Page 113 of The Show

Beulah was looking at me like I’d lost my mind. Perhaps I had.

“I think we need to call the girls and meet them at your place with wine. Then if Penn surfaces there, you’ll already be there waiting for him.”

“Don’t you have to be home with Rafe?”

She shook her head fiercely. “I haven’t been able to get ahold of him all day. He’s been behaving like a weirdo lately, so he can do without me for tonight.”

“Do you think he’s with Penn?” I stood up, suddenly hopeful that I’d find out where he was.

“He could be. Maybe Kit knows where they are.” She joined me in standing, and put her arm around my shoulders with a reassuring squeeze. “Come on, let’s go. We can call Kit on the way. It’s nearly Friday night, which means we should be drinking.”

By the time we got to the main gates of the Stadium, our Uber was waiting and we both jumped into the backseat. Beulah immediately pulled her phone out, and held in between us as she called Kit.

She answered, and we could hear Bell gurgling in the background. “Two seconds, I’m putting you on speaker. I’m just about to bath Bell.”

There was the sound of splashing water, followed by a stifled thud, some swearing and more water before the line cleared again. “Sorry, what’s up?”

“It’s Beulah. Lowe’s with me too. We’re having an emergency wine meeting; can you meet us at her place?”

“Ooh. Let me just check with Murray, but I don’t think he was planning on going out, so count me in. Are you okay?”

“Is Murray there? Penn isn’t there is he?” I interjected, amid more splashing.

“No, why?”

“Penn and I had an argument, and now I can’t find him.”

“Oh no! Wait, Murray just got home from the gym. Let me ask him.” She called out to him, and we could hear Murray’s distant reply, but then she placed her hand over the speaker and I was having a hard time concentrating on their muffled conversation, trying my hardest to pick out any mention of Penn. However, as it went on, Kit’s voice became more and more forceful, and then she returned to us loud and clear. “Hang on, girls, something’s going on. I’ll call you back.”

Beulah and I looked at each other as the line went dead.

“That was odd.”

“Yeah. She was definitely yelling at him. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.”

We sat there for a couple of minutes, both independently wondering about the abrupt end to the call. I was wondering enough that I almost missed the Uber driver turn onto my street, and nearly garroted myself on the seatbelt by sitting up straighter far too quickly.

“Hey, it’s this building on the left.”

The Uber swerved across the road and screeched to a halt. Beulah jumped out and I followed to join her on the sidewalk. She looped her arm through mine, and we walked into my building together.

Both the street outside and the entrance lobby were always well lit, so it wasn’t until we reached my floor that it was obvious how quickly the afternoon had gone by, or how long it had been since I’d heard from Penn. It was going on five hours since he’d stormed out.

“Can’t believe it’s dark already. Summer is officially over.”

“I know.” I closed the front door behind us and blindly reached for the light switch in the entrance hallway.

Just as the light went on, a silhouette walked out of the bathroom a little way down the corridor. Beulah screamed. I screamed. The silhouette screamed.

“Jesus Fuck! Lowey! You scared the life out of me.”

“You?!” I hollered back at Lauren while bending to pick up the bags I’d dropped. “This is my apartment. What are you doing here?”

Her shoulders slumped while she caught her breath. “I came to apologize for being an asshole.”

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