Too bad it was impossible to let my mind rest while the restaurant was so slow. So quiet I could hear my heart racing as my mind thought up all the ways my happiness could shatter. It was enough to make me want a drink or smoke a joint to chill the fuck out. Preferably both.
Harlow sidled up to me at the counter. “I cannot believe how dead it is in here,” she complained, clearly oblivious to my self-destructive thoughts. “You should ask Pervy Pete if we can get out of here early.”
Bailing on work early sounded like a fantastic idea, but I asked, “Why do you want me to ask him?”
“Because he’s super nice to you. Ever since your boyfriend came in that one day and got you your job back, the perv’s been bending over backwards to accommodate you and your new singing career.”
Harlow was smiling, but her words and tone cut. Until that moment, I didn’t realize she knew about Bones getting my job back. Wondering if anyone else in the restaurant knew, I analyzed her tone. She sounded almost jealous or resentful about it, which was weird since Harlow was the closest thing I had to a friend at work. All the rest of the girls were catty and competitive whereas Harlow had always had a don’t-give-a-shit attitude that I admired.
Shocked and hurt that she’d join the ranks of the catty and competitive, I stared at her. “I didn’t ask him for special treatment. I don’t even want it. I didn’t even want my job back, but Bones… he’s protective and he thought it was shitty of the perv to cut me loose for taking care of my sister.”
“That was a shitty thing to do,” Harlow said, whacking herself in the forehead. “And what I just said was completely bitchy. I’m sorry, Ari. I know you’re not some wannabe princess who wants special treatment, and I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just… ugh. Do you think the holidays bring out the bitch in everyone? Or is it just me? Why the fuck are we still playing Christmas music in here? Isn’t it time to get past this shit?”
I smiled, glad to have her back to the same ole’ Harlow. “Too much goddamn holiday cheer isn’t good for anyone.”
“No, it’s not, but that doesn’t excuse my behavior. You should let me make it up to you. Get us out of here early and I’ll buy you a stiff drink somewhere with anti-Christmas music.”
I hesitated.
“Come on, Ari, one drink. We never hang out outside of work, and I’d really like to.”
And maybe it was time for me to find some female friends and stop worrying about putting a label on me and Bones. Time to find friends who could keep me busy, so I didn’t miss him so much while he was gone. Grinning at Harlow, I pushed away from the counter. “I’ll go talk to Pervy Pete and see what I can do.”
She grinned back at me. “And then we’ll drinkallthe alcohol.”
I had to hand it to her, a drink sounded damn good. Working up what I planned to say to Pervy Pete, I was surprised when he said we could get off early before the request even fully left my mouth. I texted Bones to let him know I was going to hang out with Harlow for a while and wouldn’t need a ride. Then we climbed into her little black Mazda.
“So, which bar do you think plays the most anti-Christmas music?” I asked, putting on my seatbelt.
Harlow grabbed my arm and I felt a pinch. I looked down in time to see her slide a needle out of my arm. The syringe was empty. She capped the needle and dropped it in her purse.
My brain looked from my arm to her purse, refusing to process what had just happened. “Did you just…? What the…? Why would you…? What the fuck was that?” I asked, finally forming a sentence.
“That was just me getting the party started early.”
Whatever she’d given me was strong and fast-acting. My head felt fuzzy, my tongue felt thick, and thoughts of the last time someone had injected me with something—the time I’d almost died—had me panicking.
“Why?” I asked.
“Sorry,” Harlow said with a shrug. “But I’m gettin’ really sick of waiting tables and you’re worth a lot of money.”
Before I could tell her she must be mistaken, everything went black.
***
Bones
“Ari got off early, but she’s gonna go hang out with a friend,” I said, reading her text. “With some broad named Harlow. She ever talk about Harlow before?”
“Yep,” Markie said from the sofa where she sat with Angel in front of the Christmas tree, watching some sappy Christmas movie. Every time I popped in they were watching a different holiday snoozer, and I felt bad for Angel and glad that work gave me an excuse to get the hell out of there.
“Harlow’s a coworker. Ari refers to her as ‘the goth one’,” Markie added, her attention still on the television.
If Harlow was such a great friend, why hadn’t Ariana ever mentioned her to me before? We talked about all kinds of shit. “Do you know if they’ve ever hung out before?”
Markie shook her head. “I don’t think so. Harlow’s pretty new. I think Ari said she started right before I went into the hospital. Well, at least now you don’t have to pick her up.”
I glanced at Angel and saw my own worries staring back at me. My friend knew me well enough to understand that I had a bad feeling about this. My instincts were solid, and I’d learned long ago to trust them. Right now, my instincts were telling me that Ariana shouldn’t be out with anyone I hadn’t done a full background check on.
