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He elbowed me gently. “You doing okay?”
I was bored and the evening had hardly gotten started. But, yes, I supposed I was fine. “Sure. I might go wander around soon.”
Zeke nodded. “Don’t trip and fall.”
I smirked at him. “Thanks. I’ve been walking on my own for some time now.”
He leaned back in his seat, ignoring me now to listen to something Luc was saying. I had been trying all night to figure out who Luc was exactly. I could google him, but this was a lot more fun when it came down to it. Small details explained the man. Zeke always wore the same watch. What did that tell me? He valued it. He didn’t discard things when they got old, and he took care of what belonged to him. I didn’t know him well yet, but I could tell already those things were true.
Why else would he have held on to this relationship with my father for so long? And here he was still trying to. Until theyseparated, the efforts he made today would benefit a man he didn’t like.
He smirked at something Luc said, giving off an entirely different appearance than the seconds before. Zeke could also be mean when he wanted to, and I’d bet a real adversary I didn’t want to mess with if I found myself at odds with him at some point. I hoped that never happened.
The thought made my stomach clench. I knew next to nothing about him when it came down to it. Although, he’d told me a secret, a big one, and when he pushed my buttons, he also seemed inclined to give me leverage over him, too. He was such a mixture of things, it was hard to understand him, even by examining his accessories.
Suddenly, it was as though the music was too loud and the seat uncomfortable. I needed a moment. These sorts of sensations were familiar to me, but I was more accustomed to them on airplanes. I rose, catching both Zeke and Luc’s attention.
I smiled. “I’m going to the ladies’ room.”
Without pausing, I left them sitting there. They wouldn’t even miss me. In fact, I could sneak out the back, grab a ride share, and be back at Zeke’s house for all that it mattered. We’d performed our function and been seen together. I might even suggest I do that when I got back from the bathroom.
This club used too much strobe light. It was a mistake I saw far too often. The club goers didn’t like it overdone when it came down to it. Not that anyone was asking me what I thought. I could just see how it put off at least three quarters of the dancers when it went on too long. Some places it worked, but here, people wanted to see and be seen. The strobes got in the way. Maybe it was that the manager didn’t understand what he had here. He thought he had a dance club, or perhaps that was whatthe owners wanted. I didn’t know and didn’t care. I just knew that I hated strobes. They made my eyes hurt.
The hallway to the bathroom was full, but I managed to not fall into anyone as I made my way inside. I didn’t actually have to pee, which was helpful because the stalls were all taken up, but there was space by one of the mirrors, and I stared at myself for a long moment, forcing myself to breathe.
My strange panic-induced need to move was probably not as bizarre as I thought it was. I’d run from my wedding. I was bound to have some delayed reactions. Maybe I should go ahead and talk to a therapist. I was probably way overdue for talking to one anyway.
“And I thought he was coming here with me, but he came with her.”
A girl cried out in accented English, weeping onto her friend’s shoulder in the space next to me on the wall of mirrors.
I looked up, startled by the sound. Other than Zeke, I hadn’t heard English spoken aloud until I said it since I’d run from my wedding. People responded in English after they realized I couldn’t speak French. But those two were, if I had to guess, Irish…and they were crying in the bathroom. Well, one of them was and the other was consoling her.
That’s what friends did. Or sisters when they weren’t handling our father.
They saw me staring. I saw it the second they recognized me, which in this case was a good thing, since otherwise, they’d probably have told me to go fuck myself for so rudely watching them and listening in on their conversation.
I quickly looked down and spoke to them even though I stared at the sink. “Sorry, you were speaking my language. It caught my attention. I’m not trying to be invasive.” I looked up to smile. “But if someone did that to you, they’re out of their mind because you’re gorgeous. And he’s not worth your tears.”
I’d managed to get the attention of all the women in the bathroom who were speaking in hushed voices. I ignored them since I couldn’t understand them to begin with, which made it significantly easier to do.
The crying woman brushed tears off her face. “You really are her.”
I shrugged. “The redhead who ran from her wedding? Yes. Whoever it is out there who treated you so disrespectfully, he is going to swallow his tongue when I’m done with you, if you want.”
They stared at each other and then back at me. I had them. I could fix her up and make her already stunning black outfit look even sexier when she walked out of this bathroom. I should probably mind my own business when faced with these situations, and it wasn’t like I ran around New York City fixing outfits on a regular basis. But it wasn’t like I was terribly busy either. I could go sit in silence with Zeke, or help this poor woman make some man eat his bad attitude.
She took my hand in hers. “This is so surreal. You’re here.”
I wanted to shrink from her touch. This part of the role I tried to play was hard for me. Truth was I was happier not being around too many people all at once. The bathroom was getting crowded, and I had no security to help me. I steeled my back. I’d been the one to open this proverbial door, I was going to figure out how to make this okay.
“Where’s your makeup bag?”
It didn’t take long to make the blonde beauty feel better about herself. Sometimes, it wasn’t about what I actually did as much as the fact that I told them they looked gorgeous and they believed me. We took a couple of selfies together, and I did my best to seem like the Layla they wanted me to be. I slightly adjusted the belt on her dress and made her change earrings with her friend.
In the meantime, they talked. They were from Cork, Ireland. I’d never been there, but I was now invited to visit, even though I couldn’t remember their first names, and they wanted me to stay with them. I did a lot of nodding and smiling.
When I was finished, the no-longer-crying one of the pair exited the bathroom with her head held high, looking like she’d just come off a runway. I followed fast behind her lest I found myself having to makeover everyone in the bathroom. I was happy to be helpful, but the encounter was draining, even if it was my own fault.
