Till Sunset Do Us Part

Chapter 11 ~ Raddling the Chains

Sunlight streamed in from the window in the center of the wall over my head. I struggled to regain consciousness as sounds grew louder around me. Dishes clanging. Water running. Hair dryer going. A phone vibrating near me. It's mine I thought as my eyes struggled open. I slid it open and pressed it against my face. "Hello? Helloo?" There was no voice or dial tone coming from the phone. I pulled it away from me and found blurry characters covering the screen. Text message. I put the phone down and pulled myself up, knowing I wouldn't be able to read it quit yet. Suddenly, last night's memories shot through my head.

I looked around me to find white carpet, and myself sitting on a tan, rough couch. As I examined more of the room, I found a lamp on its stand, a television, an open door way to my left, and 3 doors to the opposite side of me. Hotel suit. I got up and sluggishly walked toward the open door way. Kitchen. There was Rochelle. It looked like she was pouring coffee into a mug. She turned to me a smiled.

"Someone had a tough night last night. I expect details a little later. But, not too much. Remember ... he's my cousin. So nothing that pushes that boundary will be fine." Her joke jolted my memory. If I'm here, where's Trent? Where is here? Did we make it to Virginia already? And how would she know anything? She was asleep. Wasn't she?

"Where are we?" She smiled and turned to stir creamer and sugar into her coffee. "We are at Virginia Beach, a few miles from Alannah's beach house. The guys are right down the hall. Did you really sleep that well through Trent carrying you in?"

I blinked at her. Well, there were most of my answers. "I guess so."

She sat the mug down on the counter in front of me and turned back to the coffee pot to make another. "Drink it. It'll wake you up."

I shook my head at the steaming brown drink, remembering her past cooking. "I don't think I-"

"Rita. We have to be down to breakfast in 20 minutes. You still need to shower, and get dressed. Drink." This time, I did as she commanded. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would've been. After a few gulps, I pushed it away and padded off the living room, trying to find what door was the bathroom.

"The one in the middle. And I'm expecting those details as soon as possible," Rochelle called after me. I smiled and shook my head as I walked in the door she suggested. There was a set of clothes I hardly recognized and a towel. Thanks Rochelle, I thought to myself. She was always looking after me like that. I turned the water on, and hopped into the shower. I hurried as fast I could. Then, when I was done, I wrapped the towel around me, and brushed my teeth. I pulled my hair up in a quick messy bun and slipped on the clothes that were laid out for me.

I walked out the door and almost ran into Roxanne. "Rita! You're awake! And wearing the clothes I picked out for you. You like it? I saw it in one of those Hot Topic stores a while back and thought it looked like you. So I grabbed it. You look so good in it!" Even though I was more awake than I was earlier, I still had trouble making out what Roxanne was saying. I smiled and nodded, as if I was in my full state already. I was glad to see her. It'd been so long since we saw each other, and she'd been in Mexico for about 3 weeks before today. This was her first day back, and I hadn't been able to talk to her at all since then. I kinda hoped Rochelle had briefed her on the important parts.

"Yeah. I'm glad to see you made it home in one piece. Did you have fun in Mexico?"

She gave me a half smile and shrugged her shoulder. "For the most part. I'll tell you everything later. I don't feel like bringing it up now. And you have to hurry up any way. Go and dry your hair. I already have the straightener on, so you'll be good." She opened the door to the immediate left of the bathroom and pushed me through. It was a small bedroom with two beds and a large, brown dresser that matched the couch in the front room.