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“Believe me, I know that all too well,” Hannah said. “Me and Nikolai didn’t exactly come out of the gate knowing what the hell we were doing.”
I laughed, remembering many of Hannah and Nikolai’s miscommunications from the beginning of their relationship.
“What’s so funny?” I heard Delaney’s voice say from behind me.
“Hey, have a seat,” I said, pulling out a chair for her. She’d already gotten coffee and a scone.
“Thanks,” she said brightly, sitting down next to me.
“Delaney, this is my sister, Hannah. Hannah, Delaney.”
“Hello,” Hannah said, extending her hand to Laney.
“So nice to meet you!” Laney said enthusiastically, shaking her hand.
“Same,” Hannah said with a smile. It is physically impossible not to smile in Laney’s presence.
We fell into conversation about our classes. Hannah advised on which professors to avoid because they were either really hard graders or had brutal attendance policies.
“Professor Flemming really locks the door? Like he locks people out?” Laney gasped in shock.
Hannah nodded her head. “Yep. Total hardass,” she replied. Her attention was diverted by her ringing phone. It was funny to hear a phone actually ringing—did anyone call anyone anymore? Hannah held up a finger and started talking softly, mentioning that she was meeting with me and Delaney and that she would call whoever it was back later.
Laney looked at me, still reeling from the idea of being locked out of a class. “Isn’t that, like, a fire hazard? If everyone is locked out, aren’t the students locked in?”
Before I could respond, I was distracted by Hannah. The phone call had started friendly enough, but now she looked furious and panicked, asking the person on the other end of the line question after question.
“Why is he there?” she asked.
Pause.
“Can you see who he’s with? Who he’s talking to? Do you know anything about it?”
Another pause. As Hannah listened, lines formed over her eyes and her mouth tightened with distress.
“Hannah, what’s going on? Are you okay?” I asked, feeling anxiety building in my gut just watching her.
“I’m going down there,” she said then ended the call.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“Katya. Ever since that…incident at the Trinity Club, they’ve installed monitors in Drago’s office so he can keep an eye on the place. When she was at his office she saw Nikolai on the monitors.”
“Wait, what? Where?”
“At the Trinity Club!” Hannah snapped. “Sorry, I don’t mean to yell at you. I’m just…I don’t even know what. I’m completely spinning out. Will you go down with me? I have to go there.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Isn’t that place a strip club?” Delaney asked.
“Uh, yes, basically,” I replied awkwardly.
“Can I come?” Delaney asked. Though her brown eyes were sparkling with intrigue, they also had compassion in equal measure.
I looked at Hannah. It was her choice.
She shrugged, clearly not putting much attention to Laney’s request. “Sure, I might need some girls around me to hand me tissues and get me drunk if this doesn’t go well.”