There are images in her mind, images that flood her inner eye and if Audrey was the sort of girl to blush her cheeks would be full of a red to match the hue of her lips. Instead, she trails a finger across the rim of the porcelain cup, the heat from the coffee warming her skin.
She's trying to take it black, trying to enjoy the bitter taste that Agent Cooper claims is full of flavor and is 'damn good'.
It simply makes her stomach churn.
She's only two sips in before she pours sugar into the black liquid.
Today Audrey knows well that there's a glow about her - it didn't take the various compliments from hotel staff to tell her the fact, but she wonders if they suspect anything.
Suspect that the glow in her cheeks is because of the soreness that lingers between her legs and in her muscles. Suspect that the blazer she wears is only to cover the bruises that line her collarbone. Audrey especially wonders if anyone suspects that the button up she wears isn't loose on her tiny frame because she bought the wrong size - no, it hangs loosely because she scooped it from Dale Cooper's floor as she left his bed in the early hours of the morning.
And she wears it with pride.
Audrey leans back, sits straight at the table and stares across at the empty seat. Her standing breakfast date with Agent Cooper is postponed because of something at the sheriff's station. She doesn't blame him - he can't help his job - but Audrey still feels sour. The coffee doesn't taste the same without him. The pancakes aren't nearly as sweet.
But Audrey is trying her best at being mature, at being the new Audrey that everyone will cherish. There's no room for whining in mature Audrey's life.
And as she picks at her breakfast she can only think of the words that passed between them as they dressed in the morning hours.
"Is that my shirt?"
"Can't get anything past you, Special Agent Cooper."
Audrey smiles, proud of her own wit.
When he doesn't reply, she worries that she has insulted him and instantly she pouts. But instead he raises his thumb up and smiles.
"It looks better on you, I think."
Her smile grows wider then and as Audrey thinks back, she isn't sure that smile has left her lips all morning.
