Saturday Morning

Saturday Morning

469 words

The light was sharp and bright. Much too bright. Way too sharp. The moment his hand hit the switch, Jimmy knew it was a mistake. The bright fire slicing through his brain, set all his synapses firing erratically. He wanted to shut it off, but all he could do was stand there blinking and squinting.

"Ohhhhh." He groaned, trying desperately to will his hand to rise and switch the agony off. The groan was intended to be soft, but even a low moan, sent waves of pain radiating through parts of his head and body he wasn't even aware existed

Eyes squeezed shut, he managed to grope for the dimmer. Setting the brightness at its lowest point, he eased one eye open. The apparition in the mirror he saw before him, stared, one-eyed, back.

"Ohhhh, Jesus." His whisper, the croak of a dying frog. "Will you never learn?"

Friday night. Quitting time. What words could be sweeter? What time could be more fraught with danger?

As soon as he walked out the door of the office building, his cell phone rang a jaunty little tune. "Hello? Oh, hi Ben. Yep, just getting to my car. No, I don't have anything planned. I do have to visit with my parents this weekend sometime, but nothing planned for tonight. Okay, sounds great. I'll meet you at Chilly's in about twenty minutes. Sure, no problem."

By the time Jimmy arrived at Chilly's Bar and Grill, his best buddy, Ben, had two pitchers of beer on the table and two attractive young women sitting with him. Things got pretty hazy within the next few hours, but he assumed he had fun.

God, I hope I did! I couldn't feel much worse. There has to be SOME payoff for this misery. Ohhhh, damn! It hurts too much to think. I swear, never again. I am swearing off beer and fooling around forever! I think I will just take it easy for awhile. No more drinking binges for me, that's just stupid! Where the hell are the aspirin?

Three hours later; aspirin kicked in and a hot shower accomplished, Jimmy thought the world looked a whole lot better. He even considered that something to eat would not kill him, it might even stay down this time.

Just as he was considering this, his cell phone rang. "Hello? Hey, hi Ben. No, not doing a damn thing. I was thinking about getting something to eat, but that's about it. What? Two swim suit models? Well sure, I can meet you at Chilly's in about an hour."

By the time Jimmy walked into the bar, Ben had two pitchers of beer on the table and two attractive women sitting at the table with him.