Somewhere in the endless, dark distance an alarm was blaring. Alex couldn't care less, but the annoying sound was persistent.
Considering her incoming headache, even burning alive in her home didn't seem like a bad idea. Alex decided to ignore the alarm, and go back to sleep.
For good measure, she put a pillow over her head.
She didn't notice that the pillow came from under Tanya's face. As the latter's head bounced on the mattress, she cursed at Alex.
"Bitch, make it stop or I'll fucking smother yo lazy ass with my pillow." She threatened.
Alex didn't mind even Tanya's grumbling at first, but an elbow soon landed between her ribs. Then a kick on her kneecap. Finally, a guttural scream shook the slumber out of her eyes.
"Gimme a minute, bitch, my arm went numb under your fat ass. Get off me!" Complained Alex, and pushed Tanya off the bed.
She heard half a curse after the thudding of Tanya's body, then snoring followed. Getting rid of the bigger pain in the ass, Alex blindly reached out for her phone. She found it, and tapped on the screen, until the alarm stopped.
The silence didn't last long though. It was a call, not an alarm. The caller wasn't ready to give up yet. Alex tapped around some more, the pillow still on her head. When the sound stopped again, she heard faint noises from the speaker.
Confused as to why the alarm was speaking to her, she peeked out from below the pillow.
"What now?!" She asked the phone.
Faint noises arrived again, but she didn't understand a word. At last, Alex realised she answered a call, without actually putting it on speaker. She put the phone to her ear.
"Yeah?" Her voice was groggy and hoarse.
"Finally, I got a hold on you. I was considering sending an ambulance. You got a minute?" Asked Richard's voice from the machine.
"I picked up, didn't I?" Alex replied with a question. Normally, this would be a rhetorical thing on her part. Now though, she wanted to confirm she was talking to someone for real, and not dreaming.
"What happened to your voice?" There was some concern in Richard's voice.
"Tanya happened." She replied. Her head started to register signs of dehydration, the constant rotation of the planet, and her stinking breath.
"Where are you? Do you need a cab?" Richard found the improvised party with Tanya strange. Regardless, a client waited for Alex.
"A bullet in my head, that's what I need. Please Richard, make it stop." She whined.
"Gladly, as soon as you sort out the client at The Crib." He finally got to the point.
"What client? What time is it?" She asked.
"You mean what day, right? It's 2pm, Wednesday. You were AWOL for almost two days. You generously shared my number with him, in case you're unavailable. He must be someone important." Richard reported the shocking details to her.
"Just shoot me already." Alex rolled her eyes. Then she placed a palm over her forehead, regretting the eye roll big time.
"Let the client wait until I get there. I'm introducing abandonment play. Come and pick me up, Richard." She ordered.
"Sorry to disappoint, Master, but I'm working." He said without sarcasm. It wasn't rare for them to cater to Alex's needs outside The Crib. However, usually she was aware of her subs schedule and didn't ask for unreasonable things.
"Richard, please be creative and send someone to pick me up from Tanya's place. I don't care who, but not a cab. I'm in no shape to deal with that. Send Seth if you must." Her headache threatened to induce a throw-up, so she cut the call short.
< There's no way I'm contacting that lunatic during time-out. Not if my ass isn't covered by an active contract. > Thought Richard.
He checked the others' schedule in his calendar, and sent Tanya's address with specific instructions to the only available pet.
Meanwhile, the last rant made Tanya wake up too.
"Seth is not setting foot in my home, sis." She declared. "Collecting nutcases is your hobby, not mine. By the way, there's aspirin in the top drawer."
Alex slowly turned her head towards the nightstand. As there was no water in sight, she didn't move from her half-sitting position.
"I'll just wait for my puppy to arrive and serve us coffee and breakfast." She sighed. The thought of food didn't agree with her stomach too much.
"That's actually a good idea." Tanya grunted as she crawled back into the bed.
"Where are we going after that?" She asked.
"We? Don't you have to work too?" Alex got confused again. She couldn't wrap her head around the 24 hour gap in her memory.
"When I asked for a few days off from the big boss, he happily sent me on a two-week long vacation. The asshat hates my guts." She explained.
"That's nice of him." Said Alex, on the verge of falling asleep again as she snuggled close to Tanya.
They weren't involved romantically, but neither of them were shy. Being true to themselves, they had explored each other's body to the fullest long ago. Based on the hickeys and bite marks on Tanya's neck, such an exploration happened recently.
"Nice, my ass. He said I should give the others time to consider another candidate for department head. Apparently, urology does not revolve around me." Complained Tanya.
"Who is the other candidate?" Alex tried her best to follow the conversation.
"There aren't any. Nobody wants to challenge me. If there were, the asshat would have fired me already." Said Tanya with a triumphant look on her face.
"What did we take besides alcohol?" Asked Alex. Her missing memories hinted at something extra.
"I stuck to coke, but you would have swallowed and snorted anything that came your way, girl." Tanya scolded, pulling her ear.
"Had to look out for my little sis." She continued. "Yo prolly sneaked some Molly though, so I shoved my fingers down your sweet little mouth. Yo ain't getting a heart attack on my watch, sis."
"Hanks, 'anya." Alex mumbled, her mouth already hanging open.
"Hey, don't drool on me. We're celebrating. Prepare for an after-party, girl." Tanya gently shook her awake.
"What celebration?" Alex lifted her head, and tried to focus her eyes on Tanya's.
"The great dominatrix, Lady X fell in love, and I get to meet the guy today." Said Tanya, holding Alex's face in her palms.
Before Alex could understand Tanya's words completely, the doorbell interrupted their conversation.