One Time Thing [Wattys 2021 Shortlist] ✔️

Chapter 5: Denial 101

MIA

The alarm buzzed suddenly, shaking Mia out of her sleep. Throbbing headache consumed her at once. She groaned in frustration, her mouth completely dry. The sound of the alarm pierced through her head and she desperately reached for her phone. She was barely able to type in her password, as her eyesight adapted to the sudden light.

Nineteen missed calls.

Mia sat up right, as the memories of last night flooded through her brain. She opened the notifications, trying her best to ignore the destructive headache. Mia wasn't keen on taking pain killers, but this pain could not go away naturally.

Jeff called her eleven times through the night. His calls stopped around two in the morning, and Lucy's began.

"Shit." Mia mumbled. Remembering she was in her own apartment, she turned and looked at the side. Jeff wasn't in bed. Because it was almost noon.

"Fuck." She cursed. Too embarrassed to leave her bed, she thought about how to explain all of this. She decided to call Lucy.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Lucy answered a millisecond before the phone even managed to ring.

"Good morning to you, too." Mia said to the phone. She had to keep it further from her ear, because it was so, so loud.

"Where were you?! Jeff called you like a hundred times! I called you! He called me!" Lucy screamed and Mia felt that in the greatest depths of her brain.

"Please, don't yell." Mia whispered and then opened her eyes abruptly. "Wait, Jeff called you? What did you tell him?"

"What do you think I told him, you stupid woman? I told him we were out, and that your phone was in my car and the club was too crowded to go back for it. Told him we were having a good time and that I'd drive you home safely!" Lucy lowered her voice, but it sounded all the more aggressive.

"You're a good friend, Luce." Mia smiled at the phone.

"Yeah, and then I started calling you because I had no idea where you were! Neither did your boyfriend! What the fuck, Mia? Where were you?!" Lucy yelled again, sending another shock wave through Mia's nervous system.

"Can we meet up for coffee?" Mia asked. "Please, I need to talk to you, but I really need some water or some poison first."

"Don't you have that dinner to get to?"

"I have time for a coffee."

"Alright, I'll come get you in half an hour."

Mia nodded at the phone, too messed up to pronounce the words. Gathering all of her strength, she got out of bed, stumbling over her blazer and her jeans from last night. She did not remember how she managed to get into her bed.

"Jesus Christ, why do I do this to myself?" She didn't even put on her pyjamas, the scent of alcohol vaporizing through her skin. Jeff must have been thrilled when she showed up like this.

Managing to put on one of Jeff's oversized, black shirts, Mia staggered through the door.

The apartment wasn't that big, so exiting her bedroom Mia immediately found her self in the living room. The big yellow, leather couch felt like someone pointed the sun into her eyes. She squinted and turned her head to the counter, that separated living room from kitchen.

Jeff read a book on the counter, in his white, sleeping shirt and his underwear, while the coffee brewed on the pot. His chestnut hair was in need of a haircut and covered his eyes, that were currently seeing some other world in the book.