Before she could ask, she noticed that some sort of noise was coming from the room... classical music. Slow and rhythmical piano music, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
'Please, enter,' the butler grabbed hold of the gold knob and swung the door open swiftly, in such a manner that could have only been taught with years of ettiquette training.
Lucy swallowed hard, and entered the room.
The door clinked behind her, and she blinked furiously to adjust to the soft candlelight.
The room was stunning. A long, dining room, with a row of ancient pictures hanging on the duck egg walls, lining the huge, oblong dining table. A chandelier hung above it, just as ornate as the one in the lobby, but a little small to accommodate the size of the room. Still, there was no denying it had striking presence.
Something twitched in her peripheral vision, and she snapped her head around to observe it, on edge.
A man in a tuxedo. Playing a white baby piano in the corner.
The music she heard hadn't been a recording, it was live.
She smiled at him, and he nodded courteously.
She stood at the bottom of the table awkwardly. Joey wasn't there. Perhaps he was running late, or she took too long getting ready, and he'd left?
Or, he was going to catch her by surprise...
'What's the matter, you afraid to come any closer?'
She jumped at the sound of a smooth, velvety drawl, clipped with a light accent.
She blinked furiously, trying to focus her eyes on the other side of the room, where the candles weren't strong enough to illuminate from the distance she was standing, and could see a shadowy figure sitting at the head of the table.
Her heart quickened. It was him.
Joey Leonardo.
The reason there had been a note in her exam.
The reason the invigilator had been killed.
The reason she had stayed in a disgusting council estate, a grubby motel and a tent.
The reason she had feared for her life for four days.
The reason she had met Oliver.