Page 112 of The Moment You Know

Alone in the room, he lay on the bed for several minutes feeling utterly shitty and depressed, unable to move. When David finally gathered the energy to sit up, he was met with a wave of nausea that he figured was God’s way of giving him the middle finger for his poor decision making in the last few hours. With a sigh, he began getting dressed for the second time that day in clothes he swore he would never wear again, and as he was pulling on his briefs, the wave of nausea turned into a tsunami.

He made it into the bathroom with just enough time to fall to his knees and purge his stomach of several glasses of expensive bourbon, making the worst day of his life complete. When he was done, he flushed the toilet with a shaky hand, then got to his feet and staggered to the sink, where he rinsed out his mouth and splashed his face with cold water.

He looked exactly like he felt … like hammered shit.

Back in the main room, his focus became singular: to get the hell gone from this place. He threw on the rest of his clothes, not bothering to tuck his shirt into his pants, and on his way out of the hotel room, he paused only long enough to throw the box of condoms in the garbage.

He only wished he could throw the day away as easily.

A few weeks later, as David was still trying to forget that night, he received an unexpected text from an unknown number.

UNKNOWN: Hi, David. This is Evan Malone, from Three Amigos.

UNKNOWN: Remember me?

David read the texts, surprised to hear from him, but before he could respond, another text came in.

UNKNOWN: I’m the bi-sexual bartender that leans gay, if that helps.

David raised his eyebrows in amusement at the extra description, which wasn’t really necessary.

DAVID: Yes, I remember you.

DAVID: Hi.

UNKNOWN: I’m texting to let you know that your card got picked for a free drink the next time you come in. And you actually won that fair and square, because Evelyn did the picking.

David quickly found a gif of a man chugging a beer and falling back off his barstool and sent it to Evan.

DAVID: Does that mean you won the two days off?

UNKNOWN: It does, indeed.

A few seconds later a meme popped up of a chubby toddler raising his fists into the air with a maniacal look on his face, with the caption, ‘Victory is mine, Muthafackas!’ written across the bottom. It was so ridiculous, that it made David laugh out loud.

UNKNOWN: I don’t know if I won fair and square, though. Just between you and me, I engaged in some necessary subterfuge.

DAVID: Subterfuge? That sounds like a Word-of-the-Day.

UNKNOWN: Actually, no. It’s just a good word.

DAVID: Well, congratulations on your victory, anyway. And I won’t say a word about the subterfuge, in case you need to engage in it again, for more days off.

UNKNOWN: Thanks for having my back.

DAVID: You’re welcome.

UNKNOWN: I know I should feel guilty, but I don’t. People have done far worse for far less than seats at center ice, ten rows back.

DAVID: Are you talking behind the benches or behind the penalty boxes?

UNKNOWN: Behind the benches.

DAVID: Nice. That’s prime real estate. I’m a little jealous.

David watched as the three little dots appeared and disappeared several times, before another text came through.

UNKNOWN: The extra ticket’s yours if you’re interested.

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