No Love Attached

chapter seven : dreams, drugs, and drunks

| No Love Attached |
chapter seven : dreams, drugs, and drunks

•••

I see him in my dreams. Almost every night. Amber eyes watching my every move. Gentle hands holding me, touching me. Until I can't breathe. Laughter that makes my stomach turn in agony. Smiles that sting my eyes with tears. Most nights, I jolt awake in a sweat. I guess, some would call these nightmares. But to me, they are dreams, because they are the only time I feel him.

He's never in my full dream. Just flashes of him here and there. Never a main character in my movie, more of a background player, really. I could be reading on a bench in Central Park and he'll jog by. Or I'll be in a spaceship with Oprah, and I'll see him floating in the Milky Way. Almost as if he's trapped in my unconscious on loop every night and David Lynch was directing the entire thing.

Sometimes we talk. Sometimes we don't. On more occasions than most, he'll just smile or give me a kiss on the forehead. No words exchanged, yet so many things said.

I'd like to think he was haunting me, but when I looked into his eyes, I knew. Something was off in my dreams and I couldn't place it. Perhaps his eyes were a half shade too dark, or the beauty mark on his cheek was a centimeter too low. Maybe it was the way he kissed me.

But I knew I was the one haunting myself.

•••

There was an obnoxious banging on my door around four a.m. If I hadn't recognized the infamous sound of Penney's drunken knock, I would have thought there was an elephant in the hallway. Or one of those Jehovah's Witnesses trying to sell me something.

But being roommates with her in college and in my younger years trained me well. Instinctively, I woke up without a second hazy thought. My eyes still had a slight blur to them when I slid the lock open.

The door swung open to reveal Penney. Her red leather skirt hiked up too high, with one hand clutching the side of the door way, and the other clutching Leo, to help maintain her balance.

      I was too concerned about my best friends hopefully only alcohol-induced state and appearance to worry about Leo being there. I grabbed her other arm immediately to help her inside.

     "Sorry to wake you. I just didn't think she should be by herself." He mumbled.

     "Here, let's put her in the bed," I said, leading her into the bedroom. "You okay, Pen?"

     She nodded with her face scrunched up like a child as we laid her into the bed. "I'm going to get her changed. Can you go grab some water?"

     Leo quickly obliged.

      "Jesus, how much did you drink?" There were little specs of vomit in her stringy, blonde hair. I did my best to get her into a pair of sweats and used toilet paper to clean up her hair. A shower didn't seem like the best idea at the moment since she couldn't stand.

       Or speak, apparently. As a reply, she held up three fingers.

     There's no way three drinks did this to her. We partied all through college together up until  this week. She gets drunk within a drink or two. But not like this. Either she drank the whole bar under the table or someone slipped her something.

      Leo came back, glass of water in hand. Penney guzzled it as if she'd been dehydrated for years. Well, she looked like it.

Seconds later, she threw up in the trash bin next to the bed and knocked herself out.

I held up the can filled with my friends vomit, unsure what the hell to do with it.

"Let's just put it out in the hall. I'll make sure someone gets it." Leo took it and did it. Ah, yes he'll make sure. I almost forgot he owns the hotel.

I had been so worried with Penney, I barely looked at Leo. But now seeing him, he was almost as rugged as Penney. He just didn't quite have the chunks in his hair.

Her smeared makeup was all over his dress shirt, leaving a nice concealor and eyeliner design. Dark bags had formed under his bright eyes. And a small, red cut danced along his eyebrow.

"What the hell happened?" I folded my arms over my chest to keep the fact that I was braless unnoticed.

He threw himself on the couch like he owned it.

Well, he did own it.

"I don't even know," he rubbed the stubble along his jaw. "We went to that club. Had like a drink or two, max. I ran into an old friend. Then Penney went off with a few people she met and when I found her like an hour later, that's how she was."

Rule number one when you go out with Penney Abrams: never leave her unattended.

"Then what happened?" I inquired.

"Nothing. I got her into a cab and took her here immediately." He said, but the fresh wound on his brow told me something different. I could tell he wasn't telling me the whole truth by the way he wouldn't look me in the eye.

Now, I understand I didn't know this man. I've seen him a total of two times in my life. But I did know he looked me in the eyes when he spoke.

"Are you sure?"

He fiddled with his rings for a minute before looking up. His eyes were ferocious. Like a storm in the ocean. They were a color I had never seen someone wear before. A green so light and intense, they could easily be mistaken for blue.

"Look, I saw some asshole put something in her drink. I confronted him, he punched me, I punched back."

Vera Larson was not someone who didn't know what to say. In fact, she had a quip, crack, or rebuttal for any rhyme, riddle, or jab. But all she could muster here was, "I'm going to make tea. Do you want tea?"

And apparently, she also liked to think about herself in third person.

My anger with Leo Wells soon vanished into thin air. For the moment. This man had not only helped me with Alec James, but he also punched a guy for drugging Penney. Tea was the least I could offer him.

His mouth opened and then shut again. After a second, he replied, "Let's take a raincheck. I've had a hell of a night."

A teensy-tiny part of me felt weirdly annoyed didn't stay. I was fully awake now and on Penney watch. Company wouldn't have bothered me.

Before he left, he lingered near me as if maybe he was going to kiss my check goodbye or something.

He didn't.

And I was relieved.

•••

Author's Note:
Hey all! Please vote and comment if you enjoyed. Changed up this chapter a bit. Sorry if you read the previous version. That version will now be the next chapter.