“Turn around and go back to the party.”
    “What? Hugh—”
    “At least আপনি know there’s security there. And people আপনি know. The last thing আপনি want is to be roaming back roads you’re not familiar with until a psycho catches up to আপনি and I never see আপনি again.” Lisa smiled into her phone’s mouthpiece. “Lisa?”
    “You kind of like me, don’t you, Hugh?” She ব্যক্ত throatily, turning a corner and sighing when the headlights invariably followed.
    “Lisa, Lisa…” Hugh shook his head. “Here’s what you’re going to do. Go back to the party. Do not get out of your car without security right there. Go inside and find Robert, and tell him he’s been selected to drive আপনি here when he leaves. Do not take any chances.”
    “Oh, Hugh, honestly—oh my God!” Lisa dropped the phone immediately as she neared the parking lot of the party and the driver behind her realized what she was doing. Just as she began to turn into the lot, the SUV roared to life and sped up, crushing the back left side of Lisa’s car and spinning her into the parking lot, completely out of control. As she shook her head, trying to get her bearings, the driver jumped out and sprinted over to her door—but barely made it before being tackled to the ground দ্বারা on-duty security officers that were patrolling the lot.
    “Miss Edelstein! Miss Edelstein!”
    The line disconnected.
    “Lisa!” Hugh stared at his phone in shock for just two সেকেন্ড before leaping to his feet, jamming his shoes back on, and taking off for his car in a blind panic. What just happened?

~*~*~
    Flashing lights distorted the parking lot as Lisa squinted and opened her eyes, looking around. Her seatbelt was still secure across her lap, but her torso had been thrown to the right on impact, leaving her laying sideways into the passenger seat, her head throbbing. A security guard was peering concernedly into her window, getting ready to jimmy open the lock.
    “Whoa!” Lisa closed her eyes again and put a hand up to stop him, even as she lay there. “God, scrape up the door, destroy the lock, I can hit a damn button…” Groaning slightly, she pulled herself up and immediately had to rest her forehead against the steering wheel to stop the world from spinning while she groped around with her left hand and found the unlock switch. Light flooded the interior and she winced, finally opening her eyes to meet the gaze of the burly man that was reaching in for her arm, pressing the seatbelt release. “I’m ok.”
    “You hit your head? Are আপনি bleeding?” The man frowned as she tried to propel herself backwards out of the car. “Whoa, take it slow, would you? Come on. Can আপনি stand? Lean on me…”
    A heavy arm circled her waist; a hand probed at her head.
    “Any sore spots? Your neck, your head? Miss Edelstein? Can আপনি tell me what দিন it is?”
    “What the hell happened?” Lisa muttered as members of the cast and crew slowly became aware of the happenings in the parking lot and rushed out to her. “Who—”
    “She has to come with me! I told him she would come!” A tiny, wiry man was giving the security guards a run for their money, jumping and twisting and trying to wrestle out of their arms. “She has to come! I’m taking her with me! Lisa! Lisa!”
    “This guy’s nuts,” the guard who was holding her up spoke quietly into her ear. Lisa rolled her eyes to the side and saw his badge. Peece? Officer Peece? Sergeant Peece? How delightful. And fitting!
    “What was he doing?” Lisa murmured, trying to stand on her own. The arm around her waist did not move.
    “Keeps saying he has to take আপনি with him. Have আপনি been receiving any weird phone calls, letters, anything like that?”
    “Not that I know of… I mean, obviously the vast majority of my stuff goes through Page অথবা my service and no one even mentioned…”
    “Lisa!” Robert finally made his way through the crowd, with Jesse on his heels. “What the hell happened? Why were you—”
    “He was following me.” Lisa still spoke as if in a daze, looking hard at Robert. Finally, a familiar face. “I—turned around and came back here in case—what the hell?”
    “Now that sounds like her,” Jesse said, none-too-gently shoving the guard away from her and placing his own arm around her waist as Robert took her arm. “Are আপনি ok?”
    “Yeah.” Lisa shook her head quickly. “I think I’m fine. Can we go inside?”
