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Tina appears by our sides. “What’s going on here?” She peers over at me, stunned. “Lena, honey. Your lip is bleeding.” I know it is. I can feel it throbbing like a bitch.
Mimi speaks from the sideline. “I think Ash is right. Give her some room.”
But Nik is too pissed to hear any of it. “I’ll tell you what. How about Helena tells me what the fuck happened, and then I’ll leave her alone?”
Max stands and gets in his brother’s face, jaw set. “Shut the fuck up, Nik. You’re not my boss. You better remember that.”
Nik’s face distorts with anger. “Your girl causes shit not ten minutes after I put my faith in her. Her fuck-up is your fuck-up.”
Nat, Tina, Mimi, and Lola all bite out, “Hey!” at Nik’s rude comment. I’ve never seen him so angry.
Tina approaches him and speaks softly. “Honey, calm down. She’ll talk when she’s ready.”
Nik straightens
and looks up into my eyes. “She’ll talk now. What happened?” Nik can be a seriously intimidating guy.
Nat cuts in, “Fuck you, Nik!”
Nik turns on her. “Of course you’re sticking up for her. I need to know what happened.” My gut coils.
Mimi steps in front of Nik. “We’re all friends here, remember?”
Nik sniffs, “Some more than others.”
That was a cheap shot. My blood boils. I close my eyes as my chest heaves. Tina gasps in astonishment. “Nik! What has gotten into you?”
He steps closer to me, angry eyes trained on mine. “What happened?”
I open my mouth, but all that comes out is, “I-uh—”
Nik grits his teeth and asks again, “What happened, Helena?”
Max growls in threat, “Take one more step towards her, Nik. I fuckin’ dare ya.”
I close my eyes. My body thrums. My chest heaves.
Nik asks again, near yelling, “What the fuck happened in there?”
I stand so fast my stool hits the bar with a bang. Hands shaking, I stand a foot away from Nik, looking up into his rage-filled eyes, and thunder, “She called Ceecee a retard!” I’m mortified as the angry tears trail down my cheeks, my body shaking with fury. I lower my face into my hands to hide my weakness and whisper, “She called Ceecee retarded.”
The silence is so thick you could carve it with a knife. Lowering my hands, I swipe furiously at the tears. I reach out with a shaking hand to take the glass of water into my hands. I sip at it, wishing I could disappear into the darkness, but I know that’s not a choice.
Breathing in carefully, I stand as tall as I can and speak softly through an exhale, “I’m sorry for the trouble, Nik.” I remove the two-way from my side and badge from around my neck, placing them on the stool. “No need to fire me. I resign. Sorry for spoiling everyone’s night. I’m going home. Goodnight.”
Tina and Lola both plead, “Helena, no!” and “Stay!” while Nat orders, “Don’t you go anywhere. Not ‘til he apologizes!”
I turn and walk away with what dignity I have left before I hear Nat scream to who I’m sure is Nik, “You asshole!”
I half-expect that Max will come after me, but he doesn’t.
And once again, I’m left feeling how I felt when I first came to New York.
Completely and utterly alone.
***
Max
