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Heat floods my body, and an overwhelming emotion tightens in my chest. I choke back a rush of tears. The reaction surprises me, but it doesn’t take long for me to figure out why.
Marci comes out of the stall and approaches the sink, flanking my other side.
Before I can attempt to answer Shelly’s question, Marci reaches across the sink in front of me to use the soap dispenser. “Shelly?”
“Yes, Marci?”
“How late did Ricky work last night?”
Shelly scratches her chin. “Oh, he was the last to leave. After Jamie, I think. You know Ricky?” She looks at me. “The bouncer who works the door? I think he left after you, too.”
Marci finishes washing her hands. “Ricky always checks the cameras to make sure there are no stragglers passed out in our dressing room. It’s happened before.”
Shelly smiles, but there’s no warmth there. “Did you know there’s cameras outside Jamie’s office?” Her eyes widen and an animated grin stretches across her face with the thrill of someone spinning a grand tale.
My breath catches in my throat.
Shelly chuckles. “Don’t worry, Lara. Nothing’s on camera. The office door was closed. You gotthatpart right. And it looks like you were dressed when you left. The strange part is… You were in his office for more than thirty minutes? At two-thirty in the morning.”
Marci rips off a piece of paper towel, her eyes trailing up and down my body. I’m already in my uniform, the corset strangling me, making it even harder to breathe during their interrogation.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I should be impressed or shocked.” Marci smacks her lips together. “When you walked in here looking for a job yesterday, the last thing I expected was for the boss to fuck you after your first shift. Like that pink sweater you were wearing, it was a play, right?”
Shelly laughs, her cackle echoing through the bathroom.
The room starts to spin, the walls teetering toward me. I close my eyes as their laughter grows louder.
The door to the bathroom slams shut and I jump, realizing I can still hear Shelly and Marci’s laughter in the hallway outside.
My eyes are wet, and before I catch my breath, I’m throwing myself out the door and darting for the dressing room and the locker that holds my purse. I yank my pink sweater off the rack, and as I’m about to pull it over my head, the embarrassment jolts me. I drop the sweater on the floor, and it’s a miracle that I don’t break my ankle in these heels as I sprint for the front door.
“Lara?” Jamie glances up from behind the bar. “Where are you going?”
I pick up my pace and don’t slow until I throw myself through the exit of Eden’s, slamming the door on a past that I refuse to have shoved in my face.
Chapter 6
Lara
Ifinishtellingthestory of my past twenty-four hours and let out a deep sigh that fills the room. I’m torn between smashing my head on the table in frustration or chugging my vodka soda. I choose the latter, and Gary stares at me in silence, his expression flat. It’s the same way he stared when that fashion disaster walked into this very bar last week wearing Army boots with a dress. Or the time when we encountered a mother with her out-of-control child having a tantrum at the grocery store.
He leans toward me. “Girl. Pull it together.”
I chew on the tip of my drink straw, my eyes narrowing. “Pull it together? Did you hear what I just told you?”
Gary bats his eyelashes at me. “In two days, you quit your job, got a new job, made more money in a night than I make in a week, got a promotion, and then left said job. Oh…andyou fucked your hot boss. I should be so lucky, girl.”
“Exactly,” I slur, trying to remember how many vodkas I’ve had. “How am I supposed to pullthattogether?”
“Let’s look at the bright side. You have rent money, right?”
I slump my shoulders, letting out a deep sigh. “I guess.”
A man in tight jeans walks by our table and Gary’s eyes linger for a few long seconds. The man catches Gary staring and winks at him.
Gary’s eyes light up as he grins at the man, then looks back at me. “Sorry, where were we?”
“Discussing how I fucked up my life.”
