Just One Week

Jenny wasn’t sure why she was at this club. She had been perfectly happy in her hotel room, curled up in bed with her laptop, watching Netflix while eating chips from the vending machine and drinking the mini bottle of wine she’d bought from the gas station on the corner, but her fellow class attendees had dragged her out to “see the sights,” and now, here she was. “Seeing the sights” of Sixth Street in downtown Austin, Texas. She hated clubs. She hated drinking in public, and loud music, and dark bars, and music so loud you could feel it throbbing in your very bones. Most especially, she hated crowds of people pressing in on every side of you. The smells of them, the sweat and body odor and clashing colognes and perfumes and hair products.

She cowered in the chair of the high-top table they’d managed to grab when another group had vacated a few minutes after they’d arrived, to the nasty glares of a third group who’d been circling it like vultures. Tables were few and far between in this club, their latest stop on their trip down Sixth Street. Colby, the lone man in their group, stood, since the table only had three chairs, while Brooke and Sandra sat, sipping their drinks.

“We wanna dance,” Brooke shouted, her mouth next to Jenny’s ear. “Will you be ok here with our purses?”

Jenny just nodded, knowing saying anything was pointless. She gave two thumbs up for emphasis. Colby and the women grinned, and she watched as the women carefully dismounted, smoothing their skirts down and patting their hair. Brooke reached over to adjust the fake marigold flower carefully pinned in Sandra’s dark curls before the three of them disappeared into the crush of people on what the club called a dance floor.

They were all in town for a training class, something their company held every six months for new people to their position, whether newly hired or newly promoted. There were about twenty people from all over the country in Austin taking the class, and Jenny was the youngest, just out of college. The oldest was about fifteen years older. None of them had known each other before, but that didn’t matter. They’d been enjoying each other’s company had bonded quickly, even after only a week. They’d all gone out for dinner, but then the older half had decided to go back to the hotel for the night and the younger half had headed downtown. Jenny had tried to sneak back to the hotel but had wound up here. Well, not right away. This was the third place. They’d lost people along the way to other places when they’d met more interesting company.

At the first place, a bar actually called The Library, there had been literal bookshelves lined with real books. Jenny had been thrilled and had climbed to the second floor and lost herself in perusing the shelves, even found one of interest that she’d pulled out and started reading, forgetting that she was in a bar with a drink on the table beside her. She’d gotten left behind and when her phone rang in her purse, she hadn’t heard it the first couple of times. She’d finally noticed it and answered to frantic and panicked voices. They’d thought she’d been kidnapped and sold into sex trafficking.

So now, they were all determined to keep a much closer eye on her. It seemed to her, that was hard to do when they were all on the dance floor and she was here, alone, at the table and watching their purses.

She sipped her vodka cranberry with a sigh. She was tired. She wanted to get back to her Netflix and bed, check some work emails, maybe take a long bath. She unhooked her heels from the bar on the chair and let her feet dangle towards the floor but couldn’t touch. She pointed her toes to stretch her legs and debated trying to find her friends and telling them she was leaving and just getting a cab back to the hotel herself. She was an adult, after all, even though she didn’t quite feel like it.

She looked up, startled, when the table jostled and saw Brooke and Sandra grabbing their purses and laughing. Their faces and skin were covered with a sheen of sweat from dancing and they looked like they were having a great time. They motioned to the back of the bar. When Jenny turned, she saw the neon sign indicating that was where the bathrooms were. They raised their eyebrows at her in question and she shook her head. She motioned towards the door and mimed going to bed. Brooke looked concerned.

“Are you sure?” she mouthed.

Jenny nodded and tapped her wrist. “It’s late.”

Sandra shrugged, then came around the table and gave her a hug and put her mouth against her ear. “Text us when you get there,” she shouted.

Jenny nodded, relieved they weren’t going to try to talk her out of it. “Tell Colby,” she shouted back.

The girls nodded they would, then disappeared through the crowd towards the bathrooms.

Jenny finished the last of her drink, then slid out of her chair. She widened her eyes, surprised at how wobbly she was. She hadn’t realized how strong the drink was until she stood up. She braced herself on the table for a moment, grabbing her purse and slinging it over her shoulder.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up, it was a man she’d never seen before, leaning over her and putting his mouth by her ear.

“Do you want to dance?” he shouted.

She shook her head when he pulled back, his hand still on her shoulder. She stepped back slightly, her body feeling unsteady from the alcohol she’d consumed all evening. It hadn’t been that much, right?

