The Good, The Bad and The Loaded

2

Turning swiftly on her heels - no easy feat in three inch stilettos, Audrey narrowly missed a business man heading towards a meeting. He threw up his hands in dismay as she breezed past him. She wanted to stop and say sorry, she was ever the apologetic type, quick to say sorry even when she wasn't in the wrong. The poor man had almost been floored. He swayed on his feet, catching his balanced, and red faced, she moved with no grace, but absolute purpose.

The air, once crisp and conditioned was now stifling.

Audrey left. She could feel her cheeks blazing, and the eyes of all the other interviewees fixed on her. She wondered what coursed through their minds as she made her escape, a room of women Carl would no doubt work his seedy charm on. She found the stairwell and taking two steps at a time she realised that this was not very well thought out.

There's an lift Audrey! You know, an automatic, non sweat inducing descent away from that vile man!

By the time she reached the bottom floor he might even be stood there, waiting for her as she emerged from the stairwell, soaked in sweat, hair plastered to her forehead in a birds nest. Wonderful. How his eyes would dance with amusement.

She wasnt impulsive, or skittish, and she certainly wasn't the kind to let a man know he had the upper hand, but this was Carl and she had hoped that she would never see him again. This had to be the worst moment in her entire life, fleeing from a man that was by now, probably storing this little anecdote away, to share with his revolting drinking buddies.

She heard the door open to the stairwell, and the sound of footsteps coming towards the rail to look over the edge. Audrey shrank against the wall, praying for invisibility. She knew it was Carl. A moment later he was satisfied she had gone and he left. Audrey opened the door to the tenth floor, and decided on the elevator.

Today had been exhausting enough.

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"You still haven't explained what happened." Auntie June had pressed, her mouth set in a line, concerned for her niece. Her youthful expression was creased with the worry lines that only a son or daughter could induce. For all intents and purposes, June was her mother and she knew that like a mother lion, she would protect her cub.

"Junie, he was there. That complete arsehole. HE was the one looking for the assistant!"

June clapped a hand over her mouth, and gratefully recieved the cup of coffee her boyfriend, Mario Minelli, handed to her. She shook her head in disbelief, eyes widened.

"He must have known it was you Aude. How could he not? You sent your photo with the job application! What a slimy excuse for a man!"

Audrey nodded, "I bet he's howling with laughter. I've made his whole week!"

It's as if I am destined to be entertainment for that low life she thought, lowering her head in complete mortification.

June offered her niece a white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie. Her favourite. Audrey pushed the plate away and sighed. June cursed the day that Carl Jenner walked into Audrey's life. Though she had never met him, she knew how much he had destroyed Audrey's self confidence, something she herself had worked so hard to build up.

The diner was beautiful, all red leather booths and fifties style duke boxes. Aside from Disneyland, this place was the happiest place on Earth. In spite of her familiar surroundings Audrey felt loneliness tug at her heart, and though she didn't miss her ex, she felt dismay that he could still elicit that kind of reaction from her. He had meant to be her chance at happiness, not the undoing of her belief in love.

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A year ago, Aunt June decided to up sticks, leaving behind her 2.5 million pound home. She had inherited the prime piece of real estate in an acrimonious split with her businessman husband Lord Tomlinson. He was known to Audrey as 'Albert the arse hole'. They had been married fourteen years when her loving Aunt discovered that Albert wasn't just the owner of a multi-million pound wine company. He was also father to five children, ranging from a few months old to seven years. It appeared that years of meetings on foreign shores had erased his wedding vows from his mind. Albert was not only a successful, reputible businessman, but also a man well respected in the local community. The press had followed him for years and he had become something of a darling, a public speaker and friend to many a politician. The divorce had finally seen her Aunt net quite the fortune. She vowed to stay silent, never one to reach for the press to shame someone. Least of all someone she had loved so much, for so long.

Nearly two years ago, reeling from her split, June had embarked on exciting trips to cities she had never visited before. Indeed Albert had journeyed to many a foreign shore, but never with June. Bewitched by the movies, and novels she had read, New York was the place she fell in love with the most. Always a city girl at heart, hailing from her cockney east end roots, New York was the mysterious, bright, romantic twin of London herself.

Here she had met, and fallen for a local man. A businessman in his own right. Mario Minnelli. The diner was his passion, and now, so was June. After a whirl wind romance and dozens of weekends in the Big Apple, June made plans to relocate. She had always been a fantastic cook, and the diners had enjoyed her venture into creating British and other Europpean dishes. She felt that she had found her place in life, and London no longer had any draw for her. Aside from her niece.

Audreys parents made it abundantly clear, from day dot, that she was not the favourite child. She had imagined more than once, that she must have been a mistake they regretted daily, hampering their life styles, an obligation they did not want. Her brother, Andrew, a high achiever, became a doctor, who went on to work at the prestigious St Barts hospital. Everything seemed to be about him, they looked down their noses at her and their parenting approach was that she be as independent from them as possible. It worked, but in the process, they missed one vital ingredient of parenting.

Love.

Audrey, although bright, rebelled against her loveless upbringing and studied drama at college, followed by a string of office jobs. She excelled in the roles she took, but her loveless upbringing left her constantly searching for more. A fairytale she could believe in. June, more like a mother than an aunt, provided the one strong, impenetrable relationship in her life. Boyfriends were plenty, but none lastest more than a few months. None led to love.

At least, not till Carl Jenner.