I think he's in there."
Hope nodded. She looked at Robyn, then her gaze dipped away. Karl came out of the bathroom. Hope murmured something, then slipped in behind him. The door closed.
Robyn looked at that door, wondering what was up with Hope this morning. A rough night, she supposed. After their ordeal, she couldn't blame her.
"Good morning, Robyn," Karl said.
She managed a response. He crossed to the desk and picked up the room service menu. Robyn stayed where she'd stopped, watching him leaf through it.
She thought of what the other man had said Karl was, and even if she couldn't bring herself to form the word, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Couldn't stop hearing his snarl from last night. Couldn't stop seeing the pulsing rage in his face. Couldn't forget the other man's face, pulsing with something else, contorting, changing...
"That fair last night, it didn't have a freak show, did it?" Karl asked, still reading the menu.
"What?"
"Freaks. The Bearded Lady. The Three-legged Man. The Lobster Boy. Pay a dollar to see the freak?"
"Um, no, I didn't see..."
"But you've seen exhibits like that before. Hope says you like fairs, particularly small, out-of-the-way ones where the questionable qualities of a freak show might be more acceptable."
"Sure..."
He glanced up. "Have you ever paid your dollar?"
"No, never. I - "
"When you see the signs, though, do you ever consider what it would be like to be the person inside that tent? On display? With everyone staring, satisfying their morbid curiosity, wondering how you live, how awful it would be to be you..."
"I..." She stopped, realizing what he was getting at. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... gawk."
"Personally? I don't care." He set the menu back on the desk. "But Hope does. She's already uncomfortable. Having her friend gaping at her like she's on display..."
Was that why Hope ducked into the bathroom? Robyn didn't think she'd been gaping, but she must have been looking at her differently, thinking, wondering...
"I want to know," Robyn said.
"Hmm." He plucked his jacket from a chair back. "Room service is apparently not one of this hotel's strengths. Tell Hope I went out to find a more suitable breakfast."
She stepped in his path. "I mean it, Karl. I want to know what's going on. Everything."
"We'll discuss it over breakfast. Don't jump on Hope about it the moment she gets out of the bathroom."
"I wouldn't."
His lips parted, but he settled for a nod, a curt goodbye, and was gone.
Hope came out shortly after Karl left. Robyn tried to avoid awkwardness by making small talk, asking about Hope's mother's plans for her big May Day charity ball, which only made it obvious there were a million things she was avoiding talking about.
Hope squirmed under those questions as much as if Robyn had gaped at her. She'd promised Karl she wouldn't ask more, but not asking felt even stranger. It was like sitting with one of those freaks, discussing the most mundane subjects imaginable, pretending you didn't notice you were talking to a woman with a beard.
"We need to talk about what happened last night," Hope said finally.
"Oh, I - No, that's okay. I - "
"I mean about the guy who grabbed you, what he said about Adele and Karl."
"Oh, right." Robyn kicked herself for not thinking of this safe-but-pertinent topic. She seized on the diversion and was still explaining when Karl arrived.