The Three Matchmakers

Chapter 2: The Confrontation

It was 5:45pm on Thursday. Audrey was in the back room of the flower shop getting ready for her date with Orin. He would be arriving in 15 minutes to come pick her up. She was a little bit anxious about the date tonight. She was going to break up with Orin but didn't want to mention to him anything about her intentions for Seymour for fear of what he might end up doing to him.

'I shoulda broken it off with Orin months ago.. heck why didn't I do that?" Audrey thought to herself. The more she thought about it the more she realized Crystal Ronnette and Chiffon were right. She couldn't take much of this abuse any longer and Seymour seemed genuinely happy when they were together. This relationship was taking a physical and emotional toll on her.

She took one last look at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. 'Okay, let's do this' she thought to herself.

It didn't take too much longer for Orin to show up. Audrey could hear the roar of his motorcycle engine from a mile away. She jumped when she heard the bell above the door tingle.

"You ready to go Audrey? We don't want to miss our reservation." Orin said gruffly. Seymour gave him a cold hard stare from behind the counter not saying anything. He hated the way Orin talked to and treated Audrey with a burning passion.

"Yeah, let's go." Audrey said and she and Orin walked out the door and headed toward The Gutter. The grimy night spot where they had first met three years ago.

The date was the most awkward she had been on. She couldn't handle the intense stress she was under about ending the relationship with Orin. At the end of the night when the date ended and Orin dropped her home she paused before saying goodbye.

" Don't leave just yet, I want you to come in so we can talk about something." Orin could sense something suspicious was going on. He never took the time to realize how scared of him she really was.

"Sure, I'll come up but just for a bit. I got to get home got an early appointment tomorrow morning."

The two walked up the stairs to Audrey's apartment which overlooked the flower shop across the street. Audrey sat Orin down on the couch. Orin didn't like where this was headed.

"Orin, I want to break things off with you." Audrey said

Orin's cheeks flamed.

"Is there another man? I bet it's that twerpy kid Seymour."

Audrey became very nervous and did not want to mention anything that she had feelings for Seymour as it could lead to landing Seymour in a very dangerous situation.

"No, Seymour has nothing to with this and there's no other guy I'm cheating on ya with. I just don't feel that this relationship is working out for me… for us"

"Why? I've been good to ya, haven't I? Given ya nice things? Tried to accormodate?" Orin was confused.

"Truthfully, I'm scared for my safety. Every time we're together it seems like we get into a fight and you end up beatin up on me. My friends and Mr. Mushnik have been concerned about my safety for awhile."

Orin stood up and took Audrey in his arms and looked her straight in the face.

"You mean ,you don't love me?" he asked.

"Not as much as I thought I did. I really can't take the violence anymore." Audrey said meekly.

Orin slapped her so hard it almost knocked the wind out of her and she found herself cowering on the floor.

" Dirty slut, I bet you are really cheating on me with that twerpy kid Seymour or possibly some else."

Audrey tried to catch her breath and regain her composure before speaking

"NO, I already said this ain't got nothing to do with Seymour.. the only thing Seymour ever said was that he was concerned about my safety. Mr. Mushnk and my other friends care about me too." She said She added silently to herself 'Unlike you, you never did.'

Orin slapped her again.. looked at her menacingly and then stormed out of the apartment. Audrey was left shaking and speechless.

Meanwhile Seymour could hear Orin and Audrey's fight even from the confines of his basement apartment in the flower shop. This left him very concerned about Audrey. He heard the door slam and watched as Orin stormed off down Skid Row. 'Good riddance, I hope that's the last I'll ever see of him around here.' He thought to himself. Seymour grabbed his jacket and clomped up the stairs out the door and was immediately banging on the door of Audrey's apartment.

Audrey opened the door and was surprised to see Seymour standing on the other side. "Hi." She whispered.

"Hey, I heard you fighting with Orin. That sounded pretty awful. Are you doing okay?"

Clearly from the look on Audrey's face Seymour could tell that she wasn't.

"Can I come in? He asked hesitantly. "Let's talk about it."

Audrey opened the door the rest of the way

"Sure, I'm still a little shaken up but I really need to talk to someone about this.. Take a seat in that easy chair."

Seymour sat and Audrey sat on the couch.

"Did you break up with Orin? Seymour asked

"Yeah, and he didn't take it very well. He thinks I'm cheating on him with you."

Seymour's jaw dropped . He hadn't expected to hear something like that.

"Audrey, I would never cheat on anyone. I'm appalled that he would accuse you of cheating on him with me."

Audrey smiled.

"I know you wouldn't. Orin didn't seem to believe me. I told him that you and the others were concerned about me. I guess he doesn't appreciate that I have such good friends."

'Makes me wonder if he had any good friends at one point.' Seymour thought to himself.

"Are you happy that you're out of the relationship?" Seymour asked

Audrey's smile let up even wider. " Yeah, I am.. Should've gotten out of that mess a long time ago. I don't know why I stayed in it so long."

"Neither do I. " Seymour agreed. "You deserve some one much better than him. Some one who cares about you and respects for who you are."

"Like who? Haven't come across very many fellas on Skid Row like that.

There was silence. It was long and extended.

Then Seymour replied.

"Someone like me."

Suddenly Seymour,
He purified me
Suddenly Seymour
He showed me I can
Learn how to be more
The girl that's inside me
With sweet understanding,
With sweet understanding,
With sweet understanding,
Seymour's my man!

Lyrics from the song Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors