no turning back

• three •

gladys

The ache in my lower stomach was unbearable now. I shifted back and forth between my feet, clenching my thighs together.

Why is the line for the women's bathroom always so damn long?

At last, after ten minutes in line, a stall door swung open and I bolted into it. I relieved myself with a huge sigh.

Once I was down, I stepped out to the sinks to wash my hands. My makeup looked melted, probably from the sweat and heat of the dance floor.

While I touched up my lipstick and wiped away the mascara smudges, some quiet music played from somewhere. It wasn't the music from the dance floor because that was still blaring through these paper-thin walls.

One of the other women at the sink looked over at me, noticing my evident confusion.

"I think your phone is ringing, honey," she said.

My phone! Shit!

It was like I'd completely forgotten I even owed such a thing.

I flashed her a smile and stumbled off to a quiet corner. As soon as I saw the screen, my stomach dropped. I took a deep, fortifying breath before answering.

"Hello?"

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? I CALLED YOU FIVE TIMES. WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT TEXTING ME EVERY HOUR? WHERE ARE YOU? I'M PICKING YOU UP RIGHT NOW!"

I pinched my nose. I was in such deep shit.

"DO YOU HEAR ME?" Ben raged.

"Yes, I hear you," I said. "I'm sorry. The bar is loud and I didn't hear any of the alarms I set."

"Which bar are you at?" he snapped.

"Be—Barry, I'm fine," I assured him. "I'm at Jesse's brother-in-law's bar. There's a ton of people and a super freaking swole bouncer. I'm totally safe."

"I'M NOT FUCKING ASKING, GLADYS. SEND ME YOUR LOCATION AND GET YOUR ASS OUTSIDE NOW."

The line clicked off and I huffed. Now I was not only deaf from listening to him scream but I lost my fun buzz. And I still had to go find Jesse and explain the situation.

Frowning, I dropped a location pin to Ben and then shuffled out into the crowd to find Jesse.

It took a few minutes of weaving through the crowd and poking around to find her. Literally, everyone was taller than me, which made it so much harder to see through a crowd.

I finally spotted her on the back edge of the dance floor. She was all over a shorter, stocky man. They were feeling each other up and making out.

Crap.

I didn't want to interrupt but I couldn't just leave without saying anything.

Sighing, I marched up to the doting couple and cleared my throat. They, of course, couldn't hear me over the mind-numbing blast of dance music.

I decided to just bite the bullet since standing beside a couple making out just looked creepy. I tapped on Jesse's shoulder.

She unplugged her mouth from her partner's and they both gave me a misty look.

"Sorry!" I yelled over the raucous. "I just have to head out. Are you okay? Need a ride?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine. See you Monday?"

I smiled and nodded. "Have fun!"

They went right back to licking each other's faces off, so I turned and bolted for the door. The crowd only seemed to be getting denser as the night carried on.