Chapter 511: Empathy

Vanya was miserable; she was Cylus' date to Mina's event, and yet, the man paid her little attention, but she lost too much for him to just let it go. Since the photos of her and Cylus kissing were 'released,' Vanya was dismissed as the unofficial assistant to Madame Rue, and she had all her privileges revoked. It was not a punishment, but it was necessary to prevent other staff from claiming favoritism. She had not worked for Rouge Entertainment long, and some people were starting to spread rumors that she had slept her way to the top.

Vanya's pride was beyond damaged by that, and after the incident where she had transferred Mina's calls to her phone, she pretty much had to beg Cylus to forgive her. She admitted that her actions were childish and in truth, she had believed that Mina would call more often, she believed that the two spoke daily, and met secretly, but after that first phone call, Mina seemed unfazed by her taunt. It was Cylus who was livid.

When Vanya had finally cornered Cylus, her boyfriend and date, she hadn't meant to cause an argument, but she had spoken to Lisa Anders and her mind was poisoned. It wasn't just the fact that he had custom designed a complete original gown for Mina, it was in the gentle way he looked at her. The way they smiled at each other was not the way that two people who were just sleeping together looked at one another. There was love behind Cylus' gaze, and everyone could see it.

Then there was the incident with Connor. Vanya did not know what Cylus was thinking but apparently, he cared little for how she felt with him so obviously blocking Connor's advances toward Mina. It could have been because she was his artist, but when Connor revealed his 'arrangement' with Mina, Cylus looked sick. Now, she was listening to her man make the arrangement for Mina and her ugly friend to stay at a luxury hotel for as long as they wanted.

Vanya squeezed her phone, it seemed like she was going to have to contact Miss Lisa after all.

----

Ash had expected Willow to be more broken up, more jittery and less talkative, but the woman seemed fine, which was not fine in itself. She sat both women down on the bed and pulled a chair to face them, wanting to let them know how serious she was. Ash liked to play and joke around, but the safety of her friends was not something she considered a laughing matter. She first questioned Willow, who she believed was masking her emotions, much in the way they had tried to stop Mina from doing years ago.

"You want to tell us what happened in that room, or should we wait for something like that to happen again?" Willow looked down at the ground. Ash had always been the stronger person in the group, and she had a way to pry the truth out that could be painful.

"Jeremy and I were engaged."

"Well." Ash retorted. "That explains everything now, doesn't it?" Willow slumped her shoulders and whispered out the whole truth.

"I met Jeremy on vacation, we exchanged numbers, but I didn't think I would ever see him again. He called me and invited me on a date, I kept rejecting him, but he pressed. I finally gave in, and we kind of fell in love." Willow looked up, making sure Ash was satisfied, and she was rewarded with a response that was not barbed.

"Continue."

"I didn't know until tonight, but Jeremy already had a girlfriend. His family really liked her, but he wanted me." Mina cast her eye to Willow, and Ash caught the interaction.

"Don't skip any details, I want them all." Willow nodded, suddenly feeling like she was a child who was being questioned by her mother.

"Jeremy and I didn't have a great relationship. I have a lot of issues with intimacy, and whenever things got serious between us, I left. Anytime I was gone, he would go back to his real girlfriend." Willow looked up with tears in her eyes. "I promise I only found out that I was the other woman today. Before then, I thought that she was the one breaking us apart." Ash nodded and Willow wiped her tears. "He and I never had sex, but we did try; a lot," she said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "He used my problem as an excuse to cheat on me, and I would forgive him. The last straw was when I found out he had done it after he proposed to me. I was so embarrassed, we even had a dinner party to celebrate, and tonight, I found out that he had been unfaithful on that day too."

"Willow, you're speaking around what I want to know. What led that man into the hospital?"

"I told you; I have intimacy issues. When Jeremy and I were together, we tried getting drunk, we tried hours of foreplay, but every time my clothes came off, I broke down. We had toyed with the idea of drugs, but I was against it. Tonight, he wanted to try it, he believed that if we could be together once; I would forgive him, and we could move on." Mina was staring at Willow with a gaping mouth.

"What about his baby?" Willow shook her head.

"He said it isn't his. He showed me the lab results." Mina nodded and cast her eyes back toward the ground.

"Don't do that Mina," Ash warned. "Just because I am focused on her right now does not mean I have forgotten about you." Willow snorted mockingly, and Ash lightly kicked her foot. "Willow, I need you to answer me truthfully. It doesn't change how I feel about him, but I need to know. Did you want to be with Jeremy?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "A part of me just wanted to get it over with, but I didn't like how he was going about it." Willow ran her fingers through her hair, an action that showed Ash how confused the woman was.

"Did he?" She asked in a faint voice, and Willow shook her head.

"He stopped. He said he didn't want it to be like that, and I found myself already forgiving him, but when Oric started banging on the door, he snapped. He would have for-" Willow cut off and she started to tremble violently.

"Ash stop it," Mina shouted. Ash looked at Mina who wore a sympathetic expression, one that she did not like, because it was filled with empathy. When they were able to calm Willow, and got her tucked into the bed, Ash went back to her seat and stared at Mina, who was still stroking Willow's hair.

"And you?" Mina did not even bother with lying or skirting around the truth. As hard it was to deal with, she had no memory of what happened to her in that hotel room, Willow was not so lucky, and could remember how close she came to losing her right to choose.

"I took a job given to me by a private investigator. I thought I was taking a picture of a cheating husband, and an accomplice was supposed to sneak me out in a dirty linen cart. That never happened. I was beaten, then drugged, things occurred while I was under the influence and I woke up with no memory of what, but I could feel the pain of it." Ash's eyes widened. She stood up, no longer composed.

"What do you mean, you 'could feel the pain of it'?" Mina looked up at Ash, who shouted again. "The f*ck? Please tell me that he is in jail." Mina shook her head.

"It isn't that simple. President Ian Lee is not someone I can just get rid of." Ash gasped as if the name burned her. She was now glad she had been an ass to the man and the woman he was with.