Audrey Danler was pretty sure she could forget all memories of Vren Parkinson and that one drunken night they shared on her best friend's wedding. It was a mistake to let her guard down. It was a mistake to go through that wedding. It was a mistake...
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Audrey
"Mom, I can't answer your calls every second of the day." Audrey groaned; her phone glued to her ear as she made her way to her office. Traffic wasn't a delight to start her morning and now a call from her mother – more like a thorough inspection of her barren love life to her mother's disagreement if she ever were to start drinking tap water.
"I'm just worried about you. I think you're barely eating. Why don't you take a vacation and come home?"
Audrey sighed at the resurrection of the topic. "You know I can't."
"Why not?" She asks stubbornly.
Audrey stepped into the elevator and hammered at the control panel. "I have this life over here. I can't just up and leave."
When the elevator pinged, Kylie was already on the other side with her coffee in hand. "Good morning. Black coffee." She beamed, handing over the to-cup.
She murmured her thanks and took her coffee. The thing about her assistant is that she never fails to smile no matter how shitty the morning already is. She likes that about her. Keeping youth and joy by her side keeps her grounded.
"Oh, sweetie. Your dad just came back from fishing with your uncle Tom," her mother says delightfully.
In the background, she hears her father's voice."
"Honey, it's Audrey. You want to come say 'hi?'"
She turned to her office door and push right through. "Mom, I got to go."
Audrey chucks her bag onto her desk and gently laid her coffee. She slumped on her swivel chair, combing her gaze through her white post-it notes carefully arranged by size, her black array of planners, and her black pens beside her white digital clock. And then there's the bouquet of brightly colored flowers that made her flinch.
She looked at the flowers, almost with an irritation that it ruined the peaceful arrangement of her desk. "Kylie?"
Kylie popped in, a colorful scrunchie behind her head. "Yes, Audrey?"
"What is this thing?" She gestured her hand over the flowers.
"They're bouquet of flowers." She smiled.
"What is this thing doing in my office?" She asks with slight contempt.
"Didn't you read the note? Vren sent it." She tilted her head to one side.
Audrey shakes her head, refusing to lay a finger on the flowers. "I don't want this."
"Oh, you want me to throw it away?" She asks adorably.
"Yes, please. It's starting to give me a headache."
"Okay," she says, the smile faltering. "I guess this is not a good time to tell you that Vren wants to speak with you. He said you're not answering his calls."
