Page 76 of Crossing Paths
She laughed at the thought. “Thanks, but you’d probably get beaten and then kicked out.”
Although he didn’t look happy about letting her go off on her own, he stepped back enough to let her skirt around the table.
“Bathroom?” Laken asked, hopping off her stool, as chipper as if she hadn’t just been acting horribly hurt that Norah would ever question her motives.
“Oh, me too.” Kenslee joined them.
Norah gave a resigned sigh. It looked like she’d have to put up with a group bathroom visit before she could escape. She was tempted to skip it altogether and wait until she got home, but she didn’t want them to think she was running away, not after her show of bravery. Besides, she was thirsty and planned to refill her bottle with tap water. Turning, she headed toward the bathroom.
Just as she reached the hallway where the restrooms were located, she heard a shout that escalated to a roar. From the sound of it, there was definitely a fight happening. Looking behind her, she couldn’t see Dash, and she hoped he wasn’t in the thick of it. Even though she knew he could take care of himself, there was always the danger he could get hurt in the melee.
“Every time,” Kenslee said, rolling her eyes as she took thelead, pushing open the door to the ladies’ room. “I don’t think we’ve ever come here when therehasn’tbeen a fight.”
Laken gave a little shrug, entering behind Kenslee and holding the door for Norah. “It’s Dutch’s,” she said as if that explained everything.
Norah muttered her thanks before heading for a stall. The bathroom was busy, but thankfully there wasn’t a line. As she peed, she felt sweat beading along her hairline, and nausea rose in her again. She swallowed, really not wanting to get sick here. Laken and Kenslee would fake fuss over her, and it would be awful.
As she straightened, pulling up her pants, her head swam, and she flattened her hand against the side of the stall to catch her balance.
“You okay in there, Norah?” Laken asked, sickly sweet.
Norah had to swallow again before she could speak. “Fine.”
Her head cleared enough for her to let go of the wall. She took a few deep breaths, and by the time she left the stall, she felt mostly fine, although a little lightheaded. Mentally, she ran over what she’d had to eat that day, wondering if her blood sugar was low. She really hoped she wasn’t coming down with something, not when she’d just discovered the joys of trading germs with Dash.
Laken and Kenslee were touching up their makeup in the mirror, talking together in low tones that Norah couldn’t hear over the chattering of the other women. Norah made her way to a sink and washed her hands before clasping her wet hands to her cheeks. The cold water felt good against her flushed skin,but she noticed the two women looking at her strangely, so she reached for a paper towel.
Another dizzy spell hit her hard, making her stagger. The room spun around her, voices rising and falling but not making any sense.
“Are you okay?” The question made it through her confusion, and she tried to focus on the person who asked. Norah tried to shake her head, to ask for someone to go get Dash, but it was hard to tell if she was just thinking things or actually doing them.
“…Daaash,” she heard herself slur, and the helpful stranger just looked confused.
“Oh, Norah.” That voice she knew. Laken laughed that awful, beautiful peal of sound as she gripped Norah’s arm. “I told you not to do that last tequila shot.”
Kenslee appeared on her other side. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We’ve got you.”
The stranger’s face immediately smoothed, the worried lines disappearing. Norah tried to say they weren’t her friends, and she wasn’t drunk. This was something so much worse. Her thoughts spun, and words wouldn’t come together coherently. All she could manage to say was Dash’s name, and that didn’t help.
With Laken and Kenslee each holding an arm, they led her out of the bathroom.Good, her bleary mind thought with relief.Dash is out there. They’ll bring me to Dash.Instead of turning left toward the bar and Dash though, they turned right.
“Nooo.” Norah tried to turn, but her muscles seemed tohave lost all coordination and strength. Just staying upright was an effort, and she couldn’t manage to pull away from the two women guiding her the wrong way down the hall. “Dash…that way.”
The words didn’t sound right out loud, but her sense of hearing was distorted, so Norah hoped she’d managed to speak clearly enough to be understood. Either she’d failed, or the two escorting her were ignoring her, because they continued hauling her toward the emergency exit.
“What you need is some fresh air,” Laken said.
Norah tried to struggle, but nothing was working right with her body. Her distorted gaze fixed on the “alarm will sound” warning plastered across the door.Alarm, she thought.Alarm is good. Dash will hear, come running.
Her hopes were quashed as Laken shoved the release bar down, and the door opened with barely a sound. Time started skipping, slowing and then speeding up again. Suddenly, she was in the darkness of the alley behind Dutch’s, her back pressed against the wall. Laken and Kenslee were right in her face, their happy pageant masks gone. They glared at her, spitting questions she couldn’t make sense of. They were just scattered words, skipping through her brain without letting her catch them.
“…tell us…necklace…know…” Kenslee bared her teeth in what looked like frustration when Norah just stared, having a hard time focusing on the other woman’s face.
Laken started talking again, and Norah turned her head. The entire alley spun around them, and she forced her gaze to lock on Laken’s before the whole universe spun away. “Try…remember…”Her voice was a little gentler, but her eyes hardened when Norah just looked at her. “Where…necklace?”
Norah choked out a laugh even as everything did a pause and restart that made her feel like she was under a strobe light. “Told youuu.”
“What?” Laken asked urgently, Kenslee leaning even closer as if not to miss Norah’s answer.
