Portico Press

I felt a second nudge against my arm.  I wasn’t sure when the first occurred, but I knew this one would fully remove me from the blank slate of a deep sleep.  She was lying next to me, her makeup still on, my clothes crumpled at the foot of the bed.

“Your phone keeps buzzing”

I let out a sigh, “I’m not really interested in that right now”.  My hangover made it challenging to move but I slowly slid closer to her on the bed.  I placed my hand on the curve of her hip and tried to kiss her, the mix of cigarettes and alcohol produced a foul smell on both our breadths so we quickly retreated after.  I fell back on my pillow and let out another sigh.  The phone began to ring.

“It’s Jake again, you should pick up.  I think he’s calling about the moving you guys discussed last night”.

I hadn’t realized she had heard about that, I had met her at a club the night before.  It was a Halloween party and she had dressed as a nun. I was dressed as an aviator.  Now awoken by her and the mention of my friend and our plans seemed odd.  Familiarity can be off putting sometimes.

I grabbed the phone. “Hey Jake”

“Hey Nathan! How ya feeling?”

“Pretty much like I sound”

Jake made his classic soft chuckle.  “Yeah you seemed pretty messed up last night, you end up going home with that nun girl?”

I looked over to the nun girl in question, “Yeah I did” I let out a smile.  I am fairly sure she heard it too, but she seemed less interested in the conversation.  She was on her phone typing something.  

“Well ummm” Jake’s tone got quieter “when do you think you’ll be able to pick up the U-Haul?”

“Is there anyway we could pick it up later today?, I am completely dead right now” 

As I said this the girl looked over to me; “You promised him last night that you would pick it up at 10”.  I had forgotten that part, it made me feel resentful of my current company, but she had said it more as a reminder than a chastising statement so I ended up feeling guilty about my flash of animosity.  

“Oh yeah … what time is it now?”

Jake responded; “It’s 10:36”  

“Fuck, well I’ll get up right now and head over should be there by elevenish”

“Great! Thanks again, I’ll get you a coffee on my way” 

Jake’s kindness seemed to irritate me as well, I was just in a bad mood because of my headache and wanted to blame someone other than myself.  The covers felt warm and the prospect of getting up to move furniture in the cold seemed like a daunting prospect.  I lay contemplating the idea of turning my phone off and going back to sleep, but my guest soon spoke up.

“You should really start getting ready”  She was already half dressed, redawning the more tasteful elements of her nun costume.  I managed to plant my feet on the floor and push myself up, the headrush made me feel nauseous.  I turned my head to watch her finish dressing.  She had dyed blonde hair, bright eyes, a spackling of acne, and spoke firmly.  I thought she looked particularly beautiful at that moment.  I picked up the clothes nearest to me, some were part of my costume, others were just shirts that I had left on the floor after doing laundry.  I finally stood up and looked out my window, the leaves still held onto their branches, but were quickly succumbing to the weather.  I turned back and she had a cigarette in her hand and her bag in the other.  

“Alright, well I guess I should be going” 

“Can I get your number?” My voice faltered.  I always do this, confidence seems to decay in my words the longer I speak.  She flashed a quick smile and grabbed my phone to put in her number.  After she left I threw up in my kitchen sink and departed to go pick up the moving van.