by Celeste Raye
“But she seemed afraid. Do you really think that Ben took her away and let her get her things?”
Sam had to admit that it didn't make any sense to him either, and then they had to talk about the idea that maybe his sister had taken off. Neil could see that Sam didn't want to think about that, but at the same time, it was a real possibility.
“I just don't know, Neil. I really don't know. I want to know that she's okay. I'm sorry if she actually did this, but it is better than the idea of Ben getting ahold of her.
Neil was still unsure how he felt about it all. It wasn't like the house couldn't be fixed. Not too much of it had burned up completely, though the rest was going to have a hell of a lot of smoke damage. None of that mattered though. What bothered Neil the most was the idea that she had run away from him. The very thought of it made his stomach hurt, and he didn't even want to think about it. After everything they had together. Could she really just walk away? Or rather, run away?
Chapter Fifteen
It had been four months since Audra left and there wasn’t a night that went by that she didn’t think of Neil. He was the man in all of her dreams, and there was more than one night that she wished that she were back in his arms, where she felt safe.
Her life had to go on though, and Audra was sure that something bad would happen if she didn’t keep moving. Life in the big city was so different than the one she had before, but Audra did not miss it at all. She missed her brother. She missed Neil, and she missed her friends and the rest of her family, but she did not miss the situation. Audra certainly didn't miss Ben. Every day that she got to wake up without him was enough of a reason for her to keep going. Audra was finally able to see beyond their past.
At first, when she got to the city, she only had a few dollars, and it had been harder than she thought. Audra hadn’t even thought about money in so long that she was stumped for a bit.
The thing was, Audra had never had to be on her own. She had a few jobs when she was in high school, but she got married to Ben not too long after she graduated. They had been together for almost five years, and in that time, Audra had depended on him for everything. She didn't work. Because he wouldn't let her. She also was not able to have any of her own money. Most likely, her husband was afraid that she would take off. He would have been right to assume that.
All of that left Audra in a position where she had to adapt quickly. It took her a little bit of time, but she finally got the hang of it on her own. She managed to do things that were overwhelming at first, but she was learning.
The first mini victory was finding a hotel that she could stay in for the week and then she found a job. It wasn't much pay, but it was bartending at a huge club downtown. It wasn't far from the hotel where she was staying, and the place looked pretty upscale, so she was hopeful about the tips that she would get every night.
The first couple of days were a little slow going, but Audra was getting the hang of it. After several months, she was running the bar and knew most of the customers by name. Even though the club was situated in the middle of the city, it seemed like it was frequented by the same people over and over again. It didn't matter to her either way, because everyone there was flush with money. They also treated her nicely, and Audra quickly had herself a proper apartment and tried to restart her life.
She had changed her name to Lisa and even bought identification that said that. Audra missed her old name, but she did not want to be tracked down by Ben. All she wanted to do was melt into the background for a little while so that nobody would find her.
Audra woke up early one Monday and started to get ready for work. Early for her was about four o'clock in the afternoon, because her shift was from five to one in the morning. It was hard for her to get used to the hours, but as she put her makeup on, Audra realized that she could adapt to anything. Audra would do whatever she had to do to survive and making a few drinks for rich people didn't seem like that bad of a way to go.
She adjusted the red wig she got and pressed her lips together to smooth out the lipstick. Sometimes when she looked in the mirror, she didn't even recognize herself anymore. This was one of those moments, and she had to remind herself that she was really Audra. She was at least herself when she was by herself. One day she was going to be able to go back to her real name, and she didn't want to forget who she really was. It felt like if she let go of it, then all of her previous life would be gone forever. Audra couldn't live with that.
Audra left her apartment and locked the door behind her. She went the few blocks to the club and said hello to Roger when she got there. He was a mountain of a man that stood at the door. Basically, he was there to make sure that everybody got along.
Audra had only seen a couple of fights in the few months she had been there. Most of the people there were of higher class and appeared that they were far more civilized when it came time to have an argument. There was yelling from time to time, but very rarely would anybody swing.
But Roger was there every day anyway. Every time she worked, he was there, and he was secretly a marshmallow inside. Once she got to know him, the rough exterior hadn't seemed nearly as bad, and Audra was sure that if everybody knew how soft he was, Roger wouldn’t be able to keep his job. He was just too nice.
“How are you doing today?”
“I'm doing alright, Roger. How is Anna liking the new fish tank?”
“She loves it. Wanted me to thank you for recommending it.”
“No problem, Roger. I used to have a lot of time on my hands indoors and I always loved to watch the fish swim around. It was very relaxing.”
They talked for a few more minutes before Audra could see that she was getting waved in. Frank was there, and he didn't look so happy.
“Lisa. You’re late!”
“Actually, I'm about ten minutes early because my shift starts at five.”
