Page 29 of When Glitter Meets Gold

I smile at her, appreciate her understanding. “They always find me.”

“They only do it to the pretty ones, hon.” The woman winks at me as I reach to pick up the broken pieces. Mark’s voice is within earshot.

“Excuse my date,” he says to his buddies.Date?I’d never heard him refer to me as his date. I believe a long-term relationship qualifies you to be a little more than someone’s date. Then he laughs. “It’s not a party until all eyes are on her.”

An attention seeker. That’s his analysis. Too loud, too much.

The woman hears too. She smiles, it looks awkward. I don’t know if she’s embarrassed or if she also thinks I’m an attention seeker.

The night ends. Everyone piles into cabs. We ride to our hotel for the night.

“What was that back there?” I say, my gaze fixed on the lights of gas stations, streetlights, headlamps, all blurring into one strip outside our cab window. “You think I wanted to draw attention to myself? You think I dropped that plate on purpose?”

He slowly readjusts his body in the seat. “Those are mycolleagues. Important people. Serious people.” He sighs. “You’re always making noise, Sara. These outbursts. It doesn’t matter what it is. A joke, a sad story, a fucking beetle. You’ve got to make the most noise. Have the biggest reaction. Why can’t you just chill?”

Something cracks inside my chest.

“So, I embarrass you? That’s what this is about?”

The cab is silent. The driver tilts his head a couple of degrees. Then cranks the radio. Casts his eyes back to the road.

“Honestly…” Mark twists his lips to one side. He’s trying to appear hesitant, but I can tell he’s never been so sure of anything in his entire life. “Sometimes.” Another crack. This time deeper in my chest. The type that doesn’t fix easily. “Look, I wasn’t going to bring this up until later, but I’ve been offered work outside the city. It’s just for a couple weeks, but I was thinking, I might take the time to see other things. Travel some.”

I touch my chest. Feel my nails dig into my skin. Feel my world about to collapse. “How much time?”

He loosens his bow tie. Looks out his backseat window. “A while.” I nod. Decide I don’t need to ask anything else. Tonight, I’m not Sara, his girlfriend. I’m Sara, his date. Someone disposable. Someone who’d seen this coming but was too scared to say anything. “You know this hasn’t worked for a while. You know that, right?”

“I know,” I breathe. “But when I talk to you about it, you tell me everything is okay. You make me believe everything is okay.” I twist away. Close my eyes. “I wish you hadn’t done that Mark.”

The journey is the longest I remember.

“You’re okay, right?” Jack asks a few minutes later from his side of the tent. “Your head isn’t fried from the crash?” If Ididn’t know any better, I’d say he looks like the portrait of someone trying hard not to care but failing miserably.

“I don’t have concussion if that’s what you’re wondering,” I say, realizing he’s asking why I just zoned out. “I’m just processing being out here.” I chew on my lip. “Hey, about earlier, I said you were responsible for the way I am now. That’s not true.” I offer a weak smile. “At least notfullyresponsible.”

“You mean someone else lured you to a swamp plagued with flying ants that bite?” He lifts a brow.

“You say it like you knew about the ants.” I narrow my eyes.

“You weren’t our first victim.” He winks. And before I can swipe at him, he adds, “And we did try to apologize, but you were…”

“Kicking and screaming, and devoid of reason and clarity?” I offer. Jack nods before one side of his mouth tips upwards. I sigh, “However it went down, it’s in the past. And while we’re getting things off our chest, I should say thank you.” It comes out abruptly. “I haven’t been very grateful for everything you’ve done for me, so I suppose I understand why you’d be wary of me.”

He shrugs before producing a clear hip flask containing swishing amber liquid. He pops the lid, gulps deeply, then offers it to me. It isn’t quite margaritas in a soaking tub, but after the events of today, it’ll more than suffice. Jack looks vaguely surprised when I take the flask and sip.

Scotch.

My face wrinkles as the liquid burns my throat, flooding my body with heat.

“No, you didn’t deserve the way I behaved.” He takes another gulp before passing the flask back to me.

“So, what gives then?” I stretch my legs out in front ofme, crossing one over the other and leaning back on my hands. “What’s with the suspicion?”

He retrieves the bottle I’ve placed in the few inches of space that exists between us, this time taking larger gulps. “Like I said, my life can get a little nuts.”

“So, you hate your job?” My eyebrow ticks upwards at the speed he’s going through the bottle.

“Fuck no.” A solid yet happy confirmation. “There’s just parts of it that require me to be…” He trails off, appearing to search for the right word. “Vigilant.”

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