I tried to chuckle casually, but it came out as a snort followed by, “Oh, don’t worry about me. I wouldn’t say I drink them often, but from time to time I like to cut loose and have a few.” I was feeling so warm all over, the smile on my face must have conveyed how completely relaxed I was feeling, because Luke relaxed at my answer.
“Okay, if you’re sure. Go ahead and have some crab fingers, since you could probably use some food with that drink.”
Again, I didn’t want to come across as a wimp and announce they were a little spicier than I liked. So in my infinite wisdom I grabbed up one of the appetizers, took a bite, and declared them delicious.
Luke took one also and said, “They definitely have the hot-and-spicy thing going on with the crab fingers, don’t they?”
Wimp, I was thinking in response but fortunately was busy guzzling my drink to put the fire out and said nothing.
Hannah turned up again to ask Luke if he needed anything. “Actually I think we’ll go ahead and order dinner,” he said quickly and turned to me, “if that’s okay with you?”
I nodded agreement since I was busy concentrating on getting the little glass on the little coaster that sat on our little table at that particular moment. There! I did it! When I looked up, Luke and Hannah were both staring at me, and I realized Hannah had just asked a question. Since she had only been speaking to Luke so far, I wasn’t really paying attention, but she must have just asked me if everything was okay. “Yes, great – thanks,” I replied carefully.
“Okay, I’ll go put in your food order and be right back with your drink,” Hannah announced as she marked her pad and turned toward the kitchen.
Our drink? I looked at Luke’s drink that had only a few sips missing and wondered why she was bringing him another drink. After another minute or two I discovered our drink was actually my drink. I started giggling when I realized she must have been asking me if I wanted another drink when I thought she was asking me if everything was all right. I found it a little funny but not that funny, so why was I still giggling?
“Why don’t you let me order you a soft drink or some coffee? I’m feeling bad about ordering such a strong drink when you haven’t had any food lately,” Luke said looking at me all concerned.
Oh, no you don’t. You don’t get to think I can’t handle my liquor when I happen to be doing a great job of hiding how hard this stuff is hitting me. I took a deep breath, made a point of speaking slowly so my lips could keep up, and said, “I appreciate your concern, but really, I’m fine. I just thought of something funny, and you know how once you have something like that in your head you can’t get rid of it until you go ahead and laugh, and everyone wonders what you’re laughing at, and then you feel silly because they don’t know what’s going on in your head, and you laugh a little more ‘cause it’s kind of embarrassing?” I rambled for a while.
As I watched Luke try to come up with a response to that, I felt satisfied with myself that I had made it through the whole thing without slurring any words.
“Okay,” Luke finally answered, still looking at me carefully. “I’m not sure I followed that but it seemed to make sense to you, so I guess you’re holding up better than I thought. Uh, here is your other drink,” Luke winced as Hannah put the drink in front of me.
“Hannah,” Luke addressed our server hopefully. “Do you know how long until the food is ready?”
I think she answered him, but I couldn’t tell you what she said. I found myself making an extra effort to focus on every little thing I was doing, and at the moment locating the ladies room took the highest priority. As I looked down the hall that ran past the stage, I spotted a sign sticking out from the wall with the universal symbol for ladies room – the little lady in the blue dress with no face. I was very happy to see her and even more anxious to go visit her.
I very gracefully said, “Would you excuse me while I go to the ladies room?”
Luke immediately stepped out of the booth and backed out of the way which allowed me to slide to his end, stand up, trip on the step as I exited our booth, and fall flat on my face. The first thing I heard after I tasted floor was a loud guffaw of laughter. To my amazement, I discovered I was the one laughing. Oh well. Maybe he would think I did that to be funny?
That’s what I was wondering when one hand grabbed my arm and the other went around my waist as Luke scooped me up off the floor. While Luke still held onto me as if I might topple over, I turned to him and said in the most ladylike voice I could manage, “Oh, thank you. I didn’t see that step.” My eyes moved down to the inconvenient step I’d just tripped over, and that’s when I realized what a ridiculous thing that was to say. There was no step there, but Luke was too much of a gentleman to point that out.