He looked at his watch and then frowned at it. “I don't know why I think it's so much later than it is.”
Frank wasn’t too old, but he acted like he was an old man. He was always talking about things like they were centuries ago. He started mumbling how things weren’t made as good as they once were. She smiled and waited for him to continue. Something was obviously on his mind.
“I need you to help me with inventory. I thought that Ashley was going to be here tonight, but she called off. I am starting to think that she was the wrong person to hire. We should've gone with that little brunette that you had suggested.”
“Caroline still needs a job. She lives right down the hall from me and I know that she would do better here than Ashley does.”
“Tell her to come in tomorrow. I need someone that I can count on. If I had a few more of you running around, Lisa, I wouldn't have to worry about this place nearly as much. Maybe I wouldn't have an ulcer, either.”
“It's going to be okay, Frank. I'm not going anywhere.”
Her words seemed to calm him down a little bit, and he had a bashful grin back on his face.
“You don't know how good that is to hear, Lisa. It is almost impossible to find good help.”
Audra smiled at him and then started into the back to do inventory. It wasn’t her favorite thing to do, but it would give her time to herself, and she knew exactly who she was going to think about. Neil was never far from her thoughts. Even after all the time apart, he still haunted her every waking moment.
Chapter Sixteen
Frank watched Lisa go into the back and just shook his head. He did not regret hiring her at all, even though he still wasn't sure what sort of role she was going to play. She was branded by another dragon and Frank was almost certain that she didn't even know it. He was also pretty certain that she didn't know that she was carrying a dragon child either.
The more he got to know Lisa, the more he wondered about her. He had asked her about herself several times, but she was very evasive with her answers. It made Frank think that she was either hiding something or she was hiding from someone. Th
e longer he knew her, the more he figured it was the latter of the two. She didn't seem to be the type of person that could lie successfully. Frank figured that she was in trouble and he hoped that once she was there for a little while longer, that she would let him help her.
He was starting to count the money in the drawer when he heard a commotion in the back. Considering that Lisa had just gone that way, he instantly thought of her.
Frank rushed to the back to see what was going on; he expected to find a case of liquor that had fallen on the floor or something like that. He did not expect to find his employee on the floor.
He went to her side and asked her if she was alright.
When he got there, he realized that Lisa was not awake. He wasn't sure if she had fainted or if she had hit her head. He just knew that he had to get her to the doctors somehow.
Frank paused for a moment because he wasn't sure if he should call an ambulance or not. He knew things about her that she didn't seem to know about herself. But taking another look at her, he knew that he had to. Something had happened, and Frank felt protective of her. She was young and rebellious and a little too smart-mouthed when she wanted to be. Lisa reminded him of his daughter. He knew he had to help Lisa, as he knew how he would feel if his daughter Amber needed help, and nobody came to her rescue.
The ambulance got there pretty quickly, and Frank rode with her to the hospital. While she wasn’t his family, Frank felt attached to her, and she had said she didn't have any family around and he wanted somebody to be there for her.
On the way to the hospital, Frank himself decided that he was going to get to the bottom of the mystery that was Lisa. He had to figure out who she was and why she was all alone in the ridiculous condition she was in. It didn't seem like something that one of his kind would do. They didn’t usually leave one of their children out alone without protection and Frank wasn’t very happy about it.
When he got to the hospital and one of the nurses gave him a big clipboard of paperwork to fill out, he realized that he didn't know Lisa Graves nearly as much as he wanted to. He filled it out as best as he could and asked the nurse how she was doing.
Frank was told that the doctor was running tests and it might be a little while. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but Frank knew that he was just going to have to wait.
He went to sit down in the waiting room and called his son to make sure that the club was covered. The more Frank thought about the mystery, the more he wondered about it. Who was Lisa Graves and how had she found herself in his bar, of all the places?
The older man had fallen asleep, and he was shaken awake by the nurse who had originally brought him the clipboard.
“Mister Graves?”
“Yes, how is she?”
“Your daughter has sustained a slight head injury, but we are not too worried about it. It doesn't look like she has a concussion.
“Then what happened?”
“Well, it looks like she is just overworking herself. She is several months along, and some women have a harder time with pregnancy than others. I am going to suggest that she goes on bed rest or at the very least, that she slows down her duties.”
Frank was not surprised at all about the pregnancy. He had known it pretty much as soon as she walked through the door. It was early even then, but he had known.
“I will make sure that she stays off of her feet as much as possible. Is there anything else that she needs to do?”
“She just needs rest. I haven't been able to get in to talk to her about any of this, but if she wakes up, you’re more than welcome to. It would probably be better to hear it from someone in her family.”
The nurse kept assuming that Frank was family, and he didn't tell her otherwise. It was how he had gotten into the room with her to begin with. A weight was lifted off of his shoulders when he was told that she was going to be fine. Frank was worried about her because he knew that she was in a world that she didn't understand. Hell, she didn't even know she was in his world. Or even that there was another world beyond her own.
