"Stella, I actually needed to have a word with you." She spoke up, her friendly smile turning into a sad one.
"What is it?" Stella replied without looking at her. Her hazel eyes met Lillian's forest green ones for a fleeing second before they turned back to the champagne flute in her hand.
"Can we not talk about it here? Let's go to my room. Lillian can also tag along." Rachel replied to her with hopeful eyes.
Stella looked at Lillian who softly nodded her head in a yes.
"Alright! Sure." Stella replied, standing from her barstool.
Rachel guided the two to her room with the waiter from earlier in tow. Once they were inside her room, she asked them to sit on the couch courteously. After asking the waiter to put the tray which he was carrying down, she asked him to leave them alone. She sat on a sofa chair, next to them.
"I just wanted to apologise for how I spoke the last time we met. I reflected on my behavior and it made me feel guilty. So, I am sorry." Rachel spoke up with guilt written all over her face.
"If Adam doesn't like me, then there's nothing I could do about it." Rachel continued.
"It's alright! I don't even remember what you said to me that day." Stella replied with a polite smile. She wasn't even paying attention to her that day. How is she supposed to remember what nonsense she spouted? She just wanted to go back downstairs to Adam. She was starting to miss him already.
"Thank you Stella." Rachel gave her a toothy smile, showing off her pearly white teeth which were properly aligned. "Here's to you." She said passing a wine glass to Stella and one to Lillian.
She picked up the last glass placed on the table and raised it up it the air.
"What's that?" Lillian spoke up out of nowhere, pointing her finger at something behind Rachel.
Rachel turned her head around only to see a vase sitting in the corner of the room. "Dad got me that from somewhere. I don't really know much about it except for the fact that it's pretty."
When she was busy talking about the base, Lillian switched her glass with Stella's.
Stella looked at her with a confused expression but decided to keep her mouth shut.
Rachel turned back to face them with a wide smile on her face.
"That's a really pretty vase." Lillian added with a poker face.
"I know right." Rachel replied back cheekily. "Oh! Cheers by the way." She continued, raising her glass towards them.
"Cheers!" Stella and Lillian replied with a bored expression with a bored expression on her face, clinking their glasses with hers.
After making sure that Stella had finished most of her drink, Rachel chugged down her wine.
"Look at the time, people must be wondering where the birthday girl is." Rachel spoke up, standing up from the sofa. "I should be going downstairs now, even though I want to spend my time with the two of you. You guys can stay here as long as you like. Treat the place as your own." She continued and headed towards the door.
After she was out, Lillian stood up from the couch and threw the remaining of her drink into one of the pots that was in the balcony.
"What are you doing?" Stella couldn't resist anymore and finally asked her.
"Nothing." Lillian replied as she made her way towards the door. She had merely acted on her instincts. She knew what type of person she was. She wasn't one to apologise even if it was her who was at fault. Staying beside Blake for so long, she had learned a few things. One of them was to never trust a sudden change in someone's behavior.
"Why did you switch our drinks?" Stella asked her, leaning her back against the couch.
"I think it was most probably drugged." Lillian replied as she leaned her back against the door.
"How do you know that?" Stella narrowed her eyes at her. "And then why did you drink it yourself?" She added.
"I didn't finish the drink. She was waiting for you to finish yours before leaving. So, she didn't pay any attention to me. I merely took a few sips. I will be fine." Lillian replied with a bored expression on her face. She was still leaning against the door, as if waiting for someone.
"We should go back downstairs." Stella spoke up. She was getting worried about Lillian. She shouldn't have agreed to Rachel.
"We will..." Lillian spoke up to reply to her but stopped midway. She placed a finger on her lips, asking Stella to stay quiet to which she complied. She moved away from the door and switched off the lights, making the room turn completely dark.
A devilish smirk graced her lips as she focused on the heavy footsteps coming towards the room.