"How was your weekend?" Brigid asked Auden as she arrived to the office, coffees in hand.

Auden placed Brigid's on her desk, smiling as she thought about her weekend adventures with Cillian. "Wonderful. How was yours?"

"Probably not half as exciting as yours," Brigid giggled, taking a sip from the to-go cup. "I stayed in and tried to find a sugar daddy like yours."

"Brigid," Auden hissed, looking around to make sure nobody heard. "You know it's not like that."

She let out a laugh, flipping her red hair behind her shoulder as she did so, "I'm teasing ya. Though I am hopping back on the dating scene. Does Cillian know any eligible bachelors?"

Auden opened her mouth to give a sarcastic retort, but was promptly cut off by her boss who had suddenly appeared behind her.

"Good morning ladies," Charles huffed, letting out a sigh before turning to Auden, "I just came by to let you know we are meeting with Patrick this afternoon."

Irritation filled Auden's body at the sound of his name, "We are meeting him?"

Charles rose a bushy eyebrow, "Yes. We are meeting him. You are head curator, correct?"

Auden's mouth dropped open slightly before she clamped it shut, forcing a nod. She hadn't seen or talked to Patrick in a month, and she would like to keep it that way. Auden had no idea why they were meeting Patrick on such short notice.

"Lovely, I will see you in my office around two," Charles was about to turn to leave before hesitating. "And Auden," Charles said, giving her a hard look, "Please try and be professional when we meet him."

She felt herself clench her jaw as Charles receded down the hallway, his comment stinging her ego. She had always been professional with Patrick, at least in public settings.

Brigid whistled, "Well good luck with that."

Auden shot a glare at her friend, before storming to her office, slamming the door. She huffed as she sank into her chair. She had been riding a high since her weekend with Cillian, and her boss had just ruined it.

Auden would control her emotions in front of Patrick -- she was an expert at keeping them at bay. But she knew he would try to see her after the meeting to talk about things, and she foresaw herself blowing up and causing a scene. She could not let that happen and risk losing her job.

Auden fished through her purse to find her phone. She had to call Cillian and tell him to not come by her office today -- she didn't want Patrick running into him. Sighing, she dialed his number.

"That's weird," Cillian said, answering on the first ring, "I was just thinking about ya."

Butterflies filled her stomach at the sound of his voice. Since the night at the club, Auden caught herself feeling extremely giddy and excited at the thought of him. Hearing him brightened her now dour mood slightly. "What are you up to?" She asked, starting up her computer so she could read her emails.

"I was just about to pick up Charlie to take him to school."

"Well, tell him I said hello," Auden replied, as she watched a flood of emails come through her mailbox, "Anyway, you might want to find other lunch plans today," Auden began chewing on her bottom lip.

"Why's that?" He asked. She heard some muffling on the other end and the sound of a woman's voice, "Hold on," he said suddenly.

It was silent for a moment, but she could hear Charlie's shrill laughter on the other end. He must be at Jenni's, she thought, waiting patiently for him to return to the phone. She tried not to let it bother her, but the thought of Cillian alone with his soon-to-be ex wife created a pang of jealously.

"Okay," Cillian said after a moment, "What's going on again?" he asked, his tone slightly agitated. No doubt caused by Jenni.

"I have to meet with Patrick today. He's coming to the office, and I just think it would be better if you weren't here," Auden responded hesitantly, bracing herself for his response.

Cillian didn't say anything for a second, but she heard him sighing on the other end of the phone.

"I'm sorry," Auden added quickly, in an attempt to smooth things over.

"It's fine," he said sharply. "I'll just see ya tonight yeah?"

"Yeah, alright," Auden replied, her voice coming out soft and quiet. After they said their goodbyes, Auden hung up the phone and placed her head on her desk, wishing for peace of mind.

As the day dragged on, Auden grew incredibly anxious as she waited for the meeting to begin. She tried distracting herself, flipping through art booklets, reaching out to vendors, reading up on some news, and setting up meetings. However, when she looked at her calendar, she was reminded of the looming anniversary of her fathers death and it created another string of emotions. She found herself so pissed off that she contemplated opening the window to her office and jumping out onto the street to run away. Instead, she walked over to the couch in her office, lifted a pillow and screamed into it.

Brigid barged through her door, clearly startled.

Auden gave Brigid an apologetic look, "Sorry."

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Auden gripped her notebook tight against her as she walked into the meeting with Charles and Patrick, her heels clicking against the floor to indicate her arrival.

Both men were sitting across one another at a round circular table, clearly in the middle of a conversation. At the sound of her shoes, Patrick looked up and locked eyes with Auden.

She quickly looked away, maintaining an emotionless facade as she pulled a chair out and sat in between the two men.

Charles cleared his throat, "Right," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Let's get started, shall we?"

