Chapter 12: Chapter Seven-1

Chapter Seven I tip the glass of champagne in my hand, watching it circle around in the glass. I take a sip—one of many in the past hour. The party is coming to an end. There are hotel assistants cleaning up tables, picking up trash, and mopping the floor. I sit at an empty table, empty glasses and plates everywhere. There are one or two guests lingering around, but they’re not important people so I don’t have to act all nice. Lee is trying to reason with the reporters somewhere to stop the pictures and videos from going out into the public. I sigh. I’m nervous. When he comes back, he’s going to be pissed. I down my drink and put the glass down. I shouldn’t be drinking. Mom told me not to drink until I’m old enough, but I really need a drink right now. I feel a headache coming on. I wonder if I’m drunk. “Miss, can you please clear the table so I may clean?” a lady in the black hotel uniform asks me. Her face is blurry—the alcohol must be kicking in. I knew I shouldn’t have downed so many drinks. “Surrre,” I slur. I stand up but I forget I’m wearing heels and tumble to the ground. It hurts but I can’t tell where. “Whoops.” “Are you okay, miss?!” the lady shrieks, rushing over to help me. She tries to tug my arm but I feel like something’s holding me to the ground—something heavy. “I can’t get up, lady. Zombies are coming out of the ground and are keeping me from getting up. Leave without me, lady! You can make it,” I say, flinging my hand away from her. “Go!” “Pardon, miss?” She sounds confused—it’s funny. “It’s okay, Patty, I got her,” a voice breaks in. It sounds deep. It sounds funny. Everything sounds funny. Suddenly, I’m lifted from the ground. “God, you’re heavy!” “Oh my gosh! Thank you, kind man. You saved me from the zombies,” I yell. He’s holding me in his arms. “Thank you!” I wrap my arms around his neck, causing the man to flinch. I can feel sleep tugging at my eyes. “God, Ivory, you’re so heavy. You weigh like a whale.” Ivory? Who’s Ivory? This man is confusing. I’m so sleepy. I rest on the man’s shoulder. He smells really good. I sniff his shoulder. “What are you doing!” Is he talking to me? “I’m sniffing your shoulder, silly. You smell really good. I can’t tell if it’s lemon or apple or what. You smell like…” “Stop smelling me.” He throws me on something comfy; a bed? I don’t let him go. “Please remove your arms off my neck.” “No!” I protest. “Come sleep with me, teddy bear.” My vision gets blurrier. I’m really sleepy now. I tug the man closer until he lands on top of me. “You’re so warm.” He tries to shrug off but I tighten my grip. He struggles before giving up with a sigh. I smile with content. It’s too cold without this big teddy bear hugging me. Now, I’ll have a good night rest. I drift off into sleep with a smile and a fluffy teddy bear. “Wake up!” A large hand shakes my shoulder violently. “Wake up, Ivory!” The warm covers are ripped away from me. A shiver runs through me. I hate the cold weather. Mom is so violent, sometimes. I sit up causing my head to pound with pain. I wince. I rub my eyes open. “Mom, I’m awake. Shut up already!” You can imagine what a surprise it was to see Lee there instead… without a suit on. No, it wasn’t like he was naked—unfortunately. I wonder what he looked like under his shirt. I shake my head free from these thoughts. It’s too early to be thinking about such things. I scrunch up my face, disgusted with myself. Lee’s standing there in a normal t-shirt and plaid pajama pants. He almost looks normal. I notice I’m partly naked—still wearing the dress from the party. I scream, covering myself with the covers. “Lee! What’re you doing?!” “Waking you up,” he yells back. “It’s almost noon! Wake up. You’re so unladylike for a lady. Who sleeps this late? Don’t you have to catch up with your class or something?” “So unladylike for a lady,” I repeat, mimicking his tone. Lee sends me a glare. “Whatever. I sleep this late. Now, leave me alone.” I pull myself back to the bed, covering my face in the pillow. Lee pulls my legs and I’m dragged out of bed… literally. It’s like one of those horror movies where the stupid female lead is hiding in the most obvious place and gets dragged to her death by the killer. “How can you sleep after last night?” Lee asks, still shouting and pulling me out of bed. I sit up, kicking his hands away from my legs. I freeze. Last night? What happened lazy night? Something happened. What was it? I can’t remember but I know it’s important. Something important. I can’t remember. I groan in frustration. “Why can’t I remember?” I ask Lee, confused. “Well after taking the many drinks that you did, of course you can’t remember,” Lee explains, crossing his arms. He rolls his eyes. “Aren’t you underage?” “Shut up,” I tell him, getting up. I shove him out of my way. I hear him mutter something like “rude.” I walk to the kitchen, barefoot and still in my dress. I fix it so it’s not hitching up my legs and chest. Getting a glass, I pour some water for myself and finish it. Something pops out of nowhere in my mind. A memory—tons of memories: a kiss, flashes of cameras, lies, smelling some nice cologne, hugging someone to sleep—hugging Lee to sleep. I gasp, dropping the glass. It doesn’t break, though. The glass drops to the table sideways. Maybe expensive glasses are sturdier, I think. Lee is standing behind me with a smirk plastered on his stupid, shiny face. “So, you remember?” I stay completely still. I don’t breathe. I feel like he can smell my fear… or that’s just the alcohol from last night. “I-I don’t remember.” There goes another lie. “Really?” Lee says. He pulls out something out of his pocket of his plaid pajamas and lays it on the table. They’re pictures. Does he usually carry random things in his pajamas?