The following evening.
Awch, her head! Why did it hurt so much? And what the hell was that ticking sound? It was driving her mad!
Fay rolled over in bed and buried her head into the pillow in an attempt to stop it from pounding.
Something smelt different; where did she recognize that smell from?
She suddenly opened her eyes wide in shock as a vivid image of the day's events by the beach and the copious glasses of wine hit her.
Oh lord, what did she do?
The ticking sound continued to annoy her so she pushed the sheets from off her face and the first thing that she noticed was a large, silver coloured watch on the table next to her.
She'd seen that watch before too. Oh lord, Adam's watch!! Why the hell was it there? No! No! Please don't say this was happening!
She turned her head away from the disturbing sight of his watch but froze then as more serious concerns hit her when she focused on the pillow underneath her head and the sheets which were wrapped around her.
Since when did she have navy blue sheets?
She sat up abruptly in the bed then to see a reflection of herself in the black, tinted glass doors of the wardrobe opposite her.
Those weren't her wardrobes... and that wasn't her apartment!!
Putting her hand out to the side of her, she reached for a light to enable her to see better but recoiled in discomfort as a spot light hit her eyes and sent a shooting pain through her sore head. She reconsidered and turned the light off again, sliding back under the covers for a moment to think and recover.
Okay, she must be at Adam's apartment then but he wasn't there so that's a good sign, wasn't it? Why couldn't she remember? Too much wine. Come on Fay; trace back the events, what was the last thing she remembered? she was cold and wet, but then he gave her a blanket. Then she was tired, she must have fallen asleep. Oh but how did she end up there?
The previous morning.
As Fay placed four slices of bread into the toaster the telephone rang for the sixth time that morning. Her eyes flicked over to her desk and then back to the tea she was making.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" Sal glanced across at her from the sofa she was sitting on in front of the television.
"No," she said simply, she was still fuming from their shouting match last night. After the fifth ring the answering machine clicked and recorded the message, which could be heard throughout the lounge.
"Fay come on, pick up... Fay, will you just pick up so that we can talk?" The voice got more impatient. "Okay, okay. Phone me later when you have calmed down."
Fay avoided Sal's eyes and placed a mug of tea and a plate of toast on the coffee table for her.
"What on earth happened between you two? You seemed to be having a great time last night. Okay so I assume he came on to you when he walked you back, but he's phoned you six times now! He obviously wants to apologize." Silence. "Look what's wrong with it anyway? He's attracted to you," she continued in a harsher voice, "and you're attracted to him if you'd just admit it to yourself!"
"There's more to it than that Sal, just drop it."
She buttered a second round of toast, grabbed her tea and joined Sal on the sofa. They ate their breakfast in silence, watching some hospital drama which neither of them was really interested in. The phone suddenly rang out again, and again Fay let the answering machine take the call.
"Fay I can't stand this, it's driving me nuts! Okay I wanted to do this face-to-face but here goes. I'm really sorry, you were right I was ungrateful. Thank you for picking me up sweetheart. As for the other stuff, I got a bit carried away...err..." there was a pause, "...to be honest with you I felt humiliated... about the bruises, and having to ask you for a lift. Won't you come back to work for me? Fay?" His voice became softer. "Fay sweetheart? Please. Come on. Fay?" Sal's eyes moved to Fay's face and watched as her resolve dropped. Then Fay growled suddenly, jumped up and grabbed the phone.
"You were extremely insulting," she grated out into the receiver.
"Fay, thank God! I know, I was insulting. Do you forgive me?"
"Well, I guess I did slap you," she admitted, "I've never done that before. How's your face?"
"Sore, but not from the slap. Will you pass by the office later?" he asked.
She hesitated. "I'm not sure it's going to work."
"Come on you must admit we do get on okay ...sometimes."
She sighed and said suddenly, "Well okay, I'll pop in later but I've got to help Sal find an apartment today so I don't know what time it will be."
"All right, just call me, and if I'm not in the office perhaps we can meet somewhere?"
"Okay fine," she said reluctantly.
"Okay, speak later."