This is where the two Drunken Revelry stories start to diverge. I hope it is entertaining enough! :D

Also: Lime

Strategic Retreat

The next morning dawned early and bright for the couple. Ceel's eyes popped open, this time with the full knowledge of what she'd done. What the heck was she doing allowing herself to be seduced by the glorious specimen of male in this bed? This was God's personal gift to women; she had no right to keep him all to herself. Ignoring her tears at this dose of cruel reality, she started detangling herself from the sexy male under her. Her plan was to make her escape from the bed and flag down a cab to get her back to her one-bedroom apartment. She didn't even know where she was! Dear God, she still had to finish packing! Her flight was scheduled for noon today. What time was it? The club was a ways away from her home; she'd gotten a ride from Sarah straight from work on Friday night. Was it really Sunday morning already? She had to work tomorrow! Not to mention that she'd fucked a total stranger at least three times in the last thirty-six hours. What the heck was wrong with her?

Shaking her head as the tears continued to spill down her cheeks, she reluctantly pulled away from her lover. She would never see him again after this; he didn't know enough about her to track her down. An Adonis-like person like him deserved better than some fat chick like her. She moaned softly as she slowly stood up from the bed, letting his gigantic cock slide out of her. He felt so good inside of her! But it wasn't meant to be. Judging from the opulent room she was in, the two of them would never work out. Where was she?

"I gotta get out of here," she muttered to herself, searching for her clothes. She found them hanging neatly in the clothing store masquerading as a closet in the sleeping man's room. She wasted no time dressing. Her purse was on the bureau and she was disappointed to discover that her phone was dead. Damnit! She shouldn't have wasted the battery on music before going to the nightclub. In her defense though, she hadn't expected to go home with an obscenely sexy demigod and need a ride home afterward. Blinking away her frustrated tears - God, how much had she cried since meeting her lover? - she snuck out of the room. It took her a minute to stop gawking at the wing of the castle beyond the room she'd just exited. This wasn't some simple, well-to-do diplomat she'd hooked up with. The place sparkled with good taste and opulence. It was beautiful and it was huge. Whatever his family's profession as a child, he must have invested very well to be able to afford all this! Her child would never live this life. She would apply for Welfare if necessary to keep her baby fed and clothed, but Tyr would never accept her or her child into a world like this. It was too nice, too clean, too perfect.

"Can I help you, miss?" a male voice said to her left as she gawked at the classic chandelier in the hallway. Ceel jumped guiltily and whirled to face him. He was a butler. Tyr Anasazi had a goddamn butler in his house. No, it was definitely time for a graceful exit.

"You're not English," she said quickly, backing up towards the stairs.

"No, I'm not," he said with a kind smile. Somehow that scared her more than if he was being rude. She stumbled down the stairs and ran out the side door without another word. Gregory watched her go in confusion. Then the door of the master bedroom opened and he forgot about the confusing woman's actions altogether. His employer and lord was vibrating fury, his usually calculating brown eyes furious as he searched for the new lady of the house. The sight of the open servant's entrance only seemed to enrage him more.

"My liege," Gregory bowed to the man. "You must calm yourself if you intend to pursue the Lady. She doesn't know what you are."

Tyr took a deep breath and silently counted to ten in his head. When he opened his eyes, they were their normal shade. "She left me," he said evenly.

"Yes she did," his manservant said.

"She gave me everything precious to her and then just walked away."

"That she did."

"She expects me to be okay with that."

Gregory smiled and laid a warm hand on the man's muscled shoulder. "Then the Lady will just have to learn differently, won't she?" He smiled at his master until the furious man smiled back to his relief. Gregory Sentos was the great, great, great, great grandchild of Lawrence Sentos, a family that had been serving Tyr's family since its inception. He was accustomed to wealth and power, but hadn't allowed it to corrupt him. The old king had insisted on down-to-earth servants, and even as a child, his son had been grounded and self-contained. Tyr must feel deeply for the young girl who had freaked out and ran away just now.

