Come A Little Closer (A Duff Mckagan Fan Fic)

Chapter 16

That night I slept like a baby.

As morning creeped in, the house stood near silent with only the sound of L.A. traffic in the distance. The clock on the coffee table read 12:23 pm and I was ready to get up and on with my day, but as I went to stand up, the familiar pain of a hangover set in and dragged me back down.

It seemed as if everyone else in the house was still asleep, so I had time to relax and wish my blaring headache away.

I closed my eyes and just focused on the sounds of the world around me. It felt as if it wasn't even two seconds later when the sound of creaking steps disturbed my peace.

I opened my eyes and craned my neck to see Izzy walking down the steps, bottle of Jack in hand.

"Damn, you shouldn't start drinking until at least 12." I mumbled to Izzy, scaring him out of his skin.

"Holy shit! I forgot you were here! Im sure you gotta nice hangover, though. You look like shit."

"Wow, thanks for the compliment, Izz. By the way, do you have anything to kill this headache."

"I think we got some Advil, or, if you're real desperate, try getting drunk again." He motioned to the bottle of Jack in his hand.

I managed to get up and follow Izzy into the kitchen, pouring myself a cup of water while he grabbed the container of pain killers.

"Thanks, Izz." I told him as I swallowed two pills and downed the cup of water.

"I didn't do shit, but i'll take it."

Izzy and I sat around at the kitchen table talking about everything from the best cheap food places in L.A. to who has the best hair in Poison. He came off as very quiet and thoughtful last night, and although I could still sense that part of him, I uncovered a whole new side of him today. He was a pretty cool person and he reminded me of my friends back home.

"But I'm telling you, Bret Michaels' hair absolutely crushes everyone else in the band, end of story." Izzy added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but the real question is is Bret Michaels' hair better than any of Gun's hair?"

"Fuck no! Have you seen Slash's head!"

I was laughing at Izzy when Slash walked in, only making me laugh harder.

"See, I told ya! Bret ain't got nothin on that!"

"What the fuck did I do?" Slash asked with sleep filled confusion lacing his voice.

"Oh, nothing. We were just talking about how your hair is better than Bret Michaels' hair." I added.

"Fuck yeah, it is!"

After Slash, Duff came strolling into the kitchen looking like a hot mess.

He placed a kiss on top of my head with a cheerful good morning before turning to the refrigerator. He seemed to be in a good mood, albeit a bit hungover.

"Hey! Wheres the vodka! This hangover aint gonna fix itself!"

"Jesus, you people drink like fishes around here." I piped up.

"Its the rock 'n roll lifestyle, baby." Duff replied.

"Cheers to that!" Izzy said with a snicker, chugging down a shot of his own bottle of Jack.

It wasn't much later until I decided to leave, seeing as how Josie probably wan't going to be waking up any time soon for me to walk home with her. I had shit to do and I wasn't about to wait around for her lazy ass.

I said goodbye to the boys and made my way out of the front door, trying to think of the shortest route home. I had a job interview to go to for a position as a part time secretary at a local law firm today and I was determined to get this job.

It was exciting that my future was coming on so fast, but the stress of feeling as if maybe I was in over my head was eating me alive. I had always wanted to be a lawyer, ya know, the one that drives a nice car and lives in a big house, but the closer I came to actually being able to live my dream, the more scared I became.

I was scared to mess this up. I was scared to disappoint myself.

I got back to my dorm and showered, taking the time afterwards to meticulously blow dry my hair into a professional, straight look to match my business attire. I used a good amount of makeup to shield any evidence of last nights drunken adventure, while still keeping it classy. I decided to leave the dorm at about 3:00 to make it to the 4:30 interview just to compensate for the L.A. traffic.

I hailed a cab and dazed out the window, trying to calm myself down. I knew it was only a small secretary position, but if I could really impress the partners at the firm, it could be a good foot in the door.

At 4:15, the cab stopped outside of a large skyscraper. I paid the driver and timidly entered the building, looking around for any clue as to where to go. After finding a guide, I made my way up to the fifteenth floor, crossing my fingers for good luck all the way.

I left the building with a hop in my step and a new job in the bag. The interview went really well and now that I had this job, a pressure was lifted off my shoulders. I now had a steady flow of income, which deserved some celebrating.

After making my way back home, I decided to call Josie to tell her about the job.

I dialed her number, hoping that she'd be home and not out with Steven. When she answered, I told her all about the interview and job.

"Oh my god! Im so proud of you! We need to go out tonight to celebrate." She said.

"Hell yeah! I'll call Ben and we'll meet at the Troubadour at 8."

"Sounds like a plan!"