ALICE Ch 362

Lora gazes at the black mirror that is the lifeless TV without seeing. “It’s one of those things where you know, but that knowing isn’t really knowing. Like we know that it’s cold in Antarctica, but we don’t really know until we feel it. Every job is stressful, isn’t it? But here it’s like…” She trails off, gesturing with her hands in a crushing motion. “I feel like—like I know that you win some and you lose some. But it’s different when someone gets hurt. And I feel so stupid. These things happen; we all know it going in. It’s not as though any of it is new. Look at Niki Lauda. But it takes something like this for me to be like, oh, it’s real. You know?”

She’s nestled on the rather small sofa with Bianca. The blonde has her arm around Lora and looks into her eyes, listening attentively. She’s fully present. No one that Lora’s ever been with has ever treated her this way.

She becomes aware that she can no longer hear Kylie venting to Aria. She leans over a bit to look, and the tips of her ears are suddenly hot. They’re making out over there.

Blushing, she suddenly understands the little smile of amusement on Bianca’s face. Bianca’s the last person to ever do any teasing, but Lora’s self-consciousness seems to amuse her on some level.

Getting her feelings out has helped so much.

Lora smiles at Bianca. “I’ll have you know that doesn’t make me uncomfortable at all. I’m very worldly and adventurous, and totally at ease in these situations. Mmmhmm.”

“Very convincing.” Bianca brushes a few hairs out of the way and leans in to kiss her.

FF1

Glynda sits in the FUTA Motorhome. Almost everyone is gone, and the employees who are around avoid her. People want things from her, but they know better than to ask at the moment. Annette is trying hard to reach her, but Glynda is not up to dealing with Annette. She tries to put her thoughts in order, but it’s difficult to know where to begin. Normally, Lora would be a part of this process, but Lora is delicate. Alice being hurt has shaken her up , and no doubt Lora has convinced herself that it’s all her fault somehow.

Faye, despite all evidence to the contrary, can be quite practical and sensible. But she’ll be no help tonight; she won’t leave Alice’s side. That’s high on the list of things that are most alarming about all of this. At first, Glynda was glad to see Faye find a little romance—it’s something that had definitely been lacking in her life, and long overdue. But she’s so serious about Alice. It’s obvious. And although Alice seems to treat her well, it’s not at all clear that she feels the same thing—or rather, that she feels it quite as keenly.

Glynda needs to be worrying about her drivers and her cars and operational security within her team—not her daughter’s delicate heart. But her daughter is one of her drivers. In fact, she’s the only driver she has now.

Glynda jumps at the click of the door.

It’s Lotte. The blonde makes her way among the tables, and there’s a little scraping noise as she drags a chair over and places it beside Glynda’s. She sits with a tired sigh. There are dark circles under her eyes. Everyone’s had a bad day. Lotte says nothing; she knows that Glynda doesn’t want to talk. She just finds Glynda’s hand under the table and squeezes it.