Page 81 of Dirty Money
Aulora stopped and sat on the floor. Bruce had slipped her mind.How could she go off and leave him?
“Kitty, what am I going to do about you?” she asked him.
Laura used the cat to try to get into Aulora’s head. “How long do you plan on being gone? Bruce does miss you, you know?”
“I’m not sure. Do you think the hotels in Italy are cat-friendly?” Aulora asked.
“It’s doubtful,” Laura said as she went to sit on the floor with her and petted to the cat. “And that plane ride is long. It would be brutal on him. Locked away in a pet carrier in the cargo area of the plane. He’d hate it. Don’t you think?”
Aulora looked at her cat and then her cell rang again. This time it was her mother. “I should answer this one,” she said as she swiped the screen. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hey, baby girl. Where are you?” her mother asked with a lilt to her voice.
“Home,” she said. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason. So, home in your penthouse?”
“Yes, that’s my home, Mom,” Aulora said then laughed. “You sound weird.”
“I don’t feel well. I’ve had a cold for a few days. How’s the new baby?”
Aulora looked off at nothing. She was tired of feeling pain over the baby. She was tired of feeling things, period. “She’ll be all right, I guess. She’s in the hospital. Call Dad if you want to know more. I really don’t want to know anything else.”
“Why in the world not?” her mother asked her as her voice went high and more than a bit agitated. “That sounds very selfish, Aulora!”
“I guess that’s what I am. All these people being in my life has me forgetting who I am and what I’m about. I’m an artist who prefers to be alone. When did it become everyone’s primary agenda to include me in something I was never looking to be a part of?”
“Aulora, I don’t like hearing you talk like this,” her mother reprimanded her. “Why so glum and anti-social?”
With a choked sob, Aulora found the sadness had overtaken her. She threw the phone down, then got up and ran to lock herself away in the bathroom. Laura picked the cell up.
“Hi, Miss Greene. You should stop by. Your daughter’s having a little bit of a breakdown.”
“For Heaven’s sake! I’ll be right over,” Evelyn said then ended the call.
Laura sat where she was, still stroking the cat’s soft fur. “What has your mommy got in her head?”
She got up and left the bedroom, Aulora needed some time, she guessed. But could she be talked out of running off? Laura wasn’t sure about that.
Artists could be closed off, she knew that from the one man she dated back in college. He could have been a true love, but he kept himself so guarded and aloof that she never got the chance to really love him. And she saw that in Aulora too. The only thing was, Laura wasn’t about to let Aulora do to herself what she watched the man she loved do to himself.
Tears flowed as Aulora looked at herself in the mirror. What the hell was wrong with her? And why the hell couldn’t people just leave her alone?
She was going to get trapped, she knew it. No one was going to let her go. No one was going to let her put them all behind her. When a light tap came to the bathroom door, she shook her head. “Go away!”
“I can’t do that, peach,” came Weston’s voice. “Let me in.”
“Go away! I want to be alone!” she screeched through the door at him.
“No,” he said with a stern voice. “Now, you can let me in, or I can break the door to get to you. You decide.”
She leaned up against the door and whined, “Weston, you have no idea how I feel. I’m so torn apart. Just let me go. I’m no good for you.” She slipped the engagement ring off her finger and slide it under the door. “Take that. Give it to a woman who can give you what you want.”
“You’re the only woman for me, peach,” he said. “You come out and let’s talk. I have to put this ring back on your finger. Everything’s going to be alright. The baby’s doing fine. Everything will be all right.”
Aulora opened the door and fell into his arms as she cried, “Weston, how can you take this? It’s all too hard! I’m so damn afraid for her. It’s not even making any sense to me how much I care about her. How can I handle this all?”
He shushed her and cradled her in his strong arms. His breath moved her hair as he said, “I do believe this is the first time you’ve ever had someone in the world that you feel a kinship to. And that’s a strong thing to have. Hope is the first fragile life you’ve been a part of. It does make you hurt and worry.”
