*Chapter 16*

*A Week Later*

Auds still didn't know what to do about Seb. She had tried talking to Simon, but he never seemed to be available. Seb was getting more withdrawn with every day that passed, except for when he was working, he pulled out his usual French charm then. The other guys knew something was wrong, but he wouldn't tell them what it was or let Auds tell them. It was making things with Urs difficult as well for Auds as he was getting mad at her for not telling him anything. She was sitting in their room after he had just stormed off after yet another attempt of getting it out of her had failed. She sighed and picked up her phone to try and call Simon again when it suddenly started ringing. She jumped at the noise of it. She answered it with a "Hello." "Auds, you've been trying to phone me" said Simon's voice on the other end. "I'm really sorry its taken me so long to get back to you, i've been run off my feet here. What can i do for you?" Auds went to speak then stopped, she suddenly didn't know what to say. "Auds, are you there, is everything okay?" Auds sighed and said "No, we have a big problem Simon." She paused for a minute then said "Sebastien is thinking about leaving the group. He's not happy anymore. He's still giving it 100% in his appearances and at the shows, but when its just us lot around, hes so withdrawn and quiet and won't talk to anyone. He did talk to me last week, but he hasn't said anything to the other guys and won't let me tell them either." "What’s brought all this on? Did he tell you why he's not happy?" she heard Simon sigh then he said "God, this couldn't have happened at a worse time." Auds heart sank, that meant he probably wouldn't agree to lessening their workload for a while.

"He said that he still loves being part of the group and singing with the guys, but he is fed up off all the constant travelling and never seeing his family and his girlfriend. I don't know if you know this, but when we were in Paris seven weeks ago, he asked Sonia to marry him and she said yes. He doesn't want to marry her then never see her." said Auds quietly. "I don't know what to do, so i thought that maybe you could reduce their work a bit, let them have more time to spend with their families? Its not just Seb, they're all feeling it." There was silence on the other end of the phone and Auds was worried that she had spoken out of turn. Then Simon said "No, i didn't know that Seb had got engaged. I wish that i could take some of their work off them Auds, but you know their workload better than i do. There's not one of those appearances that we could actually cancel without causing problems." Auds nodded her head in agreement and said "I know, but there has to be something we can do. I asked him if Sonia could come travel with us for a while, but he said that she wouldn't be able to get the time of as she works with sick kids and she's the only one they rely on to be there." She heard Simon speak to somebody on his side then he said "Sorry, so, there is no way that Sonia can travel with you. Does she know about any of this, has Seb told her how he feels?" Auds thought for a moment then said "Probably not, cos he said that he hadn't wanted her to go to the airport with him last week as he didn't want a big goodbye, but it was really because he knew he wouldn't have made it to the airport without crying and he didn't want her to see him like that." "Okay, so maybe you can phone her and explain it all to her and then maybe she can get some time off and meet up with you guys." suggested Simon. "I think it would be better if i went and saw her in person. If i could make her understand that Seb is planning on giving up his dream because of her, she might see things differently. I know that worked with me and Urs. When i thought i might have lost him, i realised that he meant more to me than my job. It might work the other way with her as she knows how much this means to Seb" Simon agreed "But, how are you going to get to Paris and back without the guys asking questions?" he said. "I don't know, I can tell them that you asked me to come back to the offices for a meeting, but Urs doesn't like me flying without one of them around and to be honest, i haven't flown by myself since.." she stopped. She took a deep breath and carried on "I'll work something out Simon and i'll let you know what i decide on. Thanks for the advice and i'll talk to you soon." then she hung up.

Urs walked back into the room then and looked at her and said "I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean to get angry at you, its just getting to me that something’s wrong with Seb and neither he nor you will tell me so that i can help him." Auds got up and walked over to him and gave him a kiss then said "I wish i could tell you hun, but i promised him i wouldn't and as long as he is talking to one of us, he's not bottling it up totally, if i tell you, he may stop talking to me as well and then he'll just get worse." Urs sighed and putting his arms round Auds waist said "You're right i suppose." Auds looked down at the floor then and said "Um, I was just speaking to Simon and he was saying that he could do with me flying into London for a meeting with him. He would come here, but he can't get away at the moment." She looked up and saw the look on Urs face and said "I know, i told him i couldn't, but he was pretty insistent that i be there." Urs shook his head "You can't fly to London by yourself, and none of us can come with you just now. I don't want you flying by yourself." he pulled her tight into him and said "The last time i let you go to London, i nearly lost you." Auds pulled herself away from his hold and said "I know, and i still have problems with planes, but this will be another step forward for me, to fly by myself and it might just help me beat the fear altogether." Urs shook his head and looked at her "You've already said you would go, haven't you?" Auds nodded and said "He's my boss Urs, he pays my wages and allows me to travel with you and the guys. I couldn't say no." He looked at her and she could see that his eyes had darkened. He went to say something then stopped himself and just turned and walked back out of the room without speaking. Auds hated herself for having just lied to him, but she hoped he would understand when he realised why she had done it.

