Chapter Thirteen
Hannah
The bar is filled with high spirits as everyone raises their glasses to celebrate the end of the work week and Susan’s retirement. We are all saying our goodbyes to her at the Spanish tapas bar near our office, Bernandos.
But let’s be real, most of us are just happy that she’s leaving and we won’t have to deal with her negative attitude anymore. Don’t get me wrong, Susan isn’t a horrible person, but as retirement approached, she became bitter and resistant to change, making it difficult to even want to talk to her.
I’m only here tonight to catch Susan admitting that she’s the Bathroom Bandit. Since Ruby and Hirim hardly come to Friday night drinks anymore, I’m grateful that Jeremy agreed to come with me tonight.
I don’t want my friends to know how close Jeremy and I have become in the past month. It’s hard to find someone who wants to go out on the weekends, especially for Friday night drinks, since most of my friends are in committed relationships now.
“What’s our plan again?” Jeremy whispers. His voice sends a shiver down my spine .
I turn towards him and whisper back, “Wait until she’s a little tipsy, then bring up the latest Bathroom Bandit incident and see what she says.”
He nods towards Susan, indicating that she already looks pretty drunk. Susan doesn’t normally drink at work events, so after two hours here, she’s probably a lightweight.
I mutter that I’m going to rescue Eliza from her conversation with Susan and investigate at the same time. “Can you make sure my stuff is safe while I’m gone?” I ask before sliding out from our hiding spot in the booth.
I make my way through the crowded room to join Eliza and Susan. “Happy retirement, Susan,” I say with a forced smile, giving Eliza a signal to leave. She quickly takes the opportunity and disappears into the crowd without looking back.
Susan thanks me and I regret my decision as we’ve never really talked in our four years at BHI.
“What are you drinking?” I ask, attempting to make small talk without really caring about her response.
“Someone bought me a cocktail, I think it was called a peach something or other,” she says, waving her hand and taking a sip.
“Oh, a peach bliss maybe? Those are amazing here.” I’ve had plenty of peach bliss cocktails at this bar over the years.
“Do you have any exciting retirement plans?” I continue with the small talk, trying to bring up the bathroom incidents multiple times, but Susan never takes the bait. I’m becoming increasingly frustrated.
I’m running out of conversation topics and worried that she’ll leave when suddenly, Jeremy speaks up. “Congratulations on retiring, Susan,” he casually says, draping his arm around my shoulders and joining our conversation effortlessly.
Well, not exactly effortlessly. I know he’s coming to my rescue. I lean into his embrace and let him take over the conversation.
“I bet you’re sad that you won’t get to witness the Bathroom Bandit drama anymore,” he says boldly, surprising me with his nerve. I tried to be be subtle about it, but he just comes out and asks her.
Susan looks around, clearly wanting to leave the conversation. “I’ll be glad to not hear about these atrocities anymore,” she responds before quickly trying to excuse herself from our presence.
“Sure,” he says knowingly. “But won’t you be let down not being here to finally find out the person’s identity? Everyone is eager to know who it is,” he says.
“I’m positive all that nonsense will subside shortly, particularly once I’m no longer present,” she says, nervously looking around for an escape route, immediately causing me to become suspicious. “Look, Jemma and Jessica are showing up now,” she remarks, pushing past us and leaving me more frustrated than ever.
Once Susan is out of earshot, I mutter, “I think that maybe you were too obvious.”
“We won’t see her again after tonight, so who cares,” he says, shrugging. “Avoiding the topic isn’t getting us anywhere, clearly.”
We both can’t help but burst into laughter.
“Though, did you notice her choice of words?” he adds, suddenly serious. “It will die down soon, ‘particularly once I’m no longer present’. What do you think she means by that?”
“It’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to a real confession,” I say sadly. “I doubt she’ll confess if it’s her, and she probably won’t let us near her for the rest of the night now.” I pull Jeremy back to our booth, deciding to give up and say, “I guess I can say I tried. ”
“Yeah, true,” he says dejectedly, both of us clearly disappointed. My weeks of effort in trying to discover the culprit have been a complete waste of time.
“Want to go somewhere else?” I speak louder to be heard over the bar noise, no longer interested in staying.
“Sure,” he says, giving me back my phone and bag from the table. “What do you have in mind?” he asks while we head towards the bar’s front doors.
Once we’re outside Bernandos and away from the bar noise, I suggest we either go to another bar or come back to my place to hang out. “Sasha is planning on staying at her girlfriend’s place tonight,” I add and then immediately regret how that sounds.
“I’m open to doing whatever you want, but just a reminder that I can’t have a big night,” he says, with a meaningful look, which makes me grin in return. While I have the option to skip surf lessons due to a hangover, Jeremy doesn’t have the same luxury for his classes tomorrow morning.
Sucks to be him.
“Hannah?” a familiar voice interrupts me, causing me to freeze.
My heart races as we turn to confront my ex.