But reality asserted itself around me—the sound of music, the chatter of conversation, the smell of perfume—from behind the closed door. It was then that I opened my eyes, breaking the spell.
Jared was staring back at me, and I wasn’t sure what he could see. Confusion? Want? Excitement? I started to worry he could feel the rapid pulsing of my heart through my hands, so I yanked them away from his neck, startling him. My eyes had gone wide with alarm, or panic, I wasn’t sure, but Jared’s remained steadfast and stern.
“I’ve always been the afterthought in every single relationship I have ever been in,” I said. “I’m so sorry I’ve treated you the same way.”
“Shhhh,” Jared whispered.
Removing my hands from around his neck had caused him to pull his away also, but I felt them again now, his fingertips reaching for my waist as if to draw me nearer. I didn’t stop him.
“If there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you overthink things,” he said, “So, maybe just don’t think right now. You don’t even have to speak. Just go out there and dance with me.”
“I want to. Really, I do.”
“Don’t tell me there’s a but…”
“No, there isn’t. There really isn’t. Could you just wait for me at the bar?”
“Okay… where are you going?”
“I just need to go freshen up. I promise, I’ll be right back.”
Jared released me from his soft grip. “Alright,” he said, “But I’ll only be there five minutes.”
I nodded. “Five minutes. I’ll be right back, I swear.”
When he let me go completely, I took the chance to spin around and move as quickly as I could out of the bedroom and down the hall, into the closest bathroom that wasn’t occupied. My heart was racing, my head was throbbing, and my hands were starting to feel clammy and cold. Why had I left? To freshen up? Not even he had believed that, I was sure.
I shut the door, then headed straight for the sink where, gripping either side of it, I stared at my own reflection in the mirror. My cheeks were burning, my lips were quivering, my legs were trembling, and all I could think about was ‘oh how the mighty have fallen’. I had been so quick to wrestle him away from Jennifer, so confident when I gave him the choice of me or her, and then so broken when he didn’t take things as I had wanted him to.
And now here I was, melting into a pool of myself.
This wasn’t at all like the last time we had kissed. The last time we had kissed, really kissed, had been in my own house, but the kiss was wrapped in confusion and vulnerability. It was no way to start anything. But now I was here, trembling and giddy, and Jared was waiting for me outside. I had to get a grip and make a choice, and I had to make it fast or lose my chance.
CHAPTER NINE
I decided to actually freshen up while I was still in the bathroom. Kissing Jared had caused a slight sheen of sweat on my forehead, which I promptly dabbed away with a paper towel, but nothing I could do in here would help me get past the well of emotions the kiss had tapped into and brought to the surface.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted him to kiss him; of course I had. I just hadn’t expected it to happen so suddenly, so quickly, and for it to be so powerful. The truth was, I now felt as though the passionate kiss we shared back at my place had happened only yesterday—a kiss which may have led to more if I had only let it. I didn’t know what the hell to do with those feelings.
Bury them? Dismiss them? Mull them over?
Maybe Jared was right; maybe I was overthinking, and all I had to do was go back and talk to him. Dance with him. Maybe have another drink with him… maybe kiss him some more. It sounded like such a simple idea, so why couldn’t I just walk up to that bathroom door and head back into the main room?
The answer to the question eluded me, but my five minutes were almost over, and unless I wanted to screw everything up, I had to get out there, find Jared, and talk to him at least. I had to find out what this meant and where it was going. But the moment I turned my neck to face the bathroom door, a sharp pain struck the side of my head.
I shut my eyes, gritted my teeth, and bowed my head as a burning needle-like pain tore through my brain. When I opened my eyes again and stared into the bottom of the sink, I saw little droplets of blood beginning to drip, pool, and drain against the white ceramic. I drew a finger across my nose and it came back red. When I checked myself out in the mirror, the blood dripping out of my right nostril was impossible to ignore.
I scrambled for more paper towels, trying to staunch the bleeding as best I could, but the pain assaulting the side of my head was causing me to shake, was blurring my vision, and making it difficult for me to think. Then I heard a prominent click coming from the bathroom door. At first, I thought someone had come inside, but the door was closed and the bathroom was empty.
I marched toward it, with a ball of paper towels pressed against my nose, and tried the door, but it wouldn’t open. I tried it again, this time more forcefully, but the door wouldn’t budge. The latch on the inside hadn’t been drawn, but the door itself had been locked. The pain in the side of my head pulsed stronger. I squeezed my eyes shut tight and backed into a wall, holding my head with one hand and my nose with the other. The whole room was spinning now, and my ears had started to ring, but I was locked in here and I had to get out.
Stretching my right arm in front of myself and opening my palm, I bid magick to come forth from within me and turn the locking mechanism on the door, but nothing happened. I breathed in short, quick breaths and tried again, but the lock wouldn’t turn. What was worse, I didn’t think the magick was even manifesting. It was like whenever I reached for my power, I was met with pins and needles. Static.
I grabbed my phone from my purse, dropping the ball of bloody paper towels on the floor and quickly dialled Nicole’s number. As I waited for her to answer, more crimson droplets fell from my nose, striking the white tiles at my feet. The nose bleed was relentless, as were the pain and the static. When Nicole didn’t answer, the cold hand of dread caressed my back, causing me to shiver all over.
Something wasn’t right about this.
I began to look for Jared’s number when my search was cut short by a chorus of ear piercing screams coming from outside. The sound woke me up from whatever trance the pain had put me in, and I shot bolt upright, my phone tightly gripped in my hand and my knuckles whitening. Whoever had screamed, the sound had ripped through the hallway like a flash fire and set my nerves alight.