“I was just going to the men’s room, so why don’t I come with you since they’re both right over there?” Luke lied.
Even in my confused state, I was aware of his concern. He was going with me to keep me from embarrassing myself any further. It was so sweet. He was so sweet. I don’t deserve such a sweet, wonderful man. With those thoughts, my eyes started to water, and I fought to hold in the tears at least until I was safely in the ladies room.
Fortunately, we had just reached the ladies room door. As I reached to push it open, Luke let go of my arm and said, “I’ll be waiting here for you when you come out.”
As soon as my face was behind the closed door, I let the tears flow. He was so wonderful, and I was going to ruin everything by being such a maw-maw/slut/drunk! Poor Luke, I wailed inside my head as the tears flowed. I wish he could find someone who was worthy of him – but not Hannah. I hate her! He’s so sweet, and I never even tell him that. What man doesn’t like to hear that he’s wonderful, right? I splashed cold water on my face and felt much clearer. I would go back, eat my food, dance when the music started, and then tell Luke how wonderful he really is and how he deserves someone better than me. Was I a woman on a mission or what? As I started toward the bathroom exit, I realized this woman on a mission forgot to pee. I went into a stall, took care of that, washed my hands, splashed more water on my face for good measure, and left. Luke, true to his word, was standing in the hall waiting for me. What a great guy.
“Thanks for waiting for me, but it really wasn’t necessary,” I said as casually as possible. “Ooo, is that our food on the table?” I asked when we were almost there. “I’m starved. How about you?”
Luke was still studying me with a concerned look on his face, but the control I exhibited since leaving the ladies room seemed to finally put him at ease. “Yes, they delivered the food while we were in the restrooms. I’m pretty hungry, so I’m glad to see it,” he told me as we headed back to our table. Luke, who had been holding my arm since I left the ladies room, let go only when I was sitting and sliding across the booth. He neatly slid in after me and said, “Dig in. I got seafood platters, so hopefully your favorite is on it. What is your favorite seafood, anyway?”
“Um, probably catfish. No wait, maybe shrimp? No, no, what am I saying? Oysters would have to be my favorite. Oh, unless it’s crawfish season,” I added, and when I paused to take a breath Luke started laughing.
“If you’re trying to make me glad I got you the seafood platter it’s working. I think you’ll find all your favorites on there, so that should keep you busy for a while,” he chuckled. Luke looked at his plate and then smiled at me, “I’m not sure I can eat all this, but with your appetite, I’m sure you can help me out once you’ve finished yours.”
“You think you’re funny, don’t you? We’ll see who’s laughing when I eat you under the table,” I shot back.
“I doubt you meant that literally, but I’ll keep hoping,” Luke said casually but capped off his statement with a grin.
That’s not what I meant at all and to buy myself a minute to think of how to respond, I reached for my glass and chugged half of it down before I realized what I was doing. Oops. But now I had food to mix in with the alcohol, so it shouldn’t hit
me that hard, right? As I sat my glass back down on the table, I thought, that stuff tastes much smoother now than the first few swallows did.
“Yes, but it will sneak up on you, so try not to be fooled by the smoothness,” Luke said out of nowhere.
Wait – did I say that out loud? I’d better be careful if my thoughts are slipping past my lips undetected. That thought made me laugh. I pictured my thoughts in a little trench coat, plastered against the side of my mouth, sneaking around the corner of my lips when my mouth opened. Good stuff.
Unfortunately, Luke had stopped eating and was staring at me while he reached for my glass. “I’m glad you’re having a good time, but I think that’s probably enough of this,” he said slowly as he removed my glass from in front of me and motioned for Hannah to come over. “How would you like a nice hot cup of coffee to go with the rest of your meal?”
