"Hey, Audrey."
Frederick Mortcombe called out her name as his eyes squinted at her peculiar behaviour. The way her feet waddled under the thick layer of duvet and how her brown hair tucked in nicely underneath them, with her head floating above, made her look eerily similar to a dainty pink caterpillar.
It was enough to raise a hell of chaos in him. The presence of a funky feeling that spun his insides as he felt the need to grind his teeth to dust. It was confusing feeling two extremes!
One that wanted to squeeze her so much for looking quite snuggly and the other, to kick as hard as he could of the one that looked like a creepy crawly!
Yet when she turned to face him, the expression she held was purely innocent but filled with unease. This somewhat anchored his conviction.
"Yes?" she responded well, enough to fool the untrained eyes.
He decided to wait it out. As he did not want to pressure her, he asked a different question instead, "Are you feeling cold?"
And true enough, her expression gave away almost instantly albeit it was a fraction of a second. The looked of her face momentarily flustered and immediately filled with overzealous confidence when she said 'yes' was enough for him to confirm something amiss.
He let her believe he bought her lies and let her be as he brewed a plan, wondering how to make her talk. He needed a winning method that he had never used but have a great success rate. One that does not involve threats or violence.
Meanwhile, Audrey comically dived as she reached the foot of his bed, with her back landed on the soft mattress. And her hands were still clutching tightly onto the ends of the blanket on her neck while she wiggled to the centre of the bed.
'What the hell??' Frederick was completely stunned by her preposterous action but at the same time had peace of mind knowing she was showing signs of recovery.
"Why don't you let go of that blanket and th—"
"No!"
Her silky voice rang loud in the room making him astonished at the spot. He finally shook it away and took large strides toward her, intending to put a stop to all these mind games nonsense.
"Is there something you want to say to me, Princess?" Frederick asked in a hushed voice in the badly lit room as he stood at the closest side of the bed to her.
She shook her head fervently, as she looked downwards the entire time.
"Or something you want to show me?"
Surely there would be something. He could say it with conviction, no doubt. But with her staying mum all the way, it was proving to be quite a challenge.
Frederick Mortcombe let out a sigh but he was not ready to admit defeat just yet. It took a while for him to properly processed the words in his head before it escaped his lips, ensuring there were little to no words that may demean her. Yet, all he could think of were harsh words.
"I know you're lying," he finally said. In the end, he aimed for blunt, short and concise. He let those words sink in as the both of them stayed still in silence. He knew sooner or later, that Audrey would eventually speak up. Be it to argue with disagreement and come up with another lie or her irrational fear would get to her.
"I... was only... trying to... return the favour."
Her voice was shaky and meek but those words did not make any sense to him.
"Return the favour?? What favour are you talking about?" He was not sure what favour she wanted to return, particularly when she was behaving unusually.
"You do not like to see..." and her voice trailed from soft whispers to a frequency he could not hear.
"Come again?" This time he placed his whole energy to his ear and listened attentively.
"You do not like to see..."
"I do not like to see... Yes, I've heard that part." He repeated her words.
"A... wo... ...ar."
Instantly, Frederick jumped onto the bed, sat next to the woman lying down sideways with her back facing him and placed his ear close to her face. He wondered whether he had just heard that right?
"A woman's scar."
'WHAT?' The word popped into his head with capital letters and neon in colour! "When have I ever said that???"
Frederick Mortcombe looked at her in the eyes begging for an explanation and unable to believe such a ludicrous comment!
"Because you always say it. I don't want my scars to be a sore eye and ruined your day."
"WHAAT??? When exactly have I said that??"
It was quite nonsensical that he thought she was joking! Yet her body language showed otherwise and that made it harder to believe. He did not recall saying that at all! Even when he racked his brain and ironed all its folds, nothing. popped. up! At all!
He climbed down the bed, pacing in circles as he repeatedly uttered the word 'What?' numerous times. Then he asked her again, "Are you sure it was me?"
"Yes, because —"
"Maybe it happened in your dream?"
"No, because —"
'Which of the men would have said that?' He was quick to blame one of his housekeepers and once again, unintentionally ignored Audrey.
"Because the last time we —"
"Was it Ivan? Or Vincent? I doubt the rest would but the possibility is there. What colour was his hair?"
"Your hair is dark brown."
"No, not me. The person who said that!" Frederick spat out in anger, wondering which of his staff would say such words to a delicate fragile woman while she remained soft-spoken throughout.
"You."
It was not his intention but Frederick stared in her direction rather intently as he still wore his scowling face. It was not to place fear in her on purpose. No. He was actually looking beyond her as he tried to comprehend what had just transpired.
For her to say it and insisted that he said those - maybe he did have a slip of a tongue?