Page 40 of The Night Shift
“Today, please?”
Grimacing, she looks back at me and slings an off-white cloth over her shoulder. “Be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” She saunters off to tend to another customer, her strawberry blonde ponytail bouncing with each step.
I finish the rest of my coffee, unsure what to even think anymore.
It feels like the weight of the world has taken a seat right on my shoulders. Is it Theo? Is it not? Is Cami right? Is it just some fucking stranger trying to mess with me? And if it isn’t, if itisTheo, then what exactly is his endgame here? And why on earth did he call me last night? Late-night chit-chat? Bullshit. There was definitely something off about him last night. Question after question forms without so much as an inkling to a solid answer.
I need to find the person who sent me that text. The sooner the better. But how? Whoever it is would have to make contact again. They have to. Or else, why even send the text in the first place? The knots in my stomach get tighter.
I take a deep breath and straighten my shoulders when a familiar face walks in through the bar’s entrance. Long, brown waves, a red mesh top, a black skirt, and the sparkly black overcoat.Audrey.
A surge of relief washes over my shoulders.
She doesn’t acknowledge my presence, nor does she look in my direction. Instead, she keeps her head down and makes a direct beeline for the bathroom stalls.
Disappointed, I get up to follow her.
“Hey!” I shout when I’m halfway down the desolate hallway. There’s no one else around. “Audrey!”
She doesn’t stop.
“Audrey!”
Finally pausing outside the bathroom door, she turns around, her mouth parting in surprise. Our eyes meet and I stand mute. “Oh, it’s you,” she says. “I’m sorry, I…I didn’t hear you.” Her lips purse together, and she shakes her head. “How are you? Got my clothes?”
“Right. About that. I kind of, um, lost them.”
She mouths a silent “oh.”
“I’m really sorry. I must’ve left them on the train while getting here —” a blatant lie, but it’s better than telling her the truth: some creep broke into my home and stole them — “Obviously, I’ll pay for them.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“No, but I want to —”
“Holly, you really don’t have to —”
“I know, but I should. It’s the right thing to do —”
“Since when do you do the right thing?” Audrey blurts.
I blink. “What?”
She shakes her head. “I…I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from. I’ve just had a really bad day.”
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Are you?” she asks back.
I stay quiet.
If I’m not used to being backed into a corner, then I sure as hell am not used to being asked if I’m okay out of the blue by some girl I don’t even know that well.
“I-I’m not sure,” I admit for some godforsaken reason. The break-in must be finally getting to me.
Audrey just smiles. A soft, understanding smile. A buzz travels down the hall. My shoulders stiffen.
“That’s okay,” she says. “It’s okay to not be okay once in a while.”
