She was more nervous than she expected to be as her hand visibly trembled as she took the clear, glass tube from Rich. She stepped up to the counter and breathed deeply, focusing in on the first of the rows closest to her. She bent gingerly at the waist and over the counter, angling the straw in her right nostril with her right hand and steadying it toward the line with her left. After she'd properly adjusted her angle of attack, she snorted for all she was worth as she traced the disappearing powder to its end.

The numbness splashed across the back of her throat and coated her sinuses...