Justin stood hesitantly outside the door to Audrey's hotel room. He knew he had to talk to her, to apologize for his behavior earlier, but he was feeling apprehensive. He had no idea what her reaction would be, but he expected it wouldn't be pleasant. Just do it and get it over with, he told himself. Then everthing can go back to normal. Suddenly decisive, he raised his hand and knocked on her door, then waited.
And waited.
And waited.
"Audrey?" he called loudly, to be heard through the door. "Are you in there?"
No response.
Either she's not in there, or she's ignoring me, Justin frowned. But where could she be?
He contemplated going back to his own room, but decided against it. Once he's explained what had happened to the other guys, they'd been pretty pissed off with him. He didn't really want to deal with their hostility at the moment. Figuring she had to either come out or come back sooner or later, Justin leaned his back against her door and sunk down until he was sitting on the floor. I guess I'll just wait.
* * *
Audrey carefully followed the directions the hotel clerk had given her, knowing that getting lost was the last thing she needed to top off her day. She found the park fairly easily, and locating a nice large tree, she made her way over to it. Pulling the sheet out of her bag, she spread it over the ground and laid on her back, slipping off her shoes, slipping on the headphones and pressing play on the discman. It was a strange habit that she'd picked up a few years back, and now whenever she got really upset, it always calmed her down to go to the park and lay on the grass, stare up at the sky and listen to something soothing. It had become such a habit that she'd grown accustomed to taking a sheet or a blanket with her, because the grass was usually pretty prickly and had lots of bugs and other unpleasant things. It was a way of just clearing her mind, forgetting about what upset her and just relaxing for an hour or two. And it was exactly what she needed at the moment. Closing her eyes, she hummed along with the mellow music and let her thoughts drift.
* * *
It was a good three or four hours later when Audrey felt sufficiently relaxed to abandon the park. Packing everything carefully back into her bag, she took her time getting back to the hotel, stopping at a convenience store to stock up on candy and Pepsi and other junk food that she could pig out on that night. By the time she reached the hotel, she was feeling much better. Recognizing one of the men in the lobby as JC's bodyguard, she realized the guys must be back now. She crossed her fingers and prayed she wouldn't run into any of them before she reached her room. Peeking cautiously out of the elevator and seeing none of them lurking about, she hurried down the hall and around the corner to her room. She thought she was home free until she saw the figure slumped in front of her door. He glanced up at her approach, and their eyes met.
She promptly turned around and headed back down the hallway.