're hungry.”

“Sweetie, this looks delicious! You must be in a good mood.” he said, noticing a special glow on Lily’s face.

“Oh it’s nothing special. New seedlings sprouted a couple of days ago, my new mixture of mulch is working wonders, and soon the backyard will be ready to transplant all my babies to. Life is growing as planned.” Lily giggled.

“Was this all from your garden?”

“Yes.” she smiled.

“Aren’t some of those plants toxic, even poisonous?”

“Some are poisonous, but my dad was a scientist, and he taught me all I needed to know about herbs and their toxins. Don’t worry, you're my best friend. I would never poison you.”

“So~ how was the date with that guy? Y’know what's-his-name.”

“He was a little...handsy. He was dominating, and a jerk. I’m not going to be seeing him again”.

Justin froze then started interrogating her like an overprotective older brother.

“What happened?! Did he make you feel uncomfortable? Was he forceful? Did he touch you without consent? Were you -”

“Relax! I’m fine and nothing escalated to that degree. He was just another terrible person who thought he was owed something. I’m a big girl, I know what I’m doing” reassured Lily.

“I worry about you Lil! You hear all kinds of stories of dates going really, really wrong or a complete psychopath! You are sweet and innocent like a little lamb. I don't want to see you get slaughtered. ” Justin said with concern.

She sat down beside her bestie, and held his hands in hers.

“I am a picky person. That’s why my first dates don’t go well. I’m always extra careful”

“Okay.” Justin exhaled.

As he enjoyed the treats from Lily's garden, she grabbed a new unnamed pot filled only with dirt, from the shelf containing her other plants and set it down on the table to name her new child.

“So where do you find your dates? On one of those dating sites?” Justin questioned.

“Something like that …” she impishly grinned.

She carefully wrote the name on the terracotta brim and returned the new addition to the rest of its siblings. Gently setting down the pot on one of the shelves and adjusting to her suiting like a fussy mother.

“There, another perfect match” she whispered to herself, coldly staring at the freshly painted pot and just out of Justin’s line of sight.

Harvey.