The Rose and the Slipper

Audrey had only just walked through the servants entrance when she was abruptly pulled into the kitchen. Stumbling over her feet she turned to see Gi and Charlie looking at her confused yet excited looks on their faces.

“Did you hear what happened to Miss Annabelle?” Charlie shot the question at the red head who was trying to straighten her outfit and tuck as much of her flaming hair as she could underneath her cap. “Audrey!”

“No…” the word tumbled from her lips with such ease even though she was lying. As much as the young maid loved her friends she knew she couldn’t tell them. Not yet anyway. “What happened?”

“She’s gone,” Giovanna gushed, “Like up and left… gone… Maria and Robert are going mental. Maria has been in here about five times asking the same question. ‘Has Annabelle been in here?’ she is losing it.” the brunette drawled the more she spoke the more excited she became and the more horrible the red head felt. “Oh they haven’t shut up about what is to be of the wedding.”

“Wedding?” Audrey arched one of her brows as she looked at her friend.

“Yes wedding Zayn and Annabelle’s. Audrey… are you okay?” of course how could have she forgotten. Zayn and Annabelle were engaged to be married. They must have pushed the dates forward to get it over with soon. That must have been why the heiress wanted to get out and quickly. Why she had talked her own maid into helping her.

“Fine,” the red head lied. She felt terrible, her stomach had knotted tightly and she felt like she was about to vomit. “I’m just gonna go start my chores,” without saying anything else she exited the kitchen. The door swung closed behind her and she hurried down the hallways toward Robert’s study where she planned on dusting and keeping herself as busy as possible. Audrey needed to see Annabelle, she needed to see her tonight. The red head prayed her brother was looking after her he knew who she was. She trusted Louis but she couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the whole situation.

Turning into Robert’s study she was brought to an abrupt stop when she saw who was in there standing over by the window, a glass of whiskey in his hand as he looked out over the courtyard. Zayn stood there still his hands hanging limply by his side his body leaning against the frame of the window. The morning light shining in the window cast harsh light making him nothing more then a silhouette. Audrey opened and closed her mouth about to speak but instead she turned and went to walk off.

“You can come in,” his voice was smooth and it cut through the silence with ease.

“Uh…” the red haired maid stumbled, “It’s alright I can come back if you wish to be alone Sir.” quickly she righted herself but she felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment at the fact she had stumbled in front of the male.

“Please, I insist,” as he spoke he turned moving out of the harsh light so she could see him properly. He wore a kind smile that exposed his pearly white teeth, his hair hadn’t been styled like it normally was instead it lay a mess around his face. Nodding her head Audrey entered the room slowly.

“I won’t be long Sir, I just have to dust the shelving and then I can leave you to your privacy,” she rambled slightly as she walked over grabbing her feather duster she had hidden behind one of the shelves and silently began her job.

“I don’t mind, having someone other then my parents is a nice change,” Audrey turned and nodded her head smiling kindly at him before turning and continuing to dust along the shelves. The two were swallowed into silence, for the red head it was awkward but for the raven haired heir it was reasonably comfortable. “Nice ink…” his voice broke the silence again. Quickly Audrey’s hand went to the back of her neck. Cursing mentally she tried to pull the collar of her shirt up a little higher to cover the anchor tattoo on the back of her neck. A chuckle broke the males lips as he sat down in one of the leather lounge chairs.

“Uh… thank you Sir,” her heart fluttered in her chest at the sound of his laughter. It was a deep sound that rumbled in the back of his throat. Audrey’s hands were now clammy with sweat as she tried to get her job finished quickly and out of the room. She didn’t want to make herself more of a fool in front of Zayn.

“Please, Sir is my father. Call me Zayn.”

Turning the red head locked eyes with the male, “Of course… Zayn,” it felt strange having his name roll off her tongue. Sure she had said it plenty of times but not in his presence. When a smile broke across his face at the usage of his name her heart thumped harder in her chest, rattling her ribcage. “Do you have to… I mean do you… Uh…” now it was his turn to stammer over his words to try and create a sentence. “Would you mind?” nodding his head in the direction of the lounge opposite him Audrey got the message.

“Mister Brookefield doesn’t appreciate the Help slacking off.”

“No I understand… do you mind if we continue to talk though?”

“Not at all… what do you wish to talk about?”

“You.”

Shock surged through the red head and the duster fell from her hands, he had said it with such ease, “M-me? Why me? I’m nothing exciting,” she stammered bending down to grab her duster and took several deep breaths before straightening herself again and looking at the male. “I simply mean I have nothing exciting to talk about, everything I know is mundane compared to what I’m sure you and your family talk about,” the look that Zayn shot at her quickly made her regret what she had said. “I-I mean no disrespect Sir-uh Zayn… I just… Oh bother it!” her cheeks were so hot she was sure she was glowing, Audrey wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

“Sometimes it is a nice change to talk about ‘mundane’ things. As you so gracefully put it,” wincing she looked down at the ground. “Perhaps… the meaning of your tattoo?”

Looking up Audrey inhaled sharply at how close Zayn was standing, he had risen from the lounge chair and moved toward her without her knowing. He was about a foot away from her but it felt so much closer. She could see the finer details of his face. The way his eyes were not just one shade of brown but many mixed together. The bone structure of his face, the prominence of his cheek bones and jaw line, the tang of whiskey on his breath mixed with the musk of his cologne.

