Snatched

Part 33 - A restaurant in New Haven

'Miss Gilmore!' almost as soon as Rory had entered the restaurant, Amelie had noticed her and had flung her arms open in greeting. Rory had nervously walked over towards Amelie and had accepted her embrace uneasily. She still hadn't quite gotten used to the over familiarity.
'Hey, how are you?' Rory said, as she took off her coat and placed it on the back of one of the chairs.
'Very well indeed' Amelie replied 'and all the better for seeing you!'
'Well Miss Touissant', Rory put a hand to her chest 'I'm very flattered indeed'.
'And how are you my dear?' Amelie asked, a concerned look on her face. Ever since Rory had told Amelie her story, she'd always been able to sense a hint of pity in her tone.
'Yeah, I'm doing pretty good right now actually', Rory replied, 'I'm really enjoying the course so far!'
Amelie laughed. 'You talk as if you're the student and not the assistant!'
'But I did join the class because I was super interested in the subject!' Rory began, 'I was actually really interested to meet you and hear you speak. I've been following your career at Columbia and I was really impressed by it.'
'So here we are sat here,' Amelie replied 'two women in journalism with the greatest admiration and respect for one another.'

'Good evening ladies' a waiter dressed in a bright blue suit appeared at the table.
'Good evening darling', Amelie nodded at him.
'Can I get you ladies a drink at all?' The waiter asked.
'I'll just take a small white wine' Rory said.
'And I'll take the red' Amelie interjected, 'Large!' she winked at Rory. As soon as the waiter had left, Amelie turned to Rory.
'We gotta have some pleasures in life', she said 'and wine is one of the greatest!'
'Only a true European would say that' Rory replied.
'And what would a true American say?' Amelie asked.
'Get me to that bar and give me anything that's going!' Rory said and they both chuckled loudly.

After a couple of minutes, when they were both sat glasses of wine in hand, Amelie put her glass on the table and glanced directly at Rory.
'Now Rory' she said 'dinner is all on me tonight, I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done as my assistant. You've gone above and beyond anything I would have expected. You're a really smart and sharp girl Rory and I wanted to congratulate on that.'
'Oh' Rory replied, taken aback by what Amelie had just said, 'thank you. And you know you don't have to pay for dinner tonight. But it means a lot for such a smart and intelligent woman like you to think so highly of me. Like I said before it means a lot, so yeah, thank you'.
'It's my absolute pleasure!' Amelie said back. 'But I actually had a little bit of of an alternative motive for inviting you here tonight'. Amelie placed a perfectly manicured hand around the bottom of her wine glass and bent forward. This made Rory feel slightly uneasy. 'After you told me about your son, I looked you up a bit online'. Oh here it came, the conversation Rory had been dreading. 'I hope you'll excuse me for that I'm sorry' Amelie looked down at the glass in front of her. Rory could tell she was nervous to make eye contact.
'It's ok,' Rory said, 'I know there's plenty of information online about me. After the book I was thrust into the public eye and then when everything happened...as a journalist myself, I know it makes good news!'
Amelie chuckled slightly.
'What I'm trying to say is...' when Amelie looked up, Rory could see that the sense of pity in her eyes was stronger than ever. 'I'm not a mother myself, but I have nephews and I know that what you've been through must have been truly horrendous for you!'
All Rory could say was 'it was', as she peered down at her own feet.
'Oh Rory', Amelie grabbed both of Rorys hands from across the table and looked directly into her eyes again. 'I know this might seem out of turn, but I can't stop thinking about it. About you and your family. So, I just wanted, needed to ask, do you have any clue what might have happened to him?'
Rory snatched her hands back and placed them on her lap, straightening the serviette that the waiter had put there. She'd never told anyone outside of her family this before, but Amelie seemed so sweet and genuinely concerned and it would be wrong to lie directly to her, after she'd taken such a chance on Rory. Rory looked up to where Amelie was swigging on her red wine, clearly nervous to hear Rorys response. She touched Amelies wrist and Amelie lowered the glass and peered over it at Rory.
'As you've been so sweet to me' Rory began, 'I think I owe you the truth.' Amelie didn't say anything, she just looked on, concerned. 'My boyfriend, Dylans dad, Logan, his wife disappeared around the same time. She was pretty pissed at Logan when she found out he'd cheated on her, so we think that maybe she..but we don't know for certain'.
Amelie immediately jumped out of her chair and ran around the table, to wrap her arms around Rory. Rory clutched on to Amelies arms. She'd already shed enough tears for Dylan today and somehow this felt different. After about a minute, Amelie stepped back to look at Rory, placing a hand on the table to steady herself.
'If you don't mind me asking' Amelie asked, tears beginning to run down her face, 'do you know this womans name? I have connections in different states and..'
'Odette, Odette Huntzberger' As Rory said this she saw Amelies face go a shocking white, as she fell into the chair behind her.