4PM
Observatory
Gabriel had left a total of (4) unread messages: Audrey, it's Gabriel, I don't know what's been going on lately but I intend on finding out why you left Chloe to die of a dangerously high grade fever.
… beep …
A fever of 104 degrees and now it's spiked to 105, no, 107.5! Audrey, she's getting worse. She's unresponsive!
…beep..
Chloe's been bolusing cold IV drips all morning, ice packs, and medications just to bring down her fever. Audrey! Audrey, where are you?
…beep…
Audrey had bothered to listen to the stack of voicemail that was waiting for her response after her plan to use Chloe as bait to lure out Chat Noir and Ladybug had failed.
"Master, are you at least going to visit your daughter at the hospital?" Nooroo asks, watching Audrey check her notifications.
"I'll make a few phone calls instead before I ever speak to Gabriel in person." Audrey says, without ever taking her eyes off the smart phone's monitor.
"Wouldn't it matter a lot more if you shown up to the hospital in person then rather make a phone call instead?" Nooroo gently advises.
Audrey looked up and glared back at the startled kwami.
"I'd much rather spend the rest of my day doing something much more productive," Audrey says, with a wicked grin. "Besides, Claude doesn't need me to look after her while Gabriel handles most of the heavy lifting."
"But master."
"I already made up my mind," Audrey says, dialing Gabriel's personal number. "When I'm finished I'm buying the most expensive bottle of champagne money can afford." Since she wasn't making a business related phone call she knew he would answer. Knowing this was not a phone number Gabriel gave to many people.
Audrey was making her way towards the front door to leave when Gabriel's phone had finally connected.
"Audrey Bourgeois speaking."
4:10PM
"...Hello, Audrey…"
Gabriel's voice was punctuated by the sound of a door slamming shut behind himself.
"Oh, Gabriel what happened." Audrey cooed.
"No, just stop it, Audrey!" Gabriel shouts. "You can go playing mind games with Chloe but none of it's ever going to work on me!"
"Gabriel, my daughter's fifteen. She doesn't need her mother to look after her 24/7." Audrey answered evasively. "Children need to learn to look after themselves."
"So that's what you call it," Gabriel says, before speaking up once more and this time he was heaving a few loud shuddering breaths over the phone. "You can ring up those journalists tomorrow and tell them about everything they want to hear but one thing for certain your actions are all I ever need to know."
"If Chloe was so ill, why didn't she bother to call an ambulance?" Audrey asks. Her grip on her phone tightened. "I had some work to do in Belgium. Thank goodness I finished up early when I heard the news on television…"
"Who knows what she was thinking! Chloe barely even recognized me!"
"Maybe I should just hire a bodyguard or someone to look after her when I'm gone knowing Serena can't be trusted being alone for extended periods of time."
"Her name is Chloe!
"I was only proposing a solution to my daughter's problem."
"Oh, that's right. Silly me." Gabriel would mumble to himself for reasons only he knew of.
"Seriously, Gabriel if you aren't careful all of that anger could possibly raise your blood pressure. Wouldn't wanna cause a stroke? And you wouldn't want to upset my daughter over your poor coping mechanisms now would we?"
"Wha-" Gabriel stammers out."What's that supposed to mean? What are you talking about?"
"Whatever you do, don't let your anger get the best of you." Audrey would say in a calmer tone of voice knowing Gabriel was unable to suppress his assertive anger at the expense of her daughter's welfare.
"Audrey! Audrey don't hang up on me! Audrey! What's going on?"
"AUDREY!"
Audrey would eventually hang up her end of the line unceremoniously.