"Gregory, please go get my phone and my Jag. I need to make sure she never leaves my country with my child before I decide exactly what to do about her."

"Yes, my lord," his servant nodded, heading out the back door to Tyr's extensive car collection. Gregory had always enjoyed the mix of classic and modern styles in the showroom masquerading as a garage. He quickly got in the F-type Jaguar and pulled it around front for his master. The girl was nowhere to be seen. She must have booked it down the front driveway to get away from the castle. Tyr was fast to enter the car, dialing airport security as he started up the vehicle. While she was sleeping yesterday, he'd had her fully investigated. He now knew everything about the twenty-four-year-old nurse. Her family background, her job background, her social media background… The girl was an open book to him. Suddenly knowing what to do, Tyr relaxed. He was in his birthday suit after all and that wouldn't do for 'getting the girl'.

Ignoring the decadent interior of his ride, he gave the girl's description to the person on the phone with strict instructions that she was to be detained until he came down to personally pick her up. This wasn't some stupid Rom-Com. He refused to chase her down like an adolescent. Deliberately, he took his time getting showered and dressed, having breakfast with his sister, and explaining the situation to his mother before he once again got into his Jaguar to pursue his lady. By now it was two in the afternoon; she'd missed her flight and was likely a wreck about it. 'Serves her right for running away from me,' he thought darkly as he made his way through the Sunday afternoon traffic.

… …

Ceel threw herself on her secondhand futon and sobbed her heart out. She was terrified right now. Quickly she called up her mother, her mind blanking on her next steps now that she wasn't a virgin anymore.

"Hey Babygirl! How do you?"

"I… I…" She took a deep shuddering breath and tried to control her need to start bawling into the line. "I'm in trouble, Mama. I did something truly stupid and now I don't know what to do!" Even she could hear the barely controlled panic in her strained voice. "I can't believe this is happening. I keep expecting to wake up and this just be a particularly bad nightmare. But I keep not waking up! The cabbie thought I was crazy, pinching myself over and over on the way home."

"Lucille! Calm down," Sylvia said as her daughter babbled into the line. "Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on." She then sat and listened in disbelief as her innocent, disgustingly wholesome daughter described the details of her drunken weekend. This was Lucille they were talking about! Her level-headed daughter was addicted to routine and was afraid of mind-altering substances. Since when did she get drunk and go home with a stranger? While her brain wanted to blame those Canadian friends of hers and condemn her actions, her sweet child was dishing out such a healthy dose of guilt and self-recrimination that she didn't feel right targeting the emotionally destroyed young woman. The older woman had been arguing with her daughter over her choice of forever home since the child had accepted the scholarship to the University of Calgary six years ago, so she could appreciate just how much the roof must have fallen in for the usually secretive child to call and confess her indiscretions to her mother.

"Sweetheart… Are you sitting down right now?"

"I… I am, Mama," Ceel sniffled, massaging her temples to try and stave off the pounding headache there.

"Good. Now, first off, did he hurt you? Are you alright?"

"I'm… I'm okay, Mama. He didn't- I barely noticed when he… I was sooo drunk that night… But how can you still care? I went home with a stranger and had sex with him! I fucked up, big time! I could be-"

"Hush now, little one. No matter what you've done, you're still my child," Sylvia said soothingly, ignoring the profanity just this once. The girl was very upset right now after all. And rightly so. She could barely believe what the girl was telling her. Her daughter was not the type to be so careless. She would have expected this type of news from one of her sons, honestly. They tended to be rash and impulsive. Lucille needed her compassion right now. Not her scorn. "What's done is done, Babygirl. There's no getting back the past. What we need to focus on right now is the physical fallout of your actions. I would suggest that you get yourself packed up before you miss your flight. The first thing you need to do once you're back in Canada is go to the Emergency Room and get yourself tested for diseases and pregnancy. Those results will take a few days to come back. Have the hospital contact your family doctor with the results so that they get back to you as soon as the results come back. In the meantime… Do you work tomorrow?"

