For A Minute I Was Stone Cold Sober Novels & Stories

“The diner is shut down for a few days due to rats. I was having drinks with a couple of friends when I saw the headline. My friend thought it called for stronger drinks.” “Wow. You come off incredibly sober for a drunk person. When did you stop drinking?” “Like six hours ago.” “I have to admit that is super impressive,” he commends me. “It’s a gift,” I shrug nonchalantly. “I really am sorry that I keep putting you through all this,” he sighs, hanging his head. “I’m trying so hard not to fuck this up, but I keep failing.”

"Does it look like I have company? Can you please just hurry along, I don't have time for unnecessary chit chat." "Sorry ma'am... I didn't mean to pry," He excused himself. He arrived a few minutes later with my bottle loaded with ice. "Do you need it to go or should I pour it out for you?" "Whatever", I grunted as I unscrewed my bottle. "I guess we'll have to find out." I watched the waiter stare at me with uttermost confusion in his eyes. I didn't care about being a CEO right now, I didn't care that I could get recorded and it could literally cost me my public demise, I didn't care about anything, I just needed to get sober.

‎ ‎I drank it in one go. ‎It burned my throat. ‎Perfect. ‎ ‎I didn’t want to think. ‎I didn’t want to feel. ‎I didn’t want to replay the sound of gunshots. ‎ ‎I moved toward the far end of the bar, needing a corner where the music vibrated in my spine. I leaned against the wall and let the bass numb everything inside me. ‎ ‎For once, just once, I wanted silence inside my head. ‎ ‎I got maybe… six minutes.

“Do you like it?” I opened my mouth to say no, but the word that came out was nothing short of betrayal. “Yes.” His smile deepened. “You didn’t feel it the last time. You weren’t sober.” I swallowed hard, my heart pounding. “I’m sober now,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “I want to feel it. All of it.”

“In other words, I'm not running away from my parents and I'm not really hiding from anyone. At the moment, my residence in New York City is not a safe place for me. —Why ?— Justin quickly looked away, as he usually does when trying to get away from something. He took a deep breath and looked at the wall for a moment before continuing. To further reassure her, I grabbed her knee even more. There's no need to worry about that, Justin. Due to the fact that I have been sober for some time. Justin said he couldn't hear her because her voice was so weak, but I clearly heard her message. "I've been clean and sober for about a hundred days." “Justin, you've outdone yourself. Something to be proud o

My heart cried for his incredible courage. The other man shook his hand and then came to sit beside me. "Hi, my name is Krispin Righteous and I am an alcoholic and a drug addict. I have been sober and drug free for eighteen months. On the worst day of my life, I physically hurt a woman. That was when I reached rock bottom and decided to climb out of the pit. I am a better man but I fight this disease daily."

“Thanks.” “I’ll fix that. After we finish today, first ten shots’re on me.” “Riley, I’ve been sober 33 days now.” “Yeah, I’ll fix that, too.” “I’m already getting a contact high off of Killian. I’ll probably get drunk just breathing the whiskey fumes off of you.” “Don’t turn into a pussy on me now,” she said, slugging him in the arm. “Actually, don’t turn into a bigger pussy on me now.”

"I don't want to be a regret in the morning when you're sober. Not again." "What I said to you that morning-" "Doesn't matter if you meant it. You said it. Not again. We do this, you make the choice stone-cold sober and you understand it's just physical." I climb off his lap and stand, straightening my clothes. His words shouldn't burn. But they do. A hot iron pressed against my heart. I sink into my chair on the other side of the table and pick up my kebab, pulling it apart with my fork and fingers. The silence between us is all- consuming.

I bit down on my lip, choking back the sobs that clawed up my throat. He grabbed his wallet, pulled out a wad of cash, and tossed it at me like I was nothing. “Here. Take it. For your silence. Because nothing happened. Do you understand me? Nothing. Happened.” he yelled again. His words shattered me completely, I was just so unfortunate that even my first hated me when sober. I stared at the money, horrified. “You think I—”

"She's still in the dark room, but you need to sober up and figure out what you're going to say to her parents. They don't look happy." I nodded, knowing he was right. I needed to be sober, clear-headed, and prepared for whatever was going to happen. So I quickly stumbled into the shower, letting the cold water wake me up. The water washed away the alcohol and the haze and my mind started to clear. But I couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency – I needed to be quick. I lathered myself up, rinsed off the suds, and stepped out of the shower in less than ten minutes.