He didn’t let go of her shoulder, just moved with her, leaning closer. “Oh, come on, no one goes to a club and doesn’t want to dance.” He was smiling, leaning down over her, his face somewhat friendly, but it still felt menacing. He was sweaty, his hair stuck to his temples and the sides of his head in dark patches. The club was dark, so she couldn’t tell what color his hair or eyes were, or even his clothes. He was wearing jeans and a button up shirt open over a t-shirt that was damp with sweat. He smelled of body odor and some kind of men’s body spray. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

He moved so he was to her side, trapping her between him and the table. He slid his hand down her arm and to the small of her back and propelled her into the crowd. She looked around in a panic. She wasn’t exactly short, but she wasn’t really tall, either, and suddenly, she felt incredibly short. All the women here seemed like they were wearing sky high heels and the men all looked like trees. The man started to pull her against him, and she was overwhelmed by the smell of his body. She pushed against him again.

“I don’t…” she began, but her words were lost under the heavy thumping bass of the music. She couldn’t hear herself think, let alone speak. She tried to see the way out of the crowd, but she couldn’t. She was in the middle of it now, the man’s hand on her back. He wasn’t holding on to her, but she felt powerless to move. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. It was so dark, and there were so many people.

“Are you bothering my girl?”

The voice from above might as well have been an angel.

Jenny and the man both looked up. The man’s hand immediately dropped. Jenny quickly stepped closer to Colby, and he wrapped his arm around her protectively. She nearly melted with relief. She felt like crying.

“Nah, man, she didn’t say anything about having a boyfriend.” The man held up his hands defensively. “Sorry.”

“Did she say she wanted to dance?” Colby demanded, drawing himself up to his imposing six-foot six-inch height. It seemed so much more imposing in the dark club with the strobe lights pulsing. The other man cringed.

“I mean,” he glanced at Jenny for help, but she didn’t say anything. She looked up at Colby.

“Can we just go?” she said it softly, there was no way he actually heard it, but he must have known she said it.

Ten minutes later, the four were outside, waiting for a cab, Brooke and Sandra alternately fussing over Jenny, praising Colby, and cussing out the guy inside. Jenny was shaking uncontrollably.

“I don’t know why I’m shaking,” she muttered. “I’m not cold.”

“You’re coming down off of a panic attack, babe,” Sandra soothed, hugging her tightly. “Have you never had one before?”

Jenny shook her head and carefully sipped from a water bottle Colby silently handed her. “No. I hate to ruin your night. Just…get me in the cab and you three go on. I’ll be ok.”

She sensed them exchange looks over her head.

“Uh, no. We are not putting you in a cab like a load of dirty laundry. Please. We have some decency. We’ll go back to the hotel and pile on your bed and watch whatever ridiculous Netflix show you’ve been watching.”

Jenny’s face warmed. “You really don’t have to. It’s nearly midnight.”

“Oh, then we should probably stop for food first,” Colby said. “I’m starving. You feel up for food first?”

The three looked at her expectantly.

Jenny did a quick self-assessment. She was exhausted. She could probably sleep all day tomorrow if she tried. But food sounded excellent.

“Food. Then hotel and Netflix,” she decided. “Well, you don’t have to Netflix with me. I may not have the stamina for Netflix.”

“We can Netflix tomorrow. Oh!” Brooke looked excited. “I want to go to that pool that’s a spring! There shouldn’t be any creepy guys there.”

Sandra rolled her eyes as the cab pulled up. “Seriously? There are always creepy guys at pools.”

Jenny grinned as she climbed into the cab, sliding over to sit beside Brooke. “At least we have Colby, our giant protector.”

Colby grinned at her over his shoulder, buckling into the front seat. “I’m going to put that on my next business card.”

“You absolutely should.” Jenny yawned. “Wake me when we get wherever we’re going.” She laid her head on Brooke’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She felt someone touching her head. She opened one eye and saw Sandra’s arms hovering over her face. “What are you doing?”

“You need the marigold.”

“Don’t they symbolize like, despair and mourning?” Jenny asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

“Well, in modern western culture, they symbolize positive emotions and energy. And you need some right now.”

Jenny smiled and let Sandra finish pinning the marigold in her hair. It probably looked ridiculous with the red and blue top she was wearing, but who care. It was good to have friends looking out for you. Even if she’d only known them for one week.

When she was done, Sandra took her hand and squeezed it, and didn’t let go for the rest of the car ride.