Page 10 of Creep

For one thing, the pounding behind my eyelids told me I had gone past my limit last night.

I let out a small groan and forced my eyes open, taking in the too-bright afternoon sunlight through the gap between the curtains hanging in my bedroom window.

I should have closed them before I left the apartment last night. Or hell, I could have done it when I got home if I’d had the good sense to before I fell asleep in my drunken state.

My eyes moved down my body.

I was naked. Did I… did I take off my own clothes?

I shivered, the dream coming back to me in full force. Never had a dream felt so real, so… powerful, that even now, in my hungover state, I couldn’t do anything but try to recall every perfect little moment.

I should have chased the guy down at the bar when I had the chance. I was obviously interested in him from just one glance, and now he was gone. What were the chances of me running into him again in a city of millions of people?

Slim to none.

But that fantasy…

God, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before.

I looked around the room, feeling a sudden wave of melancholy rushing through me. I was alone in my room, and that was all there was to it.

Why had I been feeling so alone lately?

Taking in a deep breath, I gave myself five more seconds of sitting here, feeling sorry for myself. Then I hoisted myself out of bed, closing my eyes and letting out a small groan when an onslaught of a headache started prickling about inside my head.

“Fuck,” I muttered to myself.

If there was a day to skip work, today would be it. But just thinking about spending the entire day alone with nothing more than my thoughts to keep me company… yeah, I wasn’t going to skip work.

I took a deep breath and slowly made my way into the bathroom. I needed a shower and some strong coffee.

Then I would be as good as new.

* * *

I was notgood as new.

It was nearing eight o’clock.

We closed at ten, which is technically late for a coffee shop, but we were in New York, and it was true—the people here never sleep.

I had just finished with the last thing on my checklist.

I hadn’t realized it would take this long. It didn’t help that my headache hadn’t really disappeared completely, but came by in intervals, making me want to shrivel up on the inside and die.

I grabbed my coffee mug and looked inside.

Empty.

I knew better than to drink any more, but it was so tempting. Letting out a small sigh, I got up and cleaned around, calling it a night. I wasn’t needed.

We weren’t busy, and we wouldn’t get busy from now until closing.

I could go home and go to sleep early, vowing I would never drink that much again, even if I knew it was a lie.

I set about doing that when my hand ran across something beneath the stack of cups in the supply room. I frowned as I pulled out yet another white rose, thorns and all.

“What the hell?” I muttered, thinking back and wondering if I had left this one here from the other times, but no, this one was fresh. There was no mark of it rotting just yet.

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