Disney Got It Wrong

Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning to noise. Lots of noise. The first sound that woke me was the sound of a car horn blaring, and as sleep sifted out of my aching brain, I became aware of other noises: men shouting back and forth to each other, then the shrill whine of some sort of electric saw, and somewhere in all of that was the sound of other power tools and a hammer banging away. I rolled over and covered my head, trying desperately to go back to sleep just to be startled awake by the whine of the saw again.

"What the fuck," I said aloud as I threw the covers off and squinted toward my window, then I quickly looked away when that idiot idea made my eyes water. I forgot to close my curtains when I went to bed.

My mouth was sticky and dry, and my head hurt. I was hungover and dehydrated. I needed water and couldn't find the will to move, but the noise grating on my growing headache left me with little choice. More than anything I needed something for the headache and had no one handy to fetch the Aleve from the medicine cabinet.

I kicked the comforter off and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment with my head in my hands. I was aware of a little soreness that hadn't been there in a while and mentally kicked myself for the alcohol and the turn things had taken the night before. I shouldn't have done it, but I had. I just hoped it wouldn't come back to bite me in the ass later.

I reached blindly for my iPhone on the night stand when I realized I hadn't put it there just like I hadn't put myself to bed. I looked down at the t-shirt I was wearing, the only thing I was wearing, and looked up to where I was groping around to find a sticky note stuck to the screen of my charging phone. I hadn't put my phone on the charger either.

Give me a call some time
-Derek

Kudos to Derek for tucking me in after screwing my brains out.

I crumpled the note up and dropped it on my night stand then tapped the screen on my iPhone to check the time. It was just past seven in the morning.

What the fuck? I wasn't supposed to be worth killing all day.

I stood and stretched hard, and man did it feel good, but it made me a little dizzy. I yawned and shuffled into the bathroom to handle business and take some Aleve and a vitamin gummy. After seeing the mess of leftover makeup and bed head I was, I opted for a hot shower to wash away the grimy feeling that was clinging to my skin. The events of the night had left me feeling dirty and more than a little used. He hadn't even made efforts to make sure I got off. I'd had to ensure that myself and only barely managed it before he found his release. That much I remembered for how frustrating it had been that it was over so soon.

Once I was out and feeling marginally better, I ran a wide toothed comb through my naturally curly hair and braided it over my shoulder like the night before. My head couldn't handle an updo. And finally I brushed my teeth, went back through my room for a fresh t-shirt and shorts, and made a beeline for the kitchen. Just that little bit had me feeling better. My tongue wasn't sticking to the roof of my mouth anymore and I smelled like myself again.

I thought about breakfast for all of two point five seconds before dismissing it. First, I was a little nauseated. Second, it was too damn early. And third, I had consumed way too many carbs at dinner and the bowling alley to go for a B&E breakfast. I deserved the miserable morning on gluttony alone. Instead, I went for the bag of Starbucks Columbia and brewed myself a strong cup of coffee. I grabbed a bottle of water and drank half of it then picked my phone up while I waited for the pot to fill enough to sneak a cup and found I had a handful of notifications waiting for me.

I had a message from Natalie telling me that she and Sam had made it home and wishing me the best of luck with a winking smiley face. I swiped left and dismissed the notification. I had a couple of messages from Mrs. Evans with pictures of my silly kids from the night before with their ice cream faces. The accompanying message assured me that Breslin's diabetes had been well taken care of with the ice cream. And I had a Facebook notification telling me that Derek Andrews sent me a friend request as well as an Instagram notification saying he started following me. The time stamp on those notifications was 1:32 A.M.