Damn…I’d hoped you’d left the room. Langley, the epitome of manners that he apparently was, stuck out his hand to Priscilla and introduced himself. “Paul Langley.”
“Priscilla Banks. Lovely to meet you.”
Marvelous. Now, can you two go off together and shag in the loo or talk behind our backs or something? Either of those would be f**king perfect.
To my good fortune, they did move away and begin a conversation. I looked back at Brynne and asked, “Feeling better?”
“Yes, much.” She glanced over at Paul and Priscilla and then back to me. “Who is that, Ethan?” she whispered.
“A friend of Ivan’s.”
She wasn’t buying it and gave me a look that spelled certain doom if I didn’t come clean. “Was she a friend of yours too?”
“Not really,” I offered.
“What does that mean, not really?”
I paused, unsure where to take this unpleasantness. A public charity event was hardly the place, but I’ve not always filtered my thoughts from what comes out of my mouth and therefore forged ahead anyway. “It means we went out one time together and we are not friends in any sense of the word. Not like you and Langley are friends.” I raised a brow at her.
“Okay. Fair enough,” she said, with a long reflective look over at Priscilla and then back at me, before finishing the rest of her water.
Hmmm…so it seemed she was willing to let it drop for the moment. Thank. God. Now, if we could just escape The Cockroach and Strawberry Blonde things would be golden.
“Shall we go back up to the gallery? You must have legions of fans still waiting to talk to you.”
“Right,” she laughed, shaking her head. “But yeah, we really should go back. I want Lady Percival to get her due tonight. She’s been hiding in the dark for far too long.”
As I took Brynne up to the Victorian Gallery, I couldn’t help but think she was referring to herself metaphorically with that last part: She’s been hiding in the dark for far too long. It made me happy for some reason.
It didn’t take but moments for Brynne to get caught up in another round of interviews and I sort of faded into the background and let her do her thing. She was just starting out in her career and I wanted her success for a few reasons. One, it was her dream, and two, a good job in her chosen field would keep her in London with me. I was just as motivated as my girl was.
“Enjoying the show?” Ivan’s voice came at my shoulder.
“Glad you could make it tonight. We’ve been wondering when you’d grace us with your presence. Brynne wants to introduce you to her friend.” I looked around for Gabrielle in her green dress but didn’t see her.
“Brynne looks very busy right now.” He glanced over at my girl admiringly. “Maybe later.”
“Look, Ivan, there was a pseudo threat delivered to my office today. I’m not horribly concerned but I want you to know the details.” I handed him the envelope of photos I’d brought along tonight anticipating his attendance. I was a firm believer that everyone should know about the threats against them, no matter how insignificant. Crazy people never seem to get better, so everyone needs to know what could be a potential problem down the line.
Ivan and I had done this plenty of times before so it wasn’t anything new. He grunted at the photos as he flipped through and after a minute handed the whole lot back to me. “Thanks, E, for looking out. I’m sure it’ll all blow over when the Olympics are but a memory.” He looked at the drink in my hand. “At least I can hope, true?”
“It’s all we can do, mate.” I nodded, clapping him on the back with one hand.
“I need to have something along the lines of what you’re having.” He waved off and left for the bar.
I nursed my vodka for a few more minutes before deciding a smoke would be just the thing. Brynne was still too busy to be interrupted so I found Neil and told him where I was headed. I located an exit door down at street level, propped it open just enough so I could get back in the same way I’d gone out, and stepped into the cool, fresh, night.
The clove tasted so fine I think I got a tad hard. Just a few more hours and we’d be on our way out of London and I’d have her all to myself. The city lights and sounds were a comfort swirled with the scented smoke that wrapped around me like a cloak. As I stood there and indulged in another coffin nail, I wondered how I’d ever get off the ciggies completely. I was really trying to limit my consumption, but I’d been at it for so long, I just didn’t know how to let go completely. Addiction was a powerful component of the body and the spirit. And the smokes had more hold on me than just the nicotine. I suppose some professional help was needed and time to face up to that reality as well as some others.
I felt the vibration against my chest and it gave me a zing because it took a moment to determine what it was. Brynne’s old mobile in my front jacket pocket. The thing had been silent for so long I’d nearly forgotten to bring it tonight, but out of habit I kept charging it and turning it on.
I pulled it out and saw the multimedia message alert. That meant a picture. I felt myself go cold and knew the frightening blade of fear slice into my gut. I pressed open and tried to breathe.
ArmyOps has sent Brynne a music video on Spotify.
Oh, f**k no! This is not happening right now. I pressed accept against my better judgment, but was compelled to look. The professional in me had to see exactly what it was. I knew the song the moment it started playing. Nine Inch Nails’ Closer. The one that was used in the sex video with Brynne. I let it play through because I had to, but felt ill throughout the whole song. And it was just the official music video and not the one of Brynne.
Thank. Holy. Fuck.