Page 27 of Long Live the King

“Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine,” she says as she leans forward and kisses me on the cheek. “Just a little lightheaded, nothing to worry about. I’ll meet you in the room. If I’m asleep when you get in there, wake me up, okay? I want to enjoy laying with you.”

“Okay,” I say, smiling at the love of my life. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she replies, as she walks around the couch and makes her way down the hallway towards the bedroom.

I have the room to myself and the rest of the night to think about this shit. Everything happened really fast and I need some time to let my brain catch up. So, I grab a short glass from the kitchen and fill it to the rim with Villa Zarri Italian Brandy, then I make my way back to the couch and light up a Romeo Y Julieta cigar. I spend the rest of my night drinking and smoking as the question marks swirl around my head like the smoke escaping my mouth. No answers come to me, however. In fact, the more I drink, the more questions I have, and the further away from the answers I feel.

I call it a night around three in the morning, finally deciding to stumble into the shower to get the stench of alcohol and frustration off of me before I lay down next to Alannah. I do as she requested and wake her up as I pull the sheets over me, and she responds by throwing an arm around me, pulling me close.

I cling to her as I close my eyes and hope tomorrow provides me with a raft made of answers. If not, then maybe I’ll just have to start drowning the people next to me to keep myself afloat.