Del awoke and saw that he was laying in a soft bed. His head pounded, and he felt sick to his stomach. He realized he was not sleeping in his dingy motel room. He recalled after drinking a few more drinks; he blacked out and couldn’t remember what happened. Bright lights were coming through green blinds.

He did remember getting a drink and going back to the table. But things got kinda splotchy after that. He thought he started talking to Cheryl and maybe dancing with her. He was not quite sure. Turning to his side, he saw a brunette girl sleeping next to him. He realized he was only sleeping in a T-shirt and nothing else. He recognized it was Cheryl next to him. She was lightly snoring. She moaned a little and opened her eyes.

“You’re still here?” she said, “Del, you have to go before my husband gets home.”

Del moved. Pure adrenaline made him jumped out of bed. He groaned. But he looked around the ground for his clothes. He shook his head. He needed to stop doing this, getting drunk and sleeping with women he hardly knew. His clothes were all over the floor. He quickly got dressed.

Cheryl also stood up and found a Terry-cloth robe on. She heard something. It sounded like the sound of a car garage opening.

Cheryl said, “Hurry, my husband works at night. He’s home. Go out the window. Your car is in the front. I drove it.”

Del was dressed. He heard the sound of somebody in the kitchen area. He found his wallet and keys still in his pocket of his jeans. Cheryl started to pick up her own clothes.

“Honey, are you awake? Who’s car in the front?” A man said from the kitchen.

She yelled, “I’m coming. I’m just getting dressed.”

Del opened the blinds and window. The screen was easy to open. Thank God he thought and climbed out. Del wondered if Cheryl had done this before. He got out just in time. The bedroom door opened.

“Honey, I cannot find the coffee,” the man said. “It’s bright in here. Let me close the blinds for you. Look the screen is still broken.”

Cheryl said, “Don’t worry about that. Let’s get you some coffee.”

Del leaned against the wall. The blinds went down and closed.

“Is there somebody here?”

“No, you’re being silly.”

“Who’s car is in the front?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, it’s the neighbors.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Del heard enough. He crouched low by the hedges. It was bright and getting hot. He ran to his car and took out his key. Starting his car, he noticed Cheryl’s house was very nice. It was a one story green house with white trim. He drove away.

He was in some residential area. He was not quite sure where he was and what city he was in. He took a few turns until he got to a street he recognized. He was close to Huntington Beach, just a few miles from the bar where he met Cheryl. Taking a right and then a quick left, he found himself on Beach Blvd. It was one of the main streets to drive toward the beach. He took a right toward the 405 freeway.

He kept driving and wanted to get as far away as he could from Cheryl’s home. His hangover was bad. He stopped his car at a small stripped mall and vomited as soon as he opened his door. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He didn’t want to think about drinking alcohol again.

Closing his door, he saw it was 7:38 am. He was hungry he thought. His stomach convulsed with hunger pains and he was not sure when he last ate. He knew a few miles from here was a McDonald’s and they served breakfast.

Del drove through the drive-through and ordered a breakfast sandwich and a diet soda. He parked his car in the parking lot and started eating. His stomach groaned not with pain but with pleasure. It was as if he didn’t eaten for days. The food tasted so good. He hoped he could keep the breakfast sandwich down and not vomit again.

After he finished eating, he was thinking about his life. He took a sip of his soda and burped loud. He was still in the parking lot of McDonald’s. He saw families walking inside. Checking his pockets, he found his phone. He felt relieved. He could have left it back at Cheryl’s bedroom. He saw several messages, but he really wanted to hear his daughter’s voice. He wished he gave his daughter a phone like he told her he would. She was a teenager and at this time should be in school. He could go back to his motel room and get some rest and then try to talk to his daughter when she left from her classes.

Del hated his life. He should be at home with his wife having breakfast or going to work. Yet now his life had gone crazy and backwards. It seemed as if he was riding a roller coaster going left and right without any direction. He looked out his windows and saw the cars driving back and forth busily up and down the street. He felt something in his pocket. Taking it out, he saw it was the two business cards he got from the strange man last night. He was supposed to be the representative of the game, Strike Blast. He looked at the card and saw the address and phone number on it. Del was tempted to call the number. But he was not sure.

His phone was down fifty percent power. Through his rush to get out of Cheryl’s house, he forgot to plug it in. He looked for his cord and connected his phone. Del shook his head. He needed to wake up and start living correctly. He was like his phone running on empty. He quickly scanned his text messages. Most of the text messages were from John and also a couple of different messages he couldn’t recognize. He saw he also had a couple of voicemails. He listened to the first message it was his friend John, “Hey man, you went home with that girl Cheryl. Tell me how it goes. Man, she’s cute.”

The next voicemail was from Marion. “I’m hope you’re feeling okay; you sounded drunk last night. I hope you didn’t have an accident. Call me.”

The other voice mail was from the waitress he slept with a few nights ago. She left her number and wanted to get together again. Del deleted all the voicemails. He was too hung over to talk to anybody. His head pounded but his stomach felt better. Even though, he finished his food his mouth tasted like garbage. He checked himself in his rear-view mirror. Del had stubble on his on his chin and lipstick on his neck. He must look crazy and he didn’t like that. Looking around his car he grabbed some napkins and cleaned off the lipstick on his neck.

He text John. “I had a great time last night with Cheryl. Will talk to you later.”