KATERINA'S POV
*RING RING RING*
I hear my phone's alarm go off beside me and I pull my hand from under the comfortable blanket I'm in to turn off the annoying sound. I let my hand fall limb over the bed. I feel so tired and my head hurts like crazy. I want continue sleeping but one thing about me is when my sleep gets interrupted, I automatically can't fall asleep anymore.
The memories from last night quickly come back to me and I shoot my eyes open, jerking myself up from the bed. I look around, happy to see that I'm in my room at my apartment and not at some stranger's place as I remember the encounter I had with the hard chested man at the club last night. The same man who bumped into me, made fun of my dance moves and gave me a sarcastic apology.
I hear my door open and see Olivia come in with a glass of water and some aspirin.
"Remind me never to let you drink and dance ever again." She says with a mocking laugh as she walks over to me and hands me the glass of water and pill. I swallow in one gulp and place the glass on the little table beside my bed.
"Ugh, I feel awful. My head hurts." I say as I fall back in bed pulling my blanket over my head.
"Thanks for bringing me home Liv." I mumble under my blanket.
"You should thank the hottie I found you with for carrying you into my car and into your apartment." She says and my eyes flash wide open. Her statement makes me jerk out of bed again.
"What?" I ask her, confusion plastered on my face.
"His name is Daniel and I found you passed out in his arms on the dance floor last night. So I asked him to help me get you to my car." She explains.
"Oh no-" I whisper.
"Then he figured I wouldn't be able to carry you out of the car and into the house all by myself so he offered to ride with us to help me carry you." Olivia adds.
"So basically, you let a complete stranger get into my apartment? Olivia, what if he's a burglar, or a murderer or an abuser? Now he knows where I live. Oh no, I'm going to die soon and it'll be your fault." I say, my breath rising and I feel myself panicking.
"I could have left you there with him you know, then you would really be dead. But I didn't because I'm an amazing friend. Plus, he was really sweet and polite. Don't worry, Daniel's cool." She says with a cunning smile.
"Why are you smiling like that?" I ask with a raise of my brow.
"You two would look really good together you know. He does not look a day over 25 so he is the perfect age for you. Moreover, do not even get me started on his good looks. And the way he carried you last night, with ease, oh it was so dreamy and romantic Kat." Olivia says smiling like a teenage girl.
"You really do live in a fairytale don't you?" I say to her as I try to get out of bed. "I need to take a shower."
I strip off my clothes and step in the shower. I wash my hair and body with a chocolate scented shampoo and shower gel respectively. After a while, I let the warm water rain down on me washing the contents off my body. The water feels so good on my skin and I could stay in here forever.
As the water keeps pouring down on me a memory strikes the back of my mind and I remember being six years old in a bathtub with my mom. It was raining heavily that day but for some reason, my mom and I felt hot so we decided to take a bath together. I remember making bubbles out of the soap from the bathtub. I remember my Mama's beautiful singing as she glided a washcloth down my back.
A wave of sadness washes over me and I find myself wondering if I made the wrong decision coming here. I wonder how Mama is doing, I wonder if she has left that couch since I left home and I wonder if she's had anything to eat since I left yesterday. Then I remember how miserable I was in that house with her, I remember not being able to live my life to the fullest because as much as I hate to admit it, Mama's depression was rubbing off on me and sometimes I would find myself locked up in my room feeling bad about Papa's death.
I needed to get out of that house. Besides, I can always call Mama. I can always drive back home to check on her. I did a good thing coming here. I convince myself, and then I decide I have had enough water on my skin. I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my body to prepare for the day. I have to organize my at home office since I start work in a week's time.
I was surprised when the company was so quick to accept my application. The interview online went as planned and they gave me the job so fast. Well, I'm not complaining. It was a steal and the pay is amazing. I'm so grateful that despite how hard and emotionally draining my life has been since Papa died, at least I have a successful career, and I'm only 22. I am so proud of myself for that.
"You've been in there for a whole century now Kat! I made breakfast and it's going to get cold if you don't get your ass out of there." Olivia yells from my room and I pull my bathroom door open coming face to face with her.
"Okay, Okay. Stop yelling." I say as I make my way to my wardrobe. I put on shorts and a baggy t-shirt.
"Look who's cooking got better." I say with a mouthful of scrambled eggs. When we were thirteen, she almost burned their house down back in my home town. "Good to know you're no longer plotting to burn houses down." I tease.
"What are you talking about Kat? I've always been a certified chef." Olivia defends herself.
"Yeah right. You probably had to pull up a recipe from YouTube to make this." I continue teasing her.
"Jeeez Kat. It's scrambled eggs! Everyone knows how to make scrambled eggs with some bacon, toast and orange juice." She says raising her voice in defense.
"Yeah everyone except you."
She rolls her eyes after a few seconds before speaking again. "So what do you wanna do today?"
"I was thinking maybe you could help me out with my office here at home." I answer.
After breakfast, I try to call my Mama but the call goes straight to answering machine. After a few seconds I get a message from her saying she doesn't feel like talking. Just what I expected. I leave her a message containing my apartment's address and reminding her to eat.
Olivia and I spend the day fixing up my office and the rest of the apartment we hadn't organized yet. There are still a bit more decorations I would like to add to the apartment, but that will come later.
"It looks perfect." Olivia says letting out a huge sigh.
"I know right. This would not have been possible without you. Thanks again Liv. Really. I love you." I say genuinely giving her a warm hug.
"I love you too Kat." She smiles warmly at me. "I'll see you tomorrow after work and since you'll be free all week, I'll show you around Castings. My favorite spots and all. Trust me, it'll be so much fun."
The rest of my night is spent rewatching Pirates of the Caribbean.