Turns out I wasn’t as hungry as I thought, because all I could think about was dancing close and slow with Luke. “How about we save this food for later and hit the dance floor? I’m ready to dance with you,” I explained. I leaned in and put my nose about an inch from Luke’s and asked, “Would you like to dance with me, sexy?”
“Okay, how about we . . . ,” he tried to tell me until Hannah appeared at the table, and Luke turned to her in the middle of our discussion about the dancing. “Could we get a couple of go-boxes and the check? We have to be somewhere in a few minutes.”
“Oh? Where do we have to be?” I asked trying to remember what we were supposed to be doing, because I thought we were going to dance.
“We have to be getting you home before you pass out, and I have to carry you all the way back to the apartment,” Luke responded as soon as the waitress left. “Do you feel like you can walk?”
Hey, I was feeling a little insulted here. “What’s going on? I thought we were going to stay, listen to some music, and dance. You said we could dance. Are you saying you don’t want to dance with me?” I demanded. Although I was trying to hold on to indignant, I could feel my bottom lip start to tremble, and I knew the tears weren’t far behind.
Obviously, Luke saw it too, because he put his arm around me and whispered in my ear, “Of course I want to dance with you. There’s music back at the apartment, and I think we’ll be much more comfortable dancing to the music there, don’t you?”
Aw, he is so sweet. I was thinking that’s why I think I’m falling in that love at first sight thing with him, only a little delayed, ‘cause he’s so fudgin’ wonderful. Oops, did I just use the F word? Where’d that come from? I don’t even like that word.
“Uh, no, you didn’t use the F word, you used the fudging word. It would have been okay, because I’ve actually heard the F word before,” Luke answered, as he pulled out his wallet to take care of the check Hannah had just put on the table. “And I’m very fond of you too, so let’s head home while we can both still stand up.”
“Oh, crap! Did my thoughts just sneak out of my mouth again? That really sucks ‘cause I don’t think you were s’posed to hear that! Hey, if I said fudgin’ does that mean I don’t have to pay Swear Bear ‘cause I don’t have any change on me?” I inquired.
The sound test that had stopped for a while as they traded out an amp started back just in time and loud enough that Luke didn’t hear my last question. Even in my current state, I noticed that loud sound test couldn’t have happened a minute earlier, because that would have meant Luke didn’t hear the thoughts that slipped out of my mouth when I wasn’t paying attention. No of course not, because we are talking about my luck, after all.
I should probably have been upset by this development, but I was embracing my numbness and unable to become upset. I watched as Luke dumped our dinners into the go-boxes for traveling, grabbed the cylinder of the print copy which he tucked under his arm, pulled my arm close to him after he helped me stand, and steered me toward the door.
We walked in silence for a few minutes and then Luke said casually, “You didn’t eat very much so if you want me to heat up your food when we get to the apartment I can do that.”
“Home,” was my only response to his offer. “Before you called it home instead of the apartment, and I really liked the sound of that so can you call it that again?” I snuggled closer to him as he walked with one arm around my waist and the other carrying our food, with the cylinder still tucked under his arm. He is really coordinated.
Luke pulled me a little closer and said, “We’ll be home in just a few minutes. You’re doing great with the walking, so keep up the good work.”
“You like the way I walk? I’ve been practicing for years,” I announced, punctuating this statement with a yawn. “We better get on with the dancing, because suddenly I’m so tired. Maybe I should take a little nap before we start dancing?”
“If you can make it just a little farther you can take a nap before any dancing,” Luke suggested. “Deal?”
“Umm, that sounds wonderful. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Would you like to take a little nap with me?” I asked sleepily.
Luke didn’t answer right away, but after giving it some thought, he said, “Why don’t we talk about that once we get there. It’s not much farther now.”
