was it ever real?

29. offer of a lifetime

my eyes slowly blink open and instantly my hands shield them from the brightness. the world is so bright as if the sun is right in front of my window. i sit up in the bed, squinting my eyes and adjusting to the morning light blinding me from the open blinds.

the door's wide open, displaying the hallway.

my palms cover my ears from the constant loud voices and ringing. the laughter and clicking of the dishes and glasses from downstairs almost bang against my eardrums.

has everyone been up, except for me?
even so, this hangover's kicking my ass right now.

"i'm never gonna drink again," i mutter, sliding to the side of the bed and taking a moment to adjust. my head is pounding, as though someone is squeezing my skull tightly with rubber bands to pit my scalp into a ponytail. my stomach and body ache, and right now i need a tylenol.

sliding to the door, and out to the stairs i see the three of them. leaning on the railing, i glance at amorah on the couch sipping from her drink. vinnie's sitting at the island in his sketchbook and aaron is in the kitchen cooking eggs. beside vinnie, nano's laying on the dark hardwood floors chewing on nana.

"morning," i say as i walk down the stairs, dragging my feet along the cold floors. the headache sits in the back of my head, then pulsates to the front. amorah giggles, "look who's up." she turns to face me.

"you were so drunk last night," aaron starts laughing as he divides the eggs among the plates.

the both of them are laughing together like two little jokesters, but vinnie's the only one not saying anything.

i glance at him in silence, seeing his hand continuously shading his paper. "goodmorning vinnie," i quietly say to him. "morning," he says. his hands stop sketching but his eyes don't leave the page.

what's wrong with him?
did i do something last night?

i faintly remember parts, but the last clear part i remember is when we left the club. what happened?

"want eggs?" aaron breaks my focus by sliding a plate across the granite countertop.

"sure," i squint my eyes. "do we have Tylenol?"

"i think-"

vinnie interrupts aaron, "i have some in my room."

"oh okay...uhm where?"

instead of answering, he stands up and begins walking down the hall. "are you coming?"

confused, i glance at both amorah and aaron, but they shrug their shoulders. shortly after, amorah giggles and winks at me. in return, i give her a sarcastic laugh with a straight face.

i follow vinnie down the hall and into his room, curious why he couldn't just bring it to me. unless he wants to talk in private, maybe about last night.

i enter the room, surprised that it's clean compared to his actual room. he's standing by his bag with the medicine in his hand.

oh..he actually is giving me the Tylenol.
but i wanted to talk about last night.
about what i did.

"hey vinnie," i begin to ask him about last night, but the blank glance he gave me caused me not to continue my sentence.

whatever i did, i don't want to be reminded about nor do i want to bring it up any further.

"nevermind," i mutter brushing past him and returning into the living room.

as i'm walking down the hall, i notice amorah and aaron being nosy. their ears are facing the hallway and their necks are lifted. when they realize i'm returning, they jump to return to regular posture and act as if they've been occupied instead of spying.