Grey Gods

Chapter Twenty-Five - Lemon Haze

Lana:

As soon as I'm back at my apartment, I wash my hands. I take off my rings and wash them, too. I use a brush and scrub underneath my fingernails and still see blood, but I think my vision is slightly distorted.

I fling open the fridge, grab my Brita pitcher and pour myself a glass of water. I drink it all, refill my cup, drink that down, and feel the tension in my shoulders ease, but only a little.

Now that I'm alone, I feel myself falling into a weird tangle of sadness that I know isn't real, so I take a shower. I don't bother turning on the lights. I turn on my Bluetooth speaker and get under the warm spray, distracted.

I hope everything is okay with Angel.

I miss him, and I have a hard time deciphering if it's the little butterfly pill making me miss him...or if it's just me.

I wash off what little makeup I wore today, lather up my body with soap, exfoliate my hands – just to be sure they're clean – and get out before I use up all the hot water. I feel like I could've stayed in there for an hour, drowning in my worried thoughts.

I dry off and throw on a large black T-shirt with a tiny white Playboy bunny logo on the chest, and spandex shorts that made my butt look amazing. I turn around and look at my reflection in my bathroom mirror, and then I moisturize my face and lotion up my arms and legs.

I think back on the night, going over every detail in my mind. And what my thoughts keep circling back to are those duffel bags.

When I saw how many there were...the enormity of Angel's business hit me like a bus. I have no idea how I feel about it. My morals aren't exactly shouting oh he's bad, stay away from him, drugs are bad! But maybe tomorrow once I get some sleep, I can think about it with a fresh mind, because right now, I don't exactly care. I just want his...transaction to go smoothly.

I've seen different sides of Angel. I've seen him pensive, vulnerable, happy, angry, and standoffish, but tonight was the first time I'd seen him anxious. I want to call him and make sure he's okay. He doesn't have my number, but I have his.

Before I overthink it, I grab my phone off my charger and search my contacts. I don't see his name in the A's, so I search the C's in case he made his contact under Constantine, but I doubted he'd do that. He put his number in my phone before I knew his real name. I don't have a lot of contacts, so it doesn't take me long to find him.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I laugh out loud and hit the call button.

"You better be someone I know." he answers.

"Or what will you do, Sexy Spanish Gangster?"

Angel's voice sounded both tired and relieved.

"Vampira."

"Just want to make sure you're okay."

"I am. I'm about to meet my guy now. He's a little sketched out about the shooting, so I had to drive out to a different location. I'm forty minutes away."

"Are you alone?"

"Nah, Diego is with me."

"Oh, good."

"You tired?"

"No. Are you?"

"No. But I am getting kind of hungry."

I was getting hungry too. We ate those burritos hours ago, and probably burned off all the calories just from making out.

"I'm kind of hungry, too."