Last Night: A Short Story
By: Kim Vasquez
I woke up to the smell of coffee wafting through my tiny apartment. My eyelids fluttered open and stung as the sun shined through the blinds of my window. My head hurt, and my throat was parched. “What the hell happened last night?” I croaked. I could hear a noise coming from the kitchen. I shook my head to try to come to my senses, but that only made my head hurt more. I sat up slowly and carefully threw the covers off my legs. My whole entire body was in pain, like I’d run the Boston Marathon. I planted my feet on the ground and gingerly stood up, my head swam. The room was spinning, I felt sick. After taking some deep breaths, I was able to stand and wrap up my naked body in the sheets that were previously tangled up in my legs.
The coffee’s aroma was so inviting, that I felt like one of those cartoon characters, following my nose to some secret treasure. I sleepily walked down the hallway, hand on the wall for safe measure, when I came to the entrance of my kitchen. There she stood, with her back turned to me, wearing an old football jersey of mine. I blinked a few times and shook my head again. Even without turning around, I knew who she was. Question was, why was she here? Like that? Dark, wet hair trailed down her back. I could tell that she had used my shampoo, which I am not ashamed to say, smells like Jasmine. The scent of her mingling with the coffee, made me feel like I was in Heaven.
She turned around and smiled at me. Those eyes were like round, pools of honey. Her soft, pillow like lips, still stained from the red lipstick she had on last night, curved into a smile. A flashback hit me, her staring up at me, eyes halfway closed, lips around my…
The alarm of my rarely-used oven, brought me back to Earth. She turned back and bent over to open its door. She was nude underneath my jersey, I observed. She stood up and closed the door and set the timer again.
“How are you, lover? You look a bit out of it.” I nodded, and she smiled again. “Listen, I have to go. The muffins will be done in 5 more minutes. I remembered that you love Blueberry, so I whipped some up for you.”
My head started spinning again as I was putting together all the pieces of last night. She bounced over to me and pulled me close to her. She kissed me long and slow. When she stepped away, I found my myself rocking back on my heels, eyes shut tight and biting my lip as another image sent shockwaves through my body.
Bottles of beer and clothes were strewn everywhere, throughout my normally tidy, living room. She slowly took off my jersey. My eyes traced up and down her body before I turned my head away, embarrassed by my wolfish nature. I glanced back to see that she was finished getting dressed. The glittery top and tight, black leather pants seemed so out of place at this time of the morning.
She slung her bag over her shoulder and came over to me again. She sighed when she took my hand and then she kissed my fingertips. “You know, sweetie, we can’t tell him. It’ll just break his heart.” I sheepishly, nodded in agreement.
She walked over to the door and turned back to face me one last time. “This will just be our little secret.” I opened my mouth to protest and with a finger over her lips, she shushed me and said, “I can’t wait to hang out again. It was fun.” After she left, I walked over to my couch and sat down. Head hanging down, buried in my hands, I said to no one in particular, “What have I done? What the hell did I do?”
I shuddered with anger, and screamed out loud, “Justin, you’ve betrayed your brother, that’s what you’ve done. He’ll never forgive you. She’s his fiancé.”
The beeping of the oven alarm snapped me out of my livid state. Those damn blueberry muffins. I took them out of the oven and carefully set them down on the counter. My stomach started cramping from hunger. I let one cool, and took a bite, it was delicious. As was she. I smacked my forehead with my hand and threw the rest of the muffins in the trash.
An hour or so later, my phone buzzed on the coffee table and I walked over to read the text. It was from my brother, reminding me that we had a softball game, so I had better be dressed when he came to pick me up. I hastily cleaned up the living room and ran down the hallway to my bathroom. I showered and dressed, just in time for him to knock on the door. As I reached the door, I happen to see something in the corner. It was pink, and lacey. It could be only one thing, her panties. I balled them up and shoved them in my pocket.
I felt the color drain out of my face when I opened the door. Not only was my brother standing there, smiling, so was she. He laughed at me and made some remark about my hair before he turned to walk down the stairs, and on to the parking lot. I walked back into the living room to grab my wallet and keys. As I stood up, I felt her breath on my neck. I turned my head and her lips grazed my earlobe. She whispered in my ear, “I think I left something behind.” I nodded and pulled her panties out of my pocket and gave them to her.
“Come on,” she said, “we’re going to have so much fun today.”
Kim V. Poetry 