Something is terribly wrong with me, but I don’t want to know what. Not tonight.
Chapter Six
Iwake up to texts from Georgia, Cathy, and Claire, all asking if I’m okay.
I’m hungover, my head hurts, my eyes hurt, and my mouth tastes like horrible cotton candy.
Water. Aspirin.
Peeing. So much peeing, staggering in the dark because light is evil.
As I shower—still in the dark—I start to remember the weird dreams I had about my cat talking and a lonely ghost named Lucius, and then...
My pounding head clears long enough to remember the most vivid part of my dream. Rolling over and seeing him there, in my bed, his handsome face, almost as if carved from gray marble, the sensuous lips, the strong, narrow chin.
Something out of the smutty fantasy books we read for book club, no doubt.
In the dark, he reached out and cupped my cheek. Whispered a heavy, struggling “Thank you” as if it hurt him.
My heart races in a mixture of confusion, fear, and a smidgen of misplaced desire.
Is my apartment haunted by a handsome ghost?
I’d prefer that to deteriorating mental health. At least you can exorcise a ghost.
Not that I’d want to get rid of...
What was his name again?
The adrenaline fades back to puzzlement. My dream visitor told me his name. This whole thing seems so real, but it’s probably just the reason they tell you not to mix medication and alcohol.
“HI.” I SLINK INTO WORKten minutes late. I texted Alban like he asked me to do if I were ever running behind, but I still feel terrible and am waiting for the firing to commence.
Instead, Alban sits next to me and winces. “Last night was a little too much fun?”
With a groan, I remember that his wife and sister-in-law both attend book club. That’s the blessing and curse of living in a small town, I guess.
“I promise I don’t normally drink. Not to excess. It’s been a long time, that’s all. I... In college, I had to start taking a cocktail of mental health meds. I’m down to just two now, and I shouldn’t have mixed them with alcohol. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, I’m not prying into your personal life like that! I just wanted to see if you wanted to take the morning off. I’m happy you like it here. If you stay in Pine Ridge, Alain and I don’t have to hire a new paralegal,” Alban chuckles.
“You really... You really want me to stay?”
“Yes!”
