Page 8 of June

“I don’t know. Want to dance?”

“We have drinks.”

“We can dance with drinks.”

“Not my klutzy ass,” she argued, laughing. “I’ll spill it all over myself.”

“True,” Jodie said and took a drink of her own. “Want a sip?”

Caroline took a drink, only tasting pineapple juice, and asked, “If we’re not dancing, are we just standing around?”

“I was hoping to meet some people to hang out, dance, or whatever.”

“You can go meet. I’ll hold your drink.”

“That sounds like fun for you,” Jodie said sarcastically.

“Honestly, I’m only here for you. And if you’re getting laid tonight, it’s not with me, so if I can hold your drink for you, I will.”

“If you’re sure,” Jodie replied and handed Caroline her drink without waiting for a response.

Caroline watched her join the dance floor crowd, and part of her admired Jodie’s ability to just dance by herself in the middle of a crowded room without a problem. Caroline wasn’t like her. She didn’t mind dancing with people, but she wouldn’t do it by herself. She didn’t know how long they were there, but she had finished half of Jodie’s drink and all of her water. She now had to pee and decided to wait in the bathroom line because it was a good way to kill time.

“Oh, sorry,” someone said, bumping into her from behind.

Caroline looked up from her phone and saw a woman with blonde hair pulled back and these hazel eyes that were lit by the lights illuminating the hallway, where they were waiting for the bathroom.

“It’s okay,” she replied with a smile.

“I got bumped,” the woman explained. “Then, I bumped you. At least, you stopped the violence and didn’t bump the person in front of you.”

“Yeah,” Caroline uttered for some reason.

“Hey, there you are,” Jodie said as she walked up to her.

“No cutting the line,” someone told her from behind the woman with hazel eyes.

“Not cutting. Just checking on my friend,” Jodie replied.

“I’m waiting on the bathroom. I’m good.”

“Okay. Well, I’m kind of done now, so I’m ready when you are,” Jodie told her. “Where’s my drink?” she asked when she noticed Caroline wasn’t holding a cup.

“Oh, I drank it.”

The woman with the hazel eyes laughed.

CHAPTER 3

Enid walked back out to the main floor of the bar after waiting in line for what felt like hours only to pee and not have any toilet paper. Sometimes, New Orleans bars just weren’t worth it. She had used a paper towel and was now walking a little funny because it had been scratchy. Candace’s bar was way better. She catered to regulars, which meant she had to keep things clean and toilet paper stocked. Tourists usually stayed for a week or even just a long weekend and didn’t even remember the names of the bars they walked in and out of all night. They didn’t leave reviews about the bathrooms on Yelp.

“Hey. You were gone for a while,” Rory said.

“Long line,” she replied.

“Yeah… I wanted to just stay at Candace’s, but Logan works there, so it’s not a lot of fun for her to hang out where she works every night. She said she wanted to dance. I don’t dance, Enid.”

“You’ve danced with her before.”

---