She got out of the shower and toweled off. Things had gotten better since the incident, but she still had these nightmarish moments when she was alone.

The simple solution was to not be alone. Her parents would happily let her stay with them. But she worried that if she hid from her apartment for a few days, she might return and go straight back to where she'd left off. Better to just start facing the demons now.

She didn't really want any kind of long-term relationship with Megan, so using her as emotional cover seemed like a bad idea. Charlene most definitely did not regret the sex, but that was to blow off steam, not to keep herself out of her own head.

She'd love to call Gertie, just to talk for a little bit, since she had the closest understanding to what Charlene had been through. But of course Gertie was getting laid right now. Gertie hadn't really seemed like the kind of person who'd go home with somebody she'd just met, especially when she was at the restaurant as part of a business meeting. It felt a little out of character, but Charlene hadn't known Gertie for very long and had not asked for details about her heterosexual love life. For all she knew, it was ridiculously easy to get into Gertie's pants. Gertie was a young, healthy woman, and she could bang whomever she wanted. More power to her. It was none of Charlene's business.

She suddenly wondered if the sexual promiscuity was the only reason it felt a bit off.

Charlene picked up her phone and glanced at the text message conversation again.

No! He's way too old. But our cute waiter isn't. :)

Waiter.

She'd never heard Gertie use the words "waiter" or "waitress." They were servers.

That didn't necessarily mean Gertie wouldn't use the word "waiter" in a text message. Maybe she wanted to use a gender-specific term when conveying the message to her lesbian friend.

Charlene texted her back: Hey, feeling a little uneasy here. Check in, okay?

She waited. No response.

She took her phone with her as she went into the kitchen and popped a bag of microwave popcorn. Still no answer as she poured it into the bowl.

Okay, if there was an appropriate time for somebody to not check their text messages, it was when they were having sex. Even if he was pounding into her doggy-style and she could conveniently hold her phone without interrupting the flow too much, it would be rude.

Screw it. She was going to call, even if she was interrupting Gertie and the server in the throes of passionate lovemaking.

It went straight to voice mail.

Not suspicious. Charlene had put her own phone on Do Not Disturb mode when Megan's head was between her legs.

She called again, just in case Gertie had the setting where a second call from the same number would go through.

Straight to voice mail.