Even to me, it didn’t sound natural.
“You know, I have to hand it to you Andie,” she said, uncrossing her arms and stepping away from the door. For those few seconds, all I could focus on was the sound of her heels on the tile. “For a girl who prides herself on keeping nets empty, you’ve shown yourself to be quite good at filling them. Why, it took you no time at all to ensnare poor Frederick. The dim bastard never really stood a chance once you stumbled into his life, did he?”
She came up to stand directly beside me and I met her cool blue eyes in the mirror. She reached forward and gripped a few strands of my hair, sliding her fingers slowly down. I stood still, breathing shakily and praying that the situation would turn, that she’d laugh and step away, joke about the whole thing and lead me out of the bathroom in front of her. But she didn’t. She let the strands fall back against my cheek and smiled, a slow sardonic smile that proved how far from freedom I truly was.
“I don’t know what—”
She held up her hand. “Save it.”
The water was still running, so I leaned forward to turn it off. Caroline shoved me forward and stepped up to force my hip bones into the hard ceramic sink. I hissed as the hard surface bit into me, and steadied myself by placing my palms down on the counter. Caroline stayed there, caging me against the sink. I couldn’t get past her without shoving her aside, and I didn’t want to take it to that level. She was taller and heavier, but more importantly, her eyes were desperate, feral. I was alone in that bathroom with a wild animal.
“You knew he was mine and yet you pushed and you pushed.” She dragged her fingernail down my bare arm as she spoke, causing an angry red line to form in its wake. “What a little whore you are.”
I shook my head, more indignant than afraid. She had guessed right that Freddie was interested in me, but I’d had nothing to do with his decision to break it off with her. However, I wasn’t about to argue semantics with someone that seemed more and more like a psychopath.
“Did you think I would roll over and let you take him from me? Do you know how hard I’ve worked for this marriage?”
I couldn’t wrap my head around this woman. She’d been so polite and gentle at the table, just as the world believed her to be. Now, here, alone and riled up, I had no clue of what she was capable.
“So listen well: Frederick Archibald is mine. He and I are going to get married and I won’t let you get in the way of that.” She lightly trailed her fingertips down my arm until she’d clenched her fist around my injured wrist. I cried out and grabbed her forearm, but when I yanked to loosen it, the pain in my wrist doubled. With her free arm she pulled my hair back until my neck was exposed to her. My breaths were coming loud and heavy, echoing across the space. “If you think you’re hurting now, just wait until everyone thinks you’re breaking up my engagement. They might know of you, but they love me, Andie.” She whispered the words seductively in my ear as if she was a siren. “If you break up this betrothal, I’ll make sure they crucify you. Your name will be synonymous with Olympic whore. Your budding brand, your sponsorships, your beloved fans…they’ll leave you so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
She let go of my hair and wrist at all once, and I’d been resisting her so hard that when the tension was gone, my head yanked forward, nearly colliding with the mirror. I winced and tried to keep the tears at bay. This was all too much.
“So choose wisely Andie,” she said, stepping back and tilting her head. Her feral smile was crumbling and in its place, I could just barely make out the innocent, doe-eyed philanthropist. Jesus, she was two-faced.
“Is Freddie worth everything to you?” she asked.
I swallowed.
“Decide now, because he is to me.”
She turned, checked herself in the mirror, and walked out of the bathroom, leaving me to stare at my reflection in the mirror as tears slid down my cheeks. I tried to wipe them away and get ahold of my emotions. My entire body shook with anger, with the shock of seeing Caroline’s true colors. She was a fucking psychopath and I was the only one who knew it.
I inhaled two shaky breaths and then swallowed down my nerves. I considered calling the police and reporting an assault, but since she’d carefully inflicted pain on my wrist where I already had bruising, it would be her word against mine.
Still, I wouldn’t let her win. She was bluffing; I knew it. She couldn’t possibly have proof that Freddie and I were together. I leaned forward and wiped away the mascara that had clouded beneath my eyes.
Caroline was about to learn that Andie Foster didn’t intimidate that easily.