Eleanor's Demise ✔️

Chapter 37: Play with Fire

He reached his parked car and called Laci.

"Hey baby." He muttered.

"Adam! What are you doing awake at three am?"

"I need a ride. I had too much to drink and I don't want to drink drive. I mean... drive like a drunk boy. But I'm a man so I'm going to not drunk dive. I mean man drive." He babbled on as Laci spoke.

"Where are you?"

"Aiden's Bar and Club, I think Aiden calls it the Lucerne or lizard." He relied promptly. "It's cold outside. I'm going to leave my car here."

"I'll be right there." Laci ended the call and quickly tossed two jackets over her shoulders. She rushed down to her garage and began driving to Aidens bar and club. She'd hear about this place and hoped Adam didn't take part in any of the activities.

It would be a shame to dump him too. She'd dumped her previous boyfriend only a month ago and genuinely felt like Adam was a good guy.

After a few minutes, she found a drunk Adam sitting on the sidewalk and staring at the stars. She smiled at him, he looked so innocent.

She parked on the empty street and walked out toward him, placing one of the jackets around his muscular build and helping him stand.

"Thank you Laci, I wouldn't know what to do without you." He attempted to drunkenly kiss her cheek, but she simply walked him into her car.

"Adam, do you want me to drop you off at your house or do you want to come to mine and I can drop you off in the morning?" Laci asked.

He took a pause, slightly falling asleep in between and being awoken to answer the question.

"Home please." He said, his voice a whisper.

"Okay Adam, you need to stop getting yourself in these situations." Laci scolded but he was long gone.

The next morning, a dull aching woke Adam up. He glanced at the time.

Noon. He'd miss work today- they couldn't fire him because he was the boss. They'd probably be angry at him for missing several meetings. He noticed a slight pop up on his phone screen and took a glance at it.

It came from a number he'd never seen before and said the simple words, "Adam, I miss you".

His head pounded and the desire to puke enveloped him. He shut his eyes, a lot of names came to mind but one stood out the most. He could only hope.

After a few minutes, possibly hours, staring at the phone, he decided to reply. It could've been Magdalene- but he had her number saved. It could've been the girl from the club last night except he never gave her his number and she had nothing to miss.

He tossed the phone aside. Getting out of bed to get some water.

The phone began buzzing. He'd never paid much attention to his phone before. Laci was calling.

"Hey Adam! How are you feeling today?"

"Good."

"I'm coming over in a few hours after work to drop off some stuff, I'll see you soon."

"Alright, cya."

She promptly hung up and glanced at the clock. Laci was not sure if she wanted to continue a relationship with Adam. Some things from the past kept bringing him down and he carried that on his broad shoulders. She would take care of him tonight and then break the news to him tomorrow. And it would be be hard for him to find another girl to date, just that she felt more like a nurturing mother to him than a girlfriend and that's not how a relationship was supposed to go.

She arrived promptly after work with soup, candles, and a few bottles of water and aspirin. He'd definitely be feeling terrible all day. He rarely missed work and having not gone to Carnegie Hall was a mistake.

He shut his eyes and watched her fumble with the door. He'd felt better slightly after a few hours and had brought some blankets and moved the couches around to be directly in front of the TV screen. He had a movie night planned with his girl friend and he was all but excited. He was worried that whomever had texted him would come between this relationship and that worried him like crazy because he liked Laci.

She kissed him upon entry and dropped off the stuff she'd brought and snuggled beside him on the couch. He took an aspirin and made soup for the both of them. They cuddled with multiple blankets surrounding them, keeping them exceptionally warm as Laci's favorite movie, the notebook, began to play. He'd watched it with her once before and didn't like it, but perhaps liking this movie was an acquired taste.

It was a perfect night, except for the mystery of who had sent Adam that longing text.