DISCLAIMER: Christopher Nolan belongs to Inception.
I woke up feeling the stinging at the back of my throat and a heaviness in my lungs. My breath was stained with the smell of alcohol and cigarettes. I groaned as I rolled over, feeling the soreness and stiffness in my muscles. I looked at the clock and realised I had to leave if I wanted to be at the warehouse on time.
Getting dressed was tedious. I hadn't been to the dry cleaner in weeks, so my choice ended up being a pair of pants and a winkled shirt, including the jacket I had worn the previous night.
Driving to work wasn't an option. I was far too tired and a little out of it. The walk would take me 20 minutes at least, but the fresh air sounded pretty good to me.
As I walked to the warehouse, the images of the night before rolled through my head like a bad movie. Luke and I had visited various bars and…oh god, I remembered even a strip club or two. I rubbed the back of my head, begging for the headache to subside. This was so out of control. First drinking and now smoking? I knew something was wrong with me, but I shoved that feeling at the back of m mind, unwilling to come face to face with this attention seeking problem I had.
Needless to say, Cobb was not happy when I arrived, at least half an hour late.
"Arthur, you're never late. Something wrong?" he said, his voice verging on the line of anger.
"Yeah, alarm broke. Sorry," I lied. I seemed to be getting good at that nowadays.
I stripped off my jacket and sat at my desk. I began clicking away at the computer screen, which burnt at the back of my hungover head. My breathing felt heavier, probably from last nights smoking fest. I had no idea how many I had, but it must have been a lot, judging from the taste at the back of my throat.
"Hey, Arthur. Have the pictures yet?" I heard Eames say from behind me. I sighed and held up a file of pictures, containing Eames's lasted forgery. He grabbed it from my hand and smiled. "Thanks." He did a double take and looked at me. "Do you want some water or something?"
"No, I'm fine," I insisted, clicking away at the screen. He paused, hovering over me.
"Ok, well, Cobb wants us to go under. Check Ariadne's layout."
I nodded and stood up, pushing my chair back. I heard a small noise and looked down at the floor. A packet of cigarettes had fallen out of my jacket pocket. I looked at them, horrified and quickly dove for them. I hand reached them before me and I felt my heart freeze.
Eames stared at the packet blankly. He looked up at me. "Are you kidding me?" he asked, his calm expression contorting to anger.
"Eames, shh," I begged, reaching for the packet. He snatched his hand away, disgusted. He turned around.
"Cobb!" he yelled. Cobb turned to look at him. Eames threw the packet in his direction, which Cobb caught. He looked at it for a moment. He looked at me, his eyes on fire, his fist clenching the packet until it was completely broken down.
"Arthur, you have 10 seconds to tell me what the hell you're doing to yourself," he growled, dropping the packet on the floor.
I froze, bewildered. "I-…I don't…It was just-"
"One time? Sure, just like the drinking. What about the next time, or the time after that? You're loosing control, and I don't like it one bit."
Cobb stared at me, and I noticed that Ariadne had now joined, staring at the crumpled packet. She looked at me. Even she looked angry. I suddenly felt cornered. I couldn't explain myself.
"Cobb, I-"
"Need help. That's what you need."
He stormed out of the warehouse, leaving me flinching at his remark. Eames glared at me.
"So that's why you were late. Having a smoke? Fucking hell Arthur, you're going to seriously damage yourself."
"You know what, Eames? At this point, I don't even care," I snapped, turning back to my desk.
"Thought not. Cobb is your best friend. He doesn't want to see you like this. He cares about you. Do you care about him? Because it doesn't seem like it." I felt his presence standing over me. "What is this, Arthur? A cry for attention? A change in reputation, or even the start of suicide?"
"Eames-" Ariadne protested.
"Or is the Point Man persona causing you to lose your mind, slowly and painfully? Does all the booze and smoking really fill that void? Does it?" He leaned down, accusingly. "What snapped inside you to make this happen?"
I didn't notice I had tears in my eyes until I shut them, trying to block out Eames's words. Why was he doing this to me? He could see I was becoming more upset my the second. I quickly became embarrassed of my stupid sensitivity and grabbed my jacket. Ariadne's cries of protest didn't keep me back, after all, I needed to get to the store to buy some more cigarettes. Cobb had destroyed my only supply.
