Sleeping With My Married Ex

Chapter 6

My head is hurting. My jaws are swollen. I look like a chipmunk. I have to talk through clenched teeth, because it hurts to open my mouth. Thankfully, it's a trick I mastered years ago when Warren and I would have our private Dragonball Z vs Pokemon debate during lectures. I can't chew and can barely swallow, and the pain pills take forever to kick in. Sounds just peachy, doesn't it?

Oh, should I add that I haven't ate since before my teeth were extracted yesterday? Well, I'm adding it. I have nothing in my house that I can eat besides apples. That's why I left out a few minutes ago. I planned to go hunt down something that I could manage to eat. Only problem was, I hadn't even made it to the elevator before my headache blinded me. Maybe it was a migraine or my body protesting to the lack of nutrition it's been receiving. Either way, I was rendered motionless, my head pressed against the cold wooden door of my apartment, my eyes shut tightly to keep out any form of light.

It would be more tolerable if there's just one pain I'm suffering from but two are too many. When the heat from my body warms the spot my head is resting against, I shift to the side to a cooler place. I should just open the door and go in, but this door really is soothing. It's like a cold compress. An actual cold compress might work better, but again, can't open my eyes until the migraine passes.

A few minutes pass before the pain resides and I slowly open my eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the light. But I don't move to enter. I stay here with my head pressed to the door. My stomach growls. I press my hands against it to muffle to sound. Now, I'm no longer in the mood to walk over to Lexington Market to find something that might be edible. I whimper.

If ever there was a time for Warren to intrude on my life, it certainly was now. The fact that he has abandon me and hasn't called at all pisses me off. But I don't have the right to be pissed. I complain any other time he interferes. I can't suddenly become mad when he's not here. Technically I can become mad and I am mad, but it's unjustified. But still...there's a difference from being obtrusive and being there when someone actually needs you. Now I feel like an asshat for even thinking like this.  I sigh.

"How long are you going to stand there with your head stuck to the door?"

I turn my head, without breaking contact with the coolness from the door, to look at Donovan who's leaning against his door with his arms cross. "How long have you been standing there?" I hadn't heard his door open.

"The entire time. You look like hell."
Really? Did he have to say that? I know what I look like. There's no need to throw it in my face. I'm not throwing how he looks right now in his face. I'm not going to tell him he looks like a dirty firefighter, a dirty hot firefighter, even though I want to. It doesn't matter that he doesn't look like one. It's the principle of the matter. "No, I don't. I look like I just fought my way out of hell." I push off the door. "There's a distinct difference."

"Sorry. I forgot about that distinct difference. Where was it written again?"
"Next to the line that says thou should not be a dick in the morning." My response wasn't as snarky as it could have been, but talking through clenched teeth kind of muffles the words, even for someone with my skill.
He smiles. My stomach grumbles. The smile widens. "Where are you going like that." He pokes his cheeks.
"Up the street to find something that I can eat without chewing."

He doesn't say anything. Just stands there and access me. I start to feel self-conscious and wonder if my cheeks are puffier than I believe. I mean, I know they're swollen, but it isn't that bad.
Oh, who am I kidding. I look like I was slapped with a bat.

"I'll get it. What do you want?"
I look at him suspiciously. "Why?" Nice gestures from him always involved a trick.
He shrugs. "Nothing better to do."
This makes me more suspicious.