Elena starts to move a little bit, her eyes open gradually, and she blinks steadily. She stretches and yawns before removing the cover from her body and standing up, but due to the excruciating agony, she sits back down and feels her head.
She looks over at the bedside table and notices a glass with some wine splotches in the bottom. She gets to her feet slowly and descends the stairs while feeling a little lost. She observes her aunt Olufunke eating a bowl of yoghurt when Elena walks by, and her aunt waves at her.
Elena settles into a chair as her aunt observes her expression.
She asks, "Elena, are you okay?" with concern, to which Elena responds by shaking her head.
"I'm sure you're curious about what happened yesterday?"
She nods in response to her aunt's query.
She reprimands her, "Well, you drank a lot last night. This is unlike you, Elena."
She apologises, "I'm sorry aunty, I only wanted to have a half glass of wine," and her aunty chuckles in response.
Elena runs up the stairs, rushes to the bathroom, raises the toilet seat, and puts her hands to her lips as she becomes suddenly nervous. She knelt down, and as she did, a heavy gush of liquid—possibly leftovers from yesterday's dinner—spilled out within the toilet hole. She cleans herself up by taking a shower because she feels dirty all over.
She thinks, "I can't believe I have a hangover."
Elena feels irresponsible since she had to call in sick today even though she has work today. She remembers going to a high school party with Cameron and in particular recalls how his friends pushed her to drink, which she reluctantly agreed to do, and how it ultimately led to her having sex with Cameron. She also remembers that because she's a lightweight, she avoids drinking.
She returns to her bed, sits in a cross - legged position, and reaches for her phone, which is on the bedside table. She goes through her contact list and calls Kianna, who answers after the fifth ring.
She yawns before she speaks.
"Hey Elena, how's it going?"
"Hey Ki, I apologise for disturbing your sleep; is it possible for me to call in sick today?"
Kianna gives her a look.
"Why? Are you expecting a child?"
Elena's eyes widen in response to Kianna's question.
"Nothing like that; I just drank too much the day before."
While Elena is on the phone with Kianna, her aunty Olufunke arrives with lemon tea and hangover medicine and places it on the bedside table. Elena thanks her aunty for the thoughtful gesture, and her aunty smiles and exits the room.
"All right, the boss isn't going to be happy because the editorial department is currently working on the magazine project." Elena is informed.
"I understand; I'll try to get some work done today." Elena comforted her.
"Okay, fine. I'll relay your message to his assistant. Get better soon,girl!" She states.
"Thank you, bye Kia!" Elena hangs up the phone.
She drinks the lemon tea her aunty gave her and shallows the pills and drinks again to ensure proper digestion, then she finishes the tea.
She returns the mug to the bedside table and gets under the blanket, her eyes becoming heavy and she begins to fall asleep. Her aunty Olufunke enters her room later to wake her up for breakfast. Elena yawns, stretches, and stands up to use the restroom as her aunty leaves.
Elena emerges from the bathroom feeling revitalised and changes into a dark grey marbled knit top and trousers lounge set. She exits her room, takes her phone, and walks downstairs into the kitchen.
Her aunt Aaliyah is making porridge, but her other aunty is making pancakes. In the dining room, her daughter Alessia sees her and waves at her, which she reciprocates.
"Good morning, Lissy."
"Good morning, Mommy."
Alessia smiles and returns to her cereal.
"Oh! You're awake. Do you want me to make you some oatmeal?"
Aunty Aaliyah asks Elena, and she takes the porridge from the microwave and brings it over to the dining room.
"No,thanks. I'm going to stick to plain toast."
Elena says as she pulls bread from the upper cabinet and places three slices in the toast.
"Plain toast?" Her aunty says it again.
"Yes ooo, I vomited a while ago, and I don't want it to happen again."
"I see, that makes sense." Her aunty acknowledges.
Elena starts to eat the toast after it comes out of the toaster.
"How do you feel now, Elena?" Aunty Olufunke questions her.
Elena takes a brief pause from eating her toast to respond.
"I'm fine, but I'm still feeling a little sick." Her aunt nods in response to her response.
"By the way, thanks for the tea and medicine." Elena states.
"You are most welcome, darling."
Her aunty says this as she places the golden pancakes on a plate.
Elena checks her phone for the time, which reads 08:20 a.m., and turns to face her daughter, who is nearly finished with her breakfast.
"Dear, do you have everything ready?"
Elena inquires.
"Yep! I have my lunchbox, water bottle, hand sanitizer, calculator, and pencil case." Alessia takes note.
"Very good," she says.
"Honey, what's in your lunchbox?"
"Uncle packed two chicken salad wraps, an apple, a packet of crisps, and a carton of mango juice," said the child.
Alessia tells her mother.
"That sounds delectable." Alessia nods in acknowledgement of her response.
She then finishes her cereal and goes to the kitchen to wash the bowl, which she then places inside the drainer rack.
She then goes to the hallway and puts on the black and light blue trainers.
"Aunty, it's almost time to go!"
Alessia moans.
Aunt Aaliyah sighs and looks at Elena.
"Assomiglia a sua mamma,eh?"
"You got that right!" Elena responds, and the aunts both laugh.
"Aunty Aaliyah!"
Alessia repeats her name.
"I'll be there!" Her aunt gets up, walks down the hall, puts on her sandals, and opens the door.
Elena also stands up and walks into the hallway, where she bends down to hug her daughter.
"What did your mother always tell you, Alessia?"
"That 'you are your best thing', Mommy."
"That's right, sweetie! Have a wonderful day at school, now." She informs her.
Aunt Aaliyah and Alessia get into the car and drive away, and Elena returns to her house.
YOU ARE READING
The Life of Eniola (rewriting story)
RomanceWhen she was just a child, Eniola's dad passed away so her mom attempts to take her own life, her childhood best friend also moved away and her aunt took her in. What will Eniola's life be like as she grows up? 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁...
