Page 39 of Goodbye To Tomorrow

Chapter 12

Jiraiya

The Morning After

I woke up with a headache, where was I? The huge bed that I was in felt unfamiliar. What in the name of the Lord had happened here? The taste of alcohol clung heavily to my taste buds…

I stood up from the bed and held my head in my hands.

What have I done?

The memories came pouring in like a raging flood. “Fuck!” I exclaimed and looked around the room for Karine. “Karine,” I called out but no answer. I walked across the floor to the bathroom, but she wasn’t there either. I took my cell phone from the attached clip on my pants and called Karine. Karine, the only person who showed me more care than I showed myself.

“Karine!” I shouted at the phone.

“Good morning to you too,” she greeted in a cool tone.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake,” the words flew out my mouth of their own accord.

“You did?” Her voice changed while she was waiting for the rest of my words, while she was waiting for something.

“I don’t remember anything from last night,” I changed my mind at the last second to explain myself further. Karine deserved so much more than the likes of me.

“Oh, well… We were at the club and after a few drinks I got a call and I needed to go…. We said our goodbyes, what happened then, I have no idea." She responded.

“Are you sure?” I wanted her to curse me out, tell me to go to hell or something. I held my breath. Hell, maybe I had dreamed up last night. Alcohol and meds might make me hallucinate.

“I need to go, Jiraiya. I spent the night at my mom’s house last night. Oh, and if you don’t mind...can we can keep this going out thing between ourselves, please? Your parents would be mad if they knew that I was partying with you and that we had too much to alcohol,” she said.

“Oh, come on. You won’t be fired,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes or say something sarcastic. “I am the one paying you, not my parents.”

“Okay. I need to go,” she muttered and ended the call.

Alone again. I felt a sadness overcome me like the sadness I felt when I lost Gracen. Somehow, someway this felt much worse. I can’t help feeling like I’ve disappointed Karine. Slowly, I made my way to the shower and stood under the hot steaming spray. I dressed and left the room, and the quietness of the darkened club behind. I felt simply dejected.

“She is angry…” I whispered to myself.

Karine still wasn’t at my place when I got there, but there were several messages from my parents. Father was wondering where I was. Amazingly, I can have the whole world and my parents will still think that I am a child. Shit!

I somehow managed to do some much-needed work, sign some contracts, and call my secretary to extract orders, all from my home office. I heard the front door open and close, before hearing footsteps go past my open office doorway. Karine looked straight ahead, never glancing inside to see me sitting behind my desk.

I stood and walked to her bedroom, but she wasn’t there. Sighing, I walked further down the hall to my bedroom and she was waiting for me in my room. I thought that now she’d say something, but she sat in a nearby chair completely ignoring me; I did the same.

“Finally, I spoke. I had breakfast already, you can have the morning free,” I said, not wanting to gaze into her expressive brown eyes.

Karine just nodded, stood and walked out the room without one word. Alone again, I felt different. Not just different because of what happened, but the pain has returned. I knew that I was supposed to tell her when my condition had changed to almost unbearable, but I remained silent. The day passed, and I continued to remain silent with thoughts of Karine being never too far away…

Later that day a knock woke me from an uncomfortable nap.

“Yes?” I called out wiping sleep from my eyes as I sat up on the side of the bed, expecting Karine. But my father entered the bedroom instead.

“Where were you yesterday and this morning?” He asked.

“Good day to you, Father,” I said, ignoring his question.

“Answer my question, Jiraiya.” He was stubborn but not just that. His face held a deep crease between his brows. Worried; his face was a palette of emotions, but his sadness stood out “I was by the lake,” I lied to him, looking him directly in the eyes.

“Is that a reason why you stink of alcohol?” He asked, not believing, knowing that I was lying to him.

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