The sound of something heavy falling onto the hardwood floors startles him awake. The book he had been reading before falling asleep lay discarded on the duvet. He pushes off the covers and hears another thump. When he opens the door, he hears her shushing and then giggling, making him curious.
He finds her sitting on the elevated floor near the entrance, having a hard time taking off her boots. They are lovely boots, she said earlier before leaving. They make my legs look longer and they don't hurt at all. Judging by her struggle to take them off, it looks like she is ready to hurl the death traps out the window.
His shadow on the floor makes her look up. And seeing her face makes him understand the situation a little better. She looks positively hammered. Glassy eyes, reddened cheeks, puffy lips. But those don't matter. Not when her whole expression lights up at the sight of him.
"Jagiya!" she squeals excitedly, as if she had forgotten that they live together. He no longer feels tired and wears a huge smile on his face. She pushes herself off the floor and stands on wobbly knees, prompting him to reach over and wrap an arm around her to keep her steady. "I missed you."
She begins peppering his cheek with kisses, smelling like she had taken her costar's entire wine collection with her. "I missed you, too," he chuckles, patting her back fondly. "Looks like you had a fun night."
"Did you know that men can't hear high frequencies and women can't hear low frequencies as they grow older?" she asks, as if he hadn't said anything at all. "Which is funny because that means old married couples can't hear each other. Isn't that weird?"
He tries not to let his amusement show too blatantly on his face. "That does sound strange," he plays along, guiding her towards the sofas where she can sit down. "Where did you hear that?"
"They were talking about marriage after dinner," she tells him. "And they were complaining about their husbands and wives. Most of them argue almost everyday. And the silver lining is that when they get older, nature will help them tune their partner's voice out."
He successfully takes off the godforsaken boots. "Isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard?" she continues to say in a tone that makes him look at her. She looks like she is about to cry. "I wouldn't be able to bear it if I couldn't hear your voice."
"Oh, honey," he murmurs, moving to gather her into his arms. "That won't happen. I will keep a huge stock of hearing aids for the both of us that we will never run out."
And almost immediately, she begins to giggle. The cloud of sadness dissipating in an instant. "You're so funny. You know, you are the reason for this," she says, gesturing towards herself. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have drunk so much."
"Why are you blaming me?" he laughs. "I wasn't even there."
"They were all riled up, sharing complaints about bad behavior and awful fights, and they were waiting for me to share the same."
A smile begins to tug on his lips.
"But there wasn't anything I could share, so..."
"You drank."
"I drank," she confirms, nodding with a solemn expression before lifting her unusually bright eyes up to look at him. She looks so sweet and charming that it takes everything in him not to kiss her. "You do know that you are every girl's dream come true, right?"
He ducks his head. Leave it to her to make him feel loved even when she is in over her head. "I wouldn't say that..."
"You are," she insists, and he does not realize that her hand has begun traveling up towards the hem of his shirt. "You are kind and smart and handsome and sexy..."
He jolts at the cold touch of her hand on the bare skin of his stomach and jumps up from the sofa in lightning speed. He can't, even when she is looking at him with those eyes. He can't, especially when she won't remember any of this the next morning.
"What... why? Don't you want me?" she asks in an innocent-drunk-confused type of way that actually makes him whimper and fall to his knees.
"No! I mean, yes, but," he tries to explain, holding her but not quite the way she wants him to. "Darling, you may not believe this, but you are completely drunk right now."
She mistakes his concern for a challenge. "I will have you know that I can hold my liquor just fine, mister," she replies, poking him in the chest. "I can even go for one more round right now."
She stands up, too quickly that she loses her balance and proves his point. "Okay, why don't we get you ready for bed?" he asks, leading her to their bedroom.
He helps her with the zipper on her back and tells her that he will be right back. He goes into the kitchen to fetch a pitcher of water and a glass. And when he comes back, he finds her wearing his shirt, looking at the framed photo he has of them on his bedside table.
"We won't be like them, right?" she asks when he comes around to wrap his arms around her from behind. "We won't grow old together only to prefer hearing loss over each other's company. Right?"
The uncertainty in her tone makes his chest ache and he allows himself to give her a comforting kiss on her neck. "No, we won't," he assures her. "Because... what did you call me earlier?"
"Every girl's dream come true."
"Well, you're my dream come true," he tells her, keeping her close. "And I want to spend forever talking and laughing with you. Even when you're drunk."
"I am not drunk."
"Mm, okay."
"I'm not!"
"I am never drinking again," she vows vehemently the next day, sitting on one of the stools as he prepares her hangover soup. "And I am never wearing those boots again. My feet are killing me. Did I say or do anything weird last night?"
He shakes his head, deciding to tease her some other day when she doesn't feel so awful, and summarizes their whole conversation in one phrase.
"You told me you love me."
"Oh," she says, looking quite pleased with herself. "That's good to know. Because I do love you, if you hadn't noticed. Thank you for taking care of me."
She says the latter part in a cute way as he places the bowl in front of her. He presses a long kiss on her temple and replies with, "In sickness and in health, right?"
She beams.
