Even my blood alcohol level couldn’t fully numb the uneasy feeling the house gave me. The chirping of a lone cricket and the presence of a half-full glass of red wine upon the kitchen counter when I walked in shot me with a jolt of sobriety.
A closer look at the glass revealed the faint hint of red lipstick stuck upon the top rim of the thin glass. A wave of cold fear overtook the warm glow of alcohol inside me.
I heard sounds of a shower running coming from the hallway which led back to the bedroom.
I thought about running back out the door, but stumbled towards the sounds of the shower, following a trail of women’s clothing strewn upon the carpet. I bit down upon my cheek when I walked into the dark hallway and full absorbed the sounds of the spraying water in the bathroom.
The door to bathroom was open just crack, releasing moisture and the scent of fruity body wash into the air. I stood outside the door for a handful of moments, chewing my fingernails.
I took a deep breath and went in.
Her silhouette was there in the fogged-up, pebbled glass of the shower. Her back to me, I admired and feared her form at the same time for a few moments before I slipped back out of the room.
So drunk and so tired, I felt as if I almost melted into the bed when I collapsed upon it. I wasted no time undressing, brushing my teeth or conducting any other pre-bed time rituals, just laid down and let sleep take over me until my mind was thankfully blank.
The problem with an booze nap is once the alcohol wears off, you are left wide awake, sweating and starting a hangover in the middle of the night.
My eyes opened wide in the dark to reveal an alarm clock which announced the time as 1 AM and a window pelted heavy with thick rain and a stiff wind. Waking up almost immediately sent the tortorous surge of a raging, dehydration headache onto my skull. It quickly felt as if my brain was shrinking inside my head. I wanted to vomit.
I went to crawl out of bed towards the bathroom, but was halted by the feeling of a stir in the bedside at my back. I felt it again. A light shifting accompanied by the sound of a sigh.
I froze at the edge of the bed. I was too hungover and groggy for this shit but had to get up off the bed to shoot a look.
She lied there sleeping in the bed right next to where I had messed up the covers. Her long, thin arms draped over a naked body of golden skin and long auburn hair. The sight was something I probably usually would have liked to see, but not under these circumstances.
My answer to the problem? Go to the bathroom. Barf my guts out. Go out and sleep on the living room couch.
