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“Iwasn’t gonna,jeez. I could go for some Perrier right now. Ooh. A Diet Coke.”
Paige left on that note. She managed to keep her composure while navigating toward the women’s restroom, although she was well aware that her legs wanted to buckle and her vision was not its best.I might be a bit inebriated, yes…Two drinks and an edible went beyond the current limit for Paige, a physically fit woman who (mostly) ate healthy but was no longer in college. Rationally, she knew to cut herself off from all substances if she didn’t want to wake up with a sickening hangover. Such things had long lost their appeal.
But could she help it if she looked at everyone else having fun and felt alittlejealous?
She came out of the restroom thinking about Diet Coke and chocolate, not necessarily in that order. Where was Jocie? Did she have any brownie crumbs left in her illicit baggy? Could Paige lick the plastic?
That’s how you know you’re hitting rock bottom, girl.Paige brushed a fallen bang out of her face and took a stroll through the club, avoiding the roped-off VIP areas as if she weren’t high enough to catch the attention of the employees in a busy club.This is when the paranoia sets in.Surely, everyone knew she was too far gone to be in a place that forbade outside alcohol and all drugs. Yet only a few visits to Hellfire confirmed that people snuck in cocaine, MDMA, and painkillers to heighten their partying experience.I’ll be the one who gets us all kicked out and banned.That was why she had to be careful about how she presented herself to the other club members who were staring at her because she stumbled about and talked to herself – not because she tried so hard to act straight that she moved as stiffly as a robot.
This is dumb.She eventually sat on a round couch in the middle of a room, closing her eyes to steady her balance. When she opened them again, a familiar pair was in front of her.
“Look who it is! Long time no see!” Irene, was it? Paige didn’t see the husband with her, but she did see someone else.
“Sorry. I don’t recall your name,” she said to the young woman with curly dark hair and a fake ID card. Or so Paige had heard from reliable sources.Honey, if you turn me in for the edible, I’m turning your ass in too.Mutually assured destruction!
Irene didn’t give her young date time to respond. “Are you here by yourself tonight?” She sat next to Paige as if they were already the oldest of besties.
“No. My wife is around here somewhere. We came with friends.” Paige sniffed. “What about you? Where’s the guy?”
That made Irene laugh. “Josh isn’t in town with us this weekend. He had to attend some big, fancy meeting in St. Louis. Go figure.”
Paige glanced at the quiet yet attentive girl with curly hair. “See you made friends since the last time we met.”
The girl glanced at Irene, who nodded in some unspoken approval. “It’s nice to see you again. Paige, was it?” That husky voice still caught Paige off guard, who wondered what this girl’s game was both times they met. “Yeah, I haven’t forgotten you.”
Paige gestured to her cleavage. “Hard to forget these, yes. What was your name, again?”
“Helena is one of the best treasures we’ve found in this city,” Irene cut in. “She’s been like our off-and-on pet ever since we met that… well, I believe it was the same nightwemet as well. How fortuitous. Did you know she’s not even from LA? Just happened to be in town the same weekend we were.”
“That’s cool.” Was Paige coming down? Was that why she suddenly took this conversation so gravely andseriously,like the uncoolest aunt to ever look at a twenty-year-old girl and think“WTF are you doing getting involved with a married couple? Go to school!”No wonder Rhea had gently rejected her.
Shit. Rhea! She probably wondered where the hell her wife was!
“You know,” Irene leaned back, the circular sofa making her movements more languid as her chin came closer to Paige’s shoulder. “We came here tonight hoping to meet some old – or new – friends. I hear there’s quite the party going on in a VIP room if you know what I mean.”
Paige sniffed. At least she hadn’t been tempted by cocaine. Not that she ever went for thehardstuff.My body is a temple, yadda yadda yadda…She really regretted that alcohol and edible combo now. It would be a miracle if she didn’t require to be carried home because she kept falling asleep.How old am I, again?
“I can get you in,” Irene continued. “You and your wife, of course. It’s a real girls’ party in there. Ran by some famous actress who likes to surround herself with beautiful naked women. Oh, you have to be naked. Would that be a problem?”
Paige chewed the inside of her cheek as if that would hold back the discomfort plaguing the poorest part of her stomach. “That soundsfun,but I don’t think Rhea would go for it.”
“Oh? Too bad. It’s such a bummer to be held back by the person who is supposed to enjoy these things with you. Josh lets me dowhateverI want.” Irene looked at Helena when she said that. “Doesn’t he, lovely?”
“You let him do whatever he wants, too.”
“Isn’t that the recipe for a healthy marriage?”
Maybe I don’t want to go.“Believe it or not, if Rhea doesn’t want to go, that’s enough for me. I don’t want my wife to be miserable with whatever we’re doing.”
That should have been a powerful statement, but Paige couldn’t combat the acid in her stomach: she burped so loudly that Irene was instantly taken aback and Helena’s eyes widened, almost impressed.That’s how you know she’s a freakin’ baby. She thinks burps are cool.
That was when Paige desperately wished Rhea would come find her. Before, it had been easy enough to cross this crazy club without an escort, but Irene’s presence was so off-putting that Paige couldn’t help but covet Rhea’s powerful shyness that created an instant barrier between her and any overtly sexual person whom she didn’t know.Throw in a man, and she’s more likely to run out of the room than I am.Paige wasn’t exactly bisexual, either, but she wasn’t as put off by male anatomy or their flirtations as her wife was.
“Have a great time.” Paige slumped down to the circular couch, elbow propping up her torso as she watched a half-naked woman coquettishly lure a man into another room. Helena watched after them with minute interest; Irene also saw but scoffed. “It’s a hot night for the little black dress look.”
Her elbow slipped out from beneath her, cheek pressing against the couch cushion while Irene got up and gestured for Helena to follow her. Paige was alone again, but this time? The high wasn’t the best companion.
Rhea didn’t know what was taking Paige so long in the bathroom, but she had a feeling that someone got distracted on her way back to the main room.
