Chances

Axel

I pushed through the invisible force that kept me in bed past 10 o'clock on a Thursday.

The night before was entirely a blur.

I went out with my friends for an early birthday celebration.

I took one drink.

And I was out.

I groaned as I sat up and looked around the room full of hand carved out antiques.

For the first time in the past fourteen hours, the world was neither spinning nor a blackout void.

I was awake and sober.

My stomach growled.

And hungry.

I yawned as I made my way downstairs to the first floor of the little home.

"Huh?" I said to himself as the sound of clattering of dishes reached my ears.

I didn't live with anyone, let alone have a pet.

I grabbed a carved out boat ore that was hung on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

My hands shook as I slowly walked towards the kitchen.
I debated over whether it was from the alcohol that hadn't fully left my body or that I didn't know who or what i'd find in there.

I took in an intense amount of deep breaths to stall and finally charged into the kitchen with my fingers firmly gripping onto the ore, waving it around.

"Out of my kitchen you good for nothing!"-

I stopped.

My slowly opened full from being squinted.

My eyes were met by a similar dark brown pair.

I didn't realise I was gaping until the ore slid out of my grip and fell to the ground.

Before me stood the most beautiful young lady I had ever set my eyes on.

Her hair dark and wavy, her skin brown and even, her eyes, as mentioned before, brown and panicking.

"Oh," she said as she put the plate she was holding down. "H-Hi."

In awe, I dared not to move and just stared at her.
She does the same and suddenly I'm conscious about the pale top half of my body that was bare and exposed.

"I-uh...I was putting this back in the oven so that you'd find it when you got up. But I guess you're here so..."

The lady gently slid the plate to me and nervously smiled at him as she watched me slowly walk towards it.

I picked up a scribbled on piece of paper that read;

Hey Axel, made you breakfast. Thanks for a great night. With love, g.

I furrowed my brows as I looked down at the plate of hearty pancakes, fresh fruit, an omelette and baked beans.

What was going on?

A heavy silence sat between the two of us before I finally snapped out of his trance and gathered up all that was needed to let words out.

"I'm sorry," I said as I nervously rubbed my hands over my face. "Do I...do I know you?"

The lady blushed with embarrassment.
"We met last night."

"Oh," I let out as I nodded my head. Was that supposed to make something in my head click? Because nothing was clicking. "Right right. Last night."

My smile withered with confusion but I was sure she couldn't see that.

The lady smiled. "You don't remember me, do you?"

Shoot.

"N-Not at all sorry."

She chuckled.

Her chuckle was soft and gentle. It almost felt like I could feel its wool-like texture.

"Why don't you grab your food and take a seat while I run things through. That's if you don't mind."

I nod as I pull out a chair and take a seat by the small kitchen island.

I listens to her explain how we met at Goldteeth bar the previous night after I called for her, referring to her as "the pretty little she-wolf in black."

I cringed
.
"No," I said as I bit back a chuckle. "Tell me I didn't actually say that."

"That'd be a lie," the lady said with another chuckle. "You were all over the place last night. Throwing cash at everyone and shouting that you would pay double even if you didn't touch a soul. It was pretty amusing actually coming from a small guy like you."

Once again, I was made conscious of my exposed upper half. But there was nothing I could do at that point.

"Oh no,"  I said as I placed my head down, throwing a piece of fruit into my mouth. "Be honest. From a scale from one to ten, how embarrassing was it?"

"I'm torn between a six point five and a solid seven."

I could hear the smile in her words.

I groaned.

"But we spent the last bit of your night just talking on and on."

"About what?" I said as I looked up at her, my mouth now full of fruits.

"Well...I had a pretty rough day so I guess I did most of the talking but you didn't seem to mind at the time. You were drunk after all."

"Then how'd I manage to get home?"

"You were tipsy the entire night so I helped you come back home and it was pretty late so you said it would be best if I stayed the night and slept on the couch. I-I was on my way out right now actually."

The lady nervously looked down at her feet before straightening up.
She was in a worn out coat and had a long black cloth tied around her waste covering her from the waist down.

"I really hope you don't mind," she said as she pulled me out of my thoughts. "We didn't...we didn't do anything if you're wondering."

"Oh, no no of course not. It's okay and thank you for making this amazing breakfast," I said as I looked around the kitchen and noticed how clean it was. "And cleaning up."

"The pleasure was all mine," she said before turning around.

"I-I didn't quite get your name did I?"

"Gemma. Gemma Ash."

"Right. Can I at least walk you out of this part of town? If you don't mind."

She smiled and shook her head. "No you don't have to."

I nodded with a smile as I listened to her footsteps recede, not daring to look back in her direction until I heard the door close with a soft click.

I stared down at the plate of food and shoved torn out bit of pancake into my mouth.

It wasn't until then that I realised I was smiling.

"Gemma," I whispered under my breath. "Gemma Ash."