Page 25 of Boardroom Mask

“Wait, Elliot, I’m?—”

He doesn’t wait for me to finish before he turns and walks away. “Be right back.”

I let my head hang down to my chest. “Sorry,” I whisper to no one at all. “I’m sorry.”

I watch him go and then I pull out my phone because I can’t sit here alone with myself right now.

I’m the worst person alive

RAE EVERETT

what happened

I went on a date with my neighbor. the nice one, elliot

omg Jilly Bean. Why??

I don’t know. I panicked. I didn’t want to be alone tonight and he was RIGHT THERE and he asked and I said yes

oh honey

And now I’ve just told him I’m not interested and he’s in the bathroom probably hating me. I deserve it

you don’t deserve it. You were honest with him. That’s better than stringing him along

no, i wasn’t, and i suck, and i shouldnt have done it. but yay, gold star for Jillian

:( why didn’t you want to be alone tonight?

I look at the screen. My thumbs hover.

Just one of those days

Jill.

I’m fine. Really. Just in a weird headspace

you’d tell me if something was wrong right?

of course

The waitress comes by and asks if we want dessert. I tell her just the check. She drops it off and I pull out my card and put it in the little black folder, because the bare fucking minimum I can do is pay for this disaster.

I check the time on my phone and frown when I see that it’s been almost ten minutes since Elliot got up. I look toward the back hallway where the bathrooms are, but there’s no sign of him, nor of any kind of line queued up that would explain what’s taking him so long.

Odd. Even accounting for the fact that he probably needs a minute to collect himself, it’s been a long time.

A small knot forms in my stomach. A low, nagging feeling that something is off. I reach a decision, push my chair back, and head for the hallway.

The bathroom is a single-occupancy unisex, with the door closed. I knock twice. “Elliot? You okay in there?” There’s no reply, so I knock again, harder. “El. Hey. It’s Jillian.”

Still nothing.

I try the handle. It’s unlocked. The door swings inward and I step inside and my brain goes blank for a full second…

… because there is blood on the floor.

Elliot is slumped against the wall between the toilet and the sink. His head is drooping forward and his Knicks jersey is dark and wet across the chest. There’s a gash above his left eyebrow, deep enough that I can see pink and white underneath the red. Blood is running down the side of his face and dripping off his chin onto the white tile. His lip is split open and swelling fast. One of his eyes is already puffing shut.