Waiting To Exhale

Thirty-four

   "How are you not bawling over the toilet right now?" I ask. I don't remember him drinking as much as I did last night. I don't remember much.

   He shrugs. "I can handle my liquor."

   "Look I need to get back to where I was staying. I'm sure my friends are wondering where I am. Can you please just drop me off?" I know it's probably a bad idea to bring him back to where I'm staying but I have a major hangover and a night I can barely remember. Its not safe for me to be walking back alone or even catching a cab for that matter. I don't even know where I am. Dylan agrees to drop me off. I thank him and ask him for some privacy while I call my friend. I need to know the address. Plus I don't want him to be around when Kenyan guilt trips me. There's no way I'm telling any of this to Jen.

   I know she's my best friend but Mason is her brother. She will never forgive me for what I did. She'll go to her brother with this for sure. I don't need them breathing down my back. Kenyan is more laid back. I'm sure she won't even care what I did. She's no saint herself. None of us are.

   I slither out of this big shirt and put back on my dress and shoes. Once Dylan slips out on his shoes he grabs his keys and we head out. As of the awkwardness in the elevator wasn't torture enough, the wall of shame in the loby nearly kills me. It feels like everyone is watching me, laughing at me. It's like they know exactly what I did and they're just waiting to tell Mason about it.

   I don't say anything during the drive. I don't know what to say and plus my head hurts too much to try. My eyes hurt and my stomach is tightened.

   "Here's your stop. I guess this is goodbye. I had a really great time with you last night." He moves to kiss me but I quickly pull back. I thank him before getting out the car. I all but sprint to the house. I don't look back until I hear his car pull off. I grab the key Kenyan sat out for me from under the mat. I take off my shoes and tiptoe into the house. My movements are very slow. I don't want to take a chance and alert anyone of my presence. I'm not sure how I can cover up this mess. When I make it to my room safely I am finally able to let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding. I take off my clothes and tie my hair up. I grab a towel and run to the bathroom and shower. Of course I puke a couple more times and have to brush my teeth and rinse my mouth out.

   I get dressed in a white crop top and a pair of pink spandex shorts. I plop down on the bed and immediately fall asleep. I wake up a couple hours later to the smell of breakfast; bacon, eggs, pancakes. It all smells so good. I still have a headache. My stomach is yelling for me to put some food in it so I get up and stumble downstairs to the kitchen. Jen is seated at the table rubbing her head. Good thing I'm not the only one with a hangover.

   "You look just as bad as I feel," I joke. She responds with incoherent mumbling. I fix me a plate and sit down. "I barely remember last night."

   "Me too. I think I may have hooked up with a couple guys. Not sure."

   "Well if you did I'm not going to judge. What are our plans for today?"

   "Well I was thinking about hitting the gym but with this headache..." It's so nice that this place is on the skirt of town. We're far away enough that we can have some privacy and peace and quiet but close enough to town that we can go out of we want to. Kenyan's grandparents obviously aren't pure nature folks or they would have built this place in the middle of nowhere and forced us to feed off the land. They just like their privacy.

"We'll just ask Kenyan. Where is she anyway? Frankie?"

"Kenyan's out in the pool. Frankie is upstairs. She was still sleep last I checked. Hey, maybe we can go shopping. I doubt this town has anything I'll like but it won't hurt to try."

"Sounds fun." I finish my breakfast and head out to the pool. I need to talk to Kenyan about last night and this morning. I feel bad about not telling Jen but I just can't. Dylan was a mistake. I was drunk.

"I thought I heard you talking to Jen. Were you telling her what happened?" Kenyan questions.

"No. I'm not telling her. I slept in some random guy's hotel last night. We were dirty dancing up and down the club. Mason'll kill me if he finds out. I can't let him find out. I need to make sure Kenyan isn't going to rat me out. To anybody.

"Are you sure that's all you did?"

No. "Yes I'm sure." I may not remember last night or doing anything with Dylan but the feeling I felt between my legs when I woke up told me everything I needed to know. I had sex with a stranger. We probably didn't use protection. I don't even know if he has something or not. I could get pregnant. This is bad. This is very bad.

"Did he drop you off?"

"Yes. I didn't have money for a cab and I definitely couldn't walk. And I couldn't ask him for money."

"I don't see how he was put together enough to drive you here safely. You sure he was drinking?"

"Why would you ask me that?"

She shrugs. "Just asking. Look, I'm not going to say anything to anyone. You don't have to worry about me. I wouldn't do that to my friend."

"Thanks Kenyan. I really appreciate it."