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Chapter 5

There was ringing in her ears. She made a low sound, adjusting her head on the pillow. Her head was pounding and she pressed her fingertips between her brows, attempting to settle the ache.

As her body melted more against the mattress, she felt lips kissing up her back. Her body stilled as she realized those were not Matthew's lips. No, Matthew always caressed her with such care and love. These were hungry kisses, almost impatient. She jerked herself up.

Mary's eyes shot opened and she swung her legs over the side of her bed, standing and grabbing her silk robe off the chair. She slid it over her shoulders and walked over to the window that looked over the large estate. It held the perfect view of Downton's property. In the distance, she could see Downton Abbey and the dim lights lit up from the guests staying.

A lone tear slid down Mary's cheek and she brushed it away. How could she have been so foolish? She'd ruined everything.

Turning from the window frame, she made her way back to her bed so she could grab her phone from her bedside table. She sank back onto her mattress and found herself searching the internet for women and their experiences with date rape drugs.

For over an hour, Mary read experience after experience, her body tensing and stomach growing uneasy. Finally, she shook her head and threw her phone on the mattress, reminding herself that this was not what had happened to her. No, she had too much to drink. She made the choices she made. It was all her fault.

But was it?

Whenever she would try to make sense of that night, she couldn't. The only thing that made sense was that she had made the worst mistake of her life.

Anna's words kept creeping into her mind. Making her question herself, question everything. Her hands covered her face and she let out a shaky exhale, as her head began to shake back and forth.

"No," she muttered to herself. "No," she repeated. Then she let out a low groan and brought her hands down. She had to stop dwelling in all of this. It was a ridiculous waste of time.

Light was beginning to enter through the window, signaling the start of a new day. There was no point of Mary attempting to go back to sleep now. In a few hours, she would need to be at Downton for a meeting she had with some traveling company.

Mary's head fell backward against her headboard and sighed. Yes, today was a new day.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Anna heard a knock on the frame of her door and turned to find John standing in her doorway. She had been at her new place for a week now and often left her door opened. It made her not feel as closed in and only she and John were ever upstairs.

She smiled.

"Can I show you something?"

Anna nodded. She stood from her chair and followed John down the stairs to the empty bar. It wouldn't open for another couple of hours. Anna liked these times the best. It was quiet and only she and John were there.

When they reached the downstairs, Anna saw that John had his laptop up and some security footage on the screen. Growing closer, Anna realized that she was the one on this particular footage and she was dressed in the same dress she had worn the night of the bachelorette party.

"As you know, I have cameras all over my bar. There's even a sign warning people when they walk inside. Well, I sent a copy over to the detectives the day after you were drugged and I just finally made my way through all of it. I didn't know if you'd like to see how everything went down that night, or not."

Anna chewed on her lower lip, but she slid into the barstool in front of the laptop and nodded.

"I guess I might as well," Anna answered.

John sat down next to her and hit the button to begin the video. It was grainy, but Anna could clearly make out herself and Alex Green. She watched as she agreed to stay for a drink and then walked to find a table for them. The next part was what made her stomach turn. He clearly pulled a clear container out of his pocket, glanced around, and when he received the glasses, he dropped several drops into her drink.

At that, Anna closed the laptop and closed her eyes. While she had known what had happened to her, it still was unnerving to watch it happen. Someone had willingly drugged her with the intent to rape her. She was not naïve to the evils in the world, having been introduced to them at too young of an age, but that didn't keep her from being perturbed at being preyed upon, yet again.

"I probably shouldn't have shown you that," John worried. "I thought…but perhaps…"

"No, I'm glad you did, truly," Anna opened her eyes to meet John's. "And I am so glad you stopped him from taking me out of here. I don't know…" She shook her head, as her words began to fade. John was watching her intently, likely unsure if she was about to have a panic attack or start crying. But instead she stood from her stool. It made her and John the same height. Her hands rested on his knees and John's eyes softened.

"Will you come with me to Sybil's wedding next weekend?" John's lips curled upwards and he chuckled.

"On a date?"

"Yes, exactly a date," Anna replied, leaning forward and giving John a quick kiss. Then she pulled back, her cheeks blushing slightly. She worried that he might think she was presumptuous, but his hand cupped her cheeks and brought her closer to him again. Once more, they kissed. This time was more sensual and Anna slid her hands up from his knees to the tops of his legs, making John moan into her mouth.

Slowly, they pulled apart and Anna couldn't stop smiling.

"I take that as a yes?"

"Yes," John's eyes were bright. "I'd love to be your date."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Can't wait to see you tonight.

