Willfully Blind

CHAPTER 6 Party Like a Rock Star

Courtney rolled onto his stomach the next morning and reached for Daryn. He instead discovered a cold, empty spot. He opened his left eye to a pristinely white bed sheet and what appeared to be miles of empty space. Still half asleep, he turned onto his back and lifted his arm to see the time. It was already a quarter to seven. His time was far spent. Just as he went to crawl out of bed, Daryn came running into the room, over to the bed. She jumped on top of him, planting kisses all over his face. She was fully dressed except for her shoes.

"Time to make the donuts, sleepyhead," Daryn said, in her singsongy voice, climbing off him.

"I know, I know..." Courtney was now regretting those two shots of tequila he and Dirk had discreetly taken while the girls were still outside. Between that and what must have been three, if not four beers, he had buyer's remorse, allowing Dirk to pull him into the, "for ole time sake" crap. Feeling a headache surfacing, which he knew could very well lead into a full-blown migraine, Courtney was leaning towards working from home. Then as if she had read his mind she asked,

"Are you going to the office today, baby?" She came out of their walk-in closet now sporting a fancy pair of candy apple patent leather pumps. She stood in front of the full-length mirror adjusting the bowknot on her near perfect matching red satin button-down blouse. She had excellent taste and looked stunning.

"Haven't decided yet."

Courtney watched her bouncing around the room. Her round dimpled face and wide brown eyes matched her affectionate nature.

"Okay, Mr. Big Time Executive —"

"Alright, hotshot Senior Manager."

"Ha-ha." Daryn glanced over her shoulder, offering him a wink.

Years later and she still did it for him. He couldn't imagine being with anyone else. Her recently cut hair, a chic feather flip, was a decision she described as regretful. It still reached her shoulder, but she was insistent her stylist had "overdone it." It took Courtney a week of reassurance —along with a multitude of compliments from friends and acquaintances — to convince her that her stylist did his thing. The cut suited her well, though she still vowed to never again throw caution to the wind with her stylist, Mr. Van.

Courtney sat on the side of the bed; shoulders lurched over, staring down at his feet. He noticed tiny green alligators on the outside of each sock. Lacoste socks. He didn't even realize Lacoste was in the socks business. Only Daryn would find a way to spend what he figured was a substantial amount on socks.

Daryn approached Courtney and, cupping his face in her hand, leaned in and kissed him four times in quick succession.

"Well, someone looks exhausted. Did we party too hard, baby?" Courtney looked up to find Daryn bending over her vanity table mirror, flipping her hair around, missing what he was pretty sure would have revealed some level of guilt.

"Nah, I'm fine... although, hosting did run a little too long. A cup of coffee or two and I'll be good as new."

"Said the man who insisted on keeping the party going. Anyway, let me know what you decide. Maybe I can swing home for a little extended lunch if you're up for it..." Daryn said, emphasizing the word up. Courtney glanced up to find Daryn grinning slyly. Brows arched, he perked up, watching Daryn glide across the room, swaying her small hips. She glanced over her shoulder at him and their eyes locked, only breaking when she reached the door.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Dee!" Courtney managed to get out just as she exited their bedroom. He could hear her high- pitched giggle as she headed down the stairs.

"I don't intend to!" she finally responded before disarming the alarm and slamming the door.

Amused, Courtney shook his head and flopped back onto the bed. Despite the shame he felt, he had to admit, at least to himself, that he was hungover. He couldn't let Daryn know, especially since he had given her such a hard time a few years back when she'd gone to a coworker's bachelorette party and after doing multiple shots of tequila -– she couldn't recall how many but estimated three or four – and ended up wasted. So wasted, that she had to have one of her friend's drive her home and another transport her car. She called him from the car, slurring her words and the whole familiar inebriated routine.

He'd tossed on a pair of sweatpants and gone out to "help" her out of the car only to discover she could barely walk. He got her inside and sat her on the couch to close the front door. When he turned back around, he found her fast asleep. Just as he started to undress her, she woke up to tell him she felt sick and threw up all over the bathroom floor, the closest he could get her before she lost it. He put her to bed and spent a half hour cleaning up the bathroom floor at two in the morning. She remained bedridden the majority of the next day, and he took the liberty to give her the business. How could she be so irresponsible? Anything could have happened. After it was apparent that she was remorseful, he let up and ended up hanging out with her in their bedroom watching an entire season of Dexter.

Courtney lied there for the next twenty minutes, trying to decide one way or another. He finally then relented and called his administrative secretary to let her know he would be working from home. Just like Alice, she took the opportunity to take what he knew was probably just an innocent jab.

"See what happens when you party too hard on the holidays, Courtney?" she teased, laughing at her own funny. In his paranoid attempt at not raising any suspicion, his reply was casual and light, but lickety-split.

"I wish. We hosted, Alice. No time for that. Anyway, do me a solid and reschedule my two o'clock..."

Within a few hours, he was functioning at full throttle and overall had a relatively productive day. Only snag, in fact, was Daryn reneging on her "extended lunch" offer, after being pulled into a spur-of-the-moment executive team meeting.

"Looks like you made a promise you can't keep," he teased. Daryn assured him she would make it up to him. He was entirely confident she would.