Distant Lands

I was late for the party.

I had slept through my alarm, and now I was in a hurry to get ready. I look in the mirror and quickly apply light makeup on my face.

I keep my hair down and wear a black braided headband: my outfit, a cute short navy blue dress with a flowy skirt. I sit on the couch and put on my black ankle boots. Once I glance at myself once more in the mirror, I head up to the roof terrace.

The cool night is alive with music, guests chatting, and socializing. String lights above our heads light up the night. There are rows of tables filled with people.

I pass a group of people conversing and laughing, holding drinks, and toasting. I look around and spot Diego and Angela sitting at a table.

Angela looks stunning in a tight black minidress with silver high heels. Diego is also looking nice, wearing a brown leather jacket with black jeans and black boots.

Angela spots me.

“Oh! Hey Liz! Over here!” she says, standing up. She waves a hand in the air. I walk in their direction.

Diego stands up and hugs me.

“Hi Liz, I’m glad you decided to come. Come sit down,” he says, pulling out a chair for me. He sits next to me.

“Wow, Liz, you look beautiful, Doesn’t she, Diego?” Angela says in a playful voice.

Diego smiles, “Yes, she does look beautiful,” he says, looking at me.

“Thank You,” I say, blushing, trying to avoid eye contact with Diego.

I could tell that Diego and Angela had had a few drinks before I got here. They seem too relaxed, and both have a slight smell of alcohol on their breath.

Angela laughs, “I’m going to get us some drinks,” she says and walks towards the bar.

After Angela leaves, there are a few seconds of silence, and I feel awkward sitting next to Diego. He looks at me and rests his elbow on the table and his palm on his cheek.

“Are you always this quiet?” Diego asks.

“Not always,” I say, “It takes me a while to open up to people. Once I get to know you, I promise I won’t shut up. I can get pretty annoying,” I warn, making Diego laugh.

“I would love to get to know you, Liz. Would you like to get to know me?” Diego flirts smoothly.

Oh god. At this moment, I’m glad to see Angela return with a tray. She returns with shot glasses of tequila and limes. She passes one shot glass to each of us.

“Let’s make a toast,” she says, raising her shot glass in the air, “To health, love, and new friends,” she says, and we bump our glasses.

“Salud!” we all say, drinking the whole shot at once and sucking on a slice of lime right after.

I feel like I just swallowed a hot ball of fire. It was so strong it made me cough and made my eyes water. My reaction makes Angela laugh out loud. I’m glad to see that she finds my suffering funny, making this a bit less embarrassing for me.

“Are you okay, Liz?” Diego asks, placing a hand on my back.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answer, clearing my throat, “I’m just not used to drinking hard liquor,” I say and grab a napkin to dry my eyes.

“It’s okay. I’ll get you a drink you will like; I’ll be right back,” Angela says, getting up before I could refuse.

I hope it’s not another hard liquor. I drink on occasions, and when I get together with friends, which, let me tell you, hasn’t happened many times lately. I always stop drinking when I start to feel a little buzzed. I never get drunk out of my mind. I just hate the thought of not being in control of myself.

Diego touches my shoulder. “I’ll be right back,” he says, getting up to greet a group of people that just walked in.

I fiddle with my napkin. I guess I’m also afraid to find out what kind of drunk I am. Observing people at the restaurant taught me that there are different drunks. I can already tell Diego is the affectionate drunk, and Angela is the happy drunk.

Should I find out what type of drunk I am? Well, maybe not drunk out of my mind, just a little bit drunk. I’m here to have fun, aren’t I?

Diego returns to the table at the same time as Angela, and she hands Diego a beer and a fruity-looking drink for me.

“Here you go, Liz, try this one,” she hands it to me smiling, waiting for my reaction. I take a sip, and I smile.

“This is good, thanks,” I say.

“I knew you’d like it,” she says excitedly.

I take another sip. Surprisingly I can hardly taste the alcohol in it, and it’s fresh and fruity. It’s pretty refreshing. A live band begins to play danceable music, and people yell out excitedly and get up to dance.

