Mr. Anonymous

Chapter 14

As they pulled up to her house to get her things for the sleepover, Audrey saw her mom's car in the driveway and sighed. She turned to Jack.

"If you want to wait in the car while I get my things, you can." Audrey said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

Jack had been halfway through the motion of unbuckling himself and paused with his arm suspended in midair.

"Oh okay. Yeah, that's fine, I don't have to come in." Jack said, looking almost disappointed to Audrey. She quickly tried to explain.

"I mean you can come in if you want! It's just that my mom's home." she said, pointing to her car in the driveway. "She has this idea in her head that you and I should date or something so I just thought I'd spare you the interrogation she will definitely inflict if you come inside." Audrey said.

Jack just smiled and unbuckled his seatbelt.

"I don't mind." he said as he got out of the car, walking away and leaving her still fumbling with her car door. She finally got it open and caught up to him right outside the front door.

"I just want to apologize in advance." she said as the door flew open to a smiling Mrs. Greene.

"Sorry! Did I interrupt the goodnight kiss?" Mrs. Greene asked with a smug smile.

Audrey covered her face with her hands.

"Oh my gosh, Mom, no! Jack's just giving me a ride to the sleepover tonight, but I need my things." Audrey said, expecting her mom to move out of the doorway. She just kept smiling at the two of them.

"So can we come in now so I can get my stuff?" Audrey asked slowly as though her mom suddenly couldn't understand English.

Audrey's mom seemed to snap out of it then and finally moved to the side and waved them into the house. Audrey tried to quickly usher Jack up to her room so he could avoid interrogation, but Audrey's mom stood in front of the staircase.

"Audrey why don't you go pack and Jack and I will get to know each other a little better." Mrs. Greene said, smiling widely at Jack.

Audrey and Jack glanced at each other. Audrey leaned in and whispered, "I'll pack as fast as I can." She turned to her mom. "Okay, Mom." At that, Mrs. Greene stepped away from the staircase and gestured to Jack.

"Let's go sit in the living room and talk while we wait for Audrey, hm?" Mrs. Greene said, parting Jack's shoulder.

Audrey raced up the steps two at a time and quickly retrieved her duffle bag from under her bed. She tried to be fast, but also efficient as she threw things into the bag. She just hoped she wasn't forgetting anything.

She hurried down the stairs to save Jack from her mother, but when she reached the living room, the two of them were laughing like they were old friends. Audrey stood with a hand on her hip, watching them. She finally cleared her throat. The two turned to look at her, still smiling.

"Are you ready to go, Jack?" Audrey asked, raising her eyebrows. Jack stood up and so did Mrs. Greene.

"Yes you two should get going! It was a pleasure seeing you again, Jack!" Mrs. Greene said, pulling Jack into a warm hug.

"Same to you, Mrs. Greene." Jack said with a genuine smile.

Mrs. Greene tsked. "Now what did I say about that?"

"Sorry, I forgot, Grace." Jack corrected himself with extra emphasis. Audrey rolled her eyes.

"Alright we are leaving now. Goodbye, Mom." Audrey said, pulling Jack to the door.

"Alright, alright, be safe you, two!" Mrs, Greene called out behind them.

Once they were safely in the car, Audrey turned to Jack.

"I am so sorry about that." she started but saw that he was smiling as they pulled out onto the road.

"Don't be sorry. She's funny - I enjoyed talking to her." Jack said and Audrey relaxed visibly.

"Well... there was one awkward part, though." Jack admitted, seeming embarrassed. Audrey immediately panicked.

"Oh no. What did she do?" Audrey asked.

"She... well... she thought, no matter what I tried to tell her... that we were dating... so she thought it would be good if... we were... 'safe'... so she gave me..." Jack trailed off as though he were too embarrassed to continue, but Audrey understood what he was implying.

"SHE GAVE YOU CONDOMS?!?!" Audrey screamed, unable to contain her shock and anger. However, Jack just laughed and laughed, wiping tears from his eyes.

"No she didn't, but your reaction was so worth it!" Jack said in between fits of laughter.

Audrey smacked him lightly on the arm.

"That's not funny! You gave me a heart attack!" Audrey said, though she was smiling now, too.

"Sorry, but I saw an opportunity and I took it." Jack said, calming down now as he pulled into the driveway of a Victorian style house.

Audrey looked out the front windshield and up at the beautiful home.

"Is this your house?" Audrey asked in amazement.

"Yeah it's been in the family forever. It was built in 1893." Jack said, to which Audrey's jaw dropped.

"Woah..." Audrey said, unable to comment further. Jack just laughed and got out of the car, grabbing her duffle bag out of the back seat before she could protest. Audrey slowly got out of the car, still admiring the house.

Jack walked ahead of her, getting to the front door before she did. He looked back at her and smiled at her expression, which still hadn't changed as she took in the landscaping around the front yard.

Just then, the front door opened, shining a bright light on the two of them.

Audrey snapped out of her reverie and looked up to the foreboding figure blocking the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. She recognized the piercing grey eyes immediately.

"Bill..." Jack trailed off.