My Life as Duke Starr's Assistant

My Life as Duke Starr's Assistant...[Part 4]

I was really regretting drinking 4 martinis last night.

At the moment, I was huddled over the toilet vomiting my guts out. I had a pounding headache and felt extremely thirsty. And what was worse, I had to get to my first day on work in about an hour and a half. Just thinking about this made me retch into the toilet again.

"God, Val. You are such an idiot," Denise said, scrunching up her nose in disgust. She had my hair pulled back out of the line of fire. I stood up, feeling very dizzy and held onto the sink for support. I brought my other hand up to my forehead and closed my eyes.

"Remind me to never go get drunk ever again," I told her.

"Oh I will. But you won't listen," she replied. I groaned and looked in the mirror at the mess that was me. My hair was sticking up in all different directions, my eyes were slightly bloodshot, and my lips were pale. I looked revolting enough to make me want to throw up again.

I turned my gaze away from the mirror and grabbed my toothbrush. I needed to brush the vomit taste out of my mouth.

"They should have an instant tonic or cure for hangovers," I said as Denise began walking out of the bathroom.

"Why don't you get on that? In the meantime, I'll make some coffee. You get dressed," she said. She walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. After brushing my teeth and washing my face with a cleanser, I hopped into the shower and showered in cold water. The icy water felt good against my flushed skin and it helped to wake me up a little. I shivered as I got out of the shower and wrapped my towel around myself. I walked out of the bathroom and into my room to change.

I pulled out a black pencil skirt that went to my knees and a creme colored long sleeved blouse and put them on. I curled my hair into perfect waves and then applied an appropriate amount of make-up. I found my black pointy-toed heels and pulled them on and then stood to examine myself. After applying the make-up, my face looked more alive. I had put in eyedrops to reduce the redness in my eyes so that it wasn't' visible anymore. I smiled at myself. I looked presentable. Then I walked out and went to the kitchen.

"I need water," I mumbled, pouring myself a glass. I pulled out the aspirin from the medicine cabinet and popped two in my mouth, swallowing them with the cold water.

"Here's coffee. And here's a blueberry muffin," Denise said, handing me my breakfast.

"I love you," I told her, taking a swig of my coffee. I winced. She had made it extra strong to tackle the hangover. It was bitter, but I could feel my pounding headache disappearing. "What time is it?" I asked with a full mouth. Denise shook my head at my boyishness.

"It's 8:55," she replied.

"Shit. I have to go. i have to be there by 9:30," I said, stuffing the rest of the muffin in my mouth and then washing it down with the coffee.

"I can't believe you got a job last night," she said.

I couldn't either. After the woman, whose name was Patrice Jaque, told me I was hired, I had stood speechless and gawking at her.

"Close your mouth and don't look so shocked. I need you at the Sunset Studios in Hollywood by 9:30 tomorrow," she had said. Then she looked me over skeptically. "That should give you more than enough time to deal with yourself," she added. After that, she had finally flagged down a taxi and then left me still sputtering and staring in surprise.

Now, I was on my way to Hollywood. I had no idea what the nature of my job was. I had no idea what Sunset Studios was, but it did not sound like a large business corporation. But it didn't matter what the job was. It was a manager position and I had gotten it. It was a source of income. It was a new start.