Spinning

Chapter 12: Brazilian Kryptonite

And that is how I woke up the next morning. My first wake up was at 6 am. I groggily opened one eye, and saw the bed next to me was empty. But my room was too bright, so I quickly closed my eyes and tried to reconstruct the night through the confounding influence of tequila. I remembered Eddie naked over me, but nothing else. Did I blackout? My underwear is still on, and so is my shirt. I fell back asleep in a disappointing melancholy knowing, whatever happened, Eddie left.

My second wakeup was at 9 am, only a half hour ago. Cottonmouth forced me upright as I chugged the glass of water next to me. Did I leave that there?

Since then, I've just been staring at my room, trying to imagine Eddie standing against my desk, with me intertwined in him...

Jordan, get up and get some goddamn breakfast. You drank like a prison inmate on death row; you have no one else to blame. You'll be lucky if Eddie even wants to look at your goddamn eggplant-shaped head. I swat at the annoying voice in my ear and her pessimistic thoughts. Sunshine is streaming brightly into my room. I wish it were raining. It's easier to mope when it's raining. Eddie left.

I throw some shorts on – I don't know if anyone is awake – and I walk into the kitchen. No one is home, and I remember Jess and Matt are up north for a high school reunion event. At least one stroke of luck; no one heard Eddie last night, and I can continue on pretending he doesn't exist.

I grab a yogurt and take it back to bed. I eat it while staring at my haunted reflection in my mirror. Makeup is smeared across my face and a tangled mass of hair is evident at my neck. No wonder Eddie left. Sigh.

I retrieve my phone from under a pile of clothes on the ground. My stomach drops when I look at the screen. Three missed calls from Eddie, all within the past hour. Did he leave something here? I scan the room, but see nothing that belongs to him. I call him back, nervously.

"Jordan, finally. I locked myself out, can you let me in?" Locked himself out? Out of where? Out of my apartment? He's still here? I shoot out of bed towards the door, only to pause and remember my reflection. I remove the smudged makeup, and even add a little more eyeliner, before quickly brushing my teeth. My hair is hopeless... a messy bun will have to do.

I take the stairs two at a time. I'm so happy. He didn't leave me. He didn't leave me! I whip the front door open, and there is poor Eddie, sitting on my stoop in his beautiful tawny corduroy jacket, newspaper in hand, reading the sports section. Who reads newspapers anymore?

A weird sense of recklessness overtakes me, and I jump into his lap. A bold move for someone who passed out the night before from tequila. What did Eddie see? Did I do anything embarrassing? A bizarre high has taken over, and I wrap my arms around Eddie's neck. His pleased expression elevates me even higher, and I kiss him on the cheek. A subtle blush forms where I kissed him as he eyes me shyly. I am so satisfied.

"Good morning." I can't help but smile, even through the early stages of my hangover.

"I thought you were making a Sleeping Beauty sequel up there. I was considering pitching a tent out here." I hit him in the chest.

"It's not even ten o'clock! I would've been up but I thought you left. You weren't in bed at six. " Eddie smiles and shifts to stand up. I hop off of him.

"It's hard to sleep when four limbs are thrashing all night." My turn to blush. I am a wild sleeper.

"Get used to it buddy." Was that too much? Too much implication? Eddie smiles again so I smile and guide us inside back to my bedroom. What did I do to get such blessed moments from the gods?