Thanks a lot to TeenyTinyIrishPerson for beta reading!
I had come home from a shift at the Nine Bells around midnight—an hour ago—and found the flat just the way I'd left it in the morning. Apparently, Sam hadn't come home all day as far as I could tell. I'd tried calling her a few times, but all I got was her cheerful voice from the mailbox.
I was lying in bed in my pyjamas staring out of the window into the night sky. There was still a paper that needed to be written but Sam kept me from concentrating. What could it have been that was bothering her so much? That made her acted around me—or reacted to me—the way she'd done lately. Raking through my memory brought up nothing that could have provoked that. In the three years we'd been living together by now, I didn't think she'd been like that before. We'd had our fair share of bickering and disagreements, but this was different. After coming to the conclusion that this brooding wasn't going to get my anywhere, I got up and turned on the telly in the living room to distract myself when suddenly my mobile rang. I hurried back and picked up.
"Hello? Taxi? I neeeeed a taxi," I could hear Sam's slurred voice. There was a lot of background noise that made it hard to understand her. A loud voice stood out for a moment. Sam shouted back and chuckled.
"Sam, it's me, La-" She didn't let me finish. She asked for taxi again, said some name I hadn't heard before and hung up.
Ugh, this again. Frowning at the phone in my hand, I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. At least I knew now that she was still okay. But she sounded very drunk and it was not save to leave her out alone like that. Who knows what she'd do, or others could do to her. I had to hurry.
I quickly checked what that name was she'd given me and found out that it belonged to a nightclub on the other side of the Thames—which was kind of odd considering there were like 300 close by. I grabbed my keys, put on shoes, and a coat over my pyjamas and rushed out of the flat, down the stairs, out of the building and down the road to the car. Speeding as if I was trying to win a street race, I arrived at the club 20 minutes later. I may have cut off one or two other drivers on the way. Leaving the car somewhat unorthodoxly parked behind, I rushed to the entrance. After looking through the people in a hurry that were gathered around the entranceway and not seeing Sam anywhere, I had a little verbal fight with the bouncer who wouldn't let me in in my pyjamas. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. It wouldn't have made much sense if she'd gone back in anyway since she thought she called a cab. On the other hand she was drunk.
With hands on the hips and biting my lip, I stood on the pavement and looked around into the night. Music was seeping out of the nightclub behind me. People walked past me in both directions, talking and laughing—far too much noise to try calling Sam again. With still no sign of her, I decided to check the vicinity. Rounding the building, I entered an alley. I was passing a couple that was making out, when I spotted a familiar looking figure hunched over a waste bin.
"Sam?" I said and rushed over. The figure bent over the bin and spat into it. She coughed a few times and then looked up in my direction. It was her—and she didn't look well.
"Heeeey, I know you," she said and stumbled backwards against the wall. She was only wearing a short-sleeved button-up shirt, a short skirt and high heels. At least she still had her handbag. The top buttons of her shirt were open and her cleavage told me she wasn't even wearing a bra. She must have been cold; the night was quite chilly.
"Oh Sam..." I walked over to her and put a hand on her cheek. She leant her head into it and gave me a lopsided smile. Her skin was cool.
She made a face as if something occurred to her. "Oooooh, Lara. What're you doin' heeerre?" Her breath smelled like 50% alcohol. I was afraid I'd get drunk myself if I inhaled anymore of it.
"Saving you," I mumbled as I buttoned up her shirt. I slipped out of my coat and helped Sam into it.
She just watched me wordlessly. "Ain' you toooo preshous fo' this world?" she said before pushing herself off the wall towards me. Staggering, her legs bent sideways. She was about to trip and sprain her ankles in those high heels. I caught her and Sam's arms instantly wound themselves around me. "Ya'r tooo goofo' me," she whispered into my neck.
"Nonsense," I told her and gently ran a hand over her head and back. "Come on, let's get you home and into your bed, okay?" I put an arm around her and carefully made her to move forward. She was watching me oddly all along.
When we passed the nightclub, Sam halted and threw her arms up. "I loooove thisong!" She turned to stand in front of me and started awkwardly moving against me on unsteady legs, cheering and singing along to the music that became louder every time the door to the club opened. "Daaaance with me."
People around us started eyeing us making me feel very self-conscious in my pyjamas and with Sam now rubbing her body against mine. When she swayed to one side, we nearly fell over, but I could catch us.
Someone tapped on my shoulder. The bouncer had come over and told us to bugger off. I gave him an apologetic look and was about to tell Sam that we should go, when she pressed her lips against mine. I was taken aback. But only for a short moment. Then the taste from her mouth seeped into mine. I gagged and spat on the ground, frantically wiping my mouth with a sleeve. Sam had stopped moving, her face and shoulders had fallen.
I apologized and asked if we could go. I just wanted to get away from the people and the bouncer. Sam didn't protest and trudged alongside me. When I opened the passenger door, Sam fell head first into the car, her behind poking out at me. That's when I saw— "Oh god, Sam!" I pulled down her skirt. "Where are your knickers?!"
She looked confused along her body and then grinned oddly. "Iiiiiii thiiiiink... I wash ballin' someo' in the rrrestroom." She held up a thumb and winked. "Yoooo cangiv me yoor's iffou wan'." She grinned.
My scrunched up face sank down onto my arm on the car's roof and a heavy sigh emerged from deep within me.
"L-L-Laraaa," her voice shook me out of it. Sam had fallen off the seat and wound around on floor, the gearstick poking into her side. I helped her back up and fastened the seat belt around her before getting into the car myself to drive off. The heater was making the interior comfortably warm.
Sam had been quiet, not saying a word. When I stopped at a traffic light, I looked at her expecting her to be asleep. Instead, she was eyeing me, her back against the door.
"Gosh, looga'you." She pointed at me for several seconds, shaking her forefinger up and down. "Lara, I... Iiiii looove you so mush."
I smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be home soon, okay?" A car honk sounded behind us and I drove on.
I parked the car soon after and opened the passenger door to help Sam out, but she was fast asleep. Oh well. I took a deep breath, put my arms behind her back and under her legs and picked her up leaning her head against my shoulder. At the front door, I managed to fish my keys out of my coat Sam was wearing and safely got her inside, up the stairs, into our flat—slowly closing the door behind me with my foot—and carefully lay her down into her bed. I watched her for a while before tucking her in and heading into my own bed, leaving both of our doors open.