METANOIA

SWEAT

The three guys and Samia stumbled back to Misha's building. It was only a few blocks from the Rusty Barber. Pete had his eyes closed half the time and Silas realized he walked diagonally for the most part. He was also slurring his speech. Everyone was surprised no one had puked yet. Misha was covered in bruises from the fall earlier, but the fight had no effect on him. Samia? Well, she simply kept repeating to herself, "I can't believe they just left me."

They climbed the stairs, sluggishly, in single file. They were silent the entire way, but as soon as they entered the living room, the guys burst into a collective laughter. Another night of adventure was over; Samia laughed along uneasily. Pete dove face first onto the larger couch. Silas looked over at his giant of a friend, whose legs were sticking out over the end of the couch. They had both gotten too drunk and forgotten to warn Misha about what Samia had done. In retrospect, that was a big mistake, but a not as dire as bringing her home.

Misha said, "Guys, you realize I have one extra bedroom...right?"

Silas jumped in, "I call dibs."

Pete: "What? You have another bedroom?" Pete had barely stayed in the house long enough that morning, and with the alcohol in his system, he had already forgotten its layout. He was disappointed but was too drunk to protest.

Silas was already in the bedroom and shut the door behind him. Unfortunately, the door did not close completely.

Pete mumbled something in protest, but as his face was buried into the couch, it was incomprehensible. There were two couches in the living room, and Pete had instinctively chosen the larger, three-piece one.

Misha smiled as he said, "Pete, you belligerent lump! You took the whole damn couch. Fine, you can sleep there..." Not that he thought Pete was ever going to be able to move.

Pete rolled his face sideways to speak, "That's right! 'Cause I'm tall, and drunk, and awesome!"

Misha and Samia huddled together on the smaller couch, and it wasn't long before they started making out again. It seemed to Misha that she was clumsy and hesitant to take this any further, so he asked her flat out, "Have you ever done this before?"

Samia replied, "I went to an all-girls college. I'm just a little inexperienced with guys. I've only been with one other guy before."

No one tells you, "You are the second guy I've have slept with." Misha's words flashed in the back of his mind.

Misha immediately thought of the conversation with Silas at the hipsteraunt, and too inebriated to stop it, the laughter traveled up his windpipe, and inevitably came out. Samia was obviously offended by this and turned cold on him immediately. Misha tried to remedy the situation briefly, but then realized he couldn't be bothered. He was too drained, punched out, and his mojo had left him at the Barber. Pete was snoring loudly at this point, and Misha smiled. He made one last, disinterested attempt to get her to come to his bedroom, "I'm falling asleep, and I need to wake up early to pack tomorrow, so I'm going to my bedroom..."

Samia saw the invitation and turned it down, "I think I'm just gonna crash here on the couch..."

Misha was not too upset about it and, getting up from the couch to go back to his room, he said, "Suit yourself, me casa su casa," and then dragged his knuckles to his bedroom. He was sound asleep half a second before his head hit the pillow.

Samia understandably had reservations about being all alone in a house with three bizarre men. She felt uncomfortable, but it exhilarated her more than anything. Awake by herself in the living room, she started to take off her clothes, and by the time she became aware of what she was doing, she was naked.