Lucian's fingers tightened around his phone. "What the hell do you know about her?"
"Nothing at first," Christopher said lazily, "but when she started talking about you...well, that was when things started getting interesting. Did you know that she used to believe she was only bloody nervous around you because you were the first real famous person she knew? But of course, when she realized she was talking to me rather normally, that was when she knew..."
"That she loved me," Lucian said dully.
"Whoa." Christopher's tone turned pained. "It's a little nauseating to hear you say such things—-"
"What else did you talk about?" Lucian cut in harshly.
"Mostly about you." There was a frown in Christopher's tone now. "Is everything alright?" his friend asked finally.
"I'll know when you tell me everything."
The hollowness in Lucian's tone seemed enough to sober the other man up, and when he spoke again, Christopher was brief and succinct. "She didn't say much at first, but when I've convinced her we were good friends, she did open up gradually. She said she was worried you'd be furious with her for ignoring your invitation..." Christopher paused. "I can't recall if she mentioned what the invitation was for—-"
"It doesn't matter," Lucian said swiftly. "What else did she say?"
"That she intended to make it to up to you at some hospital party—-"
Lucian whitened. He remembered too late what he had planned, and he muttered a brusque excuse to end his call with Christopher even as he was already striding out of his office.
No.
The look on Maud's face had his phone slipping out of his hold, and he saw his secretary flinch at hearing it crash to the floor.
"How bad is it?" Lucian asked hoarsely.
"I've asked for the director's help," Maud said quietly, "and while Mr. Stanhope's ensured that none of this ghastly business shows up on some odious gossip site or anything like that..." Maud's voice suddenly shook, and as she had always been a tough old lady, seeing the pain in her eyes told Lucian just how much she was hurting for Audra.
"Thanks to Harriet, everyone in the hospital knows that you asked Dr. Mendez to be your date to tomorrow's party while the poor girl..." Maud's eyes became wet with tears. "Everyone knows she spent the whole night here with you! They think both you and Mr. Masterton played Audra for a fool, and...and..." Maud started to cry. "How can you do such a thing to that sweet, innocent girl?"AUDRA WAS STARTING to feel sick. It hadn't taken her a lot of time to realize that too many people were looking at her, and that everyone seemed to start whispering the moment she walked past. Obviously, people had found something to talk about her behind her back, and there was only one sure way she could think of to uncover the truth.
As soon as her class ended, Audra sprang out of her seat and headed towards the main hospital building, where the office of the hospital director was.
Cassidy was seated behind her desk, and when the other girl's gaze met hers, the sorrow in Cassidy's eyes made Audra feel even sicker.
It seemed so crazy, she thought wildly, how just this morning she felt like she was the luckiest girl in the world, to be able to wake in Lucian's arms.
Only, everything had suddenly changed, and she was now trapped in a nightmare, with not even the faintest idea of what she should be scared of.
"You know something," she said haltingly, "don't you?"
"I do," Cassidy admitted painfully, "but it's not something for me to say."
"Life was a lot better," Audra managed to joke, "when you were the only monster I had to worry about."
It was supposed to make Cassidy smile, but when the older girl only managed a rather strained "How rude", Audra knew that whatever this could be...
"It has to do with Lucian," she whispered. "Doesn't it?"
The way Cassidy paled spoke volumes, and Audra, feeling her knees start to shake, clumsily fell into the closest vacant chair.
"I'm so sorry about this," Cassidy said shakily. "If I had any part—-"
The doors suddenly swung open, and both girls stiffened when they heard a familiar voice say rather hoarsely, "Can you give us a minute?"
Cassidy's gaze snapped from Lucian, who looked like hell, to Audra, who also looked like hell, and quickly made up her mind. "Here..." She moved swiftly to open the door to the pantry. "It's not much, but it's private."
"It's perfect, thank you." But while the words were addressed to Cassidy, Lucian's dark gaze remained on the pale, still figure seated on the chair. She was looking up at him with fear in her eyes, but also...she was looking at him like she still loved him, and she still trusted him to fix things.
It was the way he had always hoped she would look at him, but whether she would still look at him that way...