"I do," the girl responded, sounding less panicked now that her mother was offering practical advice and not freaking out on her.

"No you don't," Sylvia said firmly. "You need time to process what's happened and recover properly. My suggestion; take tomorrow off. There's no telling how long it will take for you to be seen in the hospital. I would suggest making an appointment with your family doctor - cut out the middle man - but those appointments could take weeks and you need to start the process immediately. If you have HIV, Syphilis, or Chlamydia, you'll want someone to know right away so that you can start treatment immediately." She listened to her only girl-child sob at that and wished fervently that she was somehow able to put her arms around her daughter. "Maybe I should come up there once you get home. It would take a couple of days but I have enough vacation time to cover a two-week trip up if you want, Babygirl."

"I… I'm just so lost right now, Mama. Um… Let me get the test results back and I'll tell you if I need you up here or if I'm coming down for a few weeks. I… I don't even know how to explain this to my boss. She might kill me herself; she's always been protective of me. I still can't believe this is happening. I'm not like this. I've always been-"

"I know, Babygirl. We need to take this one step at a time. Get yourself out of Africa. Go to the hospital and have yourself checked out. You're still on birth control for those painful periods of yours, right?"

"I take them daily with my blood pressure pills. I missed yesterday's and today's because I wasn't here to take them. But-"

"Take your dose for today, Babygirl. Then head to the airport. I'm not worried about pregnancy, I'm worried about disease right now. Have yourself tested for everything they can think of. Call me as soon as you get the results. I don't care what time of day it is; I'll answer. Have you taken your pills yet?"

"I was going to wait until I got off the phone with you, Mama."

"Take your pills now. When you hang up with me, it should be to pack and get a cab to the airport. Time is of the essence, sweetheart. I'd suggest getting tested in Alibhai, but you have a flight to catch. Go ahead and take your pills." The girl did as she was told, too distraught to even think of disobeying.

"Alright, I've taken the dose."

"Good. Now, hang up, pack, and call a cab. You need to get to the airport as soon as possible. Have you eaten today?" She laughed when she heard her daughter's stomach rumble loudly through the phone. "I wish I could be there with you, Babygirl. This is a huge thing you've done. You need your family around you right now."

"I'm so ashamed, Mama," her daughter whimpered. "I don't know what came over me." The sound of Lucille's quiet sobs broke her heart.

"It's alright, my poor baby. We're going to get through this. Together. Now, fix yourself something to eat, pack up your belongings, and call a cab afterward to get yourself through traffic and to the airport. Call me once you're through customs."

"Oh Mama, there's no telling how long it's going to take to get through customs. It's six now; it could be-"

"I don't care. Call me the minute you're safely on your way home. You need support right now. I'll talk to you then, understand?"

"Yes, Mama. I love you."

"I love you too, Babygirl. We'll talk more about this once you're through the line. Go eat, child."

"Okay, Mama. Bye." She didn't wait for the older woman to respond as she clicked the 'end' button. Thank God her mother hadn't decided to shun her. She didn't know who else to call if she had. And getting some bloodwork done once she was back in Canada was an excellent idea; she was surprised that she hadn't thought of it herself. Her mind was a mess after the last couple of days. Of course she wasn't pregnant. While she was using the Pill for its original purpose since she'd been a virgin all these years, it was still technically birth control.

Feeling better about the whole terrible situation already, she decided to go out and get something to eat instead of cooking. With the day she was having, she felt that she might burn down her apartment if she turned on the stove. It might be a very simple apartment complex she'd been living in the last six months, but she was loath to burn it down. She could afford better, of course. All of her fellow nurses had arranged better accommodations almost immediately after being assigned to this dump, but she was determined to save her money.

Her ultimate goal was to buy a house in one of the new communities that were springing up around the Calgary General Hospital back in Canada. With the money she'd made during her time as an international nurse, she would likely be able to afford it. Trying her best to keep her mind blank as she showered, the girl packed up her relatively scant belongings for her flight. She could always eat at the airport after she got through customs.