Chapter 33 Laura's POV

We all had to get out of the house today, so that Eve's contacts could check it for bugs. Not a nice thought, one of the disadvantages of being a celebrity. My agent had been urging me to get out into the public eye. What that usually meant was having a lunch in one of the celebrity restaurants, where people go to be seen. Eve was going to a music studio to produce one of her new songs so I rang Mya, an actress friend of mine.

Since I had started dating Eve, going out to lunches had become a lot more problematic. I enjoyed them and only chose people whose company I found pleasant, but now that I had shown a romantic interest in both men and women, anybody single that I lunched with was usually followed by some gossip mag or another suggesting we were now dating. Mya was fairly safe since she was already married and was having a break in her acting career to have children. That was the plan anyway, so far she hadn't managed to catch.

I went with a no disguise, full Laura movie star look, as I thought of it, to meet with Daphne to go through my choices of dresses for the movie premiere. I was openly covered by my bodyguards, this time a female set, since I had requested shifting that way. We could have had Daphne choose for Soph, however I wanted to do the full shopping fun. Eve was not that bothered by clothes so Soph gave me an opportunity to enjoy one of my favourite pastimes, shopping. Daphne being her usual helpful self, had automatically collected a selection of dresses that would suit Soph and if we didn't find anything shopping, we could chose one of those.

I tried on a few of the offerings that Daphne had supplied. I looked in the multiple mirror setup and Daphne critiqued the look. This was how I normally chose my dresses and yet this time it felt like something was missing. There was usually an excited energy to the whole process, which today was sadly lacking. My initial thought was that I just hadn't found the right dress, but when I pondered how I could make this experience better, I realised that I wanted Soph to be here. Soph didn't have, or pretend to have, any knowledge of fashion or design. However, she was such an honest person, her body language and her words matched to let you know exactly what she was thinking. It brought a joie de vivre type energy that this type of shopping was missing. I booked Daphne for our shopping session on Saturday, thanked her for her efforts and said that if we didn't find what we were looking for, we would come back to her selections.

It was a bit strange, I thought I was enjoying life. My career was going fantastic, my romantic life was amazing and I had plenty of time and money to do what I wanted, when I wanted. And yet, Soph just made my life better. I had many nights disturbed sleep, but they were also nights when I felt needed and appreciated for offering love and support to someone else. I had a beautiful relationship with Eve. She was someone I could see myself always loving and wanted her to be a part of the rest of my life. We didn't live in each others pocket and when we saw each other it was as if we had never separated. She didn't need me, though, and she didn't like everything that I liked. Soph seemed to fill a need in me that I didn't even know I had. I had never thought of myself as maternal and had never had the desire for children. Now I wondered if I was missing out.

I was in the middle of my lunch with Mya discussing motherhood and careers when my phone vibrated. The only people who had my phone number were close friends, everyone else had to contact either my agent or Lisa, Eve's PA. Still, I hated when I was interrupted by a ringing phone, which was why I had set mine to vibrate. I gestured for Mya to pause while I checked the caller id and when I saw it was Soph, I apologetically told Mya that I needed to take it.

“Hi, Soph.”

“Err..it's Chelle. There's umm.. been an incident.”

My heart rate picked up with instant stress. “What's happened? Is Soph alright?”

“These guys deliberately triggered her anxiety. I think she might be having a panic attack. She is safe, she has locked herself in the toilet and I can't seem to calm her down. I didn't want to leave her, but she needs help.”

“You stay with her. Keep talking to her gently, I will be there as quickly as I can. I will talk to the principal and excuse you from whatever else you are supposed to be doing. Thank you for looking after her. If she calms down enough, please ask her to call me. I've got to go now, so I can get moving. Call me if anything changes.” I put the phone down and looked at Mya. “I've got to go.”

Mya had already flagged a waiter. “I've got this.” She told me. Then she shooed me away.

I called my limo and went to the front to wait and then called the school. I jumped into the car when it arrived. The principal was aware that something happened and was going to look at the footage and get back to me. I was halfway to the school when he rang back. Apparently, three large football players approached Soph and deliberately tried to get close to her. This may have been a reaction to the fact that he had suspended a couple of cheerleaders for verbal abuse about Soph. He had followed up my suggestion to listen for a whispering campaign of abuse against Soph. The problem was that the coach and Dr Barn had spoken to the football team and explained Soph's anxiety and the need to keep their distance. There was no way to enforce this and he was unable to take disciplinary action against them. They had not said anything abusive and there was no physical or verbal threat. He would confer with Dr Barn and see if they could come up with something to try and prevent this from happening again.

I was fuming, so angry that anyone could be vicious enough to harm my Soph. At the same time, I knew yelling at the principal was not going to get me anywhere and he was actually on my side.

When I was close to arriving my phone rang again.

“Mum?” Soph said. Bless her, she still sounded like a scared rabbit. Calling me mum tugged on my heart strings and the fact that she did it unconsciously was like a warm breath on my heart.

“How are you doing, are you alright, where are you?” I asked.

“I'm better. I'm in the girls loos. I'm so sorry, mum, I just panicked.”

“Shhh, darling. I'm almost at the school. You stay there, I will find you. Is Chelle with you?”

“Yes.” I could tell she passed the phone to Chelle.

“Hi, err.. Soph's mum. I'm still here with her. I'll stay until you arrive. We are in the toilet near the cafeteria.”

“Thanks Chelle. I will be there as quick as I can. Give her a hug from me.” I had to end the conversation as we were pulling up in front of the school.

I stalked in, surrounded by four female bodyguards. I was really glad that I had spoken to the agency that supplies my bodyguards and managed to change them to female. I was angry at the student body, so it was just as well that it was pretty empty with virtually everyone in class. Those I did see I couldn't help glaring at. I know only a few were responsible, but I also knew that, besides Chelle, no one had reached out to Soph or spoken up for her during the whispering campaign or stopped the lunch time intimidation. Soph was such a gentle soul that I hated the idea of anyone trying to squash my baby.

Normally, when I wasn't disguising myself, I was recognised and would have the brave approaching for autographs and the like. This time my glare was enough to keep everyone away. I think I was still noticed, however, no one was brave enough to get near me, which was just as well, as I think I would have bitten their heads off.

I rushed into the ladies restroom only to find it empty. So I called out gently. “Soph?”

I heard the lock in a stall unlock and a head peer out, then Soph ran into my arms. “Mum!” Then she started crying which was breaking my heart. I just held her as tight as I could. This tall girl emerged from the same stall, looking at me with a shocked expression.

“Your mum is Laura Kind?” Chelle half whispered, but I don't think Soph heard her.

I smiled at her over the top of Soph's head, she was such a little thing. “Thanks for looking after her Chelle.”