The Man Clad in Black: Book Two

Annie - Chapter 23

Annie shot you a terrified look.

"Annie? That was you?" that round woman asked, her head receding back to unintentionally accentuate her enormous double chin. Her tiny mouth, painted red to try and make it more noticeable, smacked with disappointment. "Didn't know you were like that."

Annie's head lowered. If she were a dog, her tail would have been right between her legs - and after watching her for a few moments, you could have sworn you saw a tear drop from her chin. She said nothing.

"'Course she is!" one of the drunk crew members called out. He was practically a new Joseph Buquet (and Erik had often brought up the idea of "accidentally" shoving him from the rafters). "It's always the innocent ones that get ya."

He offered a wink to poor Annie, who was covering her mortified face at that point.

"Well... Guess I was wrong about you, [Y/N]," another woman spoke up. She had raven hair, a long face, and a hooked nose. The provocative costume was intended to make her look younger than her ripe age of 37 (which didn't normally seem old, but dancing, stress, and six children had taken a toll on her body and gave her many premature wrinkles). "I never expected that -"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Annie cried out suddenly. Before you knew it, that curly head of hers was storming out of the auditorium, her hands wiping her face as a few heads turned in her direction. You were surprised that she had enough strength to push people out of her way and sob at the same time.

A silence lingered over all of you...

But you were the only one to go after her.

"Annie..." you began, your eyebrows furrowing with worry before you found yourself following her direction. "Annie - wait!"

You pushed through afterward, getting out of there just as the whispers and gossips started circling around again, and Annie's little feet moved quickly enough for her to scurry across the hallway faster than you had seen anyone do so before. She stopped only when she reached one of the supply closets, and quickly enough, she grabbed onto you and yanked her inside right along with you.

She really did seem to be upset.

"If you're going to ask if I really slept with Monsieur Matthew, the answer is no," she said quickly. She sniffled as she wiped her eyes, and as she stared up at you, you could just about see how she seemed to regret what she had falsely admitted in front of everybody... However, she would rather get shunned than to watch it happen to you.

"Why'd you say that, Annie?" you asked with a small frown. "You didn't have to-"

"To protect your dignity, [Y/N]..." she sniffled. "I knew it wasn't you, but they would all convince themselves that it was if I didn't pretend like it was me."

"How did you know it wasn't me who-"

"Because you wouldn't, [Y/N]!" she said. Tears brimmed her eyes as her voice broke, and she wiped her eyes as she shook her head and stared at the floor... she was about to add something else, but her voice seemed locked up in her throat. She just repeated herself. "You wouldn't..."

"I don't want you to take the fall for me, Anne," you said softly. "I appreciate everything that you've done for me— really— but you could ruin your chance as a dancer... This is too much of a risk for you to take."