"One million dollars Lily, and I got the money from DiCaprio Mafia Empire" Lily's Dad uttered

"What?!!!" Lily exclaimed as the drawings she was holding fell off her hand

"I'm really sorry, I was really in a tough spot and they were the only one willing to loan out such amount of money to me" Lily's Dad said

"Because they know they'll definitely get it back from you, wether they have to kill you and sell your organs, they will get their money back, that's how the Mafia Empire operates!!" Lily yelled

"You think I wanted to get into this mess? You and your mother abandoned me and even when I told you I lost my job, you cared not!" Lily's Dad protested

"You stopped caring for us first Dad! You abandoned us first so do not put your predicament on Mom and I. And how could you Dad, how could you use Mom's house as collateral for your stupid loan!!"

"It is my house too, we built it together before I left so I have a right to the house too!!" Lily's Dad yelled and she huffed

"Then why did you leave in this first place huh? Mom cried for weeks after you were gone and I was broken from watching her cry, she can't even call my name without tearing up because even my name reminds her of you, when you left Mom almost went into depression and her blood pressure skyrocketed, even after that you still called me occasionally to ask for money, whenever you call you don't even ask how your daughter is doing you just ask for money because that's all you care about! All the pain you caused us, was that not enough Dad? Did you have to add this to your list of failures too? How do you think Mom will feel if she finds out you mortgaged her house to get a loan, she will totally break down Dad, but I guess you do not care about that" Lily sighed and cleaned the tears rolling down her face

"I do not want Mom to know about this, like I said before, I resigned from my job today and even if I didn't, there's no way I can get one million dollars in 3 days, what were you thinking asking for such a huge amount from those Mafias!!" Lily yelled again but she knew there was no point in yelling

Her Dad had already made the mess, now she will have to be the one to clean it

She remembered Jason's offer to work at the Mafia Empire and she immediately knew if anyone could help her out of this mess, it's Jason

"I'll go around tomorrow and see what I can do Dad but for now, I do not want to see your face, you may leave" Lily stated

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow" her Dad said

"Do not call me! You didn't call me when taking the loan so why call me now?!" Lily yelled

"If I am able get anything I'll be the one to call you but if not, well I'll just bring Mom over here to live with me and if the Mafias decides to kill you, I won't care a tad about it" Lily added

"I know you Lily" her Dad said

"That house means a lot to you and your Mom, especially your Mom since that's where we got married and she had you, that's where you grew up too so I'm sure you'll try your best to save it, I'll be expecting your call tomorrow" her Dad added and walked out

Lily broke down in tears on the floor

Her Dad always finds a way to blackmail her into cleaning up his mess

At first she thought her parents were the most happiest couple in the world, not until the day her Dad brought another woman to the house and declared he was no longer in love with her Mom and he wanted a divorce

But nothing can be done about it now, so what's the point of crying over it? Perhaps she was tired of crying because her Dad

She picked up her drawings of Leonardo and went to her room

She was about to drop the drawings in her drawers but then she stopped

She took one of the drawings and pasted it on her wall

Strangely, staring at the drawing of Leonardo's face brought her comfort, if only she could meet up with him again, she really wants to meet up with him again, she really felt relaxed in his presence that night

She went off and laid on her bed

Why did her Dad have to get a loan from such an infamous and fearful company like the DiCaprio Mafia Empire

She really doesn't want to ask Jason for help since she just recently knew him but she has no choice, she can't afford to loose her Mom's house, she'll have to meet up with Jason tomorrow

..........

"The past two days have been pretty rough for you Lily Martini" Lily said as she stared at herself in the mirror

"But we won't let that put us down will we? Of course not, this is just another tough time we have to go through, we'll be fine in the end" she added as she patted herself on the shoulder

It's morning and Lily had already brushed her teeth and taken her bath

She walked out from the bathroom and got her phone from her desk, she should call Jason

Her heart raced as she dialled Jason's contact, she really hope he'll be able to help her

"Good morning Lily" Jason sounded cheerful as he picked up the call and Lily smiled

"Good morning Jason" Lily replied

"You are calling me so early in the morning, did you dream of me?" Jason joked and Lily laughed

"Unfortunately not Jason, I called because..... because I need your help" Lily's voice slowly changed to a sad tone

"Is something wrong Lily?" Jason asked his voice filled with concern

"No not really, umm.... can we meet up today?" Lily enquired

"Umm.... Of course, I have to go to the office this morning but I'll call you immediately I finish up my work" Jason promised

