When He Got Married

4 - What Happened Last Night?

LUKE:

I woke up with a raging headache. How much did I drink? I looked around to find myself at Daniel's place. I was still in the clothes I wore the previous night. I got off the bed and went to have some water.

Daniel was sitting on a barstool beside the kitchen island, drinking coffee. He looked tired and irritated. It looked like he was thinking about something. "My head hurts," I said. He looked at me but didn't say anything, just got up and went to the bathroom. A minute later, he returned with a tablet and put it in my hand. I swallowed it with a glass of water.

"About last night..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, what happened? And when did we come back?" I asked. I honestly couldn't remember anything.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Er...going up with, what's her name, Caren? Caroline! Yes!" I said, thinking about it. "We went into her room and were drinking. That's it. I don't remember what happened after that." He looked kinda relieved hearing that. Odd.

"Cool. What do you want for breakfast?" he asked.

"But what happened after that? How and when did we come home? Shouldn't I have woken up in her bed? And, I saw you talking to that cute little guy. What happened to him?" I asked even though the thought of him being with another guy made my insides burn.

"Not a thing happened. I went to his room, but before we could get down to business, Caroline called. Apparently, you drank too much, puked in her bathtub, and passed out on her bed," he said. "I brought you home after that."

"Oh. I'm sorry that because of me, you had to leave that guy hanging." He smirked at my statement, but I didn't know why. Anyways, I was happy that he didn't do it.

"You should be. He was a great catch," said Daniel. Those words hurt my feelings.

"What about me? Did I..." I asked.

"No, you didn't. And, she was really pissed off about it," he said.

I was relieved that I didn't do it. I was mustering up the courage to tell Daniel how I felt, and sleeping with his friend would not have helped. I don't know why I agreed to do so in the first place? What was I thinking?

He cooked us bacon strips and scrambled eggs. I didn't talk much at breakfast since I was still a bit hungover. Usually, he would have spoken at the top of his lungs to irritate me, but he was being awfully silent. He just stole glances at me. He thought that I didn't notice, but I totally did. Though, I had no idea what was going on in his head.

After breakfast, he went to take a shower, and I turned on the television. A while later, he came out in his work clothes. "I'm going to work. I'll be back by lunch," he said. "And then we'll talk about your marriage."

"Okay," I managed to say. Dafuq! What am I gonna tell him? Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!'

He came back home at around two. By then, I had already taken a shower, cleaned up the place, and thought of a lie to tell him. He changed his clothes and came back out into the living area with two beers. He gave me one and sat on the single couch chair.

"Start talking," he said.

"Okay..." I started. "So, after we got married, everything was good for a while, but then she started being cold towards me. Irritated, annoyed, and frustrated all the time. No matter what I did, I couldn't cheer her up. It was like she started resenting me. I did everything, bought her gifts, flowers, trips, and whatnot, but none of it was enough. Eventually, we became strangers, strangers who shared a house and a bed. That's it, no interaction whatsoever. And now, this." It was not a complete lie. What I told him was true. We did become strangers, but that behavior was not Veronica's. It was mine.