Page 30 of All The Wrong Notes

So, Will knew. She wished it weren’t necessary, but he would have found out soon enough. Leaving it for others to tell him would only make things worse.

“Yes, he was the right person,” she managed. “Thank you.”

With her permission, Rey helped her to sit up and gave her something sweet to drink. It helped a bit.

“When you’re feeling up to it, I’ll help you to the car,” he said. “Do you think you can stand? We’ll get you into a chair for a few minutes.”

Soon enough, Ms Singh showed them out through the back door to the bank. The sleek car was sitting there, pulled up beside a row of huge garbage and recycling bins, incongruous in this utilitarian back alley. She tumbled into the back seat and barely managed to put on her seatbelt before her head lolled back again, but this time in horror and not in a faint.

“Where are we going?” she asked after a while.

The bank wasn’t so far from her building, no more than a ten-minute drive. She hadn’t quite been paying attention, but this seemed like more than ten minutes. He wasn’t going to truss her up and toss her in a lake or something, was he? Considering what had just happened to her beloved arts centre, though, that might be the better choice.

“Will’s house for now. I’ll go to your place with a list of what you need while you rest. Will suggests going out of town for a few days. If you’re okay with it, he’s booked you a room in Kitchener, right downtown, so you’ve got stuff to do if you want. No one will look for you there. It will be quiet, give you a place to stay for a while, in case the press find out.”

Oh, God, no. If the press learned of this, it would be worse than catastrophic.

“The room is booked ’til Friday, but if you want to come home before, or if you want to stay, just call me and I’ll arrange it.” He kept a steady but undemanding commentary going until they arrived at Will’s house, his oasis in the middle of the city.

Rey showed Elise to a room, asked her for a list of things she needed and her keys, and left her to lie down for an hour or so. “If you need anything, Maria is in the kitchen. Just press the buzzer and she’ll come. Now, get some sleep if you want.”

And with that, he was gone.

Ordinarily, Elise would have been incensed at the presumption of making all these plans for her without her input. But now, with her head still spinning, she was thankful for the care. She would make decisions later, manage her own life later. Now she needed to curl up and cry herself to sleep, and so she did.

* * *

A few hours later, Elise was established in an airy and modern room in a smart Victorian hotel. She had a large bed, luxurious bathroom, spacious desk, and comfortable chair, with a note that she could order anything she wished from room service. She had never felt so miserable in her life.

She indulged in some retail therapy with the prepaid credit card that Rey had handed to her for incidental expenses, and then found a chocolate shop to equip herself for a movie marathon on the hotel room’s huge television that evening, but nothing really helped. She was still devastated by the morning’s news. Everything she had worked for, gone.

Elise was also very confused. Why was she here? She hadn’t been in any state to question it earlier, but now, with the return of some of her rational sense, the questions started flooding in. Kiran Singh had spoken to Will, telling him about Elise’s faint at the bank, but how much did he really know about what had happened? Had she divulged all the horrible details, or just enough to explain why Elise had collapsed.

“Your friend had an incident and needs help.” That would suffice. Rey had said nothing, nor had he asked anything, but then he knew when to speak and when to keep quiet.

If Will didn’t know, that might explain why he still cared enough to ensure that she was safe and comfortable. But… no, he must know! Because Rey had mentioned the press. Had Will sent her here, where she wouldn’t be found, for her sake, then, or for his? It wasn’t a secret that they were a couple, and if the press found her, it would reflect poorly on him. Or did he really want her to be safe?

Moreover, where was Will? Rey had done everything. She hadn’t even received a text or email from Will himself. Maybe this was just his way of getting her out of the way to reduce collateral damage.

Blinking back tears, she dialled his number. Then, at least, she’d know. But it went straight to voicemail.

Janet wasn’t available either. She couldn’t call her family, because her mother would go into hysterics, and the whole neighbourhood would know in five minutes.

What about the choir? If she stayed here until Friday, she would miss rehearsal, but she wasn’t sure she was up to facing everyone, and in the arts centre that she had supposedly destroyed. If the rehearsal could even take place. Would they close the whole place? When? All the people who had rented rooms would have to scramble to find new spaces. Oh, it just got worse and worse every time she thought about it.

No longer trying to stop the tears, she sent a quick text to Randall, simply saying that she couldn’t sing in the next concert. One thing at a time. But still, it was gut-wrenching.

As she crawled beneath the covers that night, in her solitary hotel room in a city she didn’t really know, Elise accepted what she had been trying to deny all evening. Now that the worst thing she could imagine had happened, everyone had abandoned her. She was all alone.

CHAPTER 13

A GLIMMER OF HOPE

Elise lived in her world of despair for nearly three weeks.

Rey had picked her up from the hotel in Kitchener and driven her back to her apartment as planned on that first Friday. He helped her carry her bags upstairs, wished her well, and then left with no message from Will, no hint that she was to expect anything else.

She checked her email and messages again, in case they were somehow blocked by the hotel’s Wi-Fi, but there was nothing to cheer her, just a ‘thanks for letting me know’ message from Randall and an ‘oops, missed your call’ text from Janet.

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