Gregory followed the figure of the girl with his eyes till the door of the toilet in surprise. A couple of minutes ago he was entirely sure that the girl tightly wrapped in a jacket was asleep because she did not even move and did not pay attention to what was happening around. But as soon as he and Tony approached the passenger seats, the girl jumped up, as if her ghosts was hunting her rushed through the hall towards the lavatory.
"Apparently she could not endure our irresistibility," Tony whispered his eyes on the adorable little boy in his arms.
"Or her nausea started when she saw your pretty face," Greg answered without hesitation. Insult to a friend was so natural to their group that in old age they would most likely simply insult each other on a daily basis without using normal phrases.
Tony just snorted.
"This cutie pie and a thousand of beautiful girls can confirm the absolute untruthfulness of your statement. So this leaves only your face as the most obvious reason for this sudden reaction of this young creature."
"What makes you think that the girl is young?" – Determined to change the topic into a more peaceful channel, asked Greg.
"I saw her without a hood when the passengers entered the arrivals hall. Besides, such a cutie is difficult to miss." – he whispered to his friend like it was a secret.
Greg shook his head.
"You will never change! Women like a drug for you. Your addiction starts to frighten me."
"Oooh! My friend, you are mistaken. Drugs make you crazy for a while, and then make you regret that you were born into this world until you get a new dose. Women give such an effect only when you do not know how to handle them."
"I'll remember those words when your next passion cuts your car window with a brick," Greg chuckled, remembering last year's epic encounter with another Tony's ex. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to play with the baby.
"Monica is a lovely thing, she's was just a little confused. She called last week and invited me to her wedding."
"ls this her next trap?" Gregory asked in surprise. It was hard to believe that even on such a psycho as Monica, Tony's charms could work so well. This man seemed to hypnotize the girls around him so that even when it was time to part, they remained friends. But that girl completely went off the rails.
"Gregory, listen to the words of truth." – Tony sang in a solemn voice, apparently deciding to leave off the answer with his next wisdom of the century. – "Girls never want to hear what you think; they want to hear what they think – just pronounced in a lower male voice. Remember this, and you will never have problems with parting." – Tony purred.
"And how the hell would I know what they think in the first place?" – Greg shook his head.
At this point, the women who had already finished their small break approached them.
"Thank you very much," – said the young girl while taking a child from Tony, a little embarrassed. – "You really have talent with children!"
"That's right! I adore kids," – Tony declared, giving the girl one of his most charming smiles. The girl immediately flushed. Greg took it as a signal and grabbed his friend by the arm dragging him back to their company, briefly saying goodbye the women.
"It was so rude of you!" – Tony muttered with reluctance following him.
"A little more and this girl will invite you to adopt her child." – Greg snapped. He could not understand the constant desire of his friend to charm any female within a kilometer of himself. According to his personal experience, even if they are not given a reason, women will still find an opportunity to arrange the chaos in your life. Why tease fate?!
By the time they returned, the others were probably already tired of watching the heroes in action and have adapted a small coffee table to their needs, laid out playing cards. Poker was their favorite pastime because the absolute winner among them was still undecided. The only one who played very rarely was Frank. It was very difficult for him to hide his emotions, so he did not try to cheat – he was cleaned every time as a stick. Mike's face, in general, was not used to any kind of emotions. Greg could argue that the facial muscles of his friend atrophied when he was a child because he never saw him show the least change of expression on his face. Paul's face was completely frozen in an eternal mask of contempt and hatred for everything that moves. Most likely, only on the eve of the Apocalypse, these two could be seen smiling. Toni, on the other hand, smiled almost constantly, which usually scared Greg much more than the sour faces of Paul and Michael's hollowness.
When the last of the three bottles of whiskey was emptied, Tony's smile became even wider (who would have guessed that it was humanly possible at all), his bank was accordingly the biggest, and the faces of Paul and Mike were almost equally full of hatred, only now to a specific person. Greg looked back at the passengers of the regular flight. Most of them settled themselves on the floor, some on benches and tried to nap. He then looked in the opposite direction to the door to the restroom. The girl who ran there two hours ago never came out, and this fact somehow bothered Greg very much. Usually, he tried to ignore all his surroundings. Perhaps that is why he could hardly remember the faces of people not entering the narrow circle of his family and friends. But despite the fact that Greg did not even have time to look at the face of the girl, her image returned to him again and again, forcing him to turn around looking for her with his eyes. A vile feeling, as if something was not in place, gave no peace. At first, Greg decided that this was just a general situation, which did not contribute to the feeling of comfort. Usually, whiskey helped to give ease to any entourage, but no matter how he tried, it seemed that feelings of anxiety grew by the second.
At last, he could not stand it and got up intending to check if everything was all right. The world swayed slightly, but Greg managed to resist. Apparently, in pursuit of comfort, he had too much of the liquor and now the trip to the restroom acquired a new reason.
"I'll go refresh myself," he said over his shoulder and did not hesitate to listen to the stream of trivial jokes from friends, with not steady steps went to the washroom.