“I will make sure that she finds out and stays safe; thank you so much.”
Frank sighed out loud and moved towards the room that Lisa was in. He wondered how she was going to take the news. Either way, what Frank had told the nurse was the truth. He was going to make sure that nothing happened to Lisa. One way or another, Frank was going to make sure that she was safe.
Chapter Seventeen
When Frank told Audra the news, she thought he was joking. It was literally one of the last things on her mind, and she went through a mix of emotions when she found out that she was pregnant. The first emotion was an overwhelming sense of joy. It was a horrible situation, and Audra had no idea what the hell she was going to do, but a baby was a blessing.
Then she started to have all the worry and self-doubt that came with it. The biggest issue that Audra could think of was who the father was. Most likely it was Ben because she was with him every single night until the moment she left. She had only been with Neil a few times, but deep-down, Audra hoped that it was Neil’s. She didn't like the idea of continuing Ben’s bloodline. He was cruel and a sociopath. The last thing she wanted to do was make another one of him.
Audra quickly realized that either way, it didn't matter. She was going to have to raise the baby herself. There was no way that she was going to be able to co-parent with either one of them. Ben would never see his son or daughter. That much she had concluded already. Neil, on the other hand, Audra didn't know what to think about him. And the truth was, she didn't want to think about it.
So, Audra did the only thing that she could do. She tried to follow the doctor’s orders at best as she could, and she got off her feet. Frank devised a chair on wheels that she was able to push herself around in behind the bar, and she was still able to make the drinks. Everyone was extra nice to her, especially when she started to show. It was not at all how Audra had ever seen becoming a mother happening, but she had learned to adapt. It was just easier to go with it.
It wasn't as bad as Audra had thought it would be though. When she first found out she was pregnant, it felt like the whole world was coming down on top of her. Now it didn't feel nearly as bad. She didn't want to think about the bad anymore, which meant that Audra couldn't think about who the father was. She wanted it to be Neil’s with every fiber of her being, but she knew that it wasn't up to her. It didn't matter what she wanted at the end of the day. What mattered was the truth.
Audra's pregnancy was pretty normal. She had some morning sickness and then several weeks where she wanted to just pop already. Nine months felt like a lifetime, and she was eager for the chance to see what her baby was.
When it finally came time to have the baby, Audra went to the hospital as herself. She needed to for insurance reasons. Audra was making good money at the bar, but not near enough to pay for a baby being born. It was the first time she had used her name since she left, and she was afraid. She was so scared of Ben somehow finding her, and because of that, she only stayed in the hospital overnight. By morning, she was gone.
The labor had not been as normal as she would have hoped. The doctor said that it was a miracle he had never seen before. The baby was born completely encased in the sack. They had taken several pictures of it for the medical journals, but Audra didn't think about it. It didn't seem so fabulous to her. As long as the baby came out fine, nothing else really mattered.
She took the baby home and named her Jamie. Audra had to go back to work almost immediately, and she found a nanny to help her take care of the baby. Audra was convinced that if she stayed working for a little bit longer, she would be able to have enough money to buy a house. Audra wanted stability in a very unstable world.
Frank was the best boss that she could hope for. He kept her hours flexible, and even when they went through some new management and took on a partner, Frank promised that everything would stay the same.
Audra was worried about what was going to
happen with the new boss. She had to meet him and Frank had told her that everything was going to be fine. She wanted to believe him, but something inside was nagging away at her. She felt that everything was going to change, but Audra didn't know how.
When it was finally the day she was supposed to meet the new partner, Audra found out his name. His name was Neil, and that sinking feeling that had started in her stomach was now a black hole that was sucking her away completely.
Audra just knew that it would be her Neil; she didn't need to know the last name or see who it was. She just knew. Destiny had a funny way of bringing things back around, and Audra was unsure how to respond. She had taken off while he was gone, and didn't look back. She hadn’t been in contact with Neil or contacted her brother either. Audra had just run.
The more she thought about it, the more it became clear that Audra just had to leave. It was time for her to run again. She needed to get home, get Jamie, and disappear. That was the only safety that she knew at this point. Running.
She was on her way out the back door when it opened and Neil materialized in front of her. She should have been shocked, but she wasn't. Of course, it would be just that way. Of course, he would be the one that would come in the back door, just so that he could get a jump on the employees.
“Audra, you’re here.”
She looked for confused for a moment and she agreed. “Yes, Neil. I'm here.”
Neil stood there for several moments, and Audra was trying to figure out what was going on in his mind. He was just staring at her like she was there but not really there. Like she was a ghost. Audra wanted to ask him if he was okay, but she knew better. She could tell by his eyes that there were other emotions churning inside of him.
