My Lustful Journey to Europe

"Thou shall not sin "

Thou Shall Not Sin

Chapter 12

Carson was tied to a Native American Totem. Faceless warriors were chanting and dancing to the beat of the drums around a huge fire. The skies were red and menacing, but the air smelled of an expensive perfume. Christen's brand, he realized, just as she appeared in front of him with a giant mallet and started pounding his forehead.

Carson opened in eyes and sat up in his bed. The pounding in his head had nothing to do with Christen, unless the drinking the night before could be blamed on her. He glanced over towards the red display of his alarm-clock and saw it was 2:36am. He tried to concentrate and remember why he was feeling so crappy, and it slowly came back to him.

Christen had sent another email. She basically had informed him that she was willing to talk things out as long as he accepted that he was mostly to blame for where their marriage had gone. The anger he felt while reading the message was slowly coming back.

"How can she genuinely want to talk while putting the blame on me before we even talk?" He managed to think while massaging his temples. He pulled the covers to the side and was about to stand up to go get some aspirin when he noticed the glass of water and two pills on the nightstand next to his bed.

"What the...?"

Carson then realized his shirt was off. And a broken frame laid in the far corner of the room. It slowly came back to him, vaguely remembering being helped to his bed, but wasn't sure just who had been there for him. He emptied the glass of water but left the pills alone. Instead, he decided he'd prepare himself a warm tea and sit outside for a while, the breeze would help more than the pain medicine.

On his way to the kitchen, Carson noticed light coming from underneath Angeline's door. He quietly stood next there for a minute or so but, hearing nothing, he walked away. His head was still pounding and he could feel himself being a little unbalanced as she slowly approached the kitchen. He passed by his daughter's room on his way and found the door open. She had told him that she would be out with friends celebrating the last night before school started again, some kind of tradition in Spain.

The tiles were cold on his bare feet, but Carson welcomed the sensation as he finally reached the kitchen and turned on the dim light.

"Well... if Sabrina's out... " He heard himself whispering as he opened the top cabinet looking for tea, any kind of tea. He wasn't sure what to think of it, but he was grateful that Angeline must have been the one putting him to bed last night. That girl was a keeper.

Carson got the boiling thingy started but his mind was still on his guest. For such a young age, Angeline had all her priorities in order. She was a smart girl with the right balance of street and book smart. She had shown excellent people skills and respect since the day they picked her up from the airport, and as much as he was initially opposed to having a stranger in his house for a year, he had to admit it'd be weird if se suddenly left them.

He would miss her, in fact.

As the AC kicked in, a small vent right above his head forced some cold air onto Carson, making him shake instantly, as he realized he was still shirtless. Angeline had taken his shirt off, he thought, and wondered how she felt about it. He was almost regretting now to not have been fully aware of her doing so. But maybe it was for the better.

Remembering that the light was on in her room, Carson decided to prepare a second cup of tea and bring it to Angeline in case she was up, maybe a little apprehensive about the start of school.

Holding one cup in each hand, Carson was quick to realize that walking at night with some leftovers of alcohol in his blood was just as difficult as driving drunk. He spilled some tea along the way but was too lazy, or tipsy, to care about it. He reached Angeline's door and faced another dilemma; how will he knock with both hands busy?