Fifty Shades Greener (Laurmani)

5

My heart pounds when I realize that this is most likely the second situation that she had and wouldn't tell me about.

I sense her eyes on me - sense her uncertainty, and her anger is evident. I glance up, and her eyes glitter with apprehension.

"What is it?" I ask softly.

She shakes her head.

"You're not going to tell me?"

She sighs and closes her eyes. "No."

"Why?"

"Because it shouldn't concern you. I don't want you tangled up in this."

"It shouldn't concern me, but it does. She found me inside of my dance company and made it her right to bother me inside of the bathroom. Do you know how creepy that sounds? How does she know about me? How does she know where I work? I think I have a right to know what's going on."

She runs a hand through her hair again, radiating frustration as if she's waging some internal battle.

"Please?" I ask softly.

Her mouth sets into a hard line, and she rolls her eyes at me.

"Okay," she says as a deep huff. "I have no idea how she found you. Maybe the photographs of us that made it all over the internet, I don't know." She sighs again, and I sense her frustration is directed at herself.

I wait patiently, pouring boiling water into the teapot as she paces back and forth. After a few moments she continues.

"While I was with you in Houston, Lucy turned up at my apartment unannounced and made a scene in front of Mrs. Hernandez. That's why I rushed home, only to be arrested. I think it was a set up."

"What do you mean 'made a scene'?"

She glares at me warily.

"Tell me. You're keeping something back." My tone is more forceful than I feel.

She blinks at me, surprised. "Mani, I - " she stops.

"Please?"

She sighs in defeat. "She made a haphazard attempt to open a vein."

"Oh no!" That explains the bandage on her wrist.

"Ally got her to hospital. But Lucy discharged herself before I could get even there and then I was arrested. It's all so much, I've told you this"

Crap. What does this mean? Suicidal? Why?

"The shrink who saw her called it a typical cry for help. She's trying to get my attention. He didn't believe her to be truly at risk - one step from suicidal ideation, he called it. But I'm not convinced. I've been trying to track her down since then to get her some help."

"Did she say anything to Mrs. Hernandez?"

She gazes at me. she looks really uncomfortable. "Not much," she says eventually, but I know she's not telling me everything.

I distract myself with pouring tea into teacups. So Lucy wants back into Laurens's life and chooses a suicide attempt to attract her attention? Whoa... scary. But effective.