The Sinner

And there was something about the window…

I cleaned up the glass, sopped up the water, and tried again. This time, I made it back to my bed with a full glass and two Advil from my bathroom. I lay against my pillows, feeling my headache pound behind closed lids.

I’d just begun to doze when my phone rang. Groaning, I fumbled around until I found it on the floor next to my bed.

“If you care about me at all, you’ll whisper,” I said to my best friend.

Cole’s eyes widened in alarm from behind his black-framed glasses. “Are you okay? Are you sick?”

“I’m fine, just hungover.”

“You?” Cole cried and I winced. “Sorry, sorry,” he chuckled, then his concerned expression morphed into a delighted smile. “But did you get drunk on fruit wine from a local vintner who brings the musk melon goodness to his oak Chardonnay?”

“It was a lovely banana rosé.” I laughed, then winced again. Schitt’s Creek was one of our favorite shows and we never missed an opportunity to quote from it as often as we could.

“So?” he asked, reaching for his sketch pad. “Spill it. I want to hear all the dirty details.” He froze, a thought striking him. “Oh shit, are you alone? Am I interrupting the Morning After? Are you with that guy I heard yesterday?”

Yesterday? Yesterday was a hundred years ago.

“Yes. No,” I amended quickly. “He’s not here. But yeah, we went out last night.”

Cole’s eyes were practically popping out of his head, his hand working over his sketch pad. “Tell me. All of it. Who is he?”

“He’s a friend. I think.”

Cole sagged, lips pursed. “Don’t even.”

“I’m serious. He’s only in town for a few days.”

“And then what? Then he’s gone forever?”

Yes. He’s gone forever.

My heart suddenly ached as much as my head.

Cole’s hand stilled. “Luce?”

“Pretty much.”

“What’s his name?”

“Casz… His name is Cas. And you’ll be happy to know he’s going to help me with Guy.”

God, it sounded ridiculous saying it out loud.

“Okay, and how is this Cas going to help the Guy situation?”

“It’s a long story and I can’t talk right now. I love you, but if I don’t close my eyes in ten seconds, it’s going to look like The Exorcist in here.”

Oh my God, my life is all demons right now…

“Okay, okay, you can fill me in later,” Cole said. “I called to show you something.” He flipped his sketch pad back a page to show me another realistic drawing of me. “This is the one I did yesterday, remember? When your face lit up?”

“I remember,” I said softly.

Cole laid his pencil to the portrait that was lightyears from those he’d been doing lately. “Note the light in the eyes and the mouth, lips parted in a little bit of a surprise. As if a pleasant thought caught you off guard. Almost a smile but not yet.”

I swallowed hard. “I see it.”