plodded back to his cart and hefted a plunger. “Ain’t gonna take more than ten, mebbe twenty minutes.”
The spray bottle gurgled.
Jason scowled at it. “Does he know I understand him?”
“‘Course he does,” Ben said. “He wouldn’t have said it, otherwise.”
“Well, he doesn’t have to be so insulting.”
The water slopped about, making chuckling noises.
After Jason left, Ben nudged the cart into motion with a knee.
As he maneuvered it between a bookshelf and coffee table, a slender female student burst through the double doors of a side hall. She wore black leather gloves and a white headband pinned frizzy red hair behind her ears. Wide-eyed, she peered around the room until she spotted the calculus study group. She raised a finger in the universal just a minute sign. Adjusting her backpack, she bolted through the room.
Ben’s blood chilled as he realized she was aimed for the women’s restroom. He flung the plunger at her back in a desperate attempt to stop her. However, she slipped into the bathroom, and the tool bounced off the door as it slapped closed.
O O O
Something thumped against the door, but Dani ignored it as she tossed her backpack onto the counter. She fumbled in the main pouch and hauled out her jumbo bottle of sanitation gel.
In her haste to make it to the study group, she’d bumped into two people on the way. Two! Who knew what their hygienic standards were? When had they showered last? Did they even own toothbrushes? One had awful halitosis, and had huffed an apology in her face as she shoved past, trying to control her rising panic.
She tugged her gloves off and pinched them under one arm. Then she pumped double-handfuls of gel and slathered it over her hands and forearms. The cutting odor of alcohol filled the restroom. Her panic subsided as the fumes surrounded her, a protective shield against a filthy world.
As the gel evaporated, she envisioned it taking bacteria and dirt with it. Vapors singed her nose, but she breathed deep. Clean body, clean mind. She had to remain vigilant, otherwise who knew what germs might hitch a ride on her skin and then burrow deep? A shudder rippled through her as she counted off possibilities: Staphylococcus. Streptococcus. Escherichia coli. Oh, god! What if she’d contracted Clostridium difficile? Should she schedule a doctor’s appointment? Should she—
The door banged open behind her. She shrieked and whirled about as a tall, elderly janitor barged in, waving a plunger like a sword.
“Aren’t you supposed to knock?” she cried. “I could’ve been—”
She dodged as his cart almost ran her over. It rammed into a stall and soapy water sloshed out of the bucket.
“Hustle outta here, missy,” he said, pursuing his equipment. She pulled back against the sink to avoid touching as he shouldered by. “We’re closin’ the place down for a lil’ maintenance.”
“C-close? But—” Dani hadn’t finished her self-assessment. “I need a few minutes, okay? I’ve got an emergency of my own.”
She squeezed her thighs together, faking the urgent need to pee. As she did, her bladder alerted her brain that it could actually use some relief. She stifled a groan. Using a public restroom would tack another ten minutes onto her routine, not counting prep-work to make sure the toilet was clean enough. Had she brought enough wet-wipes?
Grabbing her backpack, she edged toward the nearest stall, but balked as he barred the way with an arm.
“Whoa, hey there.” His craggy smile accentuated the bags under his dark blue eyes. Oh god, was there dirt in his wrinkles? “Lemme rephrase. Nasty case of pipes backin’ up in here. Gotta shut ’er down before things go Old Faithful. If you don’t wanna flood of piss all over your shoes, you need to leave. Now.”
Tasting bile, Dani considered retreating. But she couldn’t leave without finishing her routine. She just … couldn’t. He had to be exaggerating. If it was that bad, they would’ve had signs up and cordoned the place off.
“Look, gramps, I’ll be quick. Just a minute or two so I don’t wet myself.”
“Nothin’ doin’. Time to build a little character, princess. Get outta here and lemme do my job, a’ight?”
She sniffed. “Riding bikes builds character. I am not getting a bladder infection because you want to get back to reading porn in the janitor’s closet.”
He eyed her, grinning for some reason. His brown-streaked teeth made her stomach roil, and his breath had a tinge of spoiled meat.
“I ain’t gonna argue about this, princess.” He snatched a toilet brush off his cart