Free Worth Pursuing by LK Chapman

 
THE MORNING AFTER
    I half-opened my eyes to pale,
greyish light and groaned. My head felt like it was splitting, and my mouth was
dry and furry. Not wanting to wake up, I squeezed my eyes closed again, willing
myself to go back to sleep so that I could be spared from the discomfort. I
rolled onto my side, and almost jumped out of my skin when I felt it – a leg,
against my leg.
    My eyes snapped open, and for a moment all the sensations of my hangover
were forgotten as I remembered why I was in this room, and then my nausea
returned with a vengeance. All of a sudden the last thing I wanted was to go
back to sleep. I wanted to get out – to slip away as quietly as I could, and to
not have to talk to him.  Trying to make as little noise as possible, I began
to inch towards the edge of the bed, and then I swung my feet down to the floor
and carefully slipped out from under the covers. The cold and slightly damp
morning air made me shiver. I started looking around the room for my clothes,
but my eyes were frequently drawn back to the figure still asleep in bed. It was
difficult to see him clearly – he was lying on his front, the white duvet
pulled halfway up over his head so all that showed was some messy light brown
hair and an eyebrow. One of his feet was sticking out and as I watched he
stirred a little, so I quickly resumed my search. I found my underwear easily
enough and hurriedly put it on. But when I tiptoed round to his side of the bed
in search of the rest of my things I noticed to my horror that my dress was
hanging down from beneath his body. I gave it a tentative tug, but it didn’t
budge.
    ‘Shit,’ I said under my breath, ‘shit, shit, shit.’
    I tried again, pulling as hard as I dared, but it was useless. He was
lying right on top of it. I wanted to leave without having to face him, but I
knew there was no way I’d be able to get my dress without waking him up. I
stared down helplessly at his face, and his mouth twitched a little, almost
like he was laughing.
EIGHT HOURS AGO
    ‘So, what do you do?’ Jay asked me.
I had to strain to hear him over the music. His mouth was near my ear, I could
feel his breath on me.
    I thought about the news I’d just had earlier that day. I didn’t know
how to answer.
    ‘What?’ he said, ‘what’s wrong?’
    ‘Nothing,’ I told him. I took hold of his arm. ‘Come on, let’s—’
    ‘I feel like I’ve upset you,’ he said. He looked genuinely concerned. I
let go of his arm and sighed. It would be easier just to tell him. ‘No,’ I
said, ‘you haven’t upset me. It’s not... it’s not your fault.’
    ‘What isn’t?’ he pressed me.
    ‘I... I lost my job today. That’s all.’
    ‘Oh,’ he said. He put his hand over mine. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. Are
you okay?’
    ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I mean... no, not really.’
    ‘Do you... do you mind me asking... why?’
    ‘It wasn’t anything I did,’ I said, with a half-hearted smile. ‘I
didn’t get fired, or anything. The place I work, it’s closing down.’
    ‘Right.’
    ‘Yeah.’
    I looked round at him, and I thought – to hell with it. If he was
surprised when I kissed him he gave no sign of it. In fact, I was pretty sure
he’d been expecting it.
…
    I decided to give up on my dress for
the moment. My most urgent need was to find a bathroom, but I wasn’t about to
go wandering around Jay’s house half naked. My eyes fell on his wardrobe.
Although I wasn’t keen on the idea, I realised I’d have to wear something of
his, for the next few minutes at least. Luckily when I opened it there was a
stack of tops neatly folded on a shelf right in front of me, sparing me from
having to go rummaging through his things. I took agrey
cotton t-shirt from the top of the pile and pulled it over my head, hoping by
the time I got back he might have rolled away from my dress.
    It was obvious as soon as I left his
room that Jay lived in some sort of shared house, or perhaps even some sort of
hostel.