    “God, absolutely.” Robert began to herd her through the crowd. Officer Peece stepped forward, as if to stop them.
    “Well, the police are going to be here any second; they’re going to want—”
    “She needs to sit down!” Jesse snapped. “Weren’t আপনি right here? Can’t আপনি tell them what happened? They can come inside if they need to talk to her.” Not allowing any আরো talk from anyone, Jesse and Robert each took a side and guided her through the crowds as efficiently as any bodyguards she’d ever had. Closing her eyes briefly, Lisa allowed herself to rest her head on Jesse’s shoulder, just for a second, just to get her bearings—wait.
    “Wait. Where’s my phone? I was—”
    “We’ll get your phone for you. David, get Lisa’s phone from her car, please?” Robert called over his shoulder, not losing a step and not letting her stop. “You are going to go inside and sit down. David will bring আপনি the phone.”
    “I was talking to—”
    “It’s ok, Lisa,” Robert said, not letting her finish her sentence. “Just sit down. Here. There আপনি go. Jesse, can আপনি get her some water?”
    “Sure thing,” he said, squeezing her shoulder and sprinting off toward the bar. Robert immediately knelt in front of her.
    “I was talking to Hugh. God only knows what he’s thinking right now, Robert, আপনি have to call him. I was on the phone with him when that guy hit me—”
    “Ok, that’s enough.” Robert put his hand on her knee. “I’ll take care of Hugh when I’m done taking care of you. Lisa…” Using his free hand to tilt her chin down so he could look into her eyes, he suddenly frowned. “You hit your head?”
    “Um—maybe, the console? Or—maybe…”
    “Lisa, I—” Robert sighed. “You could have a concussion. Listen… আপনি need to have someone with আপনি tonight to make sure আপনি don’t fall asleep. Give yourself the night for your head to take a break so আপনি don’t wind up in a coma.”
    “I was supposed—to go to Hugh’s…”
    “Good.” Robert squeezed her knee reassuringly. “I’ll get ahold of him and let him know I’ll be dropping আপনি off at his place. Now drink something, relax, and I’m going to—”
    “Miss Edelstein?” A hefty, 40-something, prematurely gray police sergeant was standing a few feet away, watching them. “I’m Sergeant Paula. I know you’ve just had a harrowing experience, but I do need to have your statement for when we take him downtown.”
    Lisa raised pleading eyes to Robert, who was already taking his phone out of his pocket.
    “I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Go ahead. Get this over with and then we’ll get আপনি home.”
    “Ok.” Lisa took a breath and smiled at Jesse, who was setting a bottle of water in front of her. “Um—I had left the party, it was about…”
~*~*~
    Hugh’s car growled menacingly at the stop light a few blocks down from the party, starting and jumping and pawing at the white line in the road as the lights hesitated, pondering for a while before finally changing to green. Approaching from the west, he slowed into the turn just as a few police cars were turning eastward, lights flashing. Lisa’s car had been pulled out of the way—Hugh’s stomach clenched when he saw that nearly the whole back side of the vehicle was completely crushed. Glass littered the parking lot and a janitor was sweeping up. Averting his eyes to avoid seeing if there was any blood, Hugh screeched into a (sort of) legal parking space. He barely registered the sound of his car door closing before he was inside, his gait a barely-controlled non-sprint. One of his shoes was only loosely tied, his শার্ট buttoned except the শীর্ষ three, and only half-tucked in. জ্যাকেট lying on the floor of his living room. Phone—
    “You don’t carry your phone?” Robert was standing in the hallway outside the ballroom. “I’ve been trying to call you.”
    “What happened? Where—”
    “She’s fine.” Robert grabbed Hugh’s arm, forcibly arresting his অগ্রবর্তী movement and angling him আরো toward the wall. “Hugh. Slow down. She’s not in there anymore. The police were here, they got her statement, and she’s—”
    “She’s all right?”
