SORRY, CAN'T MAKE IT

        Faith opened her eyes and had that few seconds blank period before she remembered who she was and where she was, then her body announced its condition. She was having a pounding, blinding headache, followed by a wave of nausea and churning stomach. 

        She had had much to drink last night. She had been drinking every evening for the past three days. Everyday, after work, she would go to the wine store and grab various bottles of wine and before she slept, she was wasted. Then she would wake up with this feeling and a churning stomach. 

        Last night, she couldn't remember how many glasses of ice cold aquavit she gulped down when Noah's favourite song had played on the radio. She had sat, reminiscing their first date, how they met, when they played, their first kiss, how they talked, his face, his smile, his eyes on her and it had made her gulp that liquor with anger, with tears and sweat all over her. 

      The room was still dark, but she could see through the tiny cracks and openings of the window and curtains that it was already bright. She dragged herself out of bed and went over to the curtains and drew them. She opened the window to let in fresh air, but she was hit by the snarling traffic in the street. 

       It hurt her head and she quickly closed the windows and went back in and sat on the bed. The sounds from the streets were muffled, but occasionally, a shrill horn would slip under the door and tear into her head like a sharp knife. Her work clothes were on the floor, she had slept in a singlet and her panties. She was a hygienic freak and would have rained fire and brimstone at anyone that littered their clothes like that on a normal day, but she didn't give a damn right now. 

       She laid down again and covered her pillow, to shut out whatever shrill noise that would hurt her head. She stayed like that, contemplating whether to go to work or not. She was never one to play with her job, but for the past few days, all she wanted was to lie in bed and cry. Then she was slowly turning into an alcoholic, although, whenever she wakes up with a terrible hangover, she would promise herself that she won't drink again, but the next night, she find herself drinking again, even more intense than the previous night. 

        Her phone started ringing and she almost jumped out of bed. She groped for it and finally found it under her pillow. She put it to her ear. 

        "Faith, how are you?" Nora's voice asked from the other end. There was a touch of what Faith felt was sadness in her voice. 

         "What's up?" Faith said and felt her speech was a bit slurred. 

         "Are you drinking this early?" Nora asked. 

        "No, no, not at all," Faith said and sat up. "What's up?" 

        "Faith, I'm so sorry...I couldn't make it over to San Francisco." Faith heaved an inward sigh of relief. "Something kind of came up. Emergency, actually so I can't really leave now." 

       "It's fine, Nora. I understand the nature of your job, I'm fine trust me." 

      "No, you're not Faith. I can smell the alcohol from here." 

       "What?" Faith asked with a chuckle. 

         "Since, I couldn't make it to San Francisco, why don't you come over to LA?" 

        "I am fine..." Faith said with a drawl. "I can't leave work." 

        "I'm not talking about coming to spend some time, I'm talking about coming over here, like changing environment, it would help you heal faster. Danny and I had talked it over." 

        "What? No way." 

         "Yes way, honey." 

       "No, no, no," Faith started to refuse and started towards the medicine chest to take Maalox. Her stomach was on fire again. "I don't wanna inconvenience you and Danny." 

         "But, you won't." 

        "Alright, alright, can I at least think about it?" She just wanted to get Nora off the phone so that she would gulp her Maalox. 

        "I'll bug you if I don't get an answer by evening." 

         "Alright. I love you, I got to go." 

          "I love you, bye." 

        Faith hung up and took a big gulp of Maalox liquid.