Page 11 of Picture Perfect Love

Joshua

Nothing felt particularly out of the ordinary when I woke up the next day. Hangover, check. An angle of the sun which indicated it was past noon, check. A discarded phone full of angry messages from my siblings, check. A beautiful naked woman by my side…

Check, but that part was different. Because the naked woman was Abby. Someone who had somehow seeped into my skin through the night.

She stirred awake around the same time I did, but not with so much ease. She jerked up and immediately panicked.

“My phone. What time is it?” she groaned. “Fuck, my head. I need water. Where am I?”

Her eyes moved over to my body sprawled out next to her.

“Hi there,” I waved with a smile. “Good morning. Your phone is in your purse by the front door. I’m guessing it’s somewhere around one o’clock. There’s aspirin and water on the nightstand. And if you haven’t figured it out by now… you’re at my apartment.”

She looked around the room. “You mean mansion. This place looks so much bigger in daylight.”

I leaned forward and kissed her shoulder. “Maybe you were just too distracted to really notice last night.”

“Last night I was too distracted to notice a lot of things,” she laughed. “Like the difference between good choices and bad choices.”

“Maybe I need to remind you of just why you thought those choices seemed so good last night,” I suggested, kissing up her back.

But she moved away, flinging off the sheets to search for her clothes. She held up her tailored outfit in the air. “This looks a lot different in the daylight too. I thought I was being so clever, but now I see I was just walking around in a shredded caterer’s uniform.”

“And a fur coat,” I added.

“Oh god,” she buried her face in her hands. “I should return that.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll drop it off with a note. They’ll take it way easier on me than they would you.”

“Well, that’s one less thing to worry about, I guess.” She slid back into her ripped pants and shirt and stepped into her shoes.

“Hey, don’t rush off. Let’s get some breakfast… and maybe a little hair of the dog.”

“No way. I’m at my limit of what you can talk me into. I have way too many things to do with what’s left of the day.”

“Like yoga?” I asked, remembering the details of her life she had shared the night before.

“Yes, and dinner plans and… ugh. I need to get going.”

I reluctantly climbed out of bed and followed her into the living room. She blushed when I came around the corner, still completely naked. But I let it all hang out with the hope that just maybe she would change her mind and come back to bed. The look in her eyes made it seem like it wasn’t so far outside the realm of possibility.

“So, when can I see you again?” I asked finally, leaning against the wall as she rushed to gather all of her things.

But with that, she stopped cold. Her mouth dropped open as she stared back at me. “What? See me again? I thought… I thought it was a one night thing.”

“Everything’s a one night thing… until it’s fun enough to warrant a second night, and a third, and then who knows what else.”

“I don’t even know where to begin with picking that one apart,” she said, shaking her head, brushing a hand across her face.

“So don’t.”

“We can’t see each other again,” she said firmly. “I’m already seeing someone else, remember?”

“Well, whoever he is wasn’t enough to stop you last night,” I observed. “That says something about how you feel about him.”

“I don’t know how I feel about him yet,” she snapped. “I haven’t had time to decide yet. That’s how the rest of us do things. We go on one date, then two, then three and so on if it goes well.”

“How is that different from what I suggested a minute ago?”

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