***
Lana finally managed to take complete control of herself and reverse the shift. She did not know precisely how much time had passed but was sincerely grateful for her luck that no one had come to the lavatory for all this time. Now Ruslana was hiding in one of the booths trying to regain full control of her body and mentally preparing to go out into the hall. After all, once she sees him again, no one knows how the beast will behave this time. To attack a man she abandoned many years ago was not at all in her plans.
When she was almost ready to go out and already reached out her hand to the handle, the door to the washroom creaked. Heavy steps followed the sound of the opening door. It was definitely a man; the sensitive ear of her wolf could even tell that the person was not quite sober.
Logically judging that this was one of the businessmen, Lana decided to sit still. But the visitor did not hurry to do his business. He walked along booths looking around and stopping every minute as if listening. Ruslana tried not to breathe and merge with the plumbing. Perhaps he was just embarrassed by the company and therefore hesitated.
But the man was not in a hurry to leave. He once again walked along the row of booths and paused at her door, as if feeling something. As soon as her lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen, Lana soundlessly sucked in the air and at the same time regretted it with her all. His smell seemed to fill not only the respiratory system but also the brain itself. Tart, with notes of expensive cologne, but so His and so Hers. It was him! And they were separated only by a tiny door - a tiny obstacle for her beast and a whole abyss for her heart.
"I'm sorry," - she heard an uncertain voice that sent a whole herd of goosebumps all over her body and made her close her eyes. - "I do not want to embarrass you, but I noticed that you did not return to the others and decided to check if you needed help."
She did not answer, mentally praying that he would surrender and leave, but Greg apparently did not intend to go anywhere.
"I know I'm a little intrusive, but I can not leave you here so easily. It's very cold here and… if you just want to be alone, I can ask the staff to find a room more comfortable for you…"
"Please go away!" – Lana squeezed out and stiffened hearing growling notes in her voice. – a bad sign.
Greg fell silent for a second. He was about to say something, but in the end, just turned and headed for the door.
"I'll wait outside if you suddenly change your mind - shout if you need help." – he added, stepping out.
Ruslana exhaled. But the last phrase made her tense again. He will wait! Knowing Greg, these were not just words. He was so stuck up, and if he said that he would wait, then there was no doubt that he would not take his eyes off the toilet door until she appeared. His damned chivalrous nature simply will not allow the girl to be left in trouble.
Lana could no longer stay here. The beast was raving so close to the surface that it seemed its claws were scratching her from the inside. She needed to get out. Even in the midst of a snowstorm, it would be now much better than here, alone with her nightmare.
Without hesitation, Ruslana jumped out of the booth and rushed to the window. Luckily the window was wide enough. Lana had to use her inhuman half to open one of the casement, almost stuck together with the second one. In the street, a snowstorm raged. The wall of the snow was so dense that it seemed like a continuous fog. The girl fell out into the snow under the window. Hardly wrapped in a jacket, she slowly began to move forward. The direction now did not matter. The main thing is to get out and find shelter for the night. Then she can turn, and either remain in the shelter or wait until the blizzard subsides, and continue on four paws.
Snow covered her eyes, the hood did not help much, and her hands quickly started to freeze. She had to put them in the pockets, but this had a bad effect on coordination. Because of the strong wind, it was challenging to stay on her feet, and she did not want to fall into the snow head first.
It seemed to her that it had been an eternity, although it could only be five minutes. Lana almost yelped in delight when, through the solid wall of a gray snow mash, the outlines of a building appeared. She shook herself and pushed forward, hurrying in that direction. The target was already close by when suddenly the beast tensed sensing something. Lana stopped and tried to look around, but she was so weary from all this turmoil that this move only made her dizzy.
Ruslana staggered and was trying to stay upright when the next second something knocked her off her feet, forcing her to fall on her face in the snow. Lana did not have time to pull her hands out of her pockets, and she struggled helplessly under the body that had crushed her from above. The man who knocked her down apparently also lost his orientation and could not immediately get up.
Then, however, the person found support and began to rise, with one hand lifting her along. As soon as he was standing, he grabbed her by the waist like a sack and walked briskly toward the already prominent building. Lana was so surprised and tensed from the struggle with her beast that she didn't even resist. When they got there, they were lucky enough to find the rickety door almost immediately, and after a short struggle with the usual but heavily rusted latch, they finally fell inward. Lana quickly grouped and seizing the moment rolling away from the stranger. The man fell and remained kneeling, trying to catch his breath, and come to himself. He wore a big down jacket of an airport worker, that's why she did not immediately understand who was in front of her.
"You are crazy!" – The man hissed, lifting the hood and looked at her with eyes full of anger. But as soon as he focused his attention on her, anger gave way to confusion and surprise. He sat down, still keeping his eyes on her and running his hand over his face. Then he closed his eyes and even shook his head as if trying to chase away a hallucination. But the vision did not disappear.
"Lana?" – At last, he squeezed out in a hoarse voice.