Zack is always talking about the rules. “They exist for a reason,” he likes to say, though none of us actually know what the reasons are. I was currently breaching too many ofthe rulesto count. Plus I was drunk again and a hundred percent sure I was going to hear about it from Mona as soon as the night was over.
Just before Evelyn entered the building, she turned back to me and said, “Do you want to come up… sleep it off on the couch? My roommate is probably home so…”
She was saying her roommate was home so I wouldn’t think she wanted to sleep with me.So transparent, Evelyn, really!
I thought about what it would be like to sleep with Evey. I thought about touching every inch of her body and running my hands through her brown hair, getting lost in her brown eyes… being inside of her… her warmth.
I shook my head, trying to displace the thoughts of her naked body… in my arms. Such a beautiful woman Evelyn had become. “No, I can’t.”
“How far is your place?” she asked.
“Just up the way, a couple of blocks.” I was beginning to sober up.
“You don’t want to come up for coffee or something?” she asked again, her expression hopeful.
I waited for a moment, listening for something—Mona, my conscience, God, anything—but there was nothing. “Okay fine.”
I was well aware that I was making a huge mistake. I couldn’t disappoint her though. Not when the two us were seeing each other… finally.
Zack’s first rule and most commonly talked about was: never show them who you really are.
She motioned for me to go inside. Once I was in the entryway of the building, I stopped and waited for her to lead the way up the stairs.
“You okay?” she said, passing me in the stairwell.
I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
“You’re about to puke, huh?”
“No. I’m okay.”
Once inside the apartment, she stopped at the kitchen. “I’ll grab you a water. The living room is down there.” She pointed me in the right direction.
I walked to the living room and flipped on the light. The apartment was empty. The pigsty adjacent to the living room—otherwise known as Brooklyn’s room—was also eerily quiet.
“No one is here,” I called out.
Evey walked up holding a glass of water. “Sit down. My roommate should be home soon.”
I took the glass and sat on the couch. “Thank you.”
When I glanced out of the window, I saw Zack on the stoop across from Evey’s building. He was glaring at me, making a neck-slicing motion with his hand.
“Fuck,” I said, watching him.
“What are you looking at?” Evey asked as she sat on the couch as far away from me as she could.
I turned my entire body toward her. “Evelyn, I want to tell you something.”
“Okay.”
“I’m an angel.” I didn’t know what came over me, but being there, in plain view, made me feel like purging two thousand years of pent-up frustration.
She didn’t hesitate. “You seem sweet. I know you’ve had a lot to drink, but I’m not worried.”
“Well, you should be, dammit. Honestly, Evelyn, inviting a drunk stranger up to your apartment at two a.m.? I’m appalled.”
“What? You don’t seem drunk anymore.”
