The Writer's Dilemma

Leaving for Vancouver

    Monday morning came too quickly, the sun breaking through the clouds. The weather was beginning to turn cold, the leaves holding just a touch of bright colors. Yesterday had come as a much-needed relief from the past several days. Audrey sat at the dining room table, sipping coffee from the to-go cup her mom had put together for her. Her mom was smiling at her from across the table. They had spent the previous day together, having a good conversation and laughs, although her mom had also been a little disappointed to find out that she’d be leaving for Vancouver the next day.

                “Audrey, have a good time. Don’t forget to rest when you can and that I’m here for you if you are having a difficult time.” Her mom reminded her. Audrey nodded putting her mom’s mind at ease as an internal battle began to rise within her. The calm weekend was about to come to an end. The moment to face Marius had arrived. She rolled her suitcase to the elevator, surprised to find Jocelyn waiting for her in the lobby of her apartment.

                “Mr. Fay is going to drive us to the airport,” the agent informed her, her frame looking thinner, her face paler, but her personality was the same as ever, if not even more vibrant. Audrey wasn’t so sure about Jocelyn coming with her, due to her illness, but was thankful to have someone there to help her with Marius. Their car ride was silent as she looked out the window, gazing over the passing scenery in a blending of colors. As the airport came into view, the bright hues of the countryside fell away to the long stretches of intersecting roads and construction sign that led them to the departure drop off section. They gathered their items, saying a quick goodbye to Jocelyn’s husband with promises of returning in good health. They made their way through the crowded halls and the long line to get through security Jocelyn had begun to question Audrey about what has been happening at work since she fell ill. Audrey bit her lip wondering if she should tell her friend and agent everything. She delayed a few minutes, finally deciding that she should as Jocelyn was the only person she could rely on with this kind of information.

                She briefly recounted back to the day after taking Jocelyn to the hospital, the lucky meeting with Claudel Publishers, and the announcement she would be working with Kerem and Pierre and therefore her fan Wyatt. She slowed as the story came to the next morning and they were separated shortly to go through the magnetic scan. As Audrey spoke of the gruesome details of Marius’s a***e, Jocelyn’s face turned from surprise to a mixture of distaste, hatred, and worry.

                “Did you go to the hospital? What if he seriously hurt you? What about your wrist? This is getting too serious! You could get really hurt by him! Let’s end it here… We will get a better story out of Claudel Publishers.” Jocelyn went into a tangent, pulling out her phone, ready to cancel everything.

                “No, I won’t back down from this. My readers deserve to know what kind of man Mr. Alarie is,” Audrey gave a wry smile. Jocelyn’s face broke out into alarm.

                “I don’t know what you’re planning but I don’t like it. If you insist on doing this then I insist on you going to the hospital with me later.” Audrey nodded, agreeing with her in attempts to drop the subject, instead of continuing to receive a pitiful stare. “I can’t believe you didn’t go to the hospital sooner. You must be in a lot of pain.” Jocelyn picked up her hand, inspected her wrist that was still bandaged under her long sleeve blouse.

                “I still have more to tell you,” Audrey whispered to her manager, noting that it was almost time to board and as they neared their gate. Jocelyn perked up as the domineering view of Marius’s back came into view. Marius turned as they approached, his eyes settling on them. If he was surprised to see Jocelyn nothing in his facial features showed it. His tall frame glided towards them, one of his assistants in tow.

                “Welcome back, Miss Fay.” Marius acknowledged her first, turning his attention to Audrey. “Once we have taken off, I’ll give you a brief on how the next few days are going to go,” Marius dipped his head cordially, moving towards the gate agent with his assistant. Jocelyn and Audrey let out a sigh of relief, simultaneously, giving each other identical looks of weariness. They followed the line of passengers to their seats in the business section, Audrey resuming her recount of the past couple of days.

                “NO! Wyatt is Kerem?” Jocelyn’s voice echoed through the cabin, her jaw-dropping in surprise. Fortunately, the flight attendant was making an announcement over the speaker, and her agent’s voice didn’t seem to catch anyone’s attention. “It wasn’t good of him to trick you like that but with as much as he’s been trying to help you and has helped you, and through his messages, he seems like a decent guy,” Jocelyn said as the plane rolled away from the gate, making its way towards the runway. Their attention went to the window and the passing scenery, remaining silent even as the planed tipped up and they tipped backward as they left Quebec City behind. It was all too soon before the seat belt sign went off and Marius appeared at their row with a laptop in his hand.

                “The photos from Tuesday’s A Day In the Life of Marius Alarie have been sent to me.” Marius laid out the laptop so all of them could look through the photos, flipping through each one, discussing them, and picking their favorites before moving on to the topic of how the next few days in Vancouver were going to go. He delicately moved his fingers over the touchpad, pulling up a schedule. He went over it with a monotone voice, in near boredom he droned on basically telling them they’d have a lot of free time except for dinner tonight, tomorrow from nine to ten when they would hold the interview and tomorrow night starting at five in the evening when they were all invited to attend a banquet. “Any questions?” Marius rolled his gaze over the both of them, daring them.

                “You said a banquet…” Audrey dared.

                “Black tie event.”

                The silence stretched for a few minutes before Marius picked up the laptop and bid them farewell. Audrey moaned into Jocelyn’s shoulder, letting her know she hadn’t brought anything suitable to wear for a black-tie affair.

                “Mr. Alarie gave us a lot of free time. You know what that means… shopping!” Jocelyn gave a cheery clap, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

                Later that morning, Audrey put away the clothes she had packed in neat stacks in the dressers that the hotel offered in her room. Marius was going into a meeting very shortly so Jocelyn and Audrey decided they would clean up and change before doing some shopping and sightseeing. When they pulled away from the hotel in a cab, Jocelyn instantly asked the driver to take them to the closest hospital, not leaving any time or room for discussion when it came to Audrey’s health. It took a few hours to get cleared from the hospital with a sprained wrist and a few bruised ribs. They moved on to lunch and shopping, finding the perfect dresses for the banquet and using the rest of their time wisely to window shop.

                At the end of one row of shops, a few trinkets in one window caught Audrey’s eye. She pushed inside, giving a quick hello to the cashier, moving down the shelves of cute miniatures, moving towards the back of the shop. On a top shelf, a miniature statue of two ceramic doves joined together by a thin twig was brought to Audrey’s attention. She reached for the miniature just as another hand shot out to grab the same item. Their fingers brushed causing a stir of electricity to cross between them.