One More Night

13

In all the times Margo had found herself in Tilt, she had never been inside the women's bathroom - or any of the bathrooms, really. She washed her hands as she looked into the circular mirror framed by cheetah-print wallpaper and stared herself down in the yellow light of the lamps hanging on both sides of the mirror.

What she saw staring back was a woman who hadn't had enough vodka cran's and had too much dignity left over, especially since she had been pining over a man who took two weeks to text her. It had been two weeks, and still, there was radio silence. Margo tried to occupy her thoughts as she washed her hands, and they trailed back to the dark-haired man with the hard eyes.

She shook her head and stared at her coal-lined eyes. She lined her lips once more and applied more lip gloss. She wouldn't be kissing anyone tonight, so the extra stickier, the better. Sighing, she adjusted her leggings and long-sleeved crop top. She had started her cycle and felt it kicking her ass especially hard.

Since Margo wasn't in a relationship and didn't plan on being in one any time soon, she stayed off birth control. It was one thing when she was having sex with her abuser; she didn't want to get pregnant with his kid, but now that she was single, she realized she didn't actually need it. So there she was, in a fancy club in leggings, walking out of the bathroom, when the man she had seen here numerous times greeted her again.

Carter approached her from the side as she smiled up at him. He had grown his beard more since she last saw him two weeks ago. She thought that it suited him.

"Hey!" she exclaimed and hugged him as the scent of his cologne overwhelmed her. She was sensitive to scents, which is why she always appreciated it when she saw Rio. She thought to herself that he never overcompensated with scents - probably due to him wanting to be unrecognizable for crime. She promptly shook herself out of whatever thought process she had started.

"Funny seeing you here," he hugged her back.

"Yeah, how funny. How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?" he shouted back into her ear as the loud bass shook the room.

Margo had been unable to DJ, unlike the last time she had been there. That fact had disappointed her, but she was almost positive that if she bought the DJ a drink he'd concede to her offer.

Alas, her theory wouldn't be tested that night as she hadn't planned on even showing up.

"I'm okay," she lamented. "I'm here to pick up my friend. She got too drunk too fast."

Her 'friend' wasn't actually her friend. She was Robert's newest girlfriend, and though the two had grown a liking toward one another, Margo wasn't sure it would last. However, Margo didn't want to burst the other's bubble, so she picked up Robert's new conquest to drive her the twenty minutes home.

"Don't you live quite a ways away?"

She shrugged, "I was in the area."

And she was, but not because she wanted to be. Margo had to meet with a record dealer in the city, but he was creepy. Still, she had to go, but not before Rachel asked Margo to pick her up. Instead of meeting him somewhere residential, she asked him to meet her at Tilt while she dealt with the redhead Robert had picked up.

"Ah, makes sense, I guess."

"I had to pick up a few records, so I'm having him meet me here. He's a bit creepy, so I was glad. He's about five minutes out, so I must grab her quickly."

"I'll join you."

She nodded and grabbed his hand as she weaved through the crowd to the VIP section she knew Robert liked to frequent. From her spot on the dance floor, she saw the pretty redhead dance along to the beat, then almost fell as her ankle gave out.