“Well, let’s not talk about yourjobjob, but yourboyfriendjob definitely entails getting me drinks, right?”
I try to remind myself she’s drunk and it doesn’t count, but her use of the wordboyfriendis giving me a high right now. “Yes, baby, it’s my job to get you drinks. What else am I in charge of?”
“Hmm. This is good, us brainstorming like this. I like lists,” she says.
I obviously wasn’t expecting to dislike a drunk Ellie, but I also wasn’t expecting to be this entertained. It’s a good distraction from how fucking cold it is right now. Thank god I can see the door to her building a block up ahead.
“Let’s put food first on the list. Food is my priority,” she says seriously.
“Food, check. What’s next?”
“Sex. The good kind.”
“Is there a bad kind?”
“Well not with you yet, but I don’t want you phoning it in.”
I stifle my laugh and nod. “No ‘phoning it in’ sex, got it. What else?” I walk up the few steps to the building and lean Ellie against the door as I punch the code.
“How d’ya know the code?”
“You texted it to me after you gave me the key,” I remind her. Although I might have seen her enter it and memorized it before then. But she doesn’t need to know that. I push the door open and step inside.
“Oh right, duh. Ohmygod it’s so much warmer in here.” Ellie squirms out of my arms and I steady her so she doesn’t fall.
As soon as she’s out of my grasp she bolts up the stairs, leaving me in her metaphorical dust. I laugh at her surprising speed based on her current level of inebriation and file away that drunk Ellie might be a bit of a runner.
I trudge up the stairs, feeling the strain in my legs from the game and the walk home with Ellie in my arms. When I get to her apartment the door is ajar and the lights are on. And her scrubs are on the floor in a breadcrumb trail leading to her bathroom. I close and lock the door, take off my jacket and shoes, and make my way over to the bathroom. The shower is on and steam rises from above the curtain. I can hear Ellie humming.How the hell did she get in here so fast?
I sit on the closed toilet and peel the curtain back a few inches to check on her.
Ellie shrieks.
“Matt! What are you doing here? You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“You saw me like two minutes ago, baby,” I tell her on a smile. “But I’m sorry I scared you. Do you want me to head out?”
Please don’t say yes.
“Will you sleep over if you stay?”
“I’d always prefer to sleep with you.”
“Even in my small bed?”
“Even in your small bed,” I confirm.
“Okay.”
“Okay.”Phew. “Ellie?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you tell me what happened with work today?”
Ellie looks down at her feet, pointing them in and out. “I got sick,” she mumbles.
“You’re sick?” I think of all the alcohol she’s had and how that definitely isn’t going to help if she’s got something. She didn’t seem sick though…
