Chapter Two
I nod off and feel the car drifting, making me snap my eyes open. Fuck. I need to get to a hotel before I end up killing someone. Myself at this point it wouldn’t matter, but I sure as hell don’t want to cause anyone else pain.
There are no signs, I believe I’m in Oklahoma still. So driving down the long stretch of highway, I try to drink the last of the coffee I have in order to stay awake. A half hour later, I finally come up to a hotel. It looks as beat up and run down as I do, but if it has a bed and shower I couldn’t give a fuck right now. I get a room for the night and once inside, I fall onto the bed. Within minutes, I’m lost in my nightmares.
Waking up to the sun trying to break through the dirt on the windows, I stretch and go take a much needed shower. Stripping out of my clothes, I climb in, and let the shitty water pressure trickle over me. I need something more than this drive to forget, I need something that is going to make me feel fucking alive again. Even if it’s only for a while.
I contemplate all the different things I could do as I continue my drive. And the only thing that is doing is making me remember, when it’s the last thing I want to do. Now I’m getting pissed and I figure I’m going to do the one thing I haven’t done since my world crashed around me. I’m going to get trashed.
Making it to Memphis, Tennessee I find the most luxurious hotel I can and check in. Tonight I am going to let the alcohol rush through my veins and cloud my thinking. I want to wake up tomorrow and not remember a thing. Too fucking bad I couldn’t do that a few weeks back.
After sleeping for a few hours, I shower and throw on a pair of jeans and black v-neck shirt. Heading down to the bar, I grab a seat and wait for the bartender to make his way to me.
“Hey man, what can I get you?” he asks, placing a napkin in front of me.
“Hey. Give me a Kamikaze and Blue Moon.”
Nodding his head he makes my shot placing it in front of me, before grabbing my beer.
I toss back the shot, willing it to help. I push the empty glass toward him and nod. “Just start a tab.”
“You got it buddy.”
Three shots and two beers in, I’m feeling myself relax for the first time in weeks. The TV up in the corner of the bar has a football game on, which is a nice distraction. The only other noise is low talking and glasses knocking together. It’s pretty empty, probably because it’s a Wednesday night and most people have a reason to look forward to tomorrow.
“Is this seat taken?”
I turn my head and my eyes collide with the most intense green I’ve ever seen. It’s like they can’t be real, but when her long lashes close around them, I realize they are. She has a smile on her full lips, almost like she’s forcing it the same way I am.
Nodding I gesture to the seat. “No, it’s not.”
“Thanks.”
We sit in complete silence, me focusing on the game and her playing on her phone. She orders a Cosmopolitan and after a few sips, slams her phone down.
“Everything alright?” I ask, not taking my focus off the game.
“Everything is great, life is great. Isn’t that why you’re here?” she asks, taking me by complete surprise.
Turning my head, I lift an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
A smile slowly takes over her face, which I’ll admit is beautiful. “Am I wrong to assume that you don’t normally drink alone at a bar on a Wednesday night?”
For the first time in weeks, I feel a small grin on my lips. “No, I guess you aren’t wrong in assuming that.”
“I didn’t think so. I’m Greta,” she says, extending a delicate hand.
“Brad,” I say, touching her soft skin. “Greta, can I buy you another drink?”