Matthew glanced at the newest text from Lavinia and set his phone back down. She was so very different than Mary. Though he had promised himself that he wouldn't compare the two, it was hard not to. Mary would have never sent him a sweet text message about how she looked forward to seeing him later in the day. No, her texts were often very straight and to the point. It wasn't until when they were together that he got to see that part of Mary and that's what he had loved about her. He was allowed to see that special part of her then. And he knew how much she loved him, just as he loved her.

Thinking about it made him swallow hard, because Mary no longer wanted to be with him. Though she wouldn't tell him why. All she would say is that they had different plans for their futures and that Matthew should go after his. But Mary had been his future. When she had broken up with him, the ring he had planned to give to her was burning a hole in his pocket. He still couldn't comprehend what could have changed so suddenly.

His phone buzzed again, drawing him from his thoughts.

Did you want chocolate cake or a pie?

A small smile graced his lips. Lavinia was sweet and she didn't deserve him thinking about Mary all the time.

Pie.

But even as he responded and even as he tried not to think about her and put his attention on Lavinia, he couldn't stop thinking about Mary.

"Matthew?"

Anna was standing in his doorway, a stack of papers in her hands. Matthew straightened his back, before standing.

"Oh, Anna, come in. Is everything alright?" Is Mary okay? It was the real question he wanted to ask, but he didn't.

"Well, not really," Anna answered. She stepped further into his office, dropping the pile onto his desk. "My name and my face keeps showing up in the papers and online. I have no privacy."

Matthew lifted up the top paper and saw the photograph with Anna with another shocking headline. He had seen many of these and now felt bad that he hadn't reached out to see how Anna was doing. She had been his friend as well. However, the breakup had changed everything.

"It's been over a week now and I thought that it would have died down, but it hasn't. They are speaking about whether or not I deserved it on social media. There is a photo of me and underneath it the commenters are discussing what I was wearing, as though that is what determines on whether it's okay to drug and rape someone." Anna was shaking slightly, but then she realized she was showing too much emotion, so she adjusted her frame. "I…I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize," Matthew quickly told her. "I'll see what I can do about these papers and social media accounts posting with your name and pictures. I won't be able to stop everything, but I'll definitely get what I can get done."

Anna nodded, "Thank you. I never expected to see my face everywhere. They call me the Lucky One, but I don't feel so lucky, you know? He preyed on me." A strange look passed over Anna's features. "But I guess, it could have been worse." It almost seemed as though Anna wanted to say more, but she couldn't.

"Have they found him?"

"Not yet," Anna answered. She twisted her lips and took in a deep breath. "I…I heard you are seeing someone."

"I am," Matthew nodded. "You'll meet her at the wedding. Her name is Lavinia."

"And you're happy with her?" Anna was eyeing him carefully. Matthew knew his answer would be scrutinized and even possibly be taken back to Mary.

"She's very kind," he told Anna. "She makes me smile."

Anna's eyes remained on him for several seconds, before she finally said something in response. "Well, that's good."

Matthew knew Anna also had to be careful with what she said. She was Mary's best and fiercest friend. Their friendship was one of almost a sisterhood. You couldn't break that bond.

"And Mary is alright?"

"I….I probably shouldn't speak on any more of this," Anna smartly stated. "Thank you for looking into this for me, Matthew. I do appreciate it. And I do wish…." But Anna let her words die out, before telling him another thanks and leaving his office.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"Hey." John glanced up from his paper and smiled, as Anna stood in his doorway with a tray in her hand. She walked inside and set it on his coffee table, sitting down next to him and leaning into him.

The two of them had fallen quickly into this little routine. It was like they had known each other for a lifetime. Throughout the day, one would go to the others' flat and join the other. They ate lunch together almost every single day. Their evenings were busy, but the late mornings and the time before the work day began was their favorite part of the day.

Anna brushed his cheek with her hand and climbed over his lap, making him giggle.

"What's this?" He asked. Anna gave him a chaste kiss and shook her head.

"I just wanted to be closer to you," she answered.

This scared John, in many ways, but it also made his heart soar. The two of them were moving quickly, yet it felt right.

His hand came up to rest on her hip and he brought her closer, kissing her again. He never wanted to let her go. It was such a change from the vile woman he had been married to and he often wondered what Anna saw in him. Was he truly worthy of her?

The buzz of Anna's phone made them both sigh. But Anna climbed off his lap and grabbed her phone that was sitting next to the tray. It buzzed again and Anna hit a button, before bringing it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

Anna murmured and quietly replied. Then she hung up the phone.

"Anna? Is everything alright?"

"They…they've found him. They've found Alex Green."

To be continued...

More soon :)