ATONEMENT || 𝟏𝟖+ [hiatus]

𝑖𝑖𝑖. 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔

──・・𖦁・・──

Twenty-five...

Twenty-six...

Twenty-seven...

Silence.

No more vibrations. I wait one beat. Two beats. Three beats. No more vibrations. Only then do I lift my phone from the nightstand and unlock it. As soon as I stumbled into the house last night, I grabbed a bottle of cabernet and crawled into bed, with no regard for anything or anyone else in the world. Just me, wine, and the bed.

There are six messages from Ophelia, ten from Alexander, and eleven from Tristan. They all deserve responses, but I don't want to answer. I don't feel up to even reading them.

My opportunity to stew on the decision is ripped away from me with the ringing of my doorbell. There are so many options for who could be at my door, and quite frankly, I don't have the will to deal with any of them. Maybe if I ignore them, they'll get the hint and go away.

Oh who am I kidding?

I force myself to get out of bed and slide on my silk robe from Mulberry Park Silks. Walking down those stairs is pure agony. The ringing bell and the sound of my footsteps on hardwood merge in my brain, creating a cacophony of madness. Each step feels like walking on red, hot magma, and the imaginary burning sensation gets worse and worse the longer it goes on. It feels like it takes an eternity for me to reach the door, but it couldn't have been more than a minute.

Ophelia is standing there, the sun making her glow as it dances across her brown skin. "We need to talk. Can I come in?"

I give her a half-hearted smile. "Even if I said no, you'd still come in."

"You know me so well, Delilah." She smirks and steps into the foyer.

Ophelia looks me up and down, removing her sunglasses to get a good look at me. Her brow furrows and her full lips twist into a frown. "You look like hell."

"Leave it to you to be blunt, Ophie!" I say, heading toward the kitchen. "Do you want a drink?"

"Water's fine." She takes a seat at my kitchen island, resting her chin in the palms of her hands. "Were you drinking after you left Claudia's?"

I nod. "I had a glass of cabernet."

Correction, I drank an entire bottle of cabernet and passed out with The Vampire Diaries playing on the television. I couldn't tell you what episode I left off on, I think Damon was killing someone, but when is he not?

"Just a glass?" She raises an eyebrow. "Mhm...hey, quick question. What's your damage?"

The bluntness of her question startles me. I look at her for a second before sliding her a bottle of Voss. "Nothing's the matter, Ophie. We all have off days, and yesterday just happened to be mine."