Journey of a Lifetime

Why's The Rum Always Gone?

A couple weeks go by, Phil Brooks is able to be down in Tennessee for a meet up with Sera. The indie wrestling scene has been keeping him busy travelling, he's confirmed a couple weeks of break to focus on personal things.

"Hi Zoe, so what's the plan?" he asks, entering my office

"Hi Phil, so on the day, treat it like a date. Take her out for coffee or something. Take her to a movie, or go for a walk. It's your chance to make a good first impression" I grin, drinking some tea from my mug. "I've told her about you, just like you know a bit about her. So think of something to do. I'm a matchmaker, not a date planner"

"Right, of course"

"It'll go fine. I wouldn't have paired you with her if I didn't feel confident. I don't give her up too easily" I go on, trying to calm the pacing man in my office.

"Has she been looking for a while?" he asks, frowning at me

"She's had her issues with guys in the past, but I'll let you and her dig into all of that"

"But it's this weekend, right?"

"Yes, so you have the next couple of days to figure out how you want to do it"

"Cool, ok. Oh, your cheque is with your assistant" he smiles and leaves

"Don't mess this up, Phil" I shout as he closes the door

So as I lay here with a bottle of Jack in one hand, and a cigarette in the other, on the cold tiled floor of my kitchen, I imagine all the possibilities of what could happen tomorrow. Love at first sight? Complete rejection? One of my best or worst matches yet? Spark or no spark? Love or hatred? Will they be able to find something, anything, in common? I hope so. Thinking about it, they are both quite opposite... do opposites really attract? She's a drinker and smoker, he's straight edge. They both have tattoos... there's something. What if they love the same genre of music but completely different songs or bands or singers? Oh God. The spiral is happening. Another drink, another smoke, killing the day away, slowly. This isn't how a Saturday should be spent. How should a Saturday be spent?

After a few... 5... more bottles of alcohol and a couple... 7... more cigarettes, and deciding to move myself on to the sofa in front of the TV, I pass out or fall asleep with the rest of what's left of the vodka lodged in my hand. There are still some bottles of beer and half a bottle of Jim left from my latest binge (this one)... nothing compared to when I was using coke to say the least.

Sera and Kim went out outfit shopping for Sera's meeting tomorrow all day today. Or at least for the part where all of me was alive and conscious to the outside world, however long that lasted.

As the natural light shines through the window, I'm awoken from my deep sleep or unconscious state. Shaken from my state.

"Zoe, Zoe, Zoe, Zoe, Zoe, Zoe, Zoe!" Sera yells, shaking me. I feel a slap on my face. "ZOE!" she screams, shaking me and slapping my face.

"What? What? What? What? What?" I respond, still not alive.

"Oh good, she's still alive then" Kim giggles, as she heads into the bathroom.

I open my eyes slightly. "Depends, what time is it?"

"10 o'clock"

"What day?"

"Sunday"

"Morning?"

"Yeah"

I close my eyes again. "I'm not alive"

"Bitch, get up, you need to show me where I'm meeting this Phil guy"

"Shit!" I say, open my eyes and try to get up. As I sit there, I drink what's left of the vodka in my hand and light another cigarette.