The Hangover
I woke up with a pounding headache, my temples throbbing violently each time a ray of light hit my face. My tongue tasted foul as if something had defecated in my mouth.
I couldn't recognize my surroundings, I was only aware of lying down in a bed in a strange room that looked lived in. Suddenly it hit me: I was still at Mrs Aird's gothic stone mansion after having passed out on her sofa. Alarmed, I sat up regretting it instantly. The room spinned before my eyes and I felt like throwing up. I became even more rattled when I realized I was wearing only my bra and panties. My clothes were neatly folded on the bureau with the rest of my stuff - my cell phone, wallet, keys, whatever trash I had in my pockets, my camera bag and the notebook right next to them. The bloody notebook... A wave of nausea made me dash to the adjoining bathroom and hurl spectacularly into the toilet.
My feet trembling I returned to my things and picked up my cell. Nine missed calls. Six text messages from Cantrell.
"WHAT'S UP?"
"YOU OK?"
"WTF? ANSWER ME. WHERE ARE YOU?"
"GETTING REALLY PISSED WITH THIS SHIT OF YOURS. PICK UP YOUR DAMN PHONE!"
"LOSING MY PATIENCE! ANSWER ME NOW!!!"
"PLEASE CALL ME. THIS IS NOT FUNNY ANYMORE."
I sent her a short text saying my cell had run out of juice and I would get back to her as soon as I could. No reply. Genevieve was mad and I couldn't blame her.
Mrs Aird had gone through my things, that much I gathered from my sorry state. Yup, I was royally, utterly fucked. The notebook was opened from the page where I had doodled her rear end. My driver's license photo stared back at me from my wallet. It seemed to acknowledge the fact I knew only too well. I'm such a tool...
I poured myself a glass of water from the pitcher left on the bedroom table. The window was slightly ajar and I picked up distant voices emanating from below. I hid behind the curtains and saw two women, Mrs Aird and Miss Gerhard, speaking in a low voice in the yard. I could only make a few words out of what they were saying.
"...else could I have done?"
"...maybe dangerous?"
"Well... I can... harmless as far as I..."
"Oh really, Carol?"
She'd asked me to call her Carol. I wondered if she still wanted me to do so.
I was a mess shivering there by the window but she looked like the Winged Victory of Samothrace standing regally in the sunlight, the wisps of her blonde hair picking up the breeze, playing with its currents. My cheeks were burning up and I thought how very wonderful it would be to press my hot aching body against her cool bosom. I looked at the crumpled sheets and imagined her there with absolutely nothing on. Nothing but me. My breathing became uneven again. I needed to brush my teeth. Badly.
Mrs Aird shot a glance at the window and although I ducked, the curtains must have quivered just enough for her to draw her own conclusions of my whereabouts. I heard the front door opening and grabbed my shirt and jeans. I wasn't about to face her in my underwear. She must have undressed me, though, flashed through my brain.
Two sets of feet were climbing the stairs. My breath was quickening. A knock on the door didn't really expect me to answer it. I didn't. The door swung open.
"Morning." Her face was stern. I nodded sheepishly. "I think you have some explaining to do." I nodded again. "Preferably in English," said her friend who made herself comfortable sitting in a chair facing me. Carol remained standing her arms folded.
"I, uh..." I started my words getting tangled in my mouth. "Yes?" She sounded angry. "I am so sorry... for everything." I was. "That's all you have to say for yourself?" Her voice was positively livid. "I tried to tell you last night before... before I passed out." My eyes were burning. "I bet you were," her friend scoffed at me. "You coming here under false pretenses, trying to wiggle your way to her good graces..." I cringed at her words. "No!" I exclaimed, "It was nothing like that..." but she did have a point. "My friend asked me to help her out and at first I said yes but now..." Seeing the expression on Carol's face I fell silent all of a sudden. She looked so hurt and disappointed. I wanted to go to her and wrap my arms around her, beg for her forgiveness, cup her perfectly sculpted face and kiss her, again and again. God, how hung over I am, I thought the image of me getting it on with her hammering inside my head.