“Why an anchor?”

“My mother, my real mother. She was the one person that kept me grounded. She reminded me constantly who I was and where I come from. When times got rough she was always there pulling me back, no matter how strong and crazy the storm was she was there. My anchor,” Audrey couldn’t believe she had so easily told the male about her mother. It was hard for her to talk about her mother but for some reason it came so easily with the male.

“What happened to her?” he asked, the gentleness of his tone made her want to break open, made her want to talk about her past, something she hadn’t spoken about for years because her home life made it hard. Her step-mother, sisters and the fact that her father was always away with work. The red head was never given a chance to talk about her mother. About how much she missed her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Audrey gasped when she felt his hand on her cheek, it snapped her out of her thoughts, the way he gently ran the pads of his thumbs underneath her eyes wiping the tear that had slipped down.

“ZAYN!” it was his Yaser, quickly Audrey pulled away from the male wiping her eyes and sniffling before turning her attention back to the shelves busying herself. “There you are boy… what are you doing in here?”

“Thinking father.”

“Well stop thinking and get out here, Liam is looking for you. The two of you are going to go into the city and make a missing person’s report. Poor Robert and Maria can’t do it in their state.”

“Yes Sir,” with that the dark haired male followed his father out of the room leaving the red head to finish her cleaning. However as soon as the two were out of the room and a fair way down the hallway she snuck out and hurried to the kitchen where Charlie and Gi were happily feeding each other fruit.

“Audrey,” the two sprang apart quickly when they saw their friend. The both saw the state she was in, physically shaking and tears were gleaming in her light eyes. There were no words exchanged instead they both wrapped their arms around her allowing her to break down in their embrace.



“Zayn!” fingers snapping snapped the raven haired male out of his thoughts. Quickly he shot his gaze to the brown haired male who sat beside him in the car. “Are you alright mate? You were a million miles away.” Zayn sighed nodding his head forcing a smile across his face.

“Yeah, I’m fine Liam.”

“Well that’s a lie, what’s going on in that head of yours? Is it Annabelle?” the brown haired male questioned as he looked at his friend.

“Yeah,” it wasn’t a lie per say, Zayn was worried for Annabelle but he wasn’t what was clouding his thoughts at the moment. Instead it was the red haired maid he had spoken to earlier. Zayn had never been able to speak to anyone other then Robert, Maria, Annabelle, his mother or his father. Even talking to Liam was a luxury. However talking to her was something new it was different. Even though their conversation was short it meant something to him.

The way she would stumble over her words, the flush of her cheeks as she became embarrassed. She was cute when she was stumbling over her words and red cheeked. Yet after a while she opened up to him so freely. When she spoke of the tattoo on her neck and how it symbolised her mother. He was shocked when she had began to cry. He did the only thing he thought courteous. He apologised and gently wiped away her tears.

He had never been so close to someone, Annabelle and him had never conversed much, he had never seen her smile, actually smile where it reached her eyes. Every smile she wore was a forced one and it wasn't the same as seeing someones true and raw emotions like he had seen with the red head. However as he thought more about it he realised he hadn’t even got her name.

“Zayn. Are you coming?” Liam had stepped out of the now stationary vehicle looking in at him a slightly concerned look on his face.

“Yeah. I’m coming.” quickly the male stepped out of the car and walked toward the entrance of the police station. He had been firmly spoken to by his father he was to tell the police that the disappearance of Annabelle was to be kept a secret due to the fact that Robert and Maria were worried that if news got out that their only daughter was missing it would taint their image.

Liam walked beside the male as they entered the station and walked straight to the desk, “Good evening gentlemen, how may I be of assistance?” the officer behind the desk spoke politely.

“We’d like to file a missing persons report.” Zayn spoke.

“Right then, how long has said person been missing for?” the gentleman asked as he rose to his feet. He would have been mid forties, greying brown hair with a lean build. Zayn had no idea, had she left in the middle of the night last night, she must have considering he had spent most of the evening with her and her family.

“She left in the early hours of the morning…”

“Well I’m sorry Sir but you need to have twenty four hours before you can file for a missing persons report.” Zayn hated himself for what he was about to say but he needed to keep this moving, he couldn’t go back to the mansion and tell the Brookefield’s that they need to wait twenty four hours before they can file a report. “Sir… I don’t think you realise who it is we are talking about… It’s Annabelle Brookefield. Her father is one of the wealthiest in this country. He will not be happy to hear that he has to wait twenty four hours before he can file a missing report on his one and only child.”

“And who are you then?”

Zayn wanted to hit the officer but instead swallowed his urges and spoke, “Her fiancé, Zayn Malik, Son of Yaser and Trisha Malik.” Zayn saw the look of realisation that spread across the officers face before he stammered over his words apologising profusely before he sat down and bought up a document on his computer and began to type away quickly as Zayn began to fire off information. “And Mister and Mrs Brookefield would like this information kept confidential, no one is to know.”

“Of course Sir,” the officer continued to type nodding his head, Zayn looked over at Liam who wore a smile the brunette shot a wink at him. Zayn suppressed a sigh as he waited for it to be finished his thoughts returning to the red haired maid as he waited.