If I could just find Tori, I would tell her that. I would convince her to come home.
Time was crawling. With a few minutes still to wait, I answered a few work emails and cancelled a meeting. I’d already called out for the day. It was only my second non-medical absence—besides my honeymoon—in the entire time that I had been working at KZ Modeling as an adult. I knew my father would find out, and question my loyalty to the company, but right now my priority was Tori. He could fire me for all I cared.
Finally, class was over and students began streaming out the door and into the hall. I watched, my heart pounding, my eyes focused on every face. Tori never emerged. When the flow of students stopped, I checked the room to make sure it was empty. No Tori. I hurried after the few students who were still meandering away at a slow, lingering pace.
One of them looked a little older than Tori, in a black leather jacket and heavy black motorcycle boots. She looked vaguely familiar. I was pretty sure I’d seen her on the night I had found my underaged wife at a strip club about to do some shots.
“Excuse me,” I called out, causing her to stop and wave at her friends to go on.
She turned toward me, her eyes down as she typed something on her phone. When she lifted her head, I could tell immediately that she knew who I was—either that she recognized me from the tabloids, or from my relationship with Tori.
“You’re Stefan,” she said in a vague New York accent, narrowing her heavily-lined eyes.
“I am,” I confirmed, and gave her a polite smile. “I think we’ve met before. You’re friends with my wife, aren’t you? Tori Zoric?”
She gave me a hesitant look. “Maybe,” she said cautiously. “We have some classes together. What brings you here?”
“Well, that’s what I need some help with.”
I gave her my most charming smile—the one that could melt the panties off even the iciest of ice queens. And I could see it working. The sassy New Yorker’s smile became a little more friendly, and she lowered her phone and tucked it into her pocket.
“I was going to surprise my wife and take her out for lunch,” I went on, then gestured toward the classroom behind us. “She’s usually in that class with you, right?”
“Yeah, usually,” the woman said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and giving me a more attentive once-over. “But not today. I haven’t seen her since Monday afternoon. Actually, she was…never mind.”
“She was what?” I prodded.
Shrugging, she glanced away, suddenly very focused on her nails. Evading me, obviously. Trying to cover for Tori. Or covering up something, at any rate.
Thinking back, Monday was when I’d taken Max to the zoo. I’d gone home and talked to Tori, told her about my day, invited her to the family dinner at my father’s on Tuesday. She’d agreed. Everything had seemed fine between us. Strained, but there’d been no red flags.
“Did she seem…upset?” I asked, trying again.
The woman went quiet all of a sudden. “I should go. I’m gonna be late for my next class.”
“Wait. Please. I won’t tell her you said anything,” I assured her. “The thing is—I think she’s pissed at me, and you know how she gets all distant when she’s upset about something.”
“Yeah. That’s exactly Tori,” she agreed. “Look, do you want to walk with me? It’s the Social Sciences building, so I have a few minutes. I’m Audrey, by the way.”
I nodded, and we started walking. “I just want to figure this out. Make it right.”
“I get it.” Audrey adjusted her scarf as we stepped outside, took a few moments to think, and then finally said, “Okay, so. She seemed kind of weird about that picture of you and the brunette that went up online, inThe Dirt? She told us that you guys were old friends, but—”
“We are,” I interrupted. “There’s nothing else going on. Tori and I discussed it already.”
“Cool then,” Audrey said. “The thing is, the last time I saw her—on Monday—she was with Gavin.”
“Gavin Chase?” I said, keeping my voice steady despite the fact that my gut was twisting.
“Yeah,” Audrey said, looking apologetic. “They were sitting on that bench over there.” She pointed across the quad. “She seemed distraught, honestly. He was sort of…holding her.”
I saw red. But I was also crushed. How could I have been so stupid? Of course Gavin had been there for Tori in her time of need. I hadn’t even seen how upset she was, but Gavin had.
My anguish must have been obvious, because Audrey reached out and patted my arm.
“Sorry, man,” she said. “This is me, though. I gotta go.” She gestured at the building.
“Thanks for your help,” I choked out.