Auden flipped open her notebook to a clean page. She noticed her hand was trembling slightly from anxiety but she forced herself to grip her pen tighter to hide it. Auden continued to avoid looking at Patrick when she heard him speak.

"Look, I wanted to meet with you both because I think I have some good connections to grow your collection," Patrick said.

Auden echoed Patrick sarcastically, "Good connections?"

Thankfully, her comment went unnoticed by Charles, who nodded at Patrick, "What kind of connections?"

Patrick shifted awkwardly, "Well, you know Jenni Murphy. She's a big part of that." Auden couldn't help but flick her eyes at Patrick at the sound of her name. He was looking directly at Charles, but his face was red with embarrassment. Anger began simmering within Auden's body, but she bit it back down. Of course Jenni put him up to this, she thought to herself.

"But I know a lot of underground artists that might be willing to work with you," he added quickly.

Charles continued to nod thoughtfully, writing down notes, "Good, good.." he murmured.

The two continued to speak, but Auden found herself disassociating from the conversation in order to maintain a professional demeanor. The more Patrick spoke, it was obvious that this wasn't his idea. It was Jenni's. She was trying to infiltrate Auden's space, get her hands into her work and destroy it.

"Auden," Charles voice broke through her thoughts, "How does that sound? Is that something you can do?"

Her mind quickly scrambled to remember what they were just talking about, but she had no idea. She felt heat rise to her cheeks as she fumbled around, but she couldn't admit she wasn't listening. It wouldn't look good, "Uh, yeah sure. I can do that. No problem."

Charles gave Auden an astonished look, but shrugged towards Patrick, "Alright then. Well tell Jenni that Auden is happy to meet with her."

Alarm bells immediately rang through Auden's head. Did she just agree to meet with Jenni, one on one? Her stomach dropped to the floor at the realization of what she just did. Seeing Jenni was the last thing she wanted to do, let alone be in a room with her by herself. How was she going to explain this to Cillian?

Auden stared at her empty sheet of notebook paper as the two men stood up to shake hands. Charles nodded at Auden as he said his goodbyes and left the room, leaving Patrick and Auden alone.

Patrick sat back down, causing Auden to jump from her seat. She needed to get out of here before she found herself agreeing to any more meetings with the devil.

"Wait!" Patrick grabbed her wrist. When she tried to jerk away, he gripped tighter, pulling her skin and causing pain to shoot up her arm.

"Let go of me asshole," She hissed.

But Patrick didn't let go, "Can we talk? Please?"

"About what? How you led me on and lied to me?"

"Technically," Patrick said, annoyance laced in his tone, "I didn't lie about anything."

She felt his grip loosen and she took the chance to pull her wrist free. Auden scoffed as she rubbed her wrist, "Right, you just happened to forget to mention that you were fucking Cillian Murphy's wife, while also trying to sleep with me."

"You don't know the half of it Auden," Patrick said, standing up from his chair so he could tower over her, "Cillian isn't a saint."

Auden jabbed a finger in his chest, "You have no room to talk. You played a part in breaking up a family."

Patrick's nostrils flared as he swatted her hand away, "Like I said, you don't know the half of it," Patrick let out a frustrated sigh, running his hands over his face, "If you did, you certainly wouldn't be prancing around Dublin with that twat. Do you know what reputation you're creating for yourself? The man is double your age Auden."

"I don't give a shit about his age!" Auden yelled. She was growing tired of everyone constantly pointing it out. It didn't mean anything to her, nor did it really matter. They were happy together. "I am happy. He's happy. That's all that matters."

Patrick's eyes hardened at her remark, "I care about you Auden. I just don't want to see you get hurt. Do you know what people are saying about you?"

Patrick waited for her answer. His eyes searched her face frantically but she remained quiet.

"They are saying you're a money-grabbing slut," Patrick whispered, glancing down at the floor as he said it.

Disgust shot through Auden at Patrick's words, and she felt tears begin to prick behind her eyes. Auden took a step away from him, fearing that she would smack him across the face. Auden was beyond the point of being angry. She was livid.

"Do you know who is creating that image? Who is talking to the press and making me look bad?" Auden paused, waiting for him to say something. But instead, Patrick stood there, hands clenched at his sides, avoiding eye contact.

"Jenni is the one doing this to me. And you know it." Auden crossed her arms as she blinked back tears. She wouldn't cry here. Not in front of Patrick. "If you cared about me at all, Patrick, you would get her to stop."

Auden shook her head, gathering her things quickly. She needed to get out of this room before things escalated even more.

"And you can tell Jenni I know what she's up to. I'm not afraid of a challenge. I never have," Auden said, squaring her shoulders confidently. "I'll be in touch soon."

With the last word, Auden turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, tears spilling over her cheeks.