Corinthia Farmakis. Alcohol: A Love Story. Short Fiction. Badger High School

Transcription

1 Corinthia Farmakis Alcohol: A Love Story Short Fiction Badger High School

2 Mia sat there in the hard, plastic chair in a circle with fellow alcoholics. She was easily the youngest woman there which made her a bit nervous. The room they were in was a dull, gray basement looking room. She listened to a few people s life updates on their sobriety before it was her turn. Mia called the balding male sponsor, attempting to get her attention. Sorry. Uh I m Mia and I am one day sober she stated with a little chuckle, Although it s only seven o clock, so I still have five hours to screw up. The joke fell flat besides to one attractive brunette guy who couldn t help but laugh. The sponsor then moved onto the next person while Mia and the guy shot smiles at each other. After the meeting, everyone was chatting. Mia stood off to the side since she didn t know anybody. Just as she was about to head home the handsome brunette from earlier approached her. I m Noah he smiled, holding out his hand to shake hers. Mia. Noah, honey I thought you were getting sober stated Noah s mom over the phone, despair in her voice. I am! he lied as he eyed the six-pack of beer sitting on the counter, It doesn t just happen overnight Mom! Noah, I just want to help you pleaded his mother. Well I don t want your goddamn help! Okay? Noah I- Just leave me the hell alone! he screamed and chucked the phone out the window.

3 He lit a cigarette and paced around the apartment, trying to resist the urge to drink. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead as his desires began to override his common sense. All he could think about was wrapping his lips around the cold bottle and tasting the beer he longed for. He craved the rush and affection that only alcohol gave him. He grabbed a bottle, no longer caring about the consequences. Meanwhile, Mia was at her apartment a few blocks away. She was screaming at her boyfriend to leave. She never truly loved him, but he would take her to parties and buy her drinks, so she stayed with him. She used him. Now she knew it was time to let him go, so she could get sober. Get the hell out! I don t want you here she growled at the man standing before her in a black leather jacket. You don t mean it Mia. You need me as much as you need that vodka bottle on the counter. If you get rid of me, you ll never be able to afford the amount of alcohol you drink with your pathetic diner salary he said cruelly, trying to manipulate her into changing her mind about him. I ll be just fine. Now leave! Fine! He threw his arms up in surrender as he walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Mia grabbed the lamp off of the coffee table beside her and smashed it on the ground causing shards of glass to go flying. Tears spilled out of her dull blue eyes as she snatched the bottle off the counter and slowly slid down the light yellow wall. She felt a burning sensation as the clear

4 liquid ran down her throat. When she pulled the bottle away from her pale lips, she sighed. The temptation was too much...she gave up. A few weeks later Mia was working at the diner and sipping from her water bottle. Nobody besides Mia knew it was actually vodka in the plastic bottle. As afternoon turned into evening, she felt that familiar buzz settling in. When the store closed, Mia was put in charge of cleaning the front dining area while Rebecca, her manager, cleaned the back. Twenty minutes later Rebecca emerged from the back only to see Mia passed out on the counter with a costumer s half eaten plate of food in front of her. She immediately called their boss, who showed up shortly after. Rebecca woke Mia up while the boss stood on the opposite side of the counter holding her vodka water bottle which was three-fourths empty. We found this behind the counter he began, You can t be drinking at work Mia! It s unacceptable! That s mine! growled Mia, snatching the bottle out of his hands. You re fired. As Mia stood up, she flipped the plate up at the man and yelled, This is BS! She angrily grabbed her purse and water bottle off the counter before exiting the small diner, leaving her coworker and boss to deal with the mess. A few blocks away Noah walked into a convenience store to buy beer after being in withdrawal for two days. He pulled a case out of the large cooler and pulled out a beer. As he drank out of the brown bottle, he dropped the case on the floor. The bottles smashed as they hit

5 the ground, causing glass and beer to go everywhere. The guy on shift came over to Noah and started yelling at him. What the hell man?! he yelled, You need to pay for those and then leave before I call the cops! Noah decided not to answer and instead shoved the man which started the two of them shoving each other until they were out in the parking lot. Noah wore a deviant smile on his face as he pulled his fist back and swung at the worker s face. The guy took a step back on impact, but then retaliated by punching Noah straight in the nose. Noah fell to the ground as he held his bleeding nose. The worker stood above him, no longer caring about Noah paying for the beer. You need some help man he stated with an almost threatening look in his eyes, If you ever come back into this store again, I ll call the cops and have you arrested. He walked away, leaving Noah alone on the ground. Noah slowly stood up and looked at his face in his car mirror. Besides his bloody nose, he had a bleeding scrape on the right side of his face from when he hit the pavement. Noah took a look at himself and realized he didn t even recognize the man staring back at him. His eyes no longer had that certain sparkle to them and his face was a ghostly color. This wasn t who he was and in that moment he decided it was time to change, for real this time. The next day Noah went back to his alcoholics anonymous group. As he sat down in the that gloomy room, he noticed the pretty girl with wavy brown hair sitting across from him. He couldn t remember her name, but he figured it didn t matter anyway. She clearly was doing

6 better off than him if she was still here, so Noah thought she d never want to go out with a guy like him. When the group ended, Noah decided to approach her anyway. As he got closer, her name popped into her head, Mia. He called her name and she turned around, smiling at him. Mia stopped and stood there as Noah walked over to her. I m glad you re here. I take it your doing well? he asked, going off his assumption from earlier. Hell no. I haven t been here in like two months, so since the first meeting. I uh I ve screwed up my life pretty badly she replied honestly, What about you? Pretty much the same as you. Getting sober is a hell of a lot harder than it looks. The two of them joked and talked until it was time to leave. Then and there they decided they would help each other get sober. Noah followed Mia to her apartment, where they were going to dispose of all her alcohol. Once they were inside her apartment, Noah stood at the sink and began dumping bottles of vodka down the sink.then he handed one to her. Mia stood there with the bottle in her hand, fighting the temptation to just drink it. Instead she gave Noah a sweet smiled and dumped it down the drain. He smiled down at her, proud of a girl he barely knew. I just dumped an entire bottle of vodka down the drain Mia stated in disbelief which caused Noah to chuckle. You did. Now we re going to dump the rest of the bottles he informed her. And then we re going to your place and disposing of all the beer in the apartment. We got this.

7 We got this. The pair high fived, but instead of placing their hands back down they intertwined their fingers. Noah brought their hands back down between them and they both just sweetly stared at each other. Noah slowly leaned down and kissed her lips. The kiss was tender at first and then it changed to rough, lustful kissing. He walked forward, so Mia was pinned between him and the wall. His 6 1 large frame covered her entire body. When the two of them finally came up for air, Mia looked with at him with a playful smile on her face. What? asked Noah with a chuckle. I think I ve found my new addiction stated Mia, still smiling. Oh yeah? What would that be? Your lips. Noah and Mia walked into their shared apartment and were greeted by a ton of people. Noah s mother and band members were there along with some of Mia s friends. A white cake lay on the brown dining room table and in light blue frosting on top it read One Year Sober! Noah had his arm wrapped around Mia s waist, holding her close to him. Their friends and family clapped for them as the two of them stood there with big smiles on their faces. Neither of them could believe that they had actually made it this far. Noah s mother approached the two of them and pulled Noah into a tight hug. I m so proud of you son she grinned and pinched his cheek, You ve came such a long way from the drunk idiot you used to be. Thanks mom. I love you stated Noah, his smile reaching his chocolate brown eyