LATER THAT NIGHT:
As I sat there in my bed holding out my cellphone I looked back and forth at the bag of cocaine and my phone. Was I going to make the choice to call my friend or was I going to make the smart choice and just go to sleep? Who am I kidding? I slowly dialed his numbers noticing I had SEVERAL and when I say several I mean ten missed calls from Caroline. Chris, my “friend”, answered and told me which bar they were in and I said I would meet them soon. I was too tired to even think as I put the baggie from the table into my pocket. I picked up my hotel key and walked out from my room towards the elevator pulling out my phone to call Caroline back. Better to call her now than later, who the hell knows what I could be into by then.
“Glad you could make it man.”Chris said pulling me into a hug while shaking my hand. I looked around the bar/club at all of the people, all staring at me. Well not all of them, but enough to make me uncomfortable. “I left my stuff in that room today…you know what man just have it.”he said as I reached for my pocket bringing the baggie out onto the table. He reached for it and sliced the top open with his knife and took a little out and put it on the table. Why I agreed to come tonight I will never know, but as I put my nose to the table I regretted every second of pulling that powder into my nose. I remembered the rush that it gave me before. I guess that’s what I was looking for and now seconds later I can’t even remember why I had stopped using. I was right back where I started at.
“Let me get you a beer.”Chris said pulling me to the bar with him. My head was spinning and I was having a hard time staying up on the bar stool already.
~~CAROLINE~~
What a jerk! I told him to call me after he got back from the show to his hotel and still now at one oclock in the morning nothing but a missed call from him. I try to call him back and no answer. Asshole. Asshole. Asshole. I leaned back on the bed turning on the television and was soon caught up in my own memories thinking about my past.
****
“You know what Josh if you keep doing that they are going to find out and they WILL kick you out of the Marines!”Caroline yelled as he snorted the last bit of cocaine off the table.
“Babe I just need a little pick me up. I can stop whenever I want.”Josh said looking up at her wiping his nose to get rid of the excess powder.
“Yea well when I need a pick me up I drink a RedBull not take an eight ball of cocaine.”she said rolling her eyes at him. It had become a daily habit for him and it was getting real old real fast.
“You know what! If you don’t like it you can just move out!”Josh said standing up fast as he rushed over to get in her face. She guessed the coke must have kicked in. He got pretty violent when it first reached his brain.
“Get out of my fucking face!”she yelled pushing him away from her.
“I want you to stop telling me what to do.”he said getting closer to her pushing her up against the wall.
“You know maybe I will just move out. This is ridiculous.”she said trying to walk away from him. He grabbed her arm and squeezed it hard as he flipped her back around to look at him.
“Let go of me.”she yelled trying to pull her arm out of his grip. He let go of her, but pushed her down onto the floor as he walked past her.
****
“Hey Caroline.” Brian said as the phone pushed me out of my thoughts and I zoned back in on the TV. I hadn’t heard from them in a while
“What’s up stranger?”I said and he laughed a little.
“Listen will you just call Leighanne and say you miss her or something. She’s all sad because she hasn’t talked to you in a while.”Brian said and I smiled. I missed talking to her. She was the one I always called when something went wrong. I mean she was my family.
“Yea Bri…just hand the phone to her and tell her I called you.”I said and I heard him start mumbling something to her a few minutes later.
“What do you want?”she said and I rolled my eyes at her bitchiness.
“I’m sorry Leigh. I miss you…I don’t want you to be mad at me.”I said sucking up my pride and apologizing.
“It’s okay girl. I’m just worried about you. AJ is a good guy, but he has no self control. We’ve seen it happen to a lot of girls and you’re my neice I don’t want anything to happen to you.”she said sighing.
“Leigh everything is fine. I promise. He’s really great.”I said.
“I just want you to know that if anything ever happens with him and Caroline it will. You always have a place here with us in Georgia and when it does happen call Kevin so he can take care of it. Promise me you will do that.”Leighanne said. She was freaking me out. What was so horrible about him that everyone was so against us?
~~AJ~~
I am trying real hard to hold my eyes open right now. I had to have drunk about a fifth of Jack along with taking two more heads of coke. It’s 3AM and I am more hammered than I ever remember being before. Usually at this point in time I would wash down two Xanax, I decided to leave those out tonight.
“Can I buy you a drink?”a girl with long brown hair asked sitting down next to me at the bar.
“Sure…if youuh.”I stammered but couldn’t even finish the sentence. She ordered a Jack and Coke and pushed it towards me.
“AJ right?”she said putting her hand down on my leg. Straight forward I like that.
“Yea.”I said nodding at her looking down at her hand.
“My name is Jenny. I’ve been trying to get up the courage to come by and talk to you all night.”she said rubbing her hand up my leg.
“Picked a good time sweetheart.”I said looking up at her. “I’ve got a girlfriend though ya know.”I said suddenly remembering Caroline who was probably sound asleep in my bed. I could feel my head slowly going down onto the bar and I was out.
“Caroline hey babe wake up.”I said nudging the body beside me. I was still drunk from last night.
“Who’s Caroline?”she said and I did not know that voice. I hopped out of bed as I didn’t see the blonde hair I was so used to. I had forgotten I was in London. HOLY SHIT!!!! I picked up my clothes realizing I wasn’t even in my own hotel room. The girl in the bed rolled over to look back at me. WHOA!! She was not even in the least bit attractive oh my good Lord.
“Listen if you tell anyone about this I will sue you so quick your head will spin.”I said pulling on my shoes as I almost fell over. I was trying to get out of there as fast as possible. I wonder how many pictures had been taken with me and that girl and how long it would take for them to get out onto the internet.
“I wouldn’t.”she said falling back onto her pillow. I didn’t even say anything else. I grabbed my cellphone off the bedside table and stumbled out the door. I pulled out my cellphone to see what time it was as I leaned up against the wall outside of the hotel room. GOD DAMMIT! I had missed my flight. I dialed the number of my manager to have her get me on the next flight out and ran back to my hotel room a few floors down
Author's Chapter Notes:
poor AJ...that's all I can say and its only going to get worse!
