I'm here

Five

The party was elegantly decorated, with large sums of money clearly spent. The three of them had been at the party for around half an hour and Kiana hadn't seen Mr, Morgan once. She was glad.

Kiana followed behind her two friends, as they made their rounds greeting various people she did not know.

That's when she saw the older man. Her eyes went wide, her mouth was dry. Her legs felt weak, ready to give out. Her heart quickened. She couldn't do this. She needed to get out of here.

Kiana practically ran to the bathroom avoiding the confused looks of the other various party goers. She didn't even have time to tell Cassie or Tom where she was going.

All she needed right now was space and a chance to get as far away from Mr. Morgan as possible.

Finally pushing the heavy bathroom door open, she ran straight to the mirror, looking at her reflection. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as her breathing quickened. She laid her hands flat on the countertop to steady herself.

Nothing was working.

She couldn't do this.

She couldn't endure another year of that man.

The bathroom door opened. The clicking of heels across the marble floor bounced around the room. Kiana saw a tissue being held out to her.

She took the tissue and began to dab her eyes, any attempt to not ruin her makeup. Any attempt to not have Cassie and Tom question what was wrong.

"I'm not going to ask if you're okay because you're clearly not, but I am here as a shoulder for you to cry on in this bathroom...anything to get away from that party" a woman reassured.

Kiana smiled at the last part of the woman's speech. At least she's wasn't the only one who didn't want to be at the party.

She looked away from her reflection, holding the tissue in her hand and finally looked up at the woman who owned the reassuring, comforting voice, beside her.

She was an older woman, no more than 50 years of age, but didn't look a day over 30 a very beautiful woman. She was smiling at Kiana with a hand on her hip - as if to scold her for not telling her what's wrong.

Kiana instantly warmed up to the woman, knowing she was not one to judge. She could also tell by the way she was acting, she wasn't a usual, stuck up guest of Mr. Morgan's, like all of the other people she had met today or in previous years, she was kind and Kiana could see that in her eyes.

"I've just got a lot going on, work being stressful and all, and I suffered from a panic attack" Kiana sighed, somewhat telling the truth. She didn't tell her about Clive, she didn't want the pity.

"I'm sorry to hear about that Tesoro" (sweetheart) the woman sympathised

Kiana looked up at the woman in-front of her, remembering a similar name coming from the man she had sent out of her office earlier in the week.

"Wha... what does that word mean, I keep hearing it" she asked.

"Oh my goodness, I must of slipped into my mother tongue, it's an Italian word, it means 'sweetheart' or 'treasure'. And I must say if you keep hearing that name, you've clearly caught an Italian man's eye" The woman explained.

Kiana nodded, understanding. The woman was Italian. Why was she meeting so many new Italians recently, first Luca, then one of her other patients and now this woman.

The two began to engage in light conversation, getting along - agreeing on the absurdity of Clive imposing a rule on all women being required to wear dresses and with no exceptions.

"My goodness, that man is something else. I never liked him. I'm only here because my husband couldn't make it and my son does business with the man and he also happens to be busy" The woman explained.

"Oh how could I be so forgetful, I'm Francesca" she introduced herself.

Kiana smiled, telling the woman her name. "I must get back to my friends, they must be wondering where I am" Kiana explained. She began to walk towards the bathroom door, hesitation evident in her step.

As Francesca watched the girl hesitate at the door, she felt nothing but her motherly instincts kick in and hooked her arm inside Kiana's, reassuring her she'd be with her the whole night. She knew there was something more to the reason she had been so upset to run into the bathroom but did not want to push her.

The two walked back into the main room of the party and found everyone locating their seats for the three course meal they were about to indulge in. Francesca found her seat, which was allocated next to her husband's empty chair and welcomed Kiana to sit in it. As the two continued to engage in light conversation, she felt a presence behind her.

"Kiana, you do know your seat is not here, it's next to me" the voice stated more than asking her to move. Kiana looked up at the man the voice belonged to and shivered in fear. It was Mr Morgan. She didn't want to make a scene so she began to slowly get out of the chair.

"Well, actually me and Kiana were getting along quite well and I would like her to stay next to me" Francesca announced, sipping on her glass of wine. She hadn't even bothered to acknowledge Clive.

"Well I think Kiana would much rather be sat ne-" Clive started as he began to stutter on his words when Francesca finally faced him. He couldn't talk. He opened his mouth to speak and the words refused to dislodge themselves from inside his throat.

"Hello Clive, I must say you do seem quite eager to have Kiana sit next to you, is there a problem with her sitting next to me?" Francesca dared, cutting her eyes at the man.

"Haha, Francessa with your jokes, I simply thought Kiana was confused with the seating plan but now I understand she's made new important friends" Clive muttered walking away back to his own seat.

Kiana looked back between the two, confused at what had just happened. She'd never seen a woman make Clive back down before. She was thankful. Who was this Francesca?

"How... How did... You just... I'm sorry but..." Kiana stumbled out.

Francesca began to laugh at the shocked girl beside her. "Let's just say me and Clive are old... friends and his power doesn't frighten me" She responded.

Kiana wanted to ask more questions but knew she wasn't going to get much from the mysterious woman. Instead she sat back down next to her and continued talking to her throughout the evening, thankful for her somewhat fairy godmother.

"Well this evening has definitely been more tolerable thanks to you, oh you must come round mine some time so I can teach you how to cook some authentic Italian food" Francesca teased, referencing their earlier conversation of Kiana not really knowing how to cook.

"Yes, definitely. It was so nice to meet you" Kiana beamed as they exchanged information.