DRUNK AND BROKEN

"I'm sorry. I've got no tissue", the driver beckoned to Roseline as she got off the taxi, her face soaked in the tears that had refused to stop flowing.

Dragging her suitcase weakly after her, she walked to the reception and, without words, handed the confused staff her credit card.

"What should I charge you for, ma'am", the staff member asked, looking at her intently while holding out the card before her face.

Silence.

More tears.

Roseline broke down. Muffling the sound of her own sobs by putting her hands over her mouth, she continued to cry profusely.

The staff had good judgement because as soon as she noticed the suitcase Roseline was carrying, she proceeded to book her a room.

Hungry from not having eaten through her long flight journey that morning, weak from crying, broken from witnessing the man she had loved for years riding another woman raw right on the bed they shared, Roseline curled up on the cold floor, her legs stretched before her.

Sadness ate away at her heart and her eyes burned from sobbing non-stop for hours.

Her phone began to ring endlessly.

Digging it out if her handbag, she glanced across the screen, prepared to reject the call if it was from Thompson.

She unclenched her fist after she found out it was Anna calling.

Tears formed in her eyes, and before she could blink them back, they began to fall, piercing the skin of her face, a painful reminder of what she had witnessed earlier.

With her fingers unsteady, she tapped on the screen of her phone to answer the call.

"Rosy, how are you doing? Honestly, I've been trying to reach you since forever. Where did you dump your phone?" came Anna's concerned voice.

Swallowing the hard lump that had formed in her throat, she slowly brought the phone down from her ears to her eyes. It was then she saw that Anna had actually called her nine times before.

Sighing heavily, she returned the phone to her ears.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I didn't hear my phone ring," Roseline replied with her voice shaky and her breathing heavy.

"I guess so. Are you home? You don't sound too fine. Flight sickness?", Anna peered further.

"No, Anna. I'm fine. I got a bad cold from the overnight flight. You don't have to worry", she replied, ashamed of telling Anna about Thompson's betrayal.

Roseline had traveled to Cameroon to see her closest friend, Anna. To catch up with her for the summer holidays. While at it, she bragged about how she would be getting married soon to an amazing man who loves her and would never do anything to hurt her feelings.

She had just returned from this trip and what? 

She had to tell her that she had caught that amazing would-be husband of hers in bed with another woman?

Her head spiraled with thoughts as she pondered on what to do next.

"You have never gotten a cold from taking flights", Anna shrugged from the other end of the line.

"You should take some medicine. You sound really awful."

"Of course", Roseline replied, nodding her head continuously.

"How is Thompson, by the way?" 

The name sent Roseline's head spiraling and her face stiff from anger and hatred.

The heavy pain of betrayal weighed heavily on her mind. Lifting her left hand off the floor weakly, she began to rub her chest in a fruitless effort to calm the storm that brewed in it.

Then, letting out a weak heavy breath into the receiver, she decided to tell Anna what had happened.

But as soon as she opened her mouth to start talking, Anna cut her off.

"You did not forget the sign", she whispered, her voice in an excited whisper.

What was she talking about?

"I thought you did. Considering how you've never used it until now. You must be having a bed welcoming party right now", she giggled over the phone.

"Anna, wait. Listen", Roseline replied, alarmed at how she had misinterpreted her sigh of frustration for a sign they had jokingly agreed in the past to use when they were busy in a room with a man and didn't want to be distracted by phone calls.

Roseline found it ridiculous back then, and she still does. She didn't see any need for it since she would rather not answer the phone than pick up just to be dramatic like that.

She tried to explain, but Anna hung up before she even got the chance to.

She sighed, tossing the phone to the bed and burying her face in her arms. She shut her eyes tightly, cussing at how pathetic she had become.

Her body trembling from tiredness, her eyes drifted to sleep before she knew it. 

A few minutes later, the images of Thompson and the red hair in bed flashed across her mind, causing her to jerk upright in shock. Her neck ached so badly from the pain of having it in an uncomfortable position for too long.

She wasn't dreaming. 

It happened. 

She saw it all happen. Right before her very eyes.

Without thinking, she sprang up to her feet, opening the door. She walked out of the room, leaving the door ajar behind her.

On reaching the reception, the loud music coming from a distance hit her ears.

"Is there an event?" She turned to a staff member walking past with a stack of glasses in a tray balanced on his palms.

"There's a party in the lobby. It's a free entry for everyone checked into the hotel before 9pm", the young man smiled before hurriedly walking away towards the lobby.

Roseline continued to walk slowly but towards the lobby, following the staff. The sound intensified as she got closer and closer to the place.

Finally, she was inside the party house.

Dim colored lights, loud music, a crowd of wild dancers and lots of alcohol.

Moving through the crowd, careful not to crash into anyone, she found her way to the bar stand. Then, settling into one of the tall bar stools, she stared at the crowd as they went wild to the DJ's mix.

"I know exactly what's good for you", the bartender suddenly spoke, breaking into her thoughts and diverting her focus to the table, where he had layed a glass of tequila before her.

Not sure of what she wanted and how the bartender would know that, she grabbed the glass off the table and, in one gulp, downed its contents.

"Yesssss, that's how we do it", the bartender cheered.

A few hours later, not sure of what else happened at the party house or how she got to where she was now, her eyes heavy and her legs weak, Roseline banged continuously on the door in front of her.

At first, there was no answer. She turned the knob over and over again, but the door wouldn't unlock.

As she raised both of her hands to continue banging on the door, her weight completely ready to be transferred onto the polished brown wood, the door swung open, and she landed on the broad shoulders of the man who had opened the door.