Notes From Last Night

Chapter Seventeen - Holy Hangover!

My hangover the next day was my worst in years. No exaggeration.

I even said no to seeing Melissa, not because I felt guilty about the night before, but because I felt like literal shit.

I threw up three more times once I surfaced from my room and then napped twice in the afternoon. It was embarrassing. I couldn't even stomach junk food. What a failure.

After dodging her calls all day, I finally decided that I should probably talk to my mother. I hadn't spoken to her since the night of our party and I'd found myself a little preoccupied with everything that had been going on.

"We just miss you, that's all," Mom said to me down the phone. Her country accent always seemed so much stronger on the phone for some reason.

"I'm hardly a million miles away," I sighed.

"You know what I mean! You never come and visit."

"I visited last month!"

"Well anyway, you know your fathers' birthday is coming up."

I made sure she heard the resulting sigh.

It wasn't that I didn't love my parents, I really did. I just spent so long trying to get out of the family home that I didn't want to always be going back. Besides, it also gets pretty old hearing that you're wasting your life living with two dudes and working at a dead end job.

"We were thinking of having a big party at the house and it wouldn't be a party without you there," Well that much was true.

"I guess I could make an appearance, but I need to get back pretty fast the next day for work," Whenever I was trying to get out of anything, I always claimed to have something to do for work. My folks may have hated my job more than I did, but they always appreciated my dedication, even if it was completely fictional.

"That's totally fine, David. It'll just be nice to see you. And we'd really like it if you brought that new girlfriend of yours too."

What the shit?

"Mom, I don't have a girlfriend," I laughed nervously.

"Sure you do!" She bellowed confidently. "Melissa! I would really like to meet her."

"How do you know about her?" I asked. Neither of my parents had Facebook to see our conversations and I was certain I hadn't drunkenly told any of them.

"Well Dean told me. He really is a lovely young man."

Of course he did.

"Right," I sighed. "Well I don't think she can make it. It's pretty short notice."

"Can't you at least ask?" She persisted. "It's not often that you actually have something like this to show off."

I couldn't decide if that was an insult or a compliment, but either way, I agreed to ask Melissa, knowing full well that she'd be unable to go.

*

"I'd love to go!" She cried down the phone when I asked her.

"But . . . but won't you have work?" I was stunned.

"I'm meant to be working but I can get someone to cover for me."

"I don't want you to have to do that!" I insisted. It was one thing for me to have met her family but if she were to meet mine then we'd definitely be in some shady territory.

"It's fine, honestly. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get holidays, from booking holidays. Ha-ha!" She cackled.

I was a little confused by the holiday-inception but nevertheless, I realised that I didn't really have a choice any more. Melissa was meeting my parents.