Her Right Mistake

(19) Audrey

Audrey sinks into the bathtub, finally resting her head. She's drained from the family dinner. Not that she didn't enjoy the night. The Parkinsons are nice people. They weren't that hard to please. If anything, they made her missed her mother. Although she got self-conscious with all the lingering glances Kathie was giving her, she's avoided them without being too obvious. Audrey has gained weight. There's no denying that.

Audrey gained a few padding. Kathie would have noticed that. She won't deny it in confidence. If her bras that don't fit her anymore weren't enough proof, she has a few more to show.

Kylie enters the bathroom, snapping her out of her thoughts. She hands over a glass of milk she insisted she drinks.

She stared at the glass.

"It's good for pregnant women." Kylie gives it a little shove closer toward her.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." Her right arm reemerges from the thick bubbles on the tub and reaches for the milk.

"Do you need anything else?"

Audrey nods behind the rim of the glass. She took a few sips before answering, "You can stay."

She leaves the room and returns with a chair, Audrey's phone and hers in hand. True, they couldn't live without their mobile devices. Their lives are practically organized by it. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Audrey speculates the milk.

"Or do you need me to be quiet?" She asks, weighing her mood.

She shakes her head. She's unquestionably drained.

"How was the dinner at his parents' house?" Kylie's head shifted to the side.

"It's okay," she murmurs.

One of their phones buzzed. Kylie looks down and attended to Audrey's phone. "Vren has been texting you."

"Leave it." She dismissed. She bit her tongue to keep herself from asking what the messages were about.

Kylie scrolled the messages and turns to her to give her the gist. "He's checking on you."

She takes another dainty sips of the milk like it was wine. Well, she imagined it was wine since she's not allowed to have a glass anymore. She recalls the wine she had on the dinner table earlier tonight that she never touched.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

She bit on her lip, hesitantly "What happens when Christian Parkinson takes over?"

She almost smile. Kylie's still at it. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"Will I be running errands for him then?"

"Of course, not. I'm not putting you on slavery under his wings. I might be taking a sabbatical but you'll be with me most of the time. You might, however, be in the office and report to me. But of course, that's just when I need some updates." Audrey doesn't want to put the higher-ups on the edges of their seats by fully cutting her responsibilities from her team.

She nods, looking genuinely relieved.

"Don't worry about Christian Parkinson. Just tell me if he ever bothers you and I'll take care of it."

Kylie beamed, actually looking her age. The pink Scrunchie made sense. "Thank you."

"But I doubt you'll be needing my help at all. You handled him well today."

She shakes her head. "I think I just embarrassed myself." Her cheeks turn red.

"Don't be embarrassed for having something to say." Audrey smiles at her assistant.

Kylie smiles back, one of the phones buzzed, plucking her out of the conversation. This time, she checks on her phone. "Vren just texted me and he's checking on you."

She sighed and fixated her eyes on the bubbles. Vren has grown immune to her brush-offs. She could practically push him off a cliff and he'd still give her a thumbs up while falling. He's seemingly in his best mood all the time. He's probably grinning in his sleep.

Audrey could bear with it. She's more concerned of what it's starting to do to her. She's off her guard more often around him than she has in the past two years. She needed a space where the thoughts of Vren doesn't get through at all. Audrey has been contemplating. She could think of several places where she could be alone and technologically unreachable – only deciding against it in the end.

She's allowed him a little opening and he snuck right in and now Vren Parkinson is all over her. She needed to take a step back and rationalize. Maybe, think without Vren fogging her mind.

"Is it me or he cares about you too much?" Kylie slid her phone back without typing a reply – much to her relief.

Audrey shakes her head, resistant. "He just cares about the baby."

Saying it out loud gives her a sense of calm. And something that anchors her to her old life. She desired for the mundane life before Vren Parkinson. She has that life revolving around a rigid timetable and she lived in peace then.

"What happens when your belly gets bigger? You can't hide from everybody."

Audrey doesn't want to think about it. The eventuality of it drills in her head like an annoying alarm she could only snooze but never completely off. She has to tell her mother about it. But firstly, she needed to make her believe the baby wasn't conceived in one drunken night. She needed to establish a story that will not make the news too sudden. "I'm going to introduce Vren to my mother. I'll tell her about the baby a month after that."

She nods. There was admiration in her eyes. "How do you stay sensible amidst all this? Everyone in your shoes is allowed to freak out."

"I don't. It worsens the situation."

"How do you not freak out?" She asks, this time, her eyes were broadening in wonder.

Audrey clicks her tongue. "Just breathe."

"What do you mean?"

"Do as I say," she hands her the glass of milk she couldn't drink anymore.

Kylie took it, nodding enthusiastically. "Okay."

"Hold your breath and count one to three."

She holds her breath.

"Then let go."

Kylie breathes out. "That's it?"

"Repeat."

"Does it really work?"

Audrey shrugged. "If it doesn't try holding your breath a little longer."

"But what if I pass out?"

Audrey laughed – a loud, reverberating one. "You don't have to hold your breath for that long, dummy."

"It was a good question," she says defensively, although starting to laugh out herself. Her phone started ringing.

Audrey almost choked back her laughter when Kylie showed her who the caller was. "Don't answer it."

"What if he calls again?"

"Just don't."

Kylie obediently puts her phone on silent. "Did something went wrong between the two of you?"

Audrey shakes her head. That's the thing though, everything is going so well. 

Hi, guys! Hope y'all enjoying the story so far. I didn't mean to use "y'all" I've been reading a book with a southern vibe to it. What have y'all been doing? I know I just used it again. Anyways, Happy Reading! Don't forget to vote and leave me a comment. Also, feel free to drop by my inbox or message board to talk just about anything. I may have just made myself sound like a lonely loner, but I'm just a loner not lonely. :)