Auds went to see if she could find Steve, she was going to need his help to pull this off. When she found him she sat down with him and told him that she was having to go to Paris for a few days. She didn't say why, but did tell him that he couldn't tell the guys as she was going to tell them that she was going to London to meet with Simon. He looked confused and said "Auds, what are you up to and why can't the guys be told. You know they're not going to be happy about you going somewhere without them." Auds nodded "I already know Urs reaction, he wasn't happy and he just walked away from me without saying a thing, but i could see the anger in his eyes." she sighed. "I hated having to lie to him, but if what i'm going to do works, then hopefully he'll understand why i did it." she said. Steve looked at her and said "And if it doesn't work?" Auds shook her head and said "Right now, i don't even want to think about it." She looked at her watch and said "Would you be able to get me a seat on the next flight to Paris and drive me to the airport please? I need to go see Seb and the others and tell them i'll be away for a few days." Steve nodded and taking out his phone said "I'll let you know the details. Oh, and good luck telling the guys." Auds smiled at him and said "Thanks."

Auds set off to Seb's room, she knew he would be there, he never came out of it until he had to these days. She knocked on the door and when he didn't answer she said "Seb, its Auds." She heard him moving then and the door opened. He looked terrible, he hadn't bothered to shave yet and he looked like he hadn't eaten either. "Seb, you have to stop this, I know you're not happy, but you're not helping yourself by shutting yourself away from the others. They are all worried about you and want to help you." Seb looked away from her and she sighed. "I'm sorry, talk to me some more, tell me all about Sonia, where she works and how she started in the job. i never really got a chance to talk much properly with her when we were in Paris." Seb smiled then and started telling her all about Sonia and her work and how she had discovered she wanted to do that." She listened to him talk for ages then her phone rang. She answered it and spoke for a minute then thanked the person and hung up. She turned back to Seb and said "Sorry, I actually need to talk to you and the guys about something, can you come with me to find them so i can tell you all together?" Seb said "Can you not just tell me and then go tell the guys?" Auds shook her head "No, i think it would be better to tell you all at the same time. I actually told Urs already, but i still want to tell you all." He nodded then and said "Lets go then." She walked to the door and they walked out the room and went to see if they were in David's room. She knocked, but nobody answered so they tried Carlos's room, again no answer. She wondered where they all were. She took out her phone and called David. He answered with a "hey" "David, its Auds, where are you? Seb and I are trying to find you all. I have something to talk to you all about." she said. There was silence and she said again "David, where are you?" She could hear muffled talking and then David said "We're in your room with Urs." Auds sighed and said "Okay, don't go anywhere, we'll be there in a minute." and shut her phone. Something funny was going on and she didn't like the feel of it.

They walked to her room and she opened the door to find Urs sitting on the couch with a bandage on his right hand and David and Carlos trying to talk to him. She went straight to him and said "Urs baby, what happened?" He looked at her and said "Why do you care, just tell them what you're doing." Auds stood up and walked away from him whilst the other three stared at Urs in shock. She turned to face them and said "I have to leave for a couple of days, Simon wants me back in London for a meeting. I couldn't really say no. I'm booked onto a flight at 8pm tonight." She waited for the responses and was surprised when all she got was "Well, if the boss calls, you've got to go" from Carlos and "Will you be alright by yourself?" from David and "I understand Auds, I'll see you when you get back." from Seb. She looked at them in surprise and said "You mean you don't mind me leaving?" they all shook their heads and said "Why would we mind, its your job, you have to go away every now and again. But you'll always be back." said Carlos. "Yeah, we won't fall down without you here Auds" said David.
She went over to Urs then and said to him "I think you should listen to your friends Urs, they don't get mad at me when i do something they don't like." and then she walked into the bedroom and pulled out a bag to take with her.

A couple of hours later she was on her way to the airport with Steve. Urs had come in and apologised to her and said that his hand was bandaged because he had taken his anger out on a wall and had punched it. He had wanted to go with her, but thankfully they had a show that night and he couldn't because of the time she was leaving. She was glad they had made up, she hadn't wanted to leave him while he was still mad at her. Steve just dropped her off and went straight back to the arena telling Auds just to let him know when she was coming back. She could feel the nervousness that accompanied her when she had to fly starting to rise. She fought it away knowing that she was on her own and didn't have someone to calm her down if she started panicking. She checked in and got herself a coffee. Her flight got called and she found herself sitting in the plane, she wasn't sure how she had got there, but she was there and then they were off. When they landed in Paris, she hailed a taxi and headed straight for the hospital Seb had said Sonia worked in, if she wasn't there, they could at least tell her when she would be in and she would just wait.