Audrey was annoyed at herself that she even considered going to the prison. Nora was vehemently against it, and Leann also seemed confused as to why she would want to go. Nora had called a lawyer, and he had been quite clear that they couldn't force her to meet him. But then there was the small voice at the back of her head that said that this was her last chance. Philip would be dead in a matter of days; this would be the last time she could see him. She knew he probably wanted to antagonize her or try to get under her skin. She still remembered the lust in his eyes during the trial. But she had the advantage here. Not only was he the prisoner, but she had things to tell him that he would hate to hear. A few of the others even had greetings of their own that she had offered to read to him. Even some of his loyal churls, like Aldheim had sent a letter cursing Philip for making him believe in his lies.
But one thing at the time. Audrey had another meeting first that she had put off for way too long. Bryan had asked her to visit him and Rita on several occasions, she had always had an excuse not to come. But she had made up her mind to do so now. If she could stand face to face with the man that had made their lives a living hell for years, she could also face the woman she still felt a sense of guilt towards. It was time to meet Rita again.
Rita had not gone back to being a journalist. At least not in the same way she had done. According to Nora, who was still in regular contact with Bryan, Rita mostly wrote small articles for magazines. She had been asked to write a book about her experiences, but she had refused. Audrey had been asked the same, and she didn't want to do that either. She understood that people might want to hear their story, but she didn't want to go over all of that again.
Rita and Bryan's house looked perfectly normal, like any other house on their street. This was probably a standard suburban neighborhood; Audrey had never lived anywhere like this. She saw signs of families living in some of the other houses, with basketball hoops over the garage, or a trampoline in the garden. Not Rita's house though. They didn't have any children.
Audrey felt completely out of place in this neighborhood. She didn't belong here. There were no lights on in the house, maybe they weren't home. Nora had told Bryan that Audrey might come, but maybe they didn't think she would, after having delayed so many times.
The front gate squeaked, when she finally took the last step towards the house. It sounded a lot louder than usual, in this quiet area. It was still early enough that the children would be at school, and the adults at work. Bryan had taken a job where he mostly worked from home, to be present for his wife.
She tried to knock on the door until she saw the doorbell. She hadn't seen one of those in years. There were still things like this, things she either hadn't seen before, like technology, or things she had forgotten, because she hadn't really lived outside the FBI compound or the castle in years. She heard the chime inside and feet that moved towards the door. Audrey didn't know if she hoped that it was Bryan or Rita that opened.
It was Bryan. He smiled and gave her a hug as he led her inside.
"I'm glad you finally decided to come! Come on, come in. Do you drink coffee? Tea?"
Audrey didn't know what to say. She was still unsure what to do in social situations.
"Neither thank you. I still mostly drink water." Bryan accepted this with a smile as he led her to the living room. Audrey thought she heard someone upstairs. Was that Rita, or did someone else live here as well?
Audrey was seated on a plush couch as Bryan went to the kitchen. She heard someone come downstairs, but still wasn't prepared when she saw a woman in the doorway. Was this Rita? She looked so different! First of all, she was smiling. Her hair was longer, and she had probably dyed it. Her clothes were also very different from what she expected, but then, Audrey had only ever seen her in the costumes.
"You're finally here," the woman said. And before Audrey could say anything, the woman had launched herself at her and hugged her tightly. It was so unexpected; it took a moment for Audrey to remember to hug her back. It seemed Rita wasn't angry with her after all.
"Let the woman breathe, Rita," Bryan said from behind them. He came out with a tray of some baked goods and cookies.
It was a long meeting. Audrey ended up staying for dinner. She had already booked a night at a spa hotel near the train station that would take her back to the castle the day after tomorrow. She planned to enjoy an evening of modern luxuries before going back. Most of them did that occasionally.
Audrey tried to apologize, but Rita wouldn't hear of it.
"You only tried to tell me the truth. I have no one to blame but myself. You were right, I should have told at least one other person where I was going. That might have gotten the place shut down a lot faster."
They talked about their different experiences and how different it was now. Rita didn't remember a lot of it, but she did tell her what had happened with her and Edmund. Apparently, he had taken a liking to her and tried to make her help him write prompts for marketing and similar things. When she had refused, he hadn't hurt her, but she hadn't been allowed to leave until she had written something. Only when Arthur had come looking for her, and he had been angry at how inappropriate it was that they were a man and a woman alone, had she been allowed to leave. This had happened many times, but Edmund hadn't done anything sexual to her. It seemed even he didn't dare to break that rule, while the Lady still lived. He had hinted that things would be different when she was gone though.
"Philip said the same to me," Audrey confessed. "I think we both dodged a fate worse than what we already had." She told her of her experience with Philip and being tied up in his room. Rita shuddered.
But they also talked about other things. Details about each other's life that they hadn't known before. Rita was a lot older than Audrey, though not as old as Leann. Bryan had a large extended family, but Rita was alone. They had tried to have children, but ultimately decided it wasn't for them.
"I would have had to give up my career, and I didn't want to do that at the time."
"Do you want to continue doing that now?"
"No. I'm getting too old to go traipsing around everywhere. No, I want to enjoy this new chance of life that I've been given." Here she looked over at Audrey again. "That you gave me. We can't ever thank you enough."
Audrey was uncomfortable again. "It wasn't me. It was mostly Nora that did the work. I would never have done anything on my own."
"I meant what happened at the hospital. Somehow, you knew exactly what to say. I don't remember a lot of it, other than suddenly feeling my husband's hand in mine."
"I'm glad I was able to help," Audrey said, though still uncomfortable. This was what she had really been worried about. She had known that Rita probably wasn't angry with her. They wouldn't have asked her to come then. How could she accept this woman's gratitude when everything she had done had been either incidental or done for her own benefit as much as Rita's.
After dinner, Audrey ended up telling her what she was going to do in the morning. Rita was surprisingly positive about it. She was the only one who didn't think it was a horrible idea.
"It will be a last chance to see him. He probably wants to taunt you, to get under your skin, but it won't matter. He'll be dead by Tuesday."
Audrey smiled. At least one of them understood.