Page 46 of Follow the Rhythm
“Right. Cheers, mate.” I got off my stool, and the world tilted unpleasantly.
The bartender sighed. “Do you need me to call someone?”
I shook my head and smiled. “I’m golden.”
I stumbled into the lift after traversing the expanse of the lobby and punched a few numbers. One was probably my floor.
When the door dinged, I pushed myself off the back wall of the lift and into a hallway. Bloody hotels. All the floors always looked the same. I wracked my brain trying to remember my room number. I groped in my jacket pocket for the key, but it didn’t have a label. My legs weren’t cooperating. I bounced between the sides of the hallway like a table tennis ball.
“Fuck,” I said, louder than I meant to. I reached for my phone, but it was missing. “FUCK!”
A door opened at the end of the hall, and an older man glared at me. “It’s two in the morning, asshole.”
“I’m so sorry to disturb you. But I seem to have gotten lost.”
“Shhhh,” he said, even more annoyed.
“You shhh,” I said.
Another door opened, closer to me. A blonde head poked out, and for a moment I thought it was Bea.
“Goddamnit, Ellis, I thought that was your voice,” Grace said. “Sorry, sir, I’ll take care of it.”
She grabbed my wrist and yanked me into the room. It was dark, but she switched on a lamp. The room was small, with just a seating area and a door leading off the wall on each side.
“What the fuck are you doing? Go back to your room.” She sniffed me. “Jesus, you’re wasted, aren’t you?”
“Obviously,” I replied crisply. “I can’t remember what room I’m in. And I don’t have my phone.”
A door opened, and Jess stepped into the room. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt that hung to her mid-thigh. I had a mad impulse to yank off my own shirt and give it to her to wear instead.
“Oh god. What is he doing here?” she asked Grace.
“He was wandering around the hallway, waking people up. He’s drunk.”
“Well, he can’t stay here. Tell him to go back to his room.”
“I’m right here, ladies. And I wish I could, but unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten my room number,” I said with a little pout.
“He said he doesn’t have his phone either,” Grace said, ignoring me.
Jess sighed. “You’re a fucking disaster,” she said to me.
“No arguments here,” I said. “Can’t you take pity on me?”
Jess rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Grace?”
“Stay in the room. I don’t want you to get us all kicked out. And be quiet,” Grace said sternly.
“Angels, both of you.” I bowed my head in thanks, then stumbled towards the couch and collapsed onto it. I tried to wrestle my jacket off and gave up, was similarly unsuccessfulin prying off my boots, and resigned myself to sleeping fully clothed.
I heard another sigh. A lamp switched on, and I felt a yank on my boot. Jess pulled them off roughly and dropped them on the floor with a thud. “Sit up,” she commanded.
I let her help me out of my jacket, which she also chucked into a heap.
“Don’t move,” she said, pointing her finger in my face, and I nodded meekly.
She returned a few moments later with a glass of water. I chugged it gratefully.
