Page 37 of One Night Only
“I won’t,” I say firmly. “One of us needs to be sober tonight.”
“It’s one drink,” Annie says, taking a sip.
“Really,” I say to the now confused woman, who’s still insisting on taking my order. “I’m good, thank you.” I turn back to Annie who now has a mustache of creamy white foam. “Take it easy, party animal.”
“This actually doesn’t taste that bad,” she says, licking her lips.
The door opens and I glance up to see Declan arrive with a few others. Again, I’m dismayed by my instant reaction to the mere sight of him, as though the world suddenly tilts in his direction. There’s no hiding from him as he glances around the room. I haven’t seen him since he dropped me back to the hotel earlier, and though his eyes meet mine, they don’t linger, skipping over us as he gestures his group to the opposite side of the pub.
“Can you sing, Sarah?” a man to my left asks as he tunes his fiddle.
I force my attention back to him. “Not a note.”
“You’ll fit right in then.”
I learn pretty early on that I made the right choice to stay on the Coke. The drinks flow freely in the room and the tight circle of Paul’s friends around us makes sure that we don’t pay a cent for any of them. The bus is due to take everyone back to the hotel, meaning there are only a few sober people, and I keep a close eye on Annie as she accepts her second, third and fourth drink.
I have no doubt she only intended to have one to make a good impression on her new family but, Annie, who usually only ever drinks white wine spritzers and the occasional vodka shot, takes to Guinness like she’s been drinking it all her life, as though determined to drown any pre-wedding nerves. I soon lose count of how many she has, easy to do when they keep handing her new ones, and it’s a little after ten when she turns to me during a particularly fast song and puts her mouth right by my ear.
“Sarah?” Her eyes are unfocused, her breath damp on my face. “I think I’m… I think I’m going to…”
We make it to the restroom, where I kneel in the narrow space between the toilet and the wall and hold back her hair. The music continues loudly from the next room and I keep time with it as I rub circles into her back.
When she’s finished, Annie slumps on the ground next to the basin, looking dazed.
“Thanks,” she says with a sigh.
“What’s a maid of honor for?” I nudge her foot. “You want to go back to the hotel?”
“Yes. But it will look bad.”
“It will look worse if you puke all over your dress tomorrow.”
A little more persuading and I finally get her to agree.
“I’m going to take this girl home,” I say to a chorus of boos in the main room. Annie’s mom waves cheerfully at us from the corner. Mary sits next to her, so deep in conversation she doesn’t even notice us leaving. “Come on,” I say, draping Annie’s arm across my shoulders. “We’re going to bed.”
“I’ll go with you,” Paul says, trying to get up. One of the cousins promptly sits him down again.
“I’m fine.” Annie laughs. “Sarah’s got me. Stay. Have fun. Don’t be ill in the morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Paul reaches up to kiss her, ignoring the hollers from the rest of the room. It’s another ten minutes before we can leave the party. We’re stopped by every person for well wishes and Annie’s still laughing as we finally stumble out into the night, waving at the smokers by the window.
“I thought you didn’t like to drive,” she says as I put her into the passenger seat.
“It’s a straight line, I think I’ll manage.”
I do manage but very, very slowly. It’s pitch black with no streetlights and I’m terrified at any moment a wandering cow will amble into the middle of the road. We make it back in one piece, though by now Annie’s mood has plummeted as expected, the joy of other people and the booze wearing off into the usual tired moodiness.
Luckily, I have plenty of experience of getting Annie home after a night out and know I have about ten minutes to get her into bed before the tears start.
The hotel is dark and empty, except for the man at the desk who gives us a sympathetic smile as I get Annie into the elevator.
“I need air,” she mutters as I swipe open the door to her suite.