“Oh! I want to dance!” I can barely hear Angela yell. She gets up and grabs Diego. Diego gives Angela a twirl to start the dance.

I stay put to finish my drink and admire their dancing skills. They dance to two songs together. I see a waitress carrying a tray with more fruity drinks, offering drinks to people.

I wave my arm out to call her over. She comes and places one drink on the table, and I grab two more from the tray. “Gracias,” I say, my voice drowned out by the loud music.

Angela and Diego notice a new group of people arriving. They walk happily toward them to greet them. They all look so glamorous.

They talk to the group for a while and go back to the dance floor. Angela looks my way and signals for me to join them. I wave back, saying no, and show her my drink.

I gulp down the rest of the drink and start on the other one. Damn, this is so unlike me, but I’m having fun tonight.

Enjoying the music, I move my shoulders to the beat. I’m starting to feel a bit buzzed now. I see Angela getting down on the dance floor.

“Yeah! Woo! Woo!” I yell. I gulp down the rest of the drink.

Surprisingly the alcohol is not hitting me hard. What the hell? Maybe I can handle it? I start to feel the music and get into party mode. I stand up to join my new friends dancing. Nobody here knows me, so I don’t care if I make a fool of myself.

I start to walk towards them and suddenly feel like I’m not walking straight. I stop and try to walk straight again, but I can’t.

I stop and laugh out loud, thinking it’s hilarious. I start to dance where I stand. I move my hips slowly, trying to dance sexy.

I place my hands on my head and slowly slide them down to my neck, then down my body and hips while dancing, feeling the beat of the music.

I notice two men are walking towards me. Ahead of me is Diego, and with the corner of my eye, I can see a man walking towards me, but Diego gets to me first. Diego walks toward me, smiling.

He grabs my hand and tries to spin me, but I stumble like a newborn fawn. Diego catches me, and we laugh. He puts his hands on the back of my waist and holds me close to his body.

I wrap my arms around his neck. Like on cue, the band switches to a slow song. We move to the music. I feel safe and stable in Diego’s arms.

“Are you having fun, Liz?” Diego asks.

“Yes, I’m having a great time,” I say, looking into his eyes, “I haven’t had this much fun since...”

I think hard about it.

“I can’t remember,” I say, a little teary-eyed.

“Sometimes we need to stop our busy lives and have fun, you know, enjoy life,” he says.

“Yes, that’s why-I’m-here,” I say, smiling.

“I’m happy you chose this place. This place brought us together,” Diego says, looking into my eyes.

I feel my face get hot. Diego looks so attractive right now. I lean forward and give him a slow kiss. He grabs the back of my neck, intensifying the kiss. I feel weak at the knees.

“Hey! guys!” Angela interrupts, breaking us apart. She takes my hand. “Let’s go have some more drinks! The party is not over!” she yells.

Angela looks so popular standing around people she met at the party. She hands me a drink. As a bigger group, we toast and drink.

The music picks up speed again, we all laugh and dance as a group. Without a care in the world, we continue dancing, stumbling, and bumping into each other. I’m having loads of fun but then suddenly feel nauseous.

I break from the group trying to find the restroom. I stumble indoors but feel my stomach complaining, and I feel like I’m not going to make it.

I turn to a huge potted plant and vomit into the pot. I grasp the edge of the pot and vomit again, seeing blurry. I feel exhausted and now have a dull headache from the forceful vomiting.

“Oh, god, damn,” I moan in pain, holding my head.

I see a bench in the hallway, stumble over to it, and sit down to recuperate. I lean my head back on the wall.

I think I’ll close my eyes for a bit...

***

I slightly open my heavy eyes to find myself in bed, covered with a blanket. The soft light in the room makes it hard to see who is standing right next to me.

“Hey...Diego, is that you?” I ask, half asleep.

“Shh, go to sleep,” I hear a man’s voice say.

I close my eyes and feel the heaviness of sleep fall over me.