It's Up To You

Chapter 38

The bathroom was steamy from my shower. I took off my shower cap, dried myself then wrapped the towel around my body. My hand grasped the doorknob that was wet from condescension, making it quickly slip off.

"Come on, my hair is gonna get frizzy." I whispered, turning the knob again. It still wouldn't budge. Taking a piece of my towel, I wiped the water off the knob and tried it again.

Still wouldn't open.

With a pounding heart, I quickly began rattling the knob. "Hello!" I shouted out. Then, I began smacking the door. "Hello!"

Elvis usually dismisses The Help after six so that they could go home to their families. That meant Oscar wasn't around to hear my cries. I smacked the door more, I felt myself getting lightheaded from the humidity.

"Elvis." I shouted, but not as loud as before. Without a clock in the bathroom, I was unable to tell how much time had passed. I sat on the toilet, sweat rolling down my body. It was like a sauna inside of the bathroom.

"Priscilla?" I called out in a high pitched voice, hoping that she'd forget my words from earlier and hear me. "Priscilla!"

Still, nothing. Time slowly went by, the heat causing me to get more and more dizzy. I found it hard to keep my eyes open as I sat on that toilet. I tried standing and pacing the bathroom to keep myself awake, but that didn't help either.

Eventually, I stood on the toilet and opened the small bathroom window that was towards the ceiling. It didn't help much, but at least I got some fresh air.

It got to the point where I sat on the floor with my back leaned against the tub. The towel was still wrapped around my body, although any form of clothing made me hot.

The door swiftly opened.

"My gosh, it's like a rainforest in here." Priscilla waved the clouds of steam that poured out of the bathroom away. "What were you doing locked in here?"

"Lock in here?" I asked with risen eyebrows. "Why the hell would I purposely lock myself in the bathroom."

"Who knows." Priscilla shrugged with a sarcastic pout. "You know, while you were away, Elvis and I sat for hours talking. It reminded me of our time together in Germany."

"Trust me, if I was here, he'd be too occupied with other things." I weakly stood up from the floor, holding my towel to my body. Priscilla looked me up and down with a smirk.

"You do have a nice figure." She complimented. "Too bad your face doesn't match it."

"Will you get your rude little self out of the way?" I stepped towards the door. Then, I took another glance at the doorknob. "There isn't a lock on this door."

"There isn't?" Priscilla asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Well there must! Or else you wouldn't have such trouble getting out."

"If you knew I had trouble getting out, why didn't you open the door for me?" I asked her with furrowed eyebrows. Priscilla let out a laugh.

"Well, it's funny you see." Priscilla smiled as she pointed behind her. "I was in Elvis' bedroom and we thought we heard someone calling out but the music from downstairs was so loud we could barely hear."

"How convenient." I squinted at her.

"Actually, what was really convenient was when you weren't in the picture at all." Priscilla clasped her hands in front of her. "When Elvis and I are alone, we really get each other, you know? He doesn't spend his time getting upset over stupid things like records. He just buys new ones."

"Listen, I don't know what you think you're getting out of this but let me make this clear. I'm the lady of the house here and Elvis might get his kicks from having you around, but at the end of the day I'm his partner." I said in a low tone.

"It's sad when you have to use words like partner, right?" Priscilla wore a fake smile. "How long have you been together?"

"I don't have time for you and your little games." I tried to push past her and Priscilla shut the door on me a little bit. She looked at the other side of the door.

"Well, look at that." Priscilla observed. "There is a lock on the door. Who would put a lock on the outside of a bathroom?"

Now, I was furious. I quickly pushed the door, causing Priscilla to stumble back. She was shocked by my sudden anger, in her eyes I could see she truly feared me in that moment.

But then, everything came to a halt.

"Lauren." Elvis stood in his bedroom doorway. With frustration and embarrassment, I held onto my towel. He made his way over to us. "Why the hell would you feel the need to do that?"

"She locked me in there! She had me suffocating in there!" I shouted at Elvis. Priscilla looked at me as if I lost my mind.

"Elvis, it's been hours and I've been with you the whole time." Priscilla spoke up. Elvis looked to her, then looked back to me.

"You know what, Lauren? I don't know where this jealousy is but Priscilla is no threat to you. Nothing is going on between she and I, so you might as well stop the jealousy." Elvis held his hands up.

"Jealousy? You think I'm jealous? Of her?" I asked, holding onto my towel even tighter. "She's a sociopath!"

"Are you sure she's alright?" Priscilla asked. Elvis scowled at Priscilla.

"Why don't you stop instigating?" Elvis asked Priscilla. Her smile faded as she looked me up and down one final time, then walked off about her business. Elvis looked to me.

"I hate her and she hates me. She's in our house and she's disrespecting me." I complained to Elvis.

"She's in my house." Elvis reminded me. "And I invited her as a guest."

I pierced my lips together, staring Elvis in the eyes. He was serious, this wasn't one of his many jokes. He meant exactly what he was saying. "I can't believe you."

"I can't believe you left me for Ricky." Elvis mentioned. "So I guess we're both shocked."

Without an answer, I began walking off to get changed. Elvis went into the bathroom then emerged with my robe. "You're forgetting this."

I ignored him and kept on moving forward. Going into the bedroom, I shut the doors behind me. This was a routine when Elvis and I disagreed, except this time, he didn't go after me.