"Thank you Jason" Lily uttered

"Are you sure you are okay Lily? You sound really troubled" Jason said

"Don't worry I'll be fine, see you later" Lily said

"See you then" Jason said and ended call

"That went fine" Lily sighed and slumped on her bed

What should she do to keep herself from thinking about her Dad's loan till Jason calls? Lily wondered

She glanced at the drawing of Leonardo that she pasted on the wall last night and she remembered his enchanting tattoos

She should try to draw them, even with her skills she has never been able to draw a perfect lily flower, maybe she might finally be able to draw it today

Lily went to her desk and got her pen and drawing paper, she pictured Leonardo's tattoos in her head and began to draw but her hands always ends up trembling mid way, ruining her drawing

Few hours later, the floor was filled with ruined drawings of Lily's attempt at drawing Leonardo's tattoos of lilies

"This doesn't make any sense" Lily as she angrily threw her pen away

She was frustrated

She's practically obsessing over a stranger she just met for one night and they didn't even really have sex like she planned so what is wrong with her?

Snap out of this nonsense Lily, this is so unlike you

Her phone started ringing, it was Jason so she picked it up

"Hey Lily, I'm done with work so I'm coming over to your place now to pick you up, is that okay by you?" Jason enquired

"Of course, I'll start getting ready now, thank you Jason" Lily said

"See you soon" Jason said and ended the call

Lily quickly stood up and went to her wardrobe

She selected a black tank top and a blue jean

She styled her hair letting it fall to her shoulders and rubbed some lip balm on her lip

Her lip was still a bit swollen but it was barely noticeable

Oh how she would love to be kissed like that again

"Snap out if it Lily, you have more pressing matters to attend to!!" she yelled at herself

Her phone rang again and it was Jason telling her that he was in front her apartment

Lily walked out to meet Jason

"Hey" she said but Jason didn't reply

He was carried away with admiration for the damsel standing in front of her

How could a lady look so simple yet so beautiful

"Jason!" Lily called severally and she finally succeeded in jerking Jason out of his thoughts

"Oh I'm..... I'm sorry, get in" Jason said as he opened the car door and Lily went in

Jason drove them to a coffee shop not too far from Lily's place and they sat down and ordered a cup of coffee each

"So what's wrong Lily? You sounded really troubled when you called in the morning" Jason enquired and Lily hesitated a bit

"I'm really sorry Jason, I wouldn't be asking for your help if I had another option, if I really had another way I wouldn't disturb....."

"You aren't disturbing me Lily, there's no crime in sharing your troubles with your friend and requesting for their help right? Or am I not your friend?" Jason asked

"You are" Lily nodded

"Then talk to me" Jason said as he gently placed his hands on Lily's

"Umm....my Dad, he.... he came to me last night and told me he got a loan of one million dollars, if he doesn't pay up in the next two days, my Mom's house will be taken and my Mom is very fragile Jason, if that happens it will break her" Lily said

"Which company loaned your father the money?" Jason enquired

"DiCaprio Mafia Empire" Lily stated

"Where I work?" Jason huffed and Lily nodded

"Don't worry about it then, I'll take care of it somehow" Jason assured

"No Jason, I just want you to lend me the money and I promise to pay you back slowly, on installment, whenever I get a new job" Lily stated and Jason was silent for a moment

"How about we do it this way, remember my offer yesterday? You can come work for us as a digital designer and we'll pay you a hundred thousand dollars every month and in 10 months, you'll be done paying your father's debt and you can then quit the job if you want to" Jason suggested

"A hundred thousand dollars every month?! That's quite a huge amount for just a digital designer Jason" Lily uttered

"The Empire is quite a big company and we pay all our employees well, rest assured I didn't give you any special consideration or add to your supposed salary, a hundred thousand dollars is the normal monthly salary for a designer in our company. So what do you think? I'll loan you the one million dollars now and you'll pay me back with your salary for 10 months" Jason said

"Will it be okay though? I heard the company is a very hard place to get in and you are employing me so easily like this" Lily pointed out

"I might not be the Chairman of DiCaprio Mafia Empire but I promise you Lily I have a pretty high position in the company and I have a say in things, so rest assured, employing you will pose no problem, perhaps, you are over qualified for the job" Jason assured

"Okay then, I'll.... I'll accept your offer, I'll start working at the DiCaprio Mafia Empire" Lily decided

"You can start tomorrow" Jason said

"Tomorrow?!!" Lily exclaimed

"If you start tomorrow then you'll be able to get this month's pay" Jason said and Lily sighed

"Fine then, I'll start working there tomorrow".......