Page 122 of Galaxy Circus Act One

Mark blanches at my outburst, but for the first time ever, he holds my gaze, staring hard into my face. I don’t blink, and he finally sighs and leans back in his chair.

“You really don’t remember me, do you?”

Oh fuck! Did I sleep with Mark? Was he someone I brought home from the bar for a one-night stand and then hustled out the door the next morning before Susie woke? She’d kill me.

He chuckles when he sees the myriad of thoughts that just crossed my face. “No, Lila, we didn’t fuck. Though I’m sad to hear you think I would be unmemorable. According to Susie, I have mad skills.”

I roll my eyes at his tongue-in-cheek arrogance. “She would know,” I mutter, and he stops laughing and takes a sip of his water.

“Do you remember wearing a glass of wine at work about eighteen months ago from an irate patron who thought you’d been flirting with his boyfriend?”

“Fuck yes. The man was batshit crazy. He said I kept fluttering my eyelashes at his partner and I should keep my whore ways to myself. It wasn’t the first drink I wore, but it was certainly the most memorable because he screamed like a banshee. His boyfriend was so embar—” I break off as I think back to that night then gasp. “Holy shit! That wasyou. You were the boyfriend who helped me clean up and apologized profusely.”

He nods, and a spark of relief shines in his eyes. “Yes, it was, and this whole time I’ve been thinking you remembered and were going to out me to Susie.”

I shake my head, completely confused. “You’re bi?” I guess with no judgment in my tone, and he nods again.

“Yes, and that was the problem with that date. He was gay as fuck and completely insecure. If I even spoke politely to a woman, he thought I was straying. I broke up with him later that night. I wasn’t into him enough to put up with that kind of behavior.”

“I don’t blame you. That guy seemed like a jealous fucking dick. And Susie doesn’t know?” I ask him pointedly, and I see him slump in his seat.

“No, I just haven’t thought about the best way to bring it up. The quickie I had with her was a couple of days after that incident. I thought it was just rebound sex, but it happened again and again, and before I knew it, I was in love with her. It never came up.” Regret flashes across his features, but he’s got to man the fuck up.

“Dude, just tell her. Susie is going to be the last person who judges. She had her experimental phases too.” I’m not outing her secrets, just reminding him that we’ve all been there at one time or another. She has no problem telling anyone she’s fooled around with both sexes. “So that’s why you’ve been so fucking awkward around me? You thought I’d let the cat out of the bag and ruin your relationship? Fuck, for a smart man, Mark, you’re dumb as shit.”

A small smile appears on his lips, his eyes looking less haunted. I just wish he would have said something sooner so we could have avoided all of this awkwardness.

“I know, I know. Do you forgive me?” he asks, and I grin, both because I’m glad we’ve gotten it out in the open and I can see Susie returning.

“Nothing to forgive, man, just tell her the truth.” And speaking of telling the truth… “Oh, and I need you to keep an open mind about some of the things I’m going to tell you both later.”

His eyebrows jump, but he nods as Susie sits down. “Okay, so what did I miss?”

“Nothing, I was just asking Mark about the drive here,” I tell her, lying, but he needs to be the one to tell her what we were talking about. He needs to trust that I’ll keep my mouth shut, because this falls on him.

Susie bounces up and down in her chair and grabs his hand. “Did you tell her about the weird gothic mansion that was about an hour out of town? It was so odd. It was like it was built into the hill that was around it, and there were all these trees planted around it, but like fir trees or something, nothing native to the area, and it looked really strange in the middle of the desert. I made Mark pull over and we took some pictures.” She pulls out her phone and swipes across the screen before handing it to me.

Sure enough, it’s exactly how she described it. “I tried to look it up on Google, and all it said was it was called the Pleasure Inn. I’m thinking it’s a bed-and-breakfast.”

Just then our waitress arrives to take our order, and we spend the next two hours drinking and eating before we finally decide to go upstairs. When we get to our room, they both ooh and ahh about how fancy it is, and they find the bedroom Link put their luggage in. I leave them to get settled and have a nap, but fifteen minutes later, Susie joins me on the couch where I’d been lost in thought.

“Okay, spill,” she demands, flopping down next to me with a bottle of champagne and two glasses in her hand. She makes quick work of the bottle and splashes some into each glass before handing me one. “You have been squirrely and twitchy since we got here, and that is not like you. What’s going on? Do we need to make a grab at you and run as fast as we can? Is the circus full of freaks and weirdos?” She has no idea. “Give me something, a sign or a signal, and Mark will have us out of here faster than you can say alien.”

Susie goes silent for a moment before pointing at her eyes after a single blink and shaking her head no. She repeats herself but with two blinks and nods her head yes. Then she starts doing some weird-ass hand gestures like she is trying to get me to read some code. I can’t help but laugh at her brand of crazy.

“No, Susie, it’s nothing like that. I promise.” I try to ease her spiraling by reassuring her I’m fine. “But I have so much to tell you, and I need you to keep an open mind while I do, and by open, I mean Mariana Trench wide. Okay?”

Susie downs her glass of champagne and quickly fills it back up before reaching for the room phone. “Yes, can I get two bottles of champagne delivered to the penthouse and an assortment of snacks please?” She thanks the person on the other end and hangs up. “Okay, shoot.”

“Okay, but before I start you need to make a choice. What I’m about to tell you is classified information. Like it’s so secret it makes Area 51 look like a Starbucks. So you have two choices. I can tell you everything and then make it so you will still retain the knowledge but can’t tell anyone about it. Or I can tell you everything, you can give me your thoughts, and then I’ll have it all removed from your brain.”

Susie’s brow is so furrowed it’s comical, and I would laugh if I wasn’t so serious about this. “Removed? Like through hypnotism?” she asks, sounding skeptical.

“Hmm, yeah, kind of, I guess,” I hedge, not really wanting to spill the beans too early.

“I need to decide this right now before I even know what the information is?” she whines, and I can see her point.

“No, I’ll tell you, but you will have to make a decision. Don’t make me have to make it for you,” I warn her, and she swiftly agrees.