Our Romantic Horror Story

XVII

Alex

When I finally came to, my head was pounding and my mouth felt like I had been eating sand the night before. Rolling over in bed, I glanced at the alarm clock to see that it was already afternoon. Well, I had missed my training session, that much was sure.

Slipping out of bed and pulling a shirt on, I headed downstairs to see Jake and Jenny passed out on the sofa together. I raised an eyebrow, noticing how Jake's arm was resting across her waist in a not safe for work way. So much for 'just colleagues'.

I essentially drank a small towns worth of water before my thirst was satiated. It was chased quickly by paracetamol to kill my headache, made worse by all of the windows in this damn house that let the light flood through. How Jake and Jenny were sleeping through this sunlight was beyond me.

There was a hastily scribbled note on my counter top.

Alex,

I've headed to Ray's to get Amelia early. Thank you to you and Jake for last night. It really did cheer me up.

- Angelica

Tucking the note into my pocket, I headed to the coffee machine to make myself a brew. 

Likely being arisen by the smell of coffee, it wasn't long before a rough looking Jake appeared. He helped himself to my coffee and sat opposite me, sipping on his mug and staring off into the distance.

"Angelica?" He asked, his voice rugged.

"Went early this morning to get Amelia." 

Jake nodded, returning to staring into the distance. 

I think this was the longest Jake had gone without talking about work in a long time. It was surprising, especially considering what had happened last night. I thought he would wake up hyperventilating this morning.

"I swiped these back from Ray's counter last night." Jake chucked my phone on the table.

"Cheat." I grumbled, switching my phone on.

The first thing I noticed about my phone was that I was low on battery. The second thing that I noticed was that I had a text. The third, that it was from none other than Dylan. Sent this morning at nine. It was now almost one in the afternoon.

"Fuck." I cursed, scrambling to open the text.

Dylan: Hi, I'm sorry about going radio silent all week. Are you free to chat today?

Wasting no time, I jogged upstairs as fast as I could while texting a reply. It made me feel nauseous moving this fast when I had spent the night before more intoxicated than I had been in years. It was worth it, though.

Me: I can be at the park fountain in twenty minutes? x

I had never showered so fast, scrubbing all of the grossness of last night off of my body. It helped wake me up a little, also. I didn't exactly want to show up to see Dylan looking like I'd crawled out of the sewer while still half asleep.

By the time I had finished showering, towel drying my hair, I had received a reply from Dylan.

Dylan: Okay, I'll see you there.

It was noticeable to me that Dylan had stopped sending kisses, which made my stomach twist in a bad way. I had a horrible feeling that this was a 'break up' chat of sorts and that killed me to think about.

Throwing on my most undistinguished outfit, I bounded back downstairs and headed straight for my garage.  The journey to the park wasn't long, but it felt like it lasted for an eternity. I was right on time for when I had told Dylan I would be there and sure enough there he sat, on the fountain edge.