Her Maid of Honor (gxg)

Day 59 - Lacey

I could feel my consciousness veering back into reality as I slowly awoke to the steady tremor of a heartbeat beneath my ear. Shifting uncomfortably between the layering of sheets, half of my body was still asleep as I tried in a weakened attempt to prop myself up in order to fully take in the surroundings before me, however, the immediate shock of what felt like an electric current searing through my brain stopped me dead within my tracks. Damnit! What is this?

The second thing that hit me like a tidal wave of shock, was the sweet scent of a perfume – one that was definitely not my own – accompanied by the bitter aroma of whiskey and chain-smoked cigarettes; and the only person I knew that smelled like that...

As the reality of the situation fully sank in, I felt a sudden movement around my body that pulled me closer as if reflexively by nature. It was only then that I realized I had fallen asleep literally wrapped within her arms. Jessica's arms. How in the hell did this happen! Panicking, I tried to pull away slowly from the – oddly comforting – warmth of her body, praying not to make any sudden movements that would risk waking her up from her deepened slumber.

Shifting and freezing repeatedly as I wiggled my way out of her grasp, I tried desperately to piece together the events of last night's tasting, but found doing so to be much more of a challenge than I had originally anticipated. Why was everything so foggy? Why could I not remember! Mulling over the vague details that I could manage to piece together, I heard a muffled groan from the upper side of the bed where I had left Jessica to rest after finally having untwined myself from her arms only a brief second or two ago.

"Mayfield," I froze in position at the edge of the bed, hoping that her words were just a figment of my imagination. "You alive?" Apparently, today was not my lucky day.

"Uh... y-yeah," I responded back, making a valid effort to remove myself from her bed, no longer seeing the need for subtlety.

"How's your head?" She chuckled as if to some unspoken inside joke as she pulled herself up from beneath the sheets.

"Uh..." I forced my brain – very much so against my will – to begin formulating coherent sentences in an effort-induced attempt to lie about my current state of being. "Fine," I concluded, abruptly giving up and taking the easiest route out.

"Uh-huh." The sarcasm in her rusty tone gave the obvious notion that she had access to many more of the details from last night's blackened-out events in order to find me more than guilty of dishonesty.

I tried to remain calm as she straightened up and pulled herself out of the bed wearing nothing but a loose-fitting tee-shirt. I felt the sudden rush of heat flood my cheeks as I tried to remain oblivious to her actions, knowing full well that I was probably drawing more attention to myself by doing so than not. This, was beyond awkward.

"Coffee?" Her sudden question broke through my awkward tension as I turned reflexively to face her. Was she actually asking me if I wanted coffee? I must've been incredibly out of it for her to offer up her own personal assistance in the process of my recovery.

"Um... sure," I replied, "that would be great." I think...

"Mmm," was all I got in response as she made her way out of the bedroom and onto the main level, headed towards the kitchen. "Oh, by the way, there's Aspirin on the nightstand." I could almost hear the grin in her voice as the words sank in and her footsteps faded out.

Immediately, I turned around in search of the magical pills that would rid me of the hangover that was distorting my each and every thought. Sitting there, perfectly placed beside a tall glass of crystal clear water, I jolted over to the table and popped open the cap, taking out a couple of extra pills to aid in the speed of my sobriety. After the pills had successfully made their way down into my system with the entirety of the full glass of water – not realizing how dehydrated I had become during the course of the night, – I took in a deep breath and instantly, I could feel a sense of calm rush over me knowing that in just a few mere moments, my head would feel less like a roller coaster and more like a casual walk in the park.

Taking more of a reserved approach, I searched around for the rest of my belongings as I listened attentively to her shuffling around in the kitchen. Finally, having a moment to myself since my last coherent memory of the boutique from yesterday, I wracked my brain trying to remember something - anything! – from the previous night after Jessica had walked out with blue-eyes and left me there alone – not to say that I could really blame her though for doing so...

"Yo! Mayfield?" Her voice rang out between the walls as the echo lingered inside my head.

Reflexively, I moved my lips to answer, responding with a – very pathetic if I do say so myself, - "Yeah?"

"You want it French or Dark?"

"Uh..." French or what? Oh... coffee. She meant coffee. Geeze, I really was out of it... "French would be great."

"Cool." Upon giving my response, I began to hear her picking up the pace as she returned to shuffling around the kitchen in search of the new items to fulfill my request.

I couldn't help it, but, "thank you," I added in, just audible enough for her to hear amongst the steady balance of the noise.

"Don't mention it," she replied back in a soft tone that entirely matched my own.

Why she was suddenly behaving so sweetly out of the blue – especially towards me of all people – was something I could not seem to figure out; especially after the way I treated her at the tasting before she decided to – before I forced her to – leave... It didn't make any sense. At least none that I could conjure to my wrangled train of thought.

I sat on the edge of the bed in an almost sort of trans as I waited desperately for the Aspirin to kick in. Any minute now, I repeated constantly to myself, praying that the incessant bolts of electricity would finally begin to dissipate, but before any luck could reach me,

"Order's up!" I heard Jessica yell out from behind the wall, steering me away from my unanswered prayers, and more towards the drifting scent of freshly brewed coffee awaiting me in the kitchen.

"Coming!" I yelled back in a much more pathetic tone, and as I set my feet upon the ground, only then did I realize, that both my shoes were gone.

I turned around to search the bed and then beneath it when I came up empty. There's no way that I came back without my shoes... at least, I don't think I did...?

"You waiting for a personal invitation or what?"

I could hear Jessica call out again as I quickly turned around to check one last time, only to find my shoes perfectly placed in front of the nightstand right beside the bed.

It was such a small gesture, and one that would normally warrant no particular reaction from me besides gratitude, but seeing them placed there together with such delicate and perfect care, sent an almost warming sensation throughout my entire body – one that even I wouldn't know just how to describe, let alone the reason why.

"I'll be right there," I said with a smile as I made my way towards her in the kitchen, still walking in my bare feet.