Someone Like You

Part Forty Five

A/N BOOOMMM!!!

Chapter Forty Five

Theo was barely able to keep control of his emotions. In the fifty minutes since he'd woken sprawled inelegantly across his bed in his shirt and boxer shorts, he'd had a blazing headache, and a constant sense of nausea. He has little recollection of coming home. He had no idea where his daughter was or who was looking after her. But as he turned on the shower he picked up an answer phone message from Nina saying that she was putting his daughter to bed.

When he glanced back in the room, he noticed that her small overnight bag was in the corner next to his dresser. She'd stayed. That made him happy.

Then he thought of what had sent him off in a frenzy the previous day, her disappearing with Gabriel. The bastard cousin who seemed happy to destroy what they'd painstakingly built up between them. He knew that his cousin was trying to stir things up, but they had seemed close. And Theo's innately poor confidence in other's had been battered further in his acrimonious divorce and all that had happened since.

He'd needed time, space, the house had suddenly become suffocating, so he'd run, uncaring. And ended up at his office sat at his desk, trying to take stock, once he'd driven away from the house his head was starting to clear. He'd reached for his phone, he needed to speak to Nina, hear her voice. She'd help him snap out of this, tell him he was being ridiculous in her usual acerbic way. But the phone kicked to answer phone.

Just as he slammed the phone of the desk, Tony had called him. His stomach had dropped at that, a weekend call from him was never a good thing. As soon as he started to explain how Sadie was starting to push for more visitation and more worryingly how he didn't really have concrete grounds for denying her. He'd hung up on his oldest friend in a cloud of expletives. When one problem was managed another seemed to raise its ugly head, and he was beyond dealing with anything else. He felt drained, emotionally exhausted and he had to get a grip of things. Was it just this morning that things seemed good? That he'd felt optimistic?

He had slumped forward resting his head on his desk when his phone had bleeped. Gabriel. Checking on the time he needed to collect their grandmother the following day. Then hinting at being with a beautiful lady.

"So I will collect Hélène at three in the afternoon."

Theo scowled at the handset for a long moment before replying.

"How did you get this number?"

He paced the room a dew times and then grimaced at the reply.

"From Nina of course. Is three o'clock suitable, only I am keeping a rather beautiful lady in limbo as I wait for your reply?"

"It's fine."

That was all he could say, because the hint was there, the beautiful lady reference wasn't an accident. He was pushing him, Theo knew that. He called Nina again, but the phone went straight to answer phone again, and it opened the door to the emotions he'd just fought to lock away.

The pounding in his head was now threatening to overwhelm him, so he abandoned his truck in his work space, and made for the closest bar. But beer really wasn't doing it, so after the second pint knocked back almost in one, he moved onto whisky. Doubles. And it got a little easier to forget, as he got more drunk.

After the umpteenth whisky he lost his anger along with his memory and a huge wad of cash, and as the hot shower jets needled his skin, forcing the fog of his hangover away, only snapshots of the previous night came flooding back. Telling his life story to a middle aged bar woman, feeling unwell in a taxi...then passing out face down on his bed.