"How much is Harge paying you?" demanded Miss Gerhard. "Harge?" Now I was confused. "MR Aird," she clarified impatiently. "Whatever he is, I'm willing to double, even triple it." Carol stared at me intently. "I don't... my friend..." I started making no sense, "I don't want a penny of it, not a single dime. All I've done so far is take pictures... not very useful ones, and I have no wish to pursue this any longer." But I wish to pursue you, I wanted to cry out loud. I want to pursue you. I want to throw you on the bed and rip your clothes off with my bare teeth.
For a minute I was afraid if I had really said it all aloud for they kept looking at me funnily. "Well that explains it..." Had I really said it out loud? Jesus fucking Christ?!? "What?" I asked apprehensively. "The photos in your briefcase." I had photos in my briefcase? I hadn't noticed my briefcase until now. "The close-ups. Of me." She sounded slightly amused. Better amused than sad and disappointed, right? "Not your run-of-the-mill, grainy surveillance trash either", Gerhard added. "Real prints and all." She glared at me for a moment. "So what are you then? An inept, misguided private eye or just a mere loser getting a hard-on by stalking a perfect stranger?" I stared at her in disbelief. How could she know? And how could I be so ridiculously happy to be a horny loser instead of a professional doing her job no matter how sordid it was?
"No need to be harsh, Abby." Carol paced the room contemplating her next move. "If what she says is true, we may be able to work this out to our advantage." She gave me a serious look. "If she's being honest... and she did try to tell me something before her lights were out." Abby was annoyed. "You can't possibly trust anything she's telling you! Carol..." I must have had a frightened look on my face since the blonde beauty stopped to examine me closer. "Well, either she is a damn good liar or she's telling us the truth." I never had much of a poker face.
My phone started buzzing. For a second I didn't know what to do. "Go ahead, pick it up," Carol commanded, "I bet it's your friend anxiously waiting to hear about last night." Her voice had a harsh edge to it. "Hey..." I said to Cantrell who could hardly wait to hear my voice. "Where the hell have you been, Belivet??? You were supposed to call me, remember!!" I glanced at the women listening to my every word. "Sorry about that. I meant to call you but I guess I dozed off." Cantrell was furious. "Dozed off? DOZED OFF?? I thought you'd had an accident or something. Or that someone had pulled a fast one on you..."
She was speaking so loudly her voice was clearly heard by all of us. "It's about time you start delivering, Belivet. All you've done so far is gawk at this woman adoringly and gone all weird on me..." I felt my cheeks reddening. I could also feel Carol's eyes on me. "Where's your head, for god's sake? All those bloody artsy fartsy pictures you've taken of her and not a single one I could use." Shut the fuck up, Cantrell... "I mean just how many have you taken? A hundred close-ups? More?" I was ready to pass out again. No, I wanted to pass out again. Out of sheer embarrassment. "Listen..." I started weakly. "NO, YOU LISTEN!" Cantrell screamed at me. "Get your head out of your ass - no, make it out of her ass and do what you're supposed to do! See you first thing tomorrow morning." The line went dead.
I couldn't face either one of them. Carol moved impatiently in her chair, and I could have sworn I heard Abby stifle a snicker. "I guess I must be..." I mumbled nervously and started gathering my things. I noticed a particularly lovely picture of Carol poking out of my briefcase. Without saying another word I pushed it back in. I felt drained of all my energy, sad and depressed beyond belief. Cantrell had ripped me apart right in front of Carol who wanted nothing to do with me and probably despised me by now.
"Not so fast." Her tone made me put my bag down. "We need to come up with a plan to beat this thing. To beat Harge at his own game." Abby nodded in agreement. "So how do we do it? Any ideas?" She aimed her words at me. I tried feverishly to think what to say, how to prove my worth. "Knowing what we... eh, you now know gives you the upper hand," I started looking at Carol. "And I'm in a position to turn this thing to your favor at all times."
Cantrell would hate me for this but what could I do? The gray eyes were drilling a gaping whole in my head and all I could think was "go ahead, read what's on my mind" though I knew it wasn't a secret anymore.