Chapter 28

AUDREY

It had been two weeks since the case ended.

I would turn up to the gates of Rowell Academy and from the moment I parked my car, I would run like the wind to the lecture hall.

"Dammit, this is why I don't get directly involved with the clients," I muttered under my breath, plopping down in my usual seat. I made sure to thank my past self for participating in sports, good job, I never thought I would need those skills until now.

The lecture served as the perfect distraction to take my mind off of the big friendly giant named Sebastian. I must say, I was at a loss. What do I do when I come face to face with him, I say when because thanks to this life, meeting him is practically a guarantee.

A knock at the door disrupted the peaceful atmosphere. I groaned quietly in annoyance.

"Sorry for bothering, I have an announcement." A tall female stepped into the lecture hall, her glasses glinting under the light as she pushed them up her nose bridge.

"Okay, go ahead," Dr Claire nodded, taking a seat at her desk.

The female smiled and began reading from a sheet, "the Rowell Academy vacation week will be held in the Parkinson Rehabilitation Centre, a new sector has opened up and George Parkinson himself wants us to be the first ones to try it out," she finished with a squeal.

Hold on, what? Since when did this happen? Since when was oh so secretive father so gracious?

I could feel the other students slowly turn their heads towards me, their expressions matching mine - I guess the tabloids say it all.

With that, the female left and the lecture continued, "now, where were we?" Dr Claire resumed.

When the lecture had come to a close, groans and sighs of students stretching their legs were all you could hear, you could even hear the cracking of some students knees and backs while others shivered in disgust.

I left the hall in the middle of the crowd, aching to go home. The corridors were silent, the students that walked them all too exhausted to speak. It was like stumbling through a crowd of zombies except instead of being hungry for brains, we were hungry for our couches and beds.

I made my way to my car, keeping in mind to stay out of sight of Sebastian. And that I did, but that's all I did, I forgot about a certain lively caucasian boy.

"Audrey!" Marcus greeted, throwing his arms around my neck.

"Marcus, be quiet," I hissed, motioning to lower the volume.

"Why? Hey, where's your boyfriend? Did you learn anything new, if you know what I mean." He nudged me with his elbow, a sly smirk on his face.

"Your sexual innuendos are not appreciated at the moment," I growled in annoyance, "Why are you here?"

"Damn right they're not. What do you mean? Aren't we waiting for Seb-"

Before he could continue I grabbed a hold of his arm, dragging him to my car, "follow me."

"Where are we going?" he asked, his voice full of confusion.

"Somewhere to talk, I need to explain." I could feel the butterflies of panic fluttering deep in my stomach; just like Marcus' sexual innuendos, these are also not appreciated.

We rode in silence. Well, we personally didn't talk but Marcus kept changing the radio station. Although it was annoying, I felt too nervous to say anything.

Sebastian signed a confidentiality contract but I didn't, and Marcus deserves to know what happened. He already has enough going on in his personal life, he doesn't need more.

The eldest son of the Steinwell family has come out as bisexual. Rumours surrounding this scandal had surfaced and was finally confirmed by Marcus Steinwell himself. His father and step-mother remain silent about these issues and refuse to talk to the press. Despite this pictures have surfaced showing Mr Steinwell looking full of grief.

I didn't know Marcus Steinwell then, that was when I was fifteen. Despite being strangers I felt anger bubbling up within me. I had seen him around, whether it was in charity balls or other expensive parties held by celebrities and businessmen, he was always laughing, smiling and telling jokes. This was something so personal and he didn't even get to come out on his own terms.

I glanced at him, I could clearly see he was nervous but he covered it up by humming. I hated it, this environment, this life, this secrecy, so I began singing along. Marcus looked over in shock but soon joined in. We continued our half-assed singing, half-assed but loud. At this point, we were trying to distract ourselves.

Our singalong came to a close when we arrived at Victor's tea shop. Yes, Victor, the same Victor who taught me how to fight. He was passionate about tea so I bought him a tea shop as a thank you gift.

"Audrey! My angel, how are you?" Victor cooed, hugging me tightly.

"I'm fine Victor, how are you?" I asked, returning the hug.

"I'm alright thank you. Who is this fine young man?" He gazed at Marcus with curiosity.

"This is Marcus, I've just finished a big case and I need to talk to him about it," I replied, "I was wondering if we could use upstairs?"

"Yeah, that's okay. Orders before you head up?"

After we gave our orders, I made my way upstairs, Marcus in tow. He followed in silence, waiting until we got privacy before bombarding me with questions.

"Who was that? Case? What's going on?" he interrogated, the pitch of his voice rising with every question.

I took a deep breath before starting my story. Every second that I spent, telling him everything, was another second of guilt weighing down on me. The realisation of how he and Sebastian are so close, as close as brothers, and that Sebastian was able to keep a secret from him shattered me.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. My throat felt constricted and I felt it hard to breathe, "I'm sorry you had to go through this."

"Why?"

I blinked, confused if I heard it right, "pardon?"

"Why are you sorry? You don't have anything to be sorry about. Sebastian asked you for help, you had to keep it a secret for your sake. I understand," he answered firmly.

"I know but I feel guilty. You're like a brother to me." I admitted.

"I got brother-zoned! Is that even a thing?" he protested, his eyes wide.

I covered my mouth as I giggled, "I know but either way I still feel guilty, which is why I got you this." I handed him a small envelope.

"A Starbucks card?" he questioned, "it's even got a shark on it."

"Yeah, so you can get whatever you want when you visit a certain boy. You can even get him whatever he wants on his days off," I explained, smiling widely as his cheeks flushed pink.

"Thank you, very much," he replied, chuckling under his breath.

"And also," I handed him a white card.

"Wait isn't this?" I nodded.

He turned it over, his fingers running across the gold ink that shone as it caught the light. Tracing the arrow underneath the title:

Cupid.