JON: This wine is almost gone. Actually, it's completely gone. I hope you know that I blame you.
Finally, a text from five minutes earlier.
JON: I'll be right there.
I get up and check the peephole and sure enough, there's Jon, leaning against the wall, his arm outstretched, holding himself up. He glances up, then presses his face to the peephole and all I can see is his blue eye.
"Jon," I say, frustrated. "Go back to your room and go to sleep. We have an important meeting tomorrow."
"I'm drunk."
He laughs, grinning like an idiot.
"Shh," I say, afraid he'll wake up other hotel guests. "Keep your voice down."
"I will if you let me in," he says and holds up a bottle of wine. "I have some more wine left. It's really good."
"Go back to your room and drink some water, take an aspirin. General Newton won't appreciate it if you're hungover."
"General Newton can go fuck himself," Jon says. "Let me in or I'll start serenading you with a love song."
Oh, God.
"Jon, stop this. Go back to your room. "
Then he starts singing, a horrible drunk warble.
I can't liiiiiiiive…
Oh, my God, he's singing 'Without You' by Harry Nilsson. He is so drunk. I cover my eyes and try not to laugh because as funny as he is, he's making a scene.
I open the door and he stumbles in, mid-sentence.
"Can't liiiiiive anymoooooore…"
I have to catch him when he falls into the room.
"Oh, so sorry," he says, a half-grin on his face, his arm around my shoulder. "Not very good on my feet for some reason."
"Half a bottle of wine?" I say, checking the bottle he hands me. "Is that all you’ve had?"
"Well, there was another bottle…"
"Jon!" I stare open-mouthed at him. "That's way too much."
"It was over several hours, so…" He flops on the bed. "I think I need to lie down for a while."
Then he passes out.
He actually passes out. Within about five minutes, he’s snoring.
I'm afraid that he'll puke and drown in his own vomit, so I roll him over on his side. He doesn't fight me. Instead, he pulls up his knees and licks his lips before falling back into unconsciousness.
I sit beside him and listen to him breathe.
He figured out a way to sleep in my room, in my bed, with me. I have to hand it to him – he figured out probably the only way I'd let him do it.
Usually, I'd go into the bedroom and get into my pajamas, brush my teeth and then crawl under the covers and go to sleep. With Jon lying on the bed, drunk, I don't. He's young enough to recover quickly from too muc