Chapter 19

44.6K 1.5K 1K
                                    

The silence was palpable. 

Even through the phone, and that made me more than a little paranoid. The only thing that I could hear was my own breathing through the phone, hearing it crackle on my end as the stunned silence visibly echoed through the line. 

Then, someone coughed. 

I had lived there long enough to know what every fart, sneeze, and cough sounded like in that house (you're lying to yourself if you say otherwise about your household), and my hindsight reaction was instinctively 'that's not Alex'. Alex didn't cough like he smoked twenty cigarettes a day, he coughed like it surprised him each and every time.

Finally, someone spoke – and that time it was Alex. An awkward laugh at first, obviously that bit flustered. "I think you have the wrong number."

It was an excuse to hang up the phone and pretend that it never happened. But, no, my tipsy mouth just had to run away with itself.

"Nuh-uh, do not pull that card with me," I continued abruptly, my slur that little bit more obvious, and obviously a little pissed off that he had said that, "you self-righteous prat. You can't just kiss someone and leave 'em high and dry. That's not proper, pal. 'Specially with you walking around in your underwear all of the time. It's so annoying," I groaned, physically slapping my hand over my eyes, "it's like you wanted me to – oh, oh, oh! You did, you sneaky little –"

Finally, I'm cut off. He probably should have done that earlier, before I could go off on a spiel about how sexually frustrated I was at that moment in the time.

"I'm sorry," Alex says, voice firm and far too business-like for my liking, "but this is the wrong number. I hope you find who you're looking for."

The moment he hung up, I was immediately having second thoughts. Was that actually Alex? He wouldn't have responded like that. I frantically scrolled through the phone and made sure that the number I typed out was, in fact, Alex's. And it was, so I had to exhale in relief.

Actually, was it relief? Maybe I should have been panicking over that factor, especially because it was Alex who had heard me say that - heard me spiel out things that probably should have stayed behind firmly closed lips. 

I felt sick, and maybe a little giddy along with that. Not a good combination, considering that every time that I inanely laughed – I felt the urge to bend over the toilet bowl. 

Just to be safe, I slept in the bath that night. 

No water in it, just a pillow and myself folded up in an uncomfortable position. I didn't particularly want Kelly to scold me for vomiting on her floor, so being in a container already was a good idea - especially because the toilet was directly adjacent to that.

But I didn't get sick, so some of my dignity remained. I had a shower in the bath, just about bothering to remove my clothing and toss them to the floor before taking the shower head and monotonously directing it around my body in random directions. 

I must have looked like a drowned rat. 

Legs tucked up against my chest and hair dripping down my forehead as I held the shower head over me and stared at the rubber duck in front of me that was almost mocking my headache. The warm water was helping soothe my aches and effectively waking me up. Not enough to care when the door swung open to unveil Kelly.

Well, that made me feel a little better. With her hair something akin to a bird's nest and her shirt partially tucked into her sleep pants, Kelly looked like she had been dragged through a bush throughout her unconscious state. Then again, I sure wasn't one to talk.

The Stepfather (MxM) ✓Where stories live. Discover now