Page 24 of The Trick

“Hey D, what’s that?” I ask, tilting my chin down to her bag.

She moves her gaze to where she just placed her bag on the floor. Her vibrant blue curls cascading down her side as she retrieves what appears to be a gift box.

My heart begins to thud what feels like a mile a minute as the red speckled bow comes into view because that’s most definitely blood splattered on the ribbon.

Fuck, what’s in there? But more importantly, why does my best friend have it in her possession. I guess time has made my admirer bolder because he’s never had gift packages like this delivered to my job, he’s usually more subtle.

I don’t wait for Delilah to say anything before I snatch the box from her.

“Ay dios mio!” Delilah exclaims, throwing her hands up in the air. “Blair, what’s gotten into you?”

Ignoring her question, my curiosity is heightened, not only from the bloody ribbon that Delilah somehow has not noticed, but from theweightof the box.

My eyes continue to scan the box in my hand, trying to rack my brain as to what the hell isinsidethat’s making it so heavy, when I notice a small envelope withBlairis spelled out in what looks to be smeared blood.

“Where did you find this?” I ask.

Confused as to why I’m questioning her, she parts her lips. “Umm, Glinda gave it to me when I came in.”

That makes no sense, why wouldn’t Glinda have given this to me before when I was at the bar?

“How did she get it?” I don’t hide the urgency in my voice.

Her brown irises lock on mine, oblivious to the stormraging inside of me.

“I don’t know, she just told me to give it to you.” She shrugs, “It’s probably from one of the contestants trying to butter you up.”

“Yeah,” I fake a smile. “That must be it.”.

I want to open it, but I don’t want Delilah to be present when I do. She is my best friend and knows most of my oddities, but there are things I have done—andstill do,even though I shouldn’t— that I don’t want her to know about.

“Well, open it!” She nudges.

Squeezing the box against my chest, I swallow hard before answering. “I’d rather not.”

“Oh, come on, you're being silly,” she says, reaching for the box, but I move it out of her reach.

“Stop!” I shout, my heart now thumping in my chest.

I feel bad being so harsh, but I still don’t know what the hell is in thisgift. I don'tneed to involve Delilah in this anymore than she probably already has been.

“Damn B, who cares. Members give us gifts all the time, especially on duel night. It’s not that big of a deal”

Bulging my eyes at her, my hands curl against the box. “D, you know it’s not like that.”

“Whatever Blair, why don’t you collect yourself and I’ll meet you out there okay?” She shakes her head at me when suddenly it looks like a lightbulb has gone off in her head. “Oh my god, it’shimisn’t it?”. The enthusiasm in her voice runs dry pretty quick as she begins to shake her head. “Girl, I warned you about this,” she clicks her tongue.

“I know, I know,” I say, trying to shrug her off. “It’s fine.”

“Bullshit,” D quips.

“D, it’s fine,” I repeat myself, bringing a hand to her cheek, gently caressing it.

She rolls her eyes clearly not buying it. “Listen, if there’s anything in there that will hurt you, you fucking tell me, and we’ll handle it. You got it?”

I nod my head, just to help move this along so I can go to a bathroom stall to open it alone. Of course, there will be something inside that will hurt me, in more ways than one, but if I tell her that, she’ll stop me from opening it.

“I’ll be just outside by the bar. See you there in a few?” D asks.

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