Tangerine Kisses: A Novella

Chapter Five - Sebastian

The persistent ringing of my mobile cuts through my hungover sleep like a knife through butter. I groan and cover my head with my pillow. Shutthefuckup I think and the cheerful tune ends. Thank Fuck. Then it starts up again. My entire body hurts, I am desperately thirsty, and need a piss badly.

'Are you gonna answer that?' someone says from the other side of my bed and I bolt awake instantly. Even in the dim lighting of my room I am relieved to see a flash of golden hair, not quite my colour cos this is dyed. Then a face looks at me groggily. I scramble up and over to my phone, silencing it with one click but not before I see it is my brother calling me. Great, the last thing I need is him crawling to me for more money. I squint at the girl sprawled out in my bed, struggling without my contacts. I pick up my glasses from the bedside table and push them on. She giggles.

'You look different with glasses,' she teases.

I am trying to remember her name or where she came from. And I am struggling to do both. My only relief is that a) she is not a member of the cast of Tangerine Kisses, or someone from the crew because that would definitely make my job harder, and b) she is not Ava. Because the one thing I do remember from the previous night is that kiss. And the rejection.

Her eyes travel hungrily down my body and to where I am butt naked and very awake. She smirks.

'Come here, let me help you with that,' she says.

I spin around without a reply and stalk out of the room to the bathroom. After relieving myself I splash cold water on my face and brush my teeth. I feel vaguely better and some of the previous night's events are coming back to me. The game of the truth or dare. My idea because "never have I ever" seemed a bit... juvenile... for the people I was with. I was enjoying myself until Ava dropped her truth bomb. Even if no one else with us knew it, she was certainly talking about me. And it hurt. I look at myself in the mirror. My eyes are bloodshot and there are dark circles under them from lack of sleep. My hair is greasy and matted, and I need a shave. If the press saw me now they would have an absolute ball. I can see the headlines now "rejected Sebastian Booth, former lover of Hollywood star Katya Katana, has become a washed-up mess". I close my eyes and try to breathe. OK, after the awful game we went to the club. There was dancing, more drinking... oh right, Ava leaving the club and me following. Why did I follow? I was concerned about her. And shit. Yes, I also kissed her. But she kissed me back. I remembered the feeling of her body against mine. I knew she lost weight but feeling it was a totally different story. Her boobs are still amazing, even if they are smaller. Then after she left I went back to the club feeling like I needed something a bit more than alcohol. I remembered clearly how I was feeling after she kissed me like that and then abandoned me. That was when I found this girl... and shit, what was her name again?

As if she knows I am thinking about her the mystery girl is knocking on the bathroom door.

'Hellooo?' she calls, 'Sebastian? Are you OK?'

'Yeah.' I wrap my robe around me and pull open the bathroom door.

She is standing there looking coy wearing absolutely nothing at all. I might have been drunk and a little desperate last night but at least I still made a good choice. Her body is curved but not chubby, her boobs are large and bouncy. I remember the feel of them in my hands, in my mouth. She sees me looking and takes a step closer, running her hands through the opening of my robe and taking me in her hand easily. She kisses me, it is a dry peck but I don't care because her hand is doing wonderful things to me.

'Ready for another round?' she purrs, and I don't push her away.

** ** **

'I've been calling you all day, man, where have you been?' Jack says on the phone to me later when I finally pick up.