Page 83 of Please Don't Leave Me

B:

I have her location, but that would be great.

Part of me wonders if B mentioned the location sharing in an attempt to disincentivize me from kidnapping Lou. Either way, I know I'm not going to do that, so I have nothing to worry about.

I drive out of the parking lot to Lou's apartment. It's a good thing I still remember where she lives because she is not capable of telling me how to get there. She falls asleep against the window, and I don't wake her until we get to her apartment building. She opens her eyes enough for me to walk her to her front door.

I grab her purse and hesitantly open it, not wanting to be intrusive. "Where are your keys?"

"In my purse, look in the inside pocket."

I look all over and can't find her keys anywhere.

"I must have dropped them at the club."

"Why would they have been out of your purse?"

"I don't know, but they're clearly not here."

Shit.

I try to call B, but she doesn't answer, so I call her again. When she doesn't pick up after the third time, I start to get nervous. Lou needs to get to a bed or a toilet right now. How long is B going to take? I don't think Lou should wait that long; she needs to sleep.

"How about you just take me to your place?"

"Lou, we should wait for B."

She starts to sniffle and stick out her bottom lip in a cute, pouty way. "B has never been on time for anything inher life. She's not going to be here any time soon." She's stumbling over her words a bit, but she still knows what she's saying.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I just want to wash my face and go to sleep."

I debate back and forth about what to do. I remind myself that I know she's going to be safe with me, but I worry about how it's going to look to B when I take her sister to my house instead.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeaase. It's my birthday wish."

"That's quite a strange birthday request, if you ask me."

She slowly blinks her thick lashes at me.

"Okay, fine, but you're calling B on the way to tell her yourself where you asked me to take you."

"Deal."

We get back to my car, and she calls B, who again doesn't answer. I tell her to leave a voicemail, and she does. I would pay a lot of money to watch Lou listen to that voicemail when she's sober. She would die. She called me "the sexy man" several times.

I pull into my driveway, get Lou out of the car, and carry her into my house. She stumbles on the stairs, but I catch her. I take her straight to the guest bathroom because during the whole car ride, she looked like she was going to yak.

I get her situated on the floor by the toilet and run to grab her some water, electrolytes, and crackers. While I'm in the kitchen, I hear her yell from the bathroom, "Why did you stop talking to me?"

I hesitate because I wasn't expecting the question.

"What's the real reason, not the fake one? Did you just not like me anymore?"

I don't answer; I just gather the items and go back to the bathroom.

"Here, drink this." She takes the glass from me and starts sipping on it. While she does that, I squat down behind her and reach in the pocket of my sweatpants for the elastic band I grabbed.

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