LUCIFER » SIMON MINTER

Chapter 57

I woke up the next morning with an unbearable and inevitable hangover headache. I stretched my arms out, only to find that the other side of the bed was cold. I pulled my arms back underneath the cover and pouted at myself.

Last night definitely did not go according to plan. Drinking as much as I did wasn't like me, and dancing without Simon wasn't usual. I rarely ever got drunk, and the fact that I did on the first night of a romantic holiday made me feel a little bit childish. It's like I didn't know how to take care of myself and drink responsibly. Hell, I don't even remember how I got home last night.

And so I was spiralling down the hell hole of guilt. Again.

Deciding I need to fix myself, both in terms of clothes and mindset, I got out of mine and Simon's queen-sized bed and trudged towards our private bathroom. When I first looked in the mirror, my first thought was, wow, you look absolutely rank. My mascara had transferred to underneath my eyes, and my lips were stained from the wine and the lipstick I wore the night before. Not to mention how messy my hair looked.

I had brought my phone with me so that I could listen to some music whilst I made myself look presentable again. But when I pressed down on my home button, an unread text from last night got my attention. And the fact that it was from an unknown number made me even more curious.

Unknown: hey Lu, it's Lachlan. Just wanted to say that it was fun dancing with you tonight, and that I hope you got home alright :)

I put my phone down again and sighed when I looked at myself in the mirror once more. Maybe it was best not to answer right now. So I grabbed my toothbrush and cleaned myself up. Even my toothbrush stank of alcohol afterwards. And I learnt that alcohol and mint toothpaste doesn't make the best combination.

"Oh, good, you're still alive." Freya laughed when I came downstairs to the kitchen. The happy couple were cuddling together on the sofa whilst watching some sort of football match on the TV. Both of Josh's hands were rested on Freya's big baby bump.

"How's the hangover?" Josh chuckled and I rolled my eyes at him. I rushed over to the kitchen island where a camera–I'm not sure whose–caught my eye. I took it and put the strap over my head, just in case, and took pictures of the two. Freya had a pregnancy glow that accentuated her flushed cheeks, and Josh had a resting smile on his face that he just couldn't get rid of.

"Whoa, hold on! I wasn't ready for a maternity photoshoot!" Freya joked after she heard the camera shutter go off a couple of times. I smiled and set the camera back down.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist."

"Those better make it to your graduation photo gallery," She scoffed playfully. I shrugged at her as if to say I don't know, we'll see and then made myself some breakfast.

I made my way outside afterwards, and just so happened to have left the house at the same time I got a call. I looked down to see it was Ella, and I instantly smiled. I hadn't spoken to her in a while. I wondered how she and Vik were getting on.

"Hi!" I answered happily.

"Hey! Do you see me? Let's go down to the beach together." She offered. I frowned and looked around, looking for a brown-headed girl with piercing blue eyes. "Look down," She then said into my ear. That's when I spotted her, jumping and waving about at me in her denim shorts and flowing bright red top. She was much further down the road, and looked very small.

"Oh-okay, I see you! I'll make my way down." I told her and then hung up, carefully making my way down the steep roads of the little Croatian village. I took it that she was staying with the majority of the rest at the hotel not too far from our villa.

Once I got closer, she ran up the hill to me and engulfed me in a hug, letting her fruity perfume wash over me. She smelled of coconuts and apple; fresh and summery. "I haven't seen you in so long." I said.

"Well, I was at the dinner yesterday but I'm not surprised you don't remember. You put on quite the show." She replied and I tilted my head to the side, not knowing what she was referring to. "You were so drunk and you thought everything was funny. Simon looked pretty pissed off. And then you dragged your friends to the dance floor. Man, you and Lachlan were dancing so close together that you were pretty much inside each other. You know when two characters overlap each other in a glitched game? Yeah, that was you two. And Simon didn't seem too pleased."

I stared at her in complete shock, horrified by what I did. Ella must've caught on to that, because she hung one arm around my neck and began walking down to the beach. I had no idea what to say.

But that explains why I woke up alone in bed this morning.

And why I hadn't seen him all day.

"Where—Have you seen Simon today?" I asked cautiously. I was sweating, and not just because of the Croatian summer heat.

"I saw him walk down this road pretty early this morning. I think he came over and talked to Sarah for a while, and then he continued down to the beach."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Just to warn you, it really did look like you were flirting with Lachlan last night. Other people saw it too." She said, flashing me her worried ocean eyes.

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Uh oh. Also, before anyone asks or accuses me of anything, I definitely do not have anything against Lachlan. I actually think he's really great. And as for Lachlan in this story, he didn't cause any harm really. It's mainly Lu not using her two brain cells that's causing so many problems. So I don't intend on making Lachlan any type of antagonist, don't worry, cos I know a few of you are fans of him :) (so am I tbh)

Sorry for the short chapter and that it took so long for me to write it. I'm studying for finals at the same time so it's kind of hard to find the time to write. But the next chapter is going to be intense though, just a fair warning

Mel xx

Twitter: overworkdwriter