‘Cunt?’ I offer.
‘Raging haemorrhoid!’ Lina yells. Creative, I’ll give her that.
‘I’ll second that. Production are going to come down on you like a ton of bricks, you know that?’
‘We’ll weather it together,’ Cobey says, and I’m glad that my instincts that he’s a nice dude were right.
‘Priya might be able to help you,’ I say, remembering she’s some kind of lawyer. ‘Are you in touch already?’
She shakes her head, so I make her give me her phone so I can follow Priya’s Instagram account from her own. It’s quite bad that in the time I’ve had my phone, when I’m supposedly not working, I’ve hunted down everyone’s socials. No surprise that I found Zack following some truly vile content creators.
‘Next question, how are we going to get you out of here?’ I pick up the mic packs, make sure they are off and wrap the loose wires around them.
‘You don’t think we can sneak out through the kitchen or something?’ Lina asks.
‘Not without them seeing.’ I go into one of the stalls and wedge the two packs behind the toilet. ‘You need time to go and clear out your flat with Zack. Do you have keys?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘You’ve thought about this a lot,’ Cobey says to me.
I wash my hands thoroughly because I’ve touched too much floor and toilet area for my liking. ‘I’m always looking for an exit,’ I say, a little too honestly.
I look past them to the window. We’re on the ground floor, after all.
The latch is stiff, but the frosted glass slides with a little encouragement so there’s just enough space for them to climb out.
‘There. It’ll be a wiggle, but you can do it.’
Cobey goes first, sliding through like he’s going down a water slide. He lands with a healthy thud, but his face reappears ready for him to guide Lina through. She’s so small that I have to give her a boost up onto the ledge.
The look she gives Cobey has love written all over it. There’s no embarrassment or hesitation or fear or disconnection like her face has shown in turn over the last few days. This is the kind of love that’ll keep her safe.
She’s halfway through the window when she turns back to me. ‘Thank you, for everything.’
‘I just undid a window. You made the choice. Go, live happily.’
‘Dolly,’ she says, wariness in her voice. ‘Just… don’t trust Bridget, okay?’
‘What do you mean?’ I ask.
‘I—’
The bathroom door starts to open and Lina makes theleap, gone before Bridget herself even notices as she just goes straight into the stall.
‘You alright, babes?’ she asks, mid-stream.
‘Yeah,’ I say, Lina’s words still hanging over me. ‘Just getting some fresh air.’
‘Fresh is not what I’d call it.’
I take the opportunity to top up my lipstick, needing something to do with my hands. ‘You seen Carys?’
The toilet flushes. ‘She was outside earlier, I think? Probably doing an interview.’ She washes her hands a little too quickly for my liking. ‘You sure you’re alright?’
‘Just missing my mum,’ I say, a little surprised when the truth slides out of my mouth.
She pats me on the shoulder. ‘You’ll see her at the wedding, right? Only a few days to go.’
