The smell wakes me up: a stinging stench of stale urine. I sit up, hold my pounding head and think, this is it Kade, you've dived to rock bottom.
Waking up hung-over in a stinking toilet cubicle, it don't get much lower than this.
I slam my hand to my pocket: PHEW! My cell's still there. Some small relief.
It doesn't help that the events that led me here are pretty hazy. I recall: beer, a pretty girl, a bartender, and Tan in the arms of another guy.
'Tan in the arms of another guy' that thought hurts as much as it did before I used the beer to blot it out.
I call her again.
Nothing.
My battery's almost down. Good thing I've got my emergency charger on me. I'm hoping this doesn't become an emergency.
My head hurts even more when I phone Kelly and it goes to voice mail. My anger mounts when I phone Troy and it rings out. Then I think, it must be the middle of the night. Jeez, how could I sleep so long in this stinking pit?
WHAT? This door's locked from the other side. "Hey, open this freaking door!"
When there's no reply, I don't worry, these cubicle doors are weak; I can kick it open.
No I can't. It's locked, or stuck solid. When I throw my body into it, the only result I get is a bruised shoulder.
Looking up, there's a gap between the door and ceiling. It'll be a squeeze but I could just about make it.
I climb onto the toilet. But the sight of what's looking down at me from the gap jolts me. An imp, a female one, all big Disney Princess eyes and mane of pink hair, with little furry hands grasping onto the door. And here's the killer, it's laughing, cackling. The little shit's almost teasing me.
The Kade's anger fuels me and I dive upwards grab the door with my left hand and smack the giggling imp into infinity with my right hand.
Hanging from the door, I hear it simper and scurry someplace. I guess I wiped the smile from its face.
That was tough, but I did it, I'm out. I peeled some skin off my back in the process, but I'm free. Scanning the bathroom, I see no sign of the imp. Which is a shame, I wanted to tear it apart and see what these London imps are made of.
I want: water, home, a shower. Most of all I want Tan. A shower with Tan would be beyond awesome. Despite my hurting head, shoulder and back I'm feeling curiously positive. I believe I may have over-reacted about what I saw at Tan's office. I'll go home and probably find Tan and the others all there, worried about me. After explaining and apologizing, that shower with Tan will be a reality.
The pub is in blackness and deathly quiet; I guess it is the middle of the night. My hand finds the wall and I pat around it looking for a light switch.
Suddenly blinded, I instinctively cover my eyes against the harsh light that floods the pub.
It would appear that someone found the light switch for me.
"So young man, have you slept it off?" It's a guy's voice, but I can't see anyone in the glare. "Sleep what off?" I ask, as my eyes slowly adjust to the light.
"Your violent attitude."
Looking behind me to the source of the voice, I see him, sitting on a chair, his hands clasped on a table, like he's praying.
