Pandora's Box

27 - Back at the beginning

27 - BACK AT THE BEGINNING

I don't know why I gave this address to the driver. Maybe it's because I have nowhere else to go. The girls have decided to go with Rachel in Paris. Of course, they asked me if I wanted to go, but at that time, I didn't want to be separated with Stephen for such a long time. They will stay there for almost a month.

Maybe it's because she's also a wife and she knows what I'm going through. Or simply maybe because she's my mother.

I felt like I was back to being a child as I walked towards the big, looming and familiar front doors. I took a deep breath before I knocked. After a few seconds one of the maids opened the door.

"Oh, Miss Audrey! What are you doing here?"

I gave her a weak smile and croaked out, "Is mother here?"

She gave me a worried look and said, "Yes, she's upstairs. Why don't you come in and make yourself comfortable while I call Mrs. Williams?"

"Sure. Thanks." I said as I headed to the living room and sat on the fluffy gray couch I used to love.

I looked around the house that I grew up in. Nothing much has changed. It's still beautiful and impeccably perfect in all ways. The antique vase is still at the corner, the portrait of my mother still hung up on the wall in front of me. And even though it has the most expensive decorations, it's still one of the loneliest places I've ever been.

The silence is heavy in the air and you can see no one, unless you call for the maid. There are no family pictures scattered around or trophies or awards or anything. It's very sad and depressing. I don't know how my mother manages to live in this place. 

"Audrey?"

My train of thoughts were broken when my mother came downstairs. She looks paler and a little thinner than the last time I saw her. She's dressed in a white shift dress and cream kitten heels. I can feel tears forming in my eyes when I saw her.

"Audrey? What's wrong?" She asked, looking concerned. The expression is not something that I usually see on her face but right now, I can't make myself care.

I immediately stood up and faced her. I don't know what to tell her. She walked closer to me and when she's right in front of me, I sobbed, "Mommy. You were right. You were right all along."

She pulled me into a hug and it's like I finally found what I was looking for all my life. I felt like a weary traveler that finally came home. After how many years, I found myself in my mother's arms again.  

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Stephen's POV

I am the biggest asshole in the whole fucking universe. Audrey is missing and I don't know what to do. I don't know where she could possibly go. I have called her cellphone, but it went straight to voicemail. I also called her friends, but it turns out, they all went to Paris, save for Rihanne who went back because of some important shooting or some shit. It has been several hours since she left the house, and I'm starting to get worried. 

Okay. Fine, I'll admit that what I did was wrong. I should've just stayed at home and comforted Audrey. But yesterday, all I could think of was that the person I'm going to meet could potentially make my career more successful. But that didn't exactly made it any easier for me. Believe me, I was torn in half. Seeing her cry, and knowing it was because of me and yet I did nothing about it just about killed me. But I had my reasons why I still chose to leave in the end.

What I didn't tell Audrey was that her mother's words bothered me more than I let on. I can't sleep for days, and I just can't forget what her mother told me. And that bastard Henry didn't exactly help.