Song: enemies to lovers playlist by the holly night

Lilah couldn't focus on much besides the fact that Officer Yarrow smelled like a fine whiskey. Something that his partner, Officer Abernathy, must've caught onto. She promised Lilah that it was the man's aftershave. And she said it in a very throaty, smoker-like voice. All Lilah could do was nod in response.

She didn't dare look sideways, to her right, because that's where Ambrose was straddling a chair. Confidence oozed from his every pore and all Lilah could do was look down and stare at the linoleum in silence. Unable to meet Ambrose's eyes, she stewed in her own embarrassment as the video of the deranged man came to an end.

The man was not Ambrose and now Lilah was the only one there that looked like a fool.

Officer Abernathy cleared her throat and Lilah met her steely blue gaze. "So, Miss Carmichael, do you know the man in the video?"

Lilah shook her head. "The roses were sent to Ambrose." Lilah jerked her face in his direction but she still didn't look at him. "I don't know who this man is. Nor do I know how he got the roses."

Officer Abernathy paused in her note taking, turning her attention towards Ambrose now. "Do you know who the man is?"

"Noah Hawthorne," Ambrose replied, deep voice dripping with indignation. Lilah didn't have to look at him to know that he was absolutely seething at having been dragged down here by her. "Miss Carmichael sent me the roses, that's true. But I'm allergic so I couldn't keep them around. Her errand boy gave them to my friend, Jill, when she stopped by the shop to see me. Noah is her husband, soon to be ex husband, and she left him yesterday. Left a letter saying that she was divorcing him and that all communication would go through a lawyer. The roses were in the back of the truck that we left at his house and that's how he got them."

Officer Yarrow entered Noah's name into the database. Lilah finally found the courage to glance at Ambrose. His cold stare met her apologetic one, unyielding and willfully unforgiving.

Yeah, she deserved that.

"Um," her weak voice whispered. She cleared her throat, fingers fidgeting as her eyes bounced all over the police station. "You mentioned an errand boy?"

Ambrose blinked.

"Did you mean Caius?" Lilah's stomach sank the longer he stared at her, not speaking. The way he looked at her, like she was nothing more than an ant under his boot to squash, had her shoulders curling in. Her chin dipped down. She tugged on the edge of her black pencil skirt, needing something, anything, to mess around with. Or she'd combust right there in her chair. "He's not an errand boy."

Ambrose said nothing.

Officer Abernathy raised a bushy brow, eyeing the two people across from her. "Bad breakup?"

Ambrose scoffed. His aggravated glare softened to one of disbelief as he muttered, "As if."

"We run in the same circles," Lilah said, wincing when she saw Ambrose roll his eyes in her peripheral vision. "I'm friends with his cousin and..."

"And?" Officer Abernathy prompted. Her youthful face was filled with interest as she leaned closer. "What else?"

"Jill." Ambrose's narrowed eyes cut through her like glass and she froze. "Vincent, Ambrose's cousin, said that he had a friend that needed a job. She was getting out of a bad situation so I said that she could work at one of my cafes as a barista. She's supposed to start next week."

Ambrose didn't show it, but he was screaming internally.

The whiskey scented Officer Yarrow interrupted then. He motioned for his partner to come closer. She got out of her chair and leaned over, one hand on her hip as she scanned the computer screen.

"I'm seeing multiple domestic abuse calls to his house. But he was never arrested. Wife protected him every time."

Officer Yarrow hummed, rubbing his gray beard as he scrolled. "Same old song and dance."

"She left yesterday," Ambrose said, feeling the need to defend his friend to these strangers. "I helped her move out."

"It's a start." Officer Yarrow leaned back in his chair, fingers laced over his round belly. "These things usually end one of two ways and the wife leaving is rarely a popular outcome."

Lilah looked up, confused, and Officer Abernathy filled her in. "Either the husband snaps and he finally kills her. Or the battered wife snaps and she kills him. Either way, she suffers the most in the end. She either leaves the house in a body bag or handcuffs. Rarely do we see a woman get to leave of her own volition."

"Oh," Lilah breathed, stunned by the bleak news.

It wasn't like she was completely clueless of how the world worked. She'd been warned about the horrors that were out there and the sick vices that held people in their clutches. But she had also been kept safe from many, if not all, of the terrors that plagued the common folk. Her mother, her family, had made sure that she grew up comfortable. That she grew up protected.

This was the closest she'd ever gotten to anything like this in her entire life. Lilah found herself woefully unprepared to deal with the mixed emotions it stirred within her.

"Word of advice? Tell your friend to get a restraining order as soon as she can," Officer Yarrow told Ambrose. "Men like Noah don't give up easily. It's only gonna get worse for her the longer she stays away."

"I will." Ambrose's gaze flicked towards the video then back to the older man. "The video, can this be used against him in Jill's divorce case? To prove that he has a violent temper, or whatever."

"It can. Whoever her lawyer is, tell them to contact us and they'll get everything they need. Right now, we gotta go make an arrest." Officer Yarrow heaved himself up and the warring pair rose with them. "Don't worry too much. A violent son-ov-a-bitch like this? They always get what's coming to them in the end. Karma don't skip out too lightly on these folk."

Lilah nodded. Her feet were shuffling. She was eager to get out of there and as far away from this place as possible to avoid the reality of Jill's situation.

"Thank you for making the time to see us. If you need anything else then you can reach me here." She handed the officer her business card and nodded one last time. "Have a good day."

Lilah walked out of the station, knowing well enough that Ambrose was right behind her. With every step she took the shame within her continued to spread. She winced, sulking like the twit she rightfully was.

The fresh image of Ambrose's bewildered face came to mind. Lilah had yelled at him until she was probably blue in the face. Accused him of committing a crime he had nothing to do with. And then she'd had the nerve to drag him through the mud, all the way here.

She was a fool.

Ambrose swiftly passed Lilah, escaping her sullen shadow and stepping into the light. His posture was rigid, tight and coiled like a snake. Ready to snap at a moment's notice. He slithered onto his bike, arms jerking like a marionette as he turned the bike on and got into position.

Guilt consumed Lilah and she raced towards him before he could speed off. Insulting his shop had been one thing but this, this was a real fuck up. She couldn't let him go without apologizing or maybe even begging for forgiveness.

Remorse and regret were powerful motivators to knock her down a peg. It forced Lilah to admit her wrongdoing. Face to face this time and with contrition.

"Ambrose—"

"Fuck off back to your ivory tower."

Lilah flinched, taking a quick step back as Ambrose did a half spin and sped off. The fumes of gas clung to her clothes, dousing her in the rancid stench. She rubbed the back of her neck, biting her bottom lip to keep the swelling of pathetic tears at bay.

Fuck off back to your ivory tower.

Yeah, she deserved that.

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QOTD: Lilah made a huge mistake here, do you think there's anyway that she can fix this and gain Ambrose's forgiveness? Or will this only serve to become a wedge that drives them further apart? What do you think will happen to Jill and Noah as the cops go to arrest him and Jill prepares to work for Lilah?