Tangerine Kisses: A Novella

Chapter Ten - Ava

Warning: Contains Mature Content

Sebastian does not show up for rehearsals the next day and I am not even supposed to be in work. But Henry calls me, howling down the phone that opening night is just a few days away and Sebastian has called in sick.

'OK, calm down,' I say to him. 'I live near by I will go round and see if he is OK.'

'Thank you!' Henry shouts and hangs up.

I can tell he is angry about Sebastian not turning up for rehearsals but I imagine he would be more angry if he found out what happened.

My mind is still reeling over it. I can barely comprehend what happened. One moment the reporter was saying nasty things about Sebastian's family, the next Sebastian was punching him. In the end it did not look like the reporter was that badly hurt, which means he got off lightly because I have seen the damage Sebastian can inflict in the past. It was the fury in Sebastian's eyes that scared me, how he just went from angry to insane in a split second. I did not try to follow him home. Not just because I was afraid, but because I knew he needed some time alone. Time which I am now going to have to interrupt. I abandon my work and head outside.

It has been raining since the previous night and I tuck my hair into the hood of my raincoat. The weather is not massively cold yet but I shiver anyway in the Autumnal wind. Sebastian lives about a fifteen-minute walk from me, if I walk fast. When I arrive at his fancy apartment building I buzz his intercom and wait for a good few minutes but no one answers. Growing worried by the moment I buzz another flat and explain I think my friend overslept and I need to wake him. Luckily they accept my story and buzz me in.

At the top of the stairs I reach his front door and knock. No answer. I knock louder. I hear someone stumbling about inside.

'Alright! Alright!' he grumbles from the other side.

A moment later the door is opened and there is Sebastian. He looks a mess. He has clearly been drinking because his eyes are bloodshot and his hair ruffled. He is wearing boxers and t-shirt only and seems perturbed to see me there.

'What?' he asks, not rudely.

'Henry asked me to check on you,' I reply as sweetly as I can. 'Because you called in sick to rehearsals today and he was worried about you.' This is a lie but Sebastian doesn't need to know that.

'I don't need a babysitter,' he grunts and tries to close the door.

Against my better judgment I wedge my foot in to stop him.

'I know you don't,' I tell him, 'but I'm your friend and I am worried about you.'

For a moment he glares at me then finally relents, slouching back from the door and letting me in. He leaves me to close it, though, and slopes off to the sofa.

I have never been in Sebastian's apartment. I know the address from the payroll at work and I know its location because of the couple of times we have walked home together. I suppose under better circumstances the apartment would be genuinely nice. Like mine the front door leads directly onto the lounge but unlike mine the kitchen is separate as I can see it through a doorway beyond. The curtains are half drawn keeping the moody Autumn light out. There is an empty vodka bottle lying next to the sofa and another one now clutched in Sebastian's hand. Uh oh, if he is drinking vodka then it must be bad.

He is sprawled out on the sofa with some TV drama playing on the television but he is watching through half-closed eyes. I can see his mobile lying on the arm of the sofa with the notification light flashing. Gingerly I approach him, taking off my raincoat and putting it over the back of chair to dry.