The Places We Should Have Gone

A Tequila Sunrise

The next morning was a haze.... Ive always been able to handle my alcohol, but prying my hungover ass out of bed the next day became almost impossible. In typical Ella fashion I rush to get ready, out the door and arrive at work 20 minutes late. My head is pounding when I walk into the office, and my daily dose of paperwork has already been waiting for me on my desk. 

"for fucks sake...." I groan as I slump in my chair. I get lost in the numbers and accounts to balance, and before I know it its 1pm, murmurs and whispers of excitement fill the once dead cubicles. 

"whats for lunch el?" I look up from my laptop and the mountain of folders and paperwork that have evidently buried me. A pair of hazel eyes and long hair meet my gaze, i sit back into my chair, to exhausted to move. "god damn el, Its Friday, you look like me on Monday mornings!" 

"I tried to be responsible I swear Lisa" I murmur as if I was in pain. 

"tried being the key word I see... i thought you were just grabbing a drink with a mate?" 

"that was the plan, ran into nate yesterday, things got a little crazy..."

"YOU DID NOT SLEEP WITH HIM BELLA, I SWEAR TO GOD IM GOING TO...." I cut her off before she can continue 

"god no, Lisa, firstly he has a girl, secondly i'm straight up not interested! we just had a couple drinks with a couple of his friends, Connor was there" i said as i winked "we were all just talking and time got away from me, got in at 2 and still had to do Ryans report for the school...."  

"ah connor, hows that cutie doin?"

"keep it in your pants Lisa, he's doing fine" she opens her mouth but i continue before she can get a word in " and before you ask, he's looking fine too" she giggles and tells me about some kid she had to coach the other day that was being a brat. " you know when i agreed to become a gymnastic coach, I really didn't expect to be working behind a desk 80% of the time" 

"count your blessings girl, at least kids don't fart on you" I cringe at the thought as she goes on "so any of nate's friends cute?" I wrap my arms around myself self conciously thinking about the silky hair boy and the feeling of his hand on my thigh..... "there was a guy i was talking to for a bit, but we just talked... his drunk ass has probably forgotten all about me" 

"damn girly.... we got to go out and find you a proper boy, god knows I need one... soooo what do you want for lunch? she says changing the topic. 

"gee Lis, I don't know, I might skip lunch today and finish this work, im only working till four today, and I promised Alan I'd get this done.  You go on, Brian is buying lunch today at Brandy's I think. "

"come on girl, no work is worth starving for!" she pleads with puppy dog eyes 

"You know I would if I could babe, Alans been on my back all week about this damn report, some kid broke his leg dismounting from the bars, hes afraid we're gonna get sued... Next week Lis, im buying ok?"

"alright alright" she sighs half heartedly "i feel like we haven't seen each other in ages! lets go out tomorrow!"

I rub my temples and groan, just the thought of more alcohol makes me physically gag. "yeah maybe if I feel any better, ill text you ok?" she grins ear to ear as she walks away

"yeah you better!" 

*buzz buzz* 

Randy R. : hey Bella, you wake up okay? you walked out of the bar a tad unstable

Randy? silky hair boy? Can't be. I could have sworn he had forgotten me after last night. I compose myself before picking up my phone to read the text. It really is him! I can't help but smile, the memories of the night before come flooding back in a haze, the feel of his touch, the way he smiled, those piercing blue eyes. 

El: Hey Randy, yeah waking up was a little rough but im hanging in there

Randy: Hair of the dog helps! 

El: hahaha damn, party animal I see! Nah at work can't be seen with a bottle of tequila! what would that do to my sparkling reputation, plus the thought of alcohol is making me physically sick.....

Randy: I've got a feeling your a party animal deep down too ;) Listen our night got cut short last night, but I really had a good time talking to you, we should do it again sometime 

I take a deep breath as I process his words, did he just kind of ask me on a date? I scramble to put my thoughts into words 

El: I had a good time last night too :) would be fun to do it again. 

Randy: How does dinner sound? 

El: tonight?

Randy: got to live in the moment right? 

El: Wow Randy, did you just ask me on a date?

Randy: Well Bella, did you just agree to go on a date?  

El: sure, im done with work at 4, anytime after works. 

Randy: ill pick you up at 8 then :) look pretty 

I put my phone away nervously, unsure of what I was feeling. Mixture of excitement and fear mixed in my stomach. For the next couple hours I focused on work, but always checking the clock waiting for 8pm.