53 - What Happened

Ariana blindly attempted to hit the snooze button, but instead she managed to knock over the empty wine glass on the nightstand.  Fuck! What did I do last night?
 

Groaning she rolled over to sit up, letting her feet drop heavily to the floor and buried her head in her hands.  The two empty bottles of wine on the floor reminded her exactly what was the cause of her hellacious hangover.

 

Swearing under her breath to never drink wine again, she fumbled across her darkened hotel room and into the living room just as Cara pulled on the blinds and light flooded the room.  In a bright sing-songy voice she announced, “Good morning Sunshine!  How are you this bright and cheery morning?”

 

“Would you lower your voice and close the fucking blinds?" 

 

The strong smell of bacon permeated the room and she felt a wave of nausea hit her.  Stumbling towards the bathroom she dropped to her knees near the toilet, the bile scorching her throat as she emptied the entire contents of her stomach.  She couldn't remember the last time she drank so much she got sick. 

 

“Better?”  Cara asked her as she leaned on the doorway.

 

“A little.”  Ari lifted her head to look in Cara’s direction.

 

“Wine hangovers, they’ll get you all the time.”  Cara told her, walking to the sink to get her a wet washcloth.

 

“Yeah well, I’m never drinking wine again.”  Ari managed to get up off the bathroom floor and leaned against the vanity. 

 

Cara let out a laugh, “Don’t tell Rockstar that, you know how much he loves his wine.” 

 

“Well he can drink it, I’ll stick to my trusty old friends Jack and tequila, oh and their cousin beer.”

 

“You need to put some food in your stomach.”

 

“I wanna shower first, then I’ll eat. Promise."  Ariana pulled open the glass door and turned the dial the to hottest setting. 

 

“Want me to order you something?”  Cara asked as she left her to shower.

 

“Please.  Anything greasy.”

 

Ariana brushed her teeth before stepping into the scalding hot shower.  Trying to sweat out the majority of the wine, she closed her eyes and stood directly under the steady stream, hoping this would pass before she boarded her flight tonight.

 

Toweling off, she stepped out into her room and reached for the outfit she had hanging in the closet.  Pulling her hair up into a twist she entered the suites common sitting area where she found Cara sitting on the couch reading the newspaper and her food on the rolling cart near the door.

 

Ariana lifted the metal dome that covered her plate and found a mushroom burger with fries.  Carrying the plate and a bottle of water she took a seat in the accompanying chair in the sitting area.

 

“Thanks.”  Leaning over the plate she lifted the burger with both hands and took a bite, juices from the mushrooms dripped down her hand.

 

“Your phone’s been singing Jon’s tune too.  Must have been some night.”  Cara folded the paper and tossed it on the coffee table.

 

“Too much wine, a little fun texting, then I fell asleep.”

 

“You left him hanging?  No wonder he’s calling.”  Cara reached over and took a fry.

 

“He’ll get over it.  What are your plans for today?”

 

“I have to meet with the head of the museum to discuss my sculpture.  What time is your flight.”

 

“9:30 tonight.  I’m hoping to shake this and sleep on the flight.”

 

“Will you be gone by the time I get back.”

 

“Yes, but you’re staying till tomorrow, I booked the room till then.”

 

“Yes I am.”

 

“Good.”  

 

The two friends spent the rest of the day just lounging around till it was time for Cara to leave.  When Cara left, Ariana called Jon.  He laughed at her when she told him how hungover she was, telling her it served her right for falling asleep on him.  She promised to make it up to him when they were in London, 'damn straight' was his response. 

 

Jon told her there would be a car waiting for her at Heathrow to take her to the hotel.  Even though they were scheduled to land around the same time they made plans to meet at the hotel.  Ariana didn't want to risk being seen together.  In his opinion she was being a little over cautious.  He'd already told Dorothea he would not hide her anymore and Ari knew this, but she insisted, so he went along with it.  Jon made her promise to call him when she got to the airport, before they said goodbye.  

 

 

♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱

 

"Fine don't believe me, you can ask him yourself later."  Stephanie spoke to her brother while she walked back and forth from her closet.  

 

"I'm not asking him anything.  I still can't believe you did."  Jesse sat on his sister's bed and watched her as she pulled out outfit after outfit.  They were only going to Jersey to trick-or-treat, well the little ones were and she was packing like she was going on vacation.  "What are you packing for anyway, we’re not even staying the night?  And you have clothes there already."

 

"Shut up.  I don't know what I want to wear tonight."  Too old for a costume, she was trying to put together her own fun outfit. “Why are you so afraid to ask him anything?"

 

"I'm not afraid."

 

"You sure act like you are.”

 

“Well I’m not.”  Jesse sat back and stretched his legs across the length of her bed. 

 

 “This is happening whether you like it or not, you do know that?"

 

"Duh.  I don't see the point in asking all those questions, if they want to tell us, they will."

 

"Daddy didn't seem to mind me asking."

 

"What did you ask Daddy?"  Dorothea asked as she entered the room.

 

With their mother standing in the doorway, the two teens exchanged a surprised look between each other.  Stephanie really didn’t want to go into this now knowing her mother would be angry when she found out what she and her father talked about.

 

Straightening, Stephanie turned on the ball of her foot and walked back into her closet trying to think of something that would hold her off even for just a little while.  From the confines of her closet she answered her.  “About his girlfriend.”

 

Dorothea took a moment while she replayed what she just heard in her mind.  Looking at her son, he just shrugged his shoulders.   Mentally counting to ten she blew out an exasperated breath.  “When did you talk to your father?”

 

When Stephanie reappeared, she noticed the annoyed look on her mother’s face.  “I called him the other night.”

 

“What else did you talk about?”

 

“A lot of things.”  Stephanie tossed her clothes into the pink and green paisley bag she carried out from the closet before she pulled it up over her shoulder.  She met her mother’s stare with her own.

“This conversation is not over.  We need to get your brothers and get going, but we will finish this later.”