Silver Lining [Mick Schumacher]

Met Him Last Night

"I've seen the devil, yeah, I met him last night
One conversation, now he's spendin' the night
I think I love him, though I know it ain't right."
Met Him Last Night; Demi Lovato ft. Ariana Grande

-

Not long after Alistair had left Hestia's house, clueless about last night's events, Hestia started to experience first withdrawal symptoms. It was nothing new for her. When she was forced into detox and rehab for the first time, withdrawal was cruel, without showing a single hint of mercy for the tarnished soul. All day long, she was curled in a ball on a bed covered in hot sweat as it was a fiery blanket. Her muscles were trembling as if she had run a marathon without any preparation. She couldn't sleep, and the idea of food was making her stomach do a whole gymnastic routine. As if it wasn't enough already, she experienced mild hallucinations as a symbolical climax.

The punishment didn't work enough for Hestia, it was the opposite. It didn't open her eyes, it closed them even more. Abstinence made her crave alcohol ten times stronger. Withdrawal symptoms were like satanic torture, but it wasn't enough pain to make her change. In the period of three years when she portrayed herself as recovering alcohol addict, she never was hundredth percent sober. She never said she wanted to be, only doing what her mother and team told her. This was a secret Hestia kept locked because it would ruin everything her team had built concerning her reputation in the industry. She would be pretty much done if people would find out she lied. No one would understand her or feel sympathy.

Back then, she had no idea what staying away from her only friend and lover would feel like. It wasn't painless, but she sucked it up and hung in, so the reward would feel sweeter. While others learned how destructive the power of alcohol could be to their lives, Hestia knew she had to improve her hiding skills when it came to her bottles. Promises you give to yourself and only yourself are difficult to maintain, no one is keeping an eye on you. But after surviving a near-death scenario and meeting Mick, Hestia's point of view had shifted. She knew that the aftermath of yesterday was inevitable, yet she feared it. She had a hope that maybe this time, it would be different. She would be different.

At first, the symptoms weren't as severe as she remembered them. This gave Hestia false reassurance. She got lucky, the same way as she got lucky at the final countdown. It only took a while before it all turned a whole 180. Hestia almost dropped the glass in the kitchen due to intensive trembling in her hands. Pierced with headache and intense nausea, she had to crunch down for a moment. She hid her head in her hands, feeling her heart raging. Life was getting her a lesson, a lesson she deserved.

"I think I've seen this film before-" Hestia didn't even bother to lift her head upon hearing Samael's voice. She should have yelled at him, called the police, or just kicked him out of her house he marched into without invitation. But she lacked energy for the act, "wow, wow, what is going on? No screaming, throwing things at me, asking how the hell did I get into your house... not that I would actually tell you. I keep my best tricks to me," despite not seeing his face, Hestia could very well see his smug smile in her mind.

"I don't have energy for that," she muttered while still hiding from the struggles of an outer world.

"Hmm...you seem pretty dead."

"You don't say," Hestia looked up to see Samael standing in front of her in his worst beauty, "are you going to keep standing there all day?" she squinted at Samael, surprising him by her resigned behavior.

"Well, I expected a rodeo so I don't know what to do next," Samael admitted while looking down at his shoes.

"In that case, you can fuck off and never ever come back," Hestia leaned her head against the counter, closing her eyes. But deep inside, she knew her words caused Samael great pleasure. He fueled himself on attention.