Blind Spot

Chapter 2 - Shiny on the Inside

Rosie walked the three blocks to a bar that was jam packed with twenty-somethings, all with drinks in their hands. She'd never gotten into the bar scene but she could see where it would be fun for people. She watched through the plate glass as girls her age laughed and flirted, all of them having fun, animated conversations.

When she opened the door, she got blasted with a wave of noise, her skin prickling with awareness of the people around her. Their auras melded together, swirling around her and creating a buzz inside her head that made her temples pound. The can lights were so bright her eyes burned and she wondered how she'd ever be able to carry on a conversation.

"Hey! There you are." Wendy appeared and pulled her into the bar.

"I grabbed a table. I thought I'd see when you got here. Sorry."

Rosie let herself be pulled to a high-top table, Wendy sitting across from her. "You look great. How do you always look so great?"

"I clean toilets for a living," Rosie replied, narrowing her eyes at Wendy. "I'm sure I don't even come close to great. Are you trying to butter me up?"

Wendy waved the comment away. "Have you ever been here?"

"No," she replied. Wendy had to have known without asking.

"I think now's a great time to just lay the cards out on the table." Rosie looked to the seat next to her and held in an eye-roll.

Grandma Murphy.

The woman was relentless.

A group of women behind them burst out laughing, the noise deafening and joyous. All Rosie felt was seething jealousy. When she turned to look she realized it was a bachelorette party, and although they were all smiling, someone in that group was not happy. Rosie's head swam with spite and hate, an angry red aura cloud surrounding her.

"Rosie?" Wendy asked. "You okay? All of a sudden you don't look so good. You're sweating and pale."

The care and concern coming from Wendy was nearly enough to overpower the group behind her but the red just kept creeping in.

"It's okay," Rosie told her.

The waiter appeared at the table then, a man in a shirt and tie smiling and saying all the right things. A muted grey energy surrounded his body, his sadness creeping up the back of Rosie's neck, like bugs trapped under her skin. Even after he walked away, she noticed a black spot emanating from his midsection.

She knew what it meant.

He was sick. She wondered if he knew.

"Oh, Rosie, you're bleeding." Wendy jumped up and moved to her side of the table.

She'd known it was a possibility. It wasn't the first time being in a large crowd affected her and it wouldn't be the last. Quickly grabbing her napkin and pressing it to her nose she waved Wendy away.

"It's okay. I'm alright. Sit down."

"C'mon. It's not okay. We're leaving."

"No, I'm fine. It's just a bloody nose."

Eventually, her boss sat opposite her, but looked like she might jump up and drag her out of the bar at any moment.

"What the hell is going on?" Wendy asked.

"You're the one who invited me here. What's going on with you? What did you want to talk about?"

"Yeah, right," Wendy scowled. "Like I'd ever let it go that easily."