Chapter Thirteen
The doorto my suite bursts open without so much as a knock. I turn from my spot on the terrace in time to see Chloe barreling through the doors, her face contorted into a grimace of concern.
“Dude! What the actual fuck!” She plunks down on the settee beside me and throws her arms around my shoulders in a bone-crushing hug. She’s surprisingly strong for such a thin girl.
“Hello to you, too,” I say, chuckling lightly as I return her embrace.
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She pulls back to peer into my eyes. “Um, maybe because some whack job attacked you today?”
“How do you know about that?”
“It’s all over the news.Crazed man spits on beloved princess. Country up in arms.They have video footage from the scene and everything. He got you pretty good, from what I could tell.” Her nose wrinkles as she scans my face — presumably for signs of saliva. “You did take a shower afterward, right?”
I roll my eyes. “Your concern is deeply touching.”
“Look, I just don’t want you winding up with some weird spit-related STD. This could be a new form of biomedical warfare. You never know.”
I shake my head, exasperated. “I showered, okay? And I highly doubt the spitter was that sophisticated. He’s probably some disgruntled former Lancaster employee out for revenge or a disenchanted expat with too much time on his hands.”
“Even so — he never should’ve gotten that close to you. This is exactly why we don’t talk to the peasants, E.”
“You sound like Marie Antionette.”
She grins. “Frankly, I think she got a bad rap. She wanted to let them eatcake! Is that so terrible?”
I elbow her in the side. “I know you’re joking, but it’s still not funny.”
“Just trying to turn that frown upside down.”
“Good luck with that.”
“You have been rather down lately, now that I think about it.” Her eyes narrow. “Anything you want to tell me? Anything going on I should be aware of?”
“Nothing jumps out,” I lie.
“Mmm.Wait! I know something that’ll cheer you up.” Her eyes twinkle as she reaches into the pocket of her thin maroon sweater and fishes out a handful of pills. There are about ten of them, all different shapes, sizes, and colors. “Pick your poison.”
“Chloe.”
“What? Don’t give me that look.”
“You’re walking around with half a pharmacy in your pocket! Do you even know what those are? What they do?”
“The little white ones make you chill. The little orange ones make you focus. And the little blue ones…” Her eyebrows waggle. “Well, those won’t do much of anything for you or me, but they certainly come in handy when you’re dating an older man.”
“Ew.”
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, E. Silver foxes are a hell of a lot better between the sheets than college frat boys, I’ll tell you that much.”
“I think I’ll stick with my own choices, thanks.”
“If by that you mean celibacy…”
“Hey! Lay off. I’ve been on three dates this week alone.”