Chapter 83

Hal

Hal winced at the sound of the ringer of his phone, and he groaned as he flipped over in bed to see who it was that was calling him. His head pounded in his ears, and if this was Adam calling about their morning workout, he was just going to have to cancel it.

Hal picked up his phone from the nightstand, turned the screen to face him, and felt a jolt of excitement when he saw Jesse’s name in the caller ID. He abruptly sat up in bed as he answered, barely suppressing a bout of nausea as the room spun around him.

“Hello?” he spoke gruffly into the phone, a little embarrassed at the roughness of his voice.

“Hi,” Jesse spoke, and Hal felt a feeling of calm and serenity as he heard her voice. “Sorry to call you so early.”

“Oh no, you’re fine.” Hal shook his head and cleared his throat. “What’s up? How did the interview go?”

Hal heard Jesse sigh on the other end of the line.

“It’s a lot to explain,” she said, her voice sounding tense. “And I know it’s sooner than I had planned, but I was wondering if maybe I could come over. I mean, if not, I totally understand …”

“What? No!” Hal immediately protested, feeling a momentary panic at the thought that he wouldn’t get to see her. “Of course you can come over. Do you need me to send Adam to come pick you up?”

“No, no,” Hal heard her hasty response on the other end. “I’ll just take a cab.”

“Okay,” Hal said reluctantly. “I’ll send Adam down to the street so he can bring you up, alright?”

“Alright,” Jesse said, and Hal was sure that he heard relief in her voice. “I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay,” Hal said gently. “I’ll see you soon.”

With that, Jesse hung up, and Hal was left staring blankly at his phone for a moment.

Hal set the phone back on the nightstand and suddenly realized just how much of a wreck he was. He had drunk late into the night, and even when he had stopped drinking, he couldn’t sleep. The half empty bottle of Scotch and his tumbler were still on his nightstand, and he hurried to take them back into the kitchen.

Hal quickly put away the bottle of Scotch and hurried to the sink to wash and dry the tumbler so he could put it away. In his haste to do so, though, and in his still partially drunk state, he accidentally knocked it against the hard countertop, and it broke in his hand. He instinctively tightened his grip on the broken glass as if to keep it from falling, and he let out a loud curse as a sharp pain lashed across his palm.

Hal immediately flipped on the water of the sink, letting it wash away any remnants of the glass that may have been there. The cut wasn’t deep, but it sure was bleeding.

With a growl, Hal gathered up a fistful of paper towels and gripped it so that they would absorb the blood. With his uninjured hand, he gathered up the shards of glass and tossed them into the garbage.

Hal lingered in the kitchen for a moment, and after a while, he drew back the paper towel, wincing a little as it peeled off of his wound. It wasn’t bad, but it still needed bandaging.

As Hal made his way back to his room, he vaguely realized that he smelled of booze and sweat and needed to shower and clean up. He made it to his bathroom and stripped out of his clothes, careful to avoid getting blood on them. He awkwardly turned on the faucet with his left hand and got in the shower, not bothering to adjust the temperature.

Hal proceeded to wash himself hastily with his good hand, wincing when soap accidentally got into his wound. When he finished in the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist as best he could and proceeded to tend to his hand. He poured some iodine over it, hissed at the sting, and then put an antibacterial gel over the wound.

He dug into his first aid kit and withdrew an absorbent pad that would be sure to catch the blood from his hand. Then, he secured the pad with gauze and a strip of tape. It was a rough bandage, but it would have to do for the time being.

With his hand taken care of and his body clean, Hal gingerly brushed his teeth, trying his best to scrub away the smell of Scotch and morning breath.

When he was finished, he ran his left hand through his wet hair to tame it and then hurried into his room to find some clothes. He opted for a black T-shirt and a pair of chino shorts and then examined himself in the mirror. He was certainly not up to his own standards of appearance, but there was only so much he could do with the time he’d been allotted.

In fact, it seemed that he had managed his time perfectly. No sooner had he walked out into the living room than the elevator doors slid open, and Jesse stepped into the front hallway.

Hal smiled, and he felt his soul lighten a little just from the sight of her.

“Hey Jess,” he greeted her and then frowned a little as he saw the strained look on her face. “What’s the …”

Hal was abruptly cut off as Jesse advanced on him, wordlessly pulling his face down to hers and devouring him in a heated kiss. Hal felt her hand move to cup between his legs, and he felt a bolt of hot desire as she roughly gripped his member and it began to respond.

“I need you,” Jesse whispered, and Hal locked his eyes onto her frenzied blue ones.

All Hal could think to do was nod and immediately make for his bedroom.