Hangover Soup

Falling back to sleep isn’t easy when every time you close your eyes, you’re met by the image of Astrid in a naughty nurse’s costume. But soon enough, my eyes became too heavy to handle. As the room softened into the quiet of sleep, I heard someone knocking at the door.

A part of me hoped it was Astrid with her trench coat while the rest of me just wanted sleep. “Go away,” I groaned.

The door opened anyways and someone clomped through the living room.

“Florence?” I sat straight up in bed. Was that my dream coming true? Was that Astrid?

The bedroom door creaked open and Astrid peaked in, “Hey,” she said. Sadly, she was fully clothed without a trench coat.

“Hi…”

“Tedd couldn’t come over so I’m filling in. He made his Hangover Soup for you, though,” she held up a shady looking liquid in a clear container. “Are you hungry?”

I nodded and crawled out of bed. Following her, I had the awkward realization that I had forgotten pants. I crept back into the room and tried to make myself half way presentable – this time pants were included. 

“Sorry the soup is… well let’s just say Tedd doesn’t cook for good reasons. But he always insists his Hangover Soup is the perfect remedy. I personally believe he’s still drunk when he eats this…well I don’t know what to call it. It certainly isn’t soup. But I’ll suffer through the concoction with you. Besides, I’m sure Renolds doesn’t have anything better to eat.”

“This is true,” I took a spoonful of the soup and gagged at the smell of it. “No thank you…”

“Oh… I forgot how horrid this really is… Okay, we’re going out.”

“Out to where?”

“Out to dinner, of course. Come on, go shower, put on some clothes and let’s go.”

I couldn’t argue with her on that. So I took a shower, and threw on a pair of Renolds’ jeans and a plain black shirt. I found Astrid vacuuming when I walked back into the living room.

“This room is repulsive. How the hell do you stay here?”

“We’re generally only here when we’re drunk or hung-over so it’s been fairly easy.”

“You poor thing. I’m sure you were a lovely lady until Renolds came along. I bet you went to church every week and never drank. You were probably a virgin too. I’m so sorry…”

“I know… I was a terrible bore before Renolds threw me into her chaotic mess.”

Astrid snorted and hooked her arm through mine. “So where are we going?” I asked.

“You’ll see! As you were making yourself presentable, I was scheming. Renolds has had all these nights to show you around but it’s my turn now! I’m sure you haven’t seen anything other than the clubs this town has. I’ll show you everything else.”

“Well thank you. It’d be nice to not be intoxicated for a night.”

“Oh, I never said there wouldn’t be any alcohol!” She grinned, pulling out a flask from her jacket. “Renolds and I do have a few things in common.”