BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.
"Ugh, wha?" I slurred as I rolled over off of my pillow and spastically slapped at
the off button on my alarm clock until the wretched beeping quit. Sunlight was just
beginning to creep through the blinds, and it was definitely intruding. I pulled the
covers up over my head and groaned. My head was throbbing. Next time go a little easier
on the wine, I reminded myself. After I had laid there for a minute, I finally pulled
the covers back off of my face and rubbed my eyes. Slowly, I managed to crawl out
of bed and stagger into the living room, where I found that everything was just as
it had been left the night before. The two empty wine glasses still sat on the coffee
table, the little bit of red in the bottoms of them dried into a solid crust. Tony's
suit jacket was resting on the sofa, all rumpled up, and Tom had made himself at home,
curled lazily into a ball right on top of it. He meowed at me when I entered the room.
"Good morning, Tom," I grumbled, squinting at him. The sunlight was pouring more readily
into this room. I plopped myself down onto the couch next to the fat orange cat and
scratched him gently behind the ears as I struggled to wake up from my morning grogginess.
I began to think about the events of last night. I have to admit, I was kind of ashamed
of myself. The date itself was wonderful. I had never experienced anything quite like
that. To be more precise, I had never felt so important before in my life. And that,
I thought, was a very good feeling. The only sour spot was when I had stupidly asked
him about the newspaper article that Lacie had brought to my attention earlier that
morning. Even that, however, was merely a momentary awkwardness. Tony had handled
it with impressive grace, something he seemed to have quite the knack for. So, no,
the date wasn't the problem. The date was absolutely magical. The problem was that
it had escalated so quickly. I hadn't even meant to let it happen, but it was as if
I couldn't help myself. He was just too handsome. Too charming. And then of course
I got burned, just like I deserved. I sighed, painfully recalling all of the previous
nights details.
"Well, Tom," I said, stroking him under his furry orange chin, "at least he didn't
run out and leave me here with my panties around my ankles." Close enough though,
I thought. Close enough. At least I didn't have to go to work.
I ushered Tom off the wrinkled jacket and picked it up, holding it before me and shaking
it to get all of the fine little orange and white cat hairs to fall from it. I folded
it neatly and placed it on the table. He would be calling sooner or later to come
and get that back, surely.
The hangover slowly faded away as the day wore on, but not without my guzzling glass
after glass of water and what seemed like so many aspirins. I decided what I needed
to put the final nail in its coffin was something greasy, but upon a brief inspection
of my refrigerator it was clear that wasn't going to happen at my apartment. I threw
on some fresh clothes and headed out the door, down the stairwell, and into the street.
There was a pretty decent diner a couple blocks from my apartment, and now that my
nausea was fading, bacon and eggs were sounding pretty appetizing.
By the time I was sitting down in the diner and scarfing down my eggs and bacon, I
finally felt one hundred percent better. I was in the middle of carefully sipping
a piping hot cup of coffee when I heard my cell phone's ringtone carry its way up
out of my purse. That must be Tony, I thought. I tinge of excitement raced through
my body. I quickly plunged my hand into the purse and dug out the phone, only to see
"Ugh, wha?" I slurred as I rolled over off of my pillow and spastically slapped at
the off button on my alarm clock until the wretched beeping quit. Sunlight was just
beginning to creep through the blinds, and it was definitely intruding. I pulled the
covers up over my head and groaned. My head was throbbing. Next time go a little easier
on the wine, I reminded myself. After I had laid there for a minute, I finally pulled
the covers back off of my face and rubbed my eyes. Slowly, I managed to crawl out
of bed and stagger into the living room, where I found that everything was just as
it had been left the night before. The two empty wine glasses still sat on the coffee
table, the little bit of red in the bottoms of them dried into a solid crust. Tony's
suit jacket was resting on the sofa, all rumpled up, and Tom had made himself at home,
curled lazily into a ball right on top of it. He meowed at me when I entered the room.
"Good morning, Tom," I grumbled, squinting at him. The sunlight was pouring more readily
into this room. I plopped myself down onto the couch next to the fat orange cat and
scratched him gently behind the ears as I struggled to wake up from my morning grogginess.
I began to think about the events of last night. I have to admit, I was kind of ashamed
of myself. The date itself was wonderful. I had never experienced anything quite like
that. To be more precise, I had never felt so important before in my life. And that,
I thought, was a very good feeling. The only sour spot was when I had stupidly asked
him about the newspaper article that Lacie had brought to my attention earlier that
morning. Even that, however, was merely a momentary awkwardness. Tony had handled
it with impressive grace, something he seemed to have quite the knack for. So, no,
the date wasn't the problem. The date was absolutely magical. The problem was that
it had escalated so quickly. I hadn't even meant to let it happen, but it was as if
I couldn't help myself. He was just too handsome. Too charming. And then of course
I got burned, just like I deserved. I sighed, painfully recalling all of the previous
nights details.
"Well, Tom," I said, stroking him under his furry orange chin, "at least he didn't
run out and leave me here with my panties around my ankles." Close enough though,
I thought. Close enough. At least I didn't have to go to work.
I ushered Tom off the wrinkled jacket and picked it up, holding it before me and shaking
it to get all of the fine little orange and white cat hairs to fall from it. I folded
it neatly and placed it on the table. He would be calling sooner or later to come
and get that back, surely.
The hangover slowly faded away as the day wore on, but not without my guzzling glass
after glass of water and what seemed like so many aspirins. I decided what I needed
to put the final nail in its coffin was something greasy, but upon a brief inspection
of my refrigerator it was clear that wasn't going to happen at my apartment. I threw
on some fresh clothes and headed out the door, down the stairwell, and into the street.
There was a pretty decent diner a couple blocks from my apartment, and now that my
nausea was fading, bacon and eggs were sounding pretty appetizing.
By the time I was sitting down in the diner and scarfing down my eggs and bacon, I
finally felt one hundred percent better. I was in the middle of carefully sipping
a piping hot cup of coffee when I heard my cell phone's ringtone carry its way up
out of my purse. That must be Tony, I thought. I tinge of excitement raced through
my body. I quickly plunged my hand into the purse and dug out the phone, only to see
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