Mary tries to stand, like she’s going to come over here, and hug me or something.
But I hold up a finger.
Enter second wind.
“Not done.”
I sniff and straighten my shoulders.
“See, because it turns out the break-ins?Real.The danger?Also real.And the person behind it all?My asshole of a brother, Marco, who apparently decided to dip his stupid toes into cybercrime and espionage and then he was actually going tosell meto some fucking lunatic who then got murdered in front of me by a big, scary Russian, who was about to kill me too, when in comes said bodyguard, who kills the Russian?—”
“Kills him?”
“Yup, shoots him,bang bang—and don’t feel bad because that jerk deserved it.Anyway, he rescues me, big blockbuster ending, carrying me and everything—but then,big fucking POOF, he vanishes into thin air.He’s just gone.”
“And?”
“And then, I’m alone in a strange clinic for two very long days.My clothes are gone.No one comes to see me but my doctors and nurses.So, I leave.”
My voice is rising, tears threatening again.
“And now?Now I find out my accounts are frozen by the goddamn government, which means I am broke.Flat broke.Like—me and my thirty-five Target mugs broke.And I don’t even have a fucking gas card!”
Mary blinks.
“You have like three mugs with cats that sayNot Today, Satanon them.”
“AND I LOVE THEM.But they won’t get full by themselves!”
I sit back down, face in my hands.
Mary doesn’t say anything for a second.
Then she lowers herself next to me, her voice gentle.
“Okay.Look.Yes, this is bad.But it’s not unsolvable.”
“Isn’t it though?”
“No.Because you have me.And you’re not alone, Sabrina.You’re safe now.Nobody’s gonna hurt you again.”
I shake my head.
“He left me, Mary.”
Mary frowns.“Who?The bodyguard?”
“Yeah.He left.Said he was trying to protect me or some bullshit, but the second I needed him, he wasn’t there.And I’m sorry, but what kind of man does that?”
“A stupid one,” Mary says instantly.
That makes me snort through my tears.
“Stupid, hot, emotionally unavailable men are a plague,” she continues.“It’s why I think we should date women now.”
“But I like dick.”
“Me too,” she says sympathetically.
