His eyes opened slowly, but the view in front of him was unclear. The tick of the clock began to fade slowly as he lay there on the couch. His thoughts took a few moments to settle down and his pupils were glazed over as he stared out into the pitch black darkness of Jeff’s dimly lit apartment. The moon outside lit up a small corner of the living room. When Brent finally got hold of himself, but his legs felt numb. Almost as if they were halted in the middle of a fierce windstorm. Brent had no other option but to lay there and ponder what had just happened.
He found the strength to reach into his pocket and search for the bottle, but he couldn’t find it. His body felt jetlagged, but he managed to pat down his legs and search for the bottle in every pocket he could think of. “Dude. If you don’t take your hands out of there this second, I’m kicking you out of my house.” Came a familiar voice that startled Brent back to reality. He looked down at his hand that was sliding out the side of his pants, then tilted his head upwards to see his friend standing in the doorway with his phone light on. He flipped the light on which brought a shock to Brent’s eyes. “Jordan? This strange person with his hand in his pants is my best friend Brent. Perv, this is Jordan. We met at the bar tonight.” Jeff shifted his gaze back to Brent. “Please tell me you’re looking for something in there.”
“I can’t find it.” Brent replied, attempting to pat down his legs once more. Brent finally rolled off the couch and tried to get to his feet. He lunged toward Jeff, trying to catch him in a hug, but missed and face planted into Jordan’s feet. “Sorry. . “ Brent said, nervously lifting his head up.
“Sorry about my friend.” Jeff said, turning to face Jordan. “He suffers from severe mental impairments. Some days I have to feed him or he starts trying to eat my shoes.” Brent rolled his eyes at Jeff’s sarcasm. “I keep my wine bottles in a mini fridge in my closet. Why don’t you go pick one out and I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”
“It’s gone,” Brent said in a low tone after the dirty blond haired girl left the room. “The bottle is gone. . I used it all up.”
“So you have been drinking.” Jeff said, leaning down to help his friend back up to his feet. With no success, Brent lost his foot and fell back down. “Ok dude, what have you been drinking?”
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“I Haven't been drinking anything, I promise.” Brent replied, catching himself on his knee. “At Least I think I haven’t. . What day is it?”
Jeff gave his friend a confused look. ”It’s a few days before your wedding. What kind of question is that? You of all people should be keeping track.”
“My Wedding to who?” Brent asked with an air of hope that he already knew the answer. “Who am I marrying again?”
“Your fiancé,” Jeff replied utterly dumbfounded as to what was going on. “You’re getting married to Katie. Did you hit your head, because I don’t have time to take you to the hospital? And given what Dani told me earlier tonight, That’s about the last place you probably want to go after your fight with your fiancé.”
“Oh Good,” Brent replied with a grin as he positioned himself back on the couch. “That means there’s still time.” Brent paused as his memories returned to him. “If there still is going to be a wedding.” Brent's head dropped the moment those words escaped his lips. He buried his head in his hands as the realization came to him. After everything he’d said and done, there was a thought that the wedding might not even take place.
“If there’s still going to be a Wedding?” Jeff asked with a wide eyed response. “What the hell happened? And why did you try to hug me?”
“I Screwed up, that's what happened!” Brent replied, burying his head in his hands. “And I wouldn’t blame her if she never forgives me for it.” He paused for a second before replying to Jeff’s other question. “And I’m just glad you're alive. . . I’ll just say. . .” Brent stifled a sniffle before he continued. “You . . . You really need to stop sleeping with so many women. . . It could be the . . Death of you. .” Brent trailed off into muffled sobbing behind the palms of his hands.
Jeff was beyond confused, but now didn’t seem like the time to ask questions. “Ok . . ok . . You can sleep out here for the night. I’ll get some pillows and a blanket for you, but you’re talking nonsense here.” Jeff left for a few seconds and came back with a pillow, setting it down carefully next to his friend. “Just lay down and get some sleep. ”The dark haired man said, easing Brent over onto his side. “Just go to sleep and we’ll talk about this in the morning. . . I need to get back to my date, before she discovers my collection of old posters under my bed.”
“Jeff?!” Jordan’s voice called out from the bedroom. “Why do you have so many posters of Jenna . . ?”
“She’s just a a really great actress!” Jeff shouted from the living room. ”I think she has a lot of potential.”
“That’s a funny name to call her. . “ she trailed off. “What’s this one? You never struck me as a Baywatch Fan!”
“Shit!” Jeff whispered pulling a blanket over Brent.”I’ll need to do some damage control tonight.”