Girls' Trip - The Song and Dance - Part V

Sarah spent the next twenty minutes shifting nervously in her chair at the table, and glancing at her phone every couple of minutes.  She chewed at her nails, then drummed them on the table, then chewed on them again. She immediately wiped at her mouth and took a gulp of her drink. She stared at the dirty table in disgust. She huffed then popped up from her chair, heading straight towards the lobby phone still in hand. 

Something feels off. She probably forgot, but why do I have this horrible feeling?

Just as she exited the noisy crowd and emerged into the practically empty foyer, her phone dinged. A text! Thank God!

I’M BACK! SAFE AND SOUND. NO NEED TO LEAVE THE BAR WITH A SEARCH PARTY.

She smirked at the response, until she realized that she had just left the bar at that very moment. She shook off the goosebumps.  We’ve known each other for years, she just knows me really well or it's merely a coincidence. However, for the for the millionth time that night, a sinking feeling loomed over her.

Sarah tugged at her lip and her eyes settled on her two remaining friends who were now up on stage and belting out an 80s song. The crowd was loving it. Both women were talented and had a knack of picking the songs that revved up the audience. The bar, comprised mostly of men, were cheering, standing up, and singing along with Melinda and Dot. Those two crazy ladies were dancing. They even managed to flirt with with their eyes and their hips. All eyes were on them. Almost all eyes.

She felt her cheeks stain red. She felt eyes on her. Back in the bar at the original table where Terry and Sarah had first spied him, was the guy Terry claimed she didn’t know. Once more he was staring in her direction. She hurriedly walked back inside and sat at her table in the midst of the crowd, buried under the men standing all around her. Hidden from his prying eyes. She knew that Terry had in fact lied to her in that moment. She knew it in her gut.

Sarah didn’t even realize she had held her breath until it whooshed out of her. The end of Melinda and Dot's performance and the ferocious chorus of clapping, pulled her of the trance she had succumbed to. As she looked up at their smiling faces, she simultaneously hopped out of her chair. His table sat empty once more, and the sight of Melinda and Dot reminded her instantly of their other friend, Terry.  With the mysterious creeper having made yet another weird appearance, she feared for her friend who sat vulnerable and alone. She had no delusions that if this guy could find Terry at her girls weekend trip, that perhaps he could easily find Terry in their cabin. 

“We have to go!” Sarah said firmly. “We have to check on Terry.”

Both of Melinda and Dot furrowed their brows at the same time.

“What are you talking about? She is fine. Did she send you something or call?” Melinda inquired.

“No.  No, she sent a text saying she was back and safe.  It’s hard to explain, but I just have this feeling that we have to go now. I can explain on the way.” The words began to fly her mouth and she rambled, as she grew more and more panicked.

“Okay. Okay.  Calm down.  We’ll go check on her and if she is okay, we’ll come right back, it’s not that far.” Dot patted her arm as she attempted to soothe her. Melinda nodded and the three paid their tab before walking back down the dark path to the small cottage on the other side of the resort.

Girls' Trip - The Fear - Part IV

Sarah reached out and laid her hand on her friend's shoulder. Terry jumped up and her chair fell over.

“Are you okay?” Sarah laughed nervously at her friend’s reaction to her touch, but she knew it wasn’t her touch that scared her.

No one around them seemed to notice the interaction, as Melinda and Dot were still flipping through the songbook by the DJ booth, and it was far too loud in the bar for anyone else to notice anything strange.  Chairs fell over frequently in bars. Once it hit the floor, you would look and then go back to your conversation.

“I’m not feeling that good.  I think I need to go back to the cabin?”

“What? Really?” Sarah felt the lie. “What’s going on Terry?

Her friend hadn't looked at her since they first laid eyes on the stranger in the bar, but then she finally looked at Sarah, shook her head, and smiled.

“Seriously, nothing is wrong, I ju—my stomach hurts is all, maybe it's something I ate. I think I should go lay down for a bit.  I’ll get up for the bonfire later. I promise."

“Someone should walk back with you.  No one should be walking alone, remember what we agreed to. I’ll go with you.” Sarah offered.

“First, of all, it’s a resort, I’ll be fine.  Secondly, who would walk you back?  One of us would end up walking alone. It might as well be me. Third, the agreement was more directed toward bar close when this entire bar was drunk.” Her voice, confident and convincing, didn’t fool Sarah. She took hold of Terry’s hand and squeezed.

“Are you sure nothing is wrong? That guy in the cor—,“ Sarah looked in the direction of where the cause of her chills had originated and the chair sat empty.

“What guy?” Terry responded. “There’s no one there.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow at her, “Come on, Terry!  Okay, how do you know where I’m looking? You know exactly who I mean.”

“Fine.” She sucked in a breath. “I thought I saw someone I knew, but then I realized he's just similar looking. It wasn’t who I thought, afterall. AAANNNDDD...before you start that conversation, we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

She slowly released Terry’s hand and looked at her sideways as if she could see the truth from that angle.

“Fine. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. But, take the main road back. The one that’s well lit and text me when you get back. You have 15 minutes from the moment you leave my sight,” she pressed.

“Yes mom.” She rolled her eyes.

Sarah watched Terry work her way through ever-growing crowd. Before she could see her see her turn the corner their other two friends plopped back into their chairs, leaned in closely, and began to grill her about where Terry went. She caught them up to speed and reassured them that everything would be alright, though she didn’t believe it herself.