Kaylee and Hunter: An Office Romance

Chapter 9: Kaylee

I woke up with a pounding headache and a cotton mouth and stumbled out of bed to get some coffee and aspirin. Last night was a little fuzzy. Hopefully Elyse could fill in some of the blanks, but first I had to sober up.

After my shower, I decided to call Elyse to figure out how bad I was at the club. As I looked down at my phone, I saw a new contact and remembered Juan. Juan was such a sweetie and didn't pressure me into something that I was not ready for. We had danced-if you can call it that-for a long time before he left the club. After that is still blank, well, that's what Elyse is for.

"Hey El. How bad was I last night?" I inquired forgoing the pleasantries.

"Um, who is this?" a male voice answered. He sounded vaguely familiar, but I could not place him. "Wait, Kaylee?" the man asked.

"Yeah? Who are you and why are you answering Elyse's phone?" I demanded.

"Kaylee, it's me Jared." he replied. Shit! What happened last night?!?!

"Jared give the phone to Elyse. NOW!" He mumbled a reply and I heard some shuffling before Elyse came on the phone with a muffled, "What?".

"El! What the hell? Why did you sleep with Jared?" All of my problems were forgotten in the face of El's situation.

"Kay, calm your tits girl. Jared and I did not have sex!" she said and I scoffed in disbelief. "You don't have to believe me, but its true. I was drunk off my ass, but Jared didn't take advantage of me. We stayed out pretty late just talking and then as we were walking out of the club, I twisted my ankle because my heel broke. Cheap ass shoe! Then Jared helped me home and since it was so late, I let Jared sleep on the pullout and I slept in my room. He answered my phone because it woke him up and I was in the bathroom so calm down." Elyse explained.

"Okay, El. Anyway, back to the reason I called, what happened last night? I was so out of it that I don't even remember how I got home. I'm assuming you called me a cab because I was embarrassing myself, right?"

"Um..." Elyse said awkwardly.

"Um what? Spit it out Elyse," I said suddenly worried that I behaved worse that I thought last night. "Please tell me I didn't dance on the bar again!"

"Yeah, about that," Elyse replied evasively. "You kind of ran into Hunter, kissed him, and he took you home." Elyse said in one rushed breath. I hardly even understood what she said, but his name definitely caught my attention.

"WHAT?!?!" I screeched into the phone. What did I do last night? "Elyse! How could you let him take me home?!?! You know how I feel about him," I hissed.

"Kay, be reasonable! You guys were getting along and with the way he was looking at you, I just assumed-"

"You just assumed that I wanted to go home with him?" I asked incredulously. "What did I do?"

"I think that you guys came to an understanding. At one point, you were gesturing all over the place and then you were crying-"

"I cried in front of Hunter?!?!" I was mortified. I know that I have unresolved issues when it comes to Hunter, but never in my worst nightmare would I have assumed that I would cry in front of him. "Please tell me that that is the worst of it," I pleaded.

"Sorry Kay, but there was more. Before the fighting and the crying, you were dancing with him. After the argument, Hunter kissed you. And it was hot! I mean I want a man to kiss me like that. It was so-" I interrupted her with an annoyed cough. "Okay, back to your problems. After your make out session, Hunter dragged you over to us-Jared and I-to make sure we were able to get rides because he took you home. It was really sweet. He had you tucked under his arm and the way he was looking at you was more than sexual! Do you remember anything now?"

Shit! I thought that the kiss was a dream but apparently it must have happened. I attempted to remember what happened after that, but it was still fuzzy and then it came back to me. Double shit!

Hunter had opened up to me and had seemed honest when I bared my heart to him at the club. He begged me to believe him and I did. The kiss we shared was steamy, but Hunter stopped it because... Because? Oh yeah, Alyssa! He wanted to do right by me and he said he wasn't going to sleep with me until he ended things with her. Elyse told me that we talked to her and left. I must have fallen asleep in the car. I vaguely recall waking up and screaming at him. Hunter looked beaten after that but then he tried to play it off as sex! Well, Monday is going to be awkward.

"Kay? Are you still there?" Elyse's voice broke through my mental musings. "Did you remember anything?"

"I did. Now I want to get drunk again to forget!" I whined. "I don't know how I'm going to face him on Monday. I was a bitch to him and Hunter didn't deserve any of it. I can't believe I acted like that!" I exclaimed. "I kissed two different men El! Two men! What is wrong with me? Don't answer that. It was rhetorical. I mean Juan was so sweet but he didn't make me forget about Hunter. What am I going to do?"

"Can I actually answer that question?" Elyse mocked. "You should give Juan a chance if you think he can help to get over Hunter, but if you're still pining after Hunter, don't bring Juan into it. And, are you sure that you can't work things out with Hunter? Last night it looked like things were going well to me. Just be open-minded Kay." she advised. "I have to go and talk to Jared about some things, but I hope you are okay. Bye!" The dial tone rung in my ear as Elyse ended the call. Her advice was solid, but I wasn't so sure it'd be as easy as she was making it sound.

I spent the rest of the weekend thinking about my love life. Friday morning, I didn't have anyone chasing me, but Friday night, Hunter and Juan made their interests known. Juan seemed nice and he's attractive, but Juan is no where near Hunter on any scale. Hunter is the epitome of lick-able. I don't want to hurt either of them, but at this point, I have to worry about my heart.

---

My brother, Payton, is my savior. without him I don't know what I'd do. Payton's advice has saved me more times that I care to remember. The pickle I'm in now calls for a Payton fix. I dial my brother's number and wait for him to answer.

"What's wrong Kay?" Payton immediately asks and I break down.