Revitalize

chapter three: goodbye beauty sleep

"Hey," I spoke, letting him know that I had answered his phone call. If it was anyone else, I probably would have declined. Too many people had gotten on my nerves today. I was way too ticked off to deal with complaining girls or God forbid my mother if she decided to call. I loved that woman, but sometimes the people who you are closest to can set you off the easiest.

"Can you remember if Hugh's Bar has a one person bathroom in the back?" He blurted out immediately.

"Uh, why?"

"Because I'm... just wondering," he trailed off. Oh, I bet. No one just randomly asks if a bar has a one person bathroom. "So do they?" He added impatiently.

"I believe so," I replied. I couldn't remember if it was Hugh's Bar or Pauli's where I took a girl into the bathroom. Maybe it was The Ox Pub. Everything from those nights was kind of a blur.

"Aight, perfect," Liam spoke. I could pretty much hear him smirk through the phone.

"Have fun tonight," I told him. He laughed.

"Oh, I will." Liam then hung up the phone. That definitely confirmed what I was already skeptical about. This guy does not know how to keep it in his pants.

I placed my phone back down on the coffee table and resumed the movie that I had been watching.

———

It was way past midnight when I was awoken to my phone obnoxiously ringing. I rolled away, ignoring the call. It could wait until the morning. Nothing is more important than my sleep.

My phone finally stopped ringing, but five seconds later, it began again. Who the hell is calling me?

I angrily flipped back over and reached my hand out to grab my phone from the nightstand. My eyes adjusted to the bright light as soon as I placed the phone in front of my face. It was Liam calling. Again. What the hell did he want this time? I almost hit decline, but then gave in and accepted the call. As soon as I placed the phone up to my ear, it was filled by an unfamiliar voice.

"I have been calling you for the past fifteen minutes. What the hell took you so long to answer?" A girl spoke out boldly. My eyebrows scrunched up. I could have sworn that it said that it was Liam calling me. Fuck.

"I don't know... maybe 'cause it's fucking two in the morning," I responded bitterly.

"Liam is dead. Well not literally... but he is pretty much lifeless right now," she stated. Is this Violet?

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, sitting up in my bed and leaning my back against the headboard.

"He just threw up for the third time and is now asleep on my leg. Well... at least I think he's asleep," she uttered.

"Where are you right now?" I questioned. She was making me nervous.

"I took him back to my apartment because I had no idea what to do. He told me to call you when he was actually able to articulate his words semi-correctly. Now he can't speak at all."

My hand reached up to my head and rubbed my temple. This is not what I needed to deal with the night before a huge meeting. I needed to sleep. I'm going to kill Liam tomorrow.

"Text me your address. I'm coming." I then hung up the phone and got up to put on some clothes. I slipped on shorts and a plain tee. Once I was dressed, I checked my phone and saw that Violet had texted me her address and room number. I entered it in Maps and noticed that she only lived eight minutes away. Thank god.

Hastily, I rushed out to my car in the parking garage and got in. When I reached the apartment building, I parallel parked on the side of the road and ran up to the front door. I was not going to let Liam die tonight. Not this way. I wanted to kill him myself for making me get out of bed in the middle of the night to pick up his drunk ass at some girls house.

I took the elevator up to the ninth floor and then walked down the hall until I reached Violet's room. Harshly, I knocked on the door.

Seconds later it opened to reveal a girl — not Violet. She was dressed in a long, grey tee that just barely grazed the middle of her thighs and her hair was tousled on the top of her head. Am I seeing correctly? I rubbed my eyes and then opened them again, but the same girl remained in front of me.

Natalia.

She yawned, obviously not recognizing me as she stared directly into my eyes. She must have just woken up. Fucking Liam interrupted her beauty sleep too.

"Are you Liam's friend?" Natalia asked. I took it as the perfect opportunity to introduce myself properly, considering how she had no idea who I was.

"Yes," I smirked. The thought of how Liam was probably on the bathroom floor passed out completely escaped my mind. Natalia's legs were too distracting. Once again, I scanned up and down her body with my eyes, not caring if this action was evident. She was irresistible.

"You need to tame your friend," she stated, "And yourself as well," she continued, matter-of-factly. She moved aside, opening the door further as she did so.

"Oh, I'm aware," I disclosed as I stepped into the apartment. I'm guessing that she was roommates with Violet.

"Follow me," Natalia ordered. She began to pace out of the main room and down the hallway. I watched her as her legs perfectly stepped one in front of the other. She was not falling over this time.

"He's in here," a different voice called out from one of the rooms.

"It fucking reeks," I exclaimed as I reached the room, disgusted by the scent of pure throw-up.

"Don't even say that. You're not the one who's been caressing your friends back for the past hour while they were yakking their brains out," Violet argued.

I looked down at Liam. He was curled up in a ball, laying on Violets outstretched legs as she leaned against the bathroom wall. He mumbled incoherently when he glanced up and noticed my presence.

"Let's get you home," I said, directing my statement towards Liam. If he thought he was dead now, just he wait until tomorrow. Between me and his future headache, he's going to wish he was.

Liam groaned as I picked him up off of the ground. I mimicked Violet's actions from the night at the club and draped Liam's arm over my shoulders. Now my friend was the drunk one. Surprisingly, Liam was able to keep his body partially up. I was worried that I was going to need to carry him bridal-style out of the apartment. Thank God that was not necessary.

"You guys should go to bed," I commented.

"I will gladly do so," Natalia responded. She seemed irritated. Well, I was too. Additionally. I was furious that I was probably not going to be able to stay attentive at work tomorrow, considering that I'm supposed to be getting up in 5 hours. I don't blame her for being irritated, though. She had every right to be.

"Thanks for coming to get him," Violet acknowledged as I began to trudge towards the apartment door. Liam was beginning to weigh me down.

"Yeah, no problem," I responded. "Just next time... make sure he doesn't drink his own weight in alcohol." Violet made a distorted face as if signifying that there wasn't going to be a 'next time.'

Before exiting their apartment, I turned around and made sure to make eye contact with Natalia once more. I could see a pink blush creep up on her face as I gave her a sideways smile.

"Goodnight," I announced and then closed the door behind me with my free hand. Now it's time to deal with Liam's drunk ass.  

———

"For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first" - Suzanne Collins.

I decided to talk about Evangeline (the character is Natalia's book) a little bit more in this chapter so that you readers can get some insight as to how insecure Natalia is. Even though Evangeline is fictional in her world, Natalia longs to embody the same fierceness and confidence as she does. There are reasons, though, don't you worry. I will not leave your questions unanswered.

So... poor Liam, ammiright? RIP.

Don't forget to like, comment, and share so that your friends can read about Cameron and Natalia as well! Bye for now <3.