"Lawrence! What a pleasant surprise," Audrey greeted Lawrence with a kiss as she invited him into the apartment. "What brings you by?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Oh," she said, the gravity of his tone filled her with concern. "Have a seat," she said quietly.
Lawrence got right to the point. "I had a talk with Chad Vanderburg. He told me R.J. Majors blackmailed you to gather information on the company. Is it true?" As he spoke his voice was cold and he eyed her sternly. He had already made up his mind on the matter, but he wanted to hear it from her.
"It is," Audrey said quietly. She was barely able to speak above a whisper and wasn't able to look him straight in the eye.
Lawrence nodded slowly, "I thought so."
"I didn't want to do it," Audrey insisted. "But he threatened me. At first he just wanted to know where Chad was and what happened to the money. But when he found out that I didn't know, he said he would put the blame on me. I felt like I had no choice."
"But you did."
"I know that now."
"What exactly have you done to get this information? I need to know everything."
"I applied for a secretarial job at the office. When I didn't get it R.J. wanted me to get information from my brother who worked at the Stuart household. Then -"
When she paused, Lawrence continued for her. "Then you used me."
"No!" Audrey said firmly and leapt up from her seat.
"Don't lie."
"I swear to you, I'm not," she insisted. "That day you came into my office to ask about real estate I did call R.J. and told him you had been there, but only to try to get him off my back. He wanted me to get information from you, but I didn't even try to. You have to know that I didn't. What did I ever ask you about your job that I could have told R.J.? Nothing. And you know you never told me anything about your work."
"That's not an excuse. That doesn't make what you've done any better. You were still using me. If not to get information, then to get R.J. off your back."
"But it wasn't like that. I never had any intention of telling R.J. anything I might have learned from you. I didn't go out with you to find out information or because R.J. wanted me to. I spent time with you, because I wanted to, because I like you. It wasn't because of R.J."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because it's the truth! God, do you think I would have done this for R.J.? You don't know what I had to put up with just to keep seeing you. Especially after R.J. told me to cut off contact with you and I refused. I know I've made some bad choices, but I draw the line at prostituting myself. But if you can't believe me, then I've just been wasting my time."
As much as he didn't want to, he believed she was telling the truth. "I'm sorry, but I had to ask."
"I know you did," Audrey said quietly. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I should have told you. You have every right to think the worst of me and if you never want to speak with me again, I'll understand."
Lawrence sighed heavily, not sure what to say. He had come here planning to tell her just that, that he didn't want to see her again, but now that they had talked, he wasn't so sure. He knew he was probably a fool for believing her, but he couldn't help it. "I don't think the worst of you," he said reluctantly. "But I should go."
Audrey nodded and walked him to the door. "Take some time and give me a call whenever you're ready."
"I will," he promised and let Audrey kiss him on the cheek before turning to leave the building.
Lauren ducked into the stairwell before Lawrence or Audrey could see her. She had been keeping a close eye on the both of them to see if her messages had gotten through. Obviously Audrey wasn't taking her warnings seriously enough. Otherwise Lawrence wouldn't have come back to her apartment.
Lauren was furious. "What do I have to do to get through to that bimbo? I've done everything short of murdering someone! What else is left?"
She gasped. Suddenly she had an idea. "That's it. That will show them," she thought. With a devious grin on her lips, she went to start planning.
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