With My Heart Wide Open

Chapter 56

It had taken longer than ten minutes to get to Audrey's thanks to traffic. At one point, Sergio had wanted to pull over and run the rest of the way just so he could get to her. Much to his dismay, it had actually taken him about twenty minutes and he hoped that Audrey was okay and had been able to keep Jake calm. Pulling into the parking lot and throwing the transmission into park, he erupted from the car and exploded into a dead sprint, running into the building. Arriving at the elevator, he pushed the button and waited. Moments later, the elevator reached ground level and the doors opened. Sergio wasn't paying attention, only wanting to get to the sixth floor as quickly as possible, that he ran smack dab into another person who was exiting. Looking up apologetically, he realized there really was no reason to apologize because it was Jake. Sergio didn't say a word, he only entered the elevator and pressed the button that would take him to his girl. Before the door closed, Jake spoke.

"I hope that you and Audrey have a very happy life together. You are a lucky man." he said. 

Sergio didn't reply, he just stared blankly back at the man as the doors closed, but questioned why Jake seemed so calm and content. Maybe his and Audrey's conversation hadn't been that bad. It was possible that Jake wasn't as awful as he thought and Audrey had been able to make him understand that it was over between them and that she loved Sergio. Regardless, Sergio still needed to speak to Audrey about the photographs that had been sent to him that made it appear that Audrey was making out with Jake. He was still sure that Jake had everything to do with it, with the help of that horrible woman, Camila. 

Finally exiting the elevator, he made his way to the far end of the hallway where Audrey's apartment was located. Walking in, he looked around and didn't see her. He set the envelope containing the pictures on the kitchen counter and looked towards the coffee pot. He wanted to bring Audrey a fresh cup, but noticed that there was no coffee. He had thought that Audrey said that she was making coffee, but she must have changed her mind. Deciding that it didn't really matter if there was coffee or not, he set out to find Audrey.

"Baby? Where are you at?" he shouted out.

There was no answer, so he walked to the bedroom. No Audrey. He checked the bathroom and she wasn't there either. Deciding there was only one other place she would probably be, he walked out to the balcony. There he found her, practically curled up in a ball in one of the chairs and she looked overly distraught. 

"Hey, beautiful. Are you okay?" he asked as he sat down on the arm of the chair and rubbed her back. 

"I am fine." She sniffled.

"What is with the scarf? It is like ninety degrees outside." 

"I think I am coming down with something. I feel kind of chilled."

He watched her for a moment. She did look like she was exhausted and that she wasn't feeling well. He would put her directly into bed and cater to her every need after he talked to her about the pictures. 

"I am sorry you don't feel well, love. I need to show you something and then it is off to bed with you." He said rising from his sitting position. 

He held out his hand to help Audrey up, but she rose and walked right past him. He followed her into the apartment, thinking that she wasn't really acting like herself, but didn't really pay it any mind. She said she didn't feel well and had just been forced to spend time with Jake after his unannounced visit, so it was understandable that she would be a little off. 

He met her in the kitchen and tried to decide how to approach this. He knew that the chance that she would become upset when he showed her, was great. Hopefully, he would be able to reassure her that it really wasn't something she needed to worry about. He had every intention of putting Rene to the task of taking care of the situation, by any means necessary. Sergio looked at Audrey as she stood at the counter. Catching her eyes with his, he was greeted with nothing but emptiness.