As Alice and Lara walked out of the hallway leading to Susan’s office
and back into the club, Alice shook her arm free of Lara’s grasp. “If I
thought there was the slightest chance you’d come to rescue me, I’d be
thanking you again, Lara.” Her eyes darkened as she stared up at the
taller redhead. “But you were here to get in Susan’s face. I was just a
convenience, wasn’t I?”

“So what if you were?” Lara answered coldly, her head snapping to look
at Alice. “The point is, you’re not in Susan’s clutches now and you
have me to thank for it.” Lara said with an airy voice.

Alice thought back to what she felt as Susan leaned in and kissed her,
the way her body responded to Susan’s hands, lips, tongue. To tell the
truth, she wasn’t all that happy to be rescued, but now wasn’t the time
to argue that point with Lara.

“Very well. Thank you, Lara, for rescuing me from Susan. Twice. Now, if
you don’t mind, I’m going to sit down and get pleasantly sloshed before
I write this story. Join me if you’d like. I can at least buy you a
drink.” With that, Alice stalked away and slid into a nearby booth,
raising her hand to flag down a server. “Bloody Mary, tall. Two of
them. And keep them coming,” Alice ordered, fishing in her bag for her
wallet.

Lara slid into onto the bench opposite Alice and ordered wine. The two
women sat there in silence, music pounding in the background, ignoring
the conversation and laughter all around them, until the server brought
their drinks. Alice downed half of hers in the time it took Lara to
take two sips of the crisp white wine. “So?” Lara finally asked, one
eyebrow raised in questioning look.

“So what?” Alice snapped back, gulping the rest of her first Bloody
Mary and reaching for the second. The server, standing attentively
nearby, whisked away the empty glass and headed to the bar for refills.

“What’s the burr up your *****, Alice? You’re not just your usual snarky
self. Something’s bugging you. So what is it?” Lara half asked, half
ordered.

Alice rolled her eyes and sighed. “I can’t believe you would even have
to ask me that, Lara.” She shook her head, started on her second drink,
and tried to think of a tactful way to start. The ***** with tact, she’d
be happy if she could even frame it in coherent words. “Everything is
bugging me! You, Tina and Shane, Jenny and Susan! Marina! Handing Jenny
over like that? All of it! It’s like I’ve tripped and fallen into some
alternative universe where every kind, loving, gentle person I know is
suddenly power tripping on pain or anger or some other weirdness. I
don’t understand it. And I don’t like it,” hissed Alice.