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He scanned the spacious room with his sharp eyes.

"That won\'t be a problem. Besides, she is more than ready to give it her best shot at the moment. You can always compensate her another way if you feel guilty towards her," Audrey replied, the corner of her lips curved to reveal a sweet smile.

"You can sit over there," Audrey offered as she gestured at the couch opposite where she stood.

"What do you want; water, juice, coffee or...,"

"Just give me whatever you have?" Raymond muttered absentmindedly. Although he was talking to Audrey the truth was that his focus was not her.

Instead, it was on the photo frame of Audrey and Joanna when they were children hanging on the wall.

"Does that mean you drink blood too?" Audrey teased the guy whom she could see wasn\'t affected by her presence.

"W-w-what...," Raymond stammered. He shifted his gaze to look at her at last.

"That is only a picture of a sad girl trying so hard to hide her pains behind those fake smiles. There is nothing there to look so intensely at," Audrey grumbled and approached where they kept their refrigerator.

"As you said, this is nothing but only a picture so how are you so sure that her smile is fake?" Raymond implored. He stood up and walked to the side of the room where the photo frame hung.

"What if she was genuinely happy...,"

"Did you just say genuinely happy?" Audrey crackled as if Raymond had just finished saying something funny.

"You must be kidding right?" She added and returned her attention to the coffee mixer laid on the white table in front of her.

"Were things that serious?... Are the things I learnt about her true and not rumours that I thought they were...,"

"Even I would have wished it were a rumour if I didn\'t witness them with my eyes," Audrey added. She peered towards the bedroom door when she heard noises coming from there.

"From what she told me when we first met, I am aware that she was never liked but I failed to understand why things got worse," Raymond murmured. 

He stopped looking at the photo frame and instead focused his attention on Audrey.

"You have always been with her ever since she was a child. I am sure you must know the reason why she had to suffer so much for many years right?" Raymond inquired.

"If you asked me for the reason they made Anna suffer in their hands for so many years then I will tell you that they are all crazy. Insane is the perfect word to explain this," Audrey who has always been blunt with her words asserted.

She carried the two cups of coffee and approached where Raymond stood.

"Also if you want me to tell you what happened in the past, I will have to let you down. Anna is in the best position to say anything about that. Although I am her friend, I have no right to divulge her privacy to you...,"

"But...,"

"You can ask about that when she comes out but I doubt she will tell you anything. After all, this is a painful past anyone in her shoes wouldn\'t want to remember," Audrey drew the curtain on their current discussion.

"That is cool with me," Raymond replied. He reached out his hand and collected the blue mug from Audrey\'s right hand.

"Since you can\'t disclose what happened in the past to me I hope you wouldn\'t decline my next question?" Raymond lowered the cup of coffee from his mouth and kept his gaze glued to Audrey\'s face.

"That will depend on what your question is," Audrey mumbled and looked right back at him.

"What are some of the things Miss Butterfly likes and dislikes?" Raymond demanded in a subtle tone.

He rubbed the handle of the mug as he waited for Audrey\'s answers.

"Anna likes a lot of things and loathes a few things," Audrey started in a cool tone.

Meanwhile, as Audrey and Raymond chatted Joanna who overheard everything from the next room hurried about her preparation so she wouldn\'t keep Raymond waiting for long.

"If only he had told me that he would arrive early then he wouldn\'t have had to wait for me," Joanna murmured as she continued to dry her hair with the white hairdryer in her right hand.

Because she could practically recite Raymond\'s schedule from the heart Joanna skipped so many things she normally did so she would join them in the sitting room earlier.

"You are done!" Raymond remarked, his eyes fixed on the bedroom door that opened a few seconds ago.

"Yeah...," Joanna trailed off as she walked further into the sitting room.

"I am sorry you had to wait for...,"

"It was my fault for not telling you the exact time I would pick you up so there is no need to apologise," Raymond muttered as he stood up from where he sat.

"Besides, my wait wasn\'t all in vain. I got to know a lot about you during my time here, so if anything it was worth the wait," Raymond beamed at her instead of being upset that she kept a busy man like him waiting for a while.

After Raymond made mentioned what he and Audrey talked about, the lady sitting on the couch avoided looking in her best friend\'s direction.

She was so certain that Joanna would lash out at her for discussing such things about her with Raymond.

"I am happy to hear that naughty girl kept you entertained while I wasn\'t around," Joanna said playfully to Audrey\'s dismay.

"Let\'s go now or we are gonna be late," Joanna added as she led the way.

"Hey, Ray...," Audrey called out to the guy who had followed Joanna.

Raymond paused in his tracks, he spun and peered at where Audrey sat.

"That best friend of mine beside you is just perfect. Her only flaws are that she tends to think a lot so I leave her in your care...,"

"What are you talking about, Drey?" Joanna immediately chided her.