“You hesitated. You don’t want to take a nap with me? Why don’t you want to take a nap with me? Here I thought you liked me, but you don’t even want to snuggle up under the covers and take a nap with me? I’m a wonderful napper, too. I don’t take them as often as I like, but I think about them sometimes. I might even be a better napper than you, and now you’ll never know, ‘cause you don’t want to nap with me,” I whined, my voice getting slightly louder as I went along. Since I’d been walking while whining, we were finally at the top of the stairs only a few doors down from Serge’s apartment. Luke guided me the last few steps, propped me against the wall, and reached into his pocket for the key. I still had a large dose of that numbness going on, so in spite of what I was saying I was feeling kind of easy going. My volume was set a little higher than usual, however.
“I really would like to sit down for a minute,” I announced and as Luke swung the door open, I slid my back down the wall until I was sitting. “That’s better.”
Luke put the food inside the doorway and turned to me, saying, “No, no, no. You’ve made it this far so let’s get you into bed.”
“So you dooo want to take me to bed.” I said triumphantly, and that’s the last thing I remember of the evening.
CHAPTER 12
It sounded as if someone was practicing playing the tuba, and they only knew one note. I wished they would stop playing it over and over right next to my ear.
I put my hands over my ears to block out the noise as I tried to pry open my eyelids, so I could see who was making that noise. I’d hate to kill the wrong person due to mistaken identity.
When my eyes were opened only slit high, I saw flashes of light so bright I was forced to slam them closed to avoid going blind. What was up with that? And where was I? And who was playing that incredibly close tuba?
Aware that I wouldn’t get the answers to any of these questions if I didn’t try another peek, I moved one hand from my ear to shield my eyes. Having convinced myself I needed all those answers in addition to stopping that horrible tuba practice, I gave the eye opening thing another go.
While I blocked the majority of the light with my hand, I forced my eyes to remain slitted and hoped they would adjust. As I waited for the adjustment, I thought it was pretty obvious what was going on.
CeCe must have changed the bulbs in my ceiling fan light fixture. I guess she didn’t notice she was putting 500 watt bulbs in their place. Apparently, she had come into my room, turned on the light to wake me up, and gone off to get the coffee going. But what was up with the tuba?
When my eyes finally focused enough for me to see, I discovered I was wrong. There were no 500 watt bulbs in the light fixture. It was the sun streaming through the window. I was not in my room, and CeCe was not here making coffee. Mos
t shocking of all, there was nobody playing the tuba next to my head. That turned out to be my own pulse I was hearing.
It was at that point little things started coming back to me, hinting at what had put me in this condition. Fortunately, they came back very gently since that was apparently all I could handle at that moment.
Luke, the French Quarter apartment, something about dinner, an electric guitar, drinks, and then we talked about – bed? I quickly turned my head from side to side to take in my surroundings – which was a huge mistake. When the mind numbing pain that shot through my head directly behind my eyes settled back into a dull throb, I tried to will my queasy stomach to settle down.
Once I decided I wasn’t going to hurl, at least not right then, I allowed myself to slowly look around the room. I was in bed in the apartment with nothing on but a t-shirt and I mean nothing else. I was alone in the room, which was such a relief I let out the breath I’d been holding while inspecting my surroundings.
Unfortunately, my relief was short lived. When my eyes scanned the bed I was sitting in, I noticed there was a head imprint on the pillow next to the one where my head had been resting. A little involuntary gasp escaped my lips, followed by a slightly louder “Eek” when the bedroom door flew open with a bang.
“Oops, I’m sorry about the door. I left it pulled shut, and it was sticking earlier so I had to use a little force on it, but I guess it’s not sticking . . . ,” Luke cut off his explanation mid-sentence and stood holding a tray with coffee, eggs, bacon, and toast. It was impossible to miss the big grin on his face as he stared at me.
“Sorry,” he apologized again, as he approached the bed and set the tray on the bedside table. “I didn’t even say good morning yet. Good morning, Beignet. How about some coffee?”
“Coffee sounds – wait, what did you call me?” I asked thinking I must have heard him wrong.
“Don’t tell me you’ve decided you don’t want me to call you Beignet anymore? You loved it last night,” Luke said looking confused.
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