    “Bathroom. Back there.” Rather than into the ballroom, Robert pointed past Hugh to the restrooms in the hall, down past the কোট closets. “I think she’s alone. Most everyone has gone, except David and Katie and Jesse are still here, and a few of the writers, some crew… mostly they wanted to make sure she was—” Hugh wasn’t even pretending to listen; already he had turned on his heel and was making tracks for the bathroom.
    “Whoa! Hugh, আপনি can’t just barge into—”
    “Watch me.”
    And giving one scarce glance over his shoulder to be sure the hallway was clear, Hugh Laurie pushed through the swinging door and into the women’s restroom. Lisa was standing across the way, her back to him, facing a mirror. Her eyes barely registered surprise as she looked up and saw his reflection, and she smiled weakly as she spoke to it.
    “What were আপনি going to do if someone else was in here?”
    “Tell them I got the wrong door.” Hugh’s feet only took him a few inches closer to her, waiting for her to turn around. When she finally did, she looked completely normal. Smile only a little faint; eyes clear… he looked down to where her hand was resting on the counter and saw it tremble briefly. “Oh, Lisa.”
    Two long strides, and then she was in his arms, totally surrounded. Totally safe.
    “Hugh… আপনি didn’t have to come out here. Didn’t Robert call you?”
    “He tried. I was out the door faster than my phone could follow. Are আপনি sure you’re ok?” His hand rested at the back of her head, his thumb rubbing absently against her scalp. “What happened?”
    “Um. When I got back and went to turn into the parking lot he—whoever he was, that was following—he rear-ended me.”
    “An accident?” Hugh said, even as he knew it wasn’t.
    Lisa sighed into his shirt. “No.”
    “Lisa…” Pulling away just slightly, Hugh took her face in his hands and stared down at her. “I thought—” He felt a tiny movement in the general vicinity of his waist and looked down, saw her hand. Lisa’s gaze followed his, and she removed her hand from his hip, looking at it as if it weren’t attached to her at all.
    Shaking like a leaf.
    “I’m fine,” she ব্যক্ত in wonderment, still gazing clinically at her trembling fingers. “I mean, I hit my head and I might have a concussion and I have to stay up all night so I don’t fall into a coma and a madman was trying to take me to his leader and I haven’t eaten in what feels like months and my car isn’t so great, but I’m—fine.”
    Hugh gently laced his fingers through hers with his left hand and tilted her head back up with his right. “You’re not fine. আপনি were in an accident. It’s ok.”
    “But I really am, I’m fine,” she insisted, and Hugh raised an eyebrow, his palm warming her cheek, his half-smile warming her soul. “Hugh…”
    “I’m glad you’re fine,” he said, leaning down slowly. His nose rubbed gently against her temple as he kissed her forehead lightly, then slid his hand around to the back of her head. Lisa’s fingers gradually came to a rest in his grasp as she leaned upward, aided দ্বারা Mindy’s heels, brushing her lips quickly against his.
    “Thank আপনি for coming,” she whispered.
    “You scared the bloody hell out of me,” he answered, and then caught her half-lidded gaze. “You’ve always scared the bloody hell out of me.”
    Lisa stared at him for a moment, and then a smile—the real smile—her smile came bursting across her lips as her free hand slid from his hip to his back, pressing his body closer to hers. Hugh’s eyes were dark and serious as he leaned down again, and there was nothing casual at all about this kiss. A squirming, writhing mass twisted and coiled low in her stomach as she ran her hand up his back, her lips busily occupied with a ridiculously enjoyable battle for dominance. Having just barely captured his lower lip with her teeth, she suddenly found herself being pulled even closer into his embrace—their hands still entwined, Hugh bent her right arm behind her back as he refused to release her fingers, but was adamant about having her as close as humanly possible. That sudden distraction was enough for him to be able to make his move—not that Lisa minded at all—as his tongue very slowly caressed her bottom lip before tangling with her own for a few delirious seconds.
    Breathless, flushed, and no longer shaking—or perhaps only shaking for different reasons—Lisa finally let her hand drift back down to his waist and lowered herself again to Earth.
    A sudden thud sent them jumping back away from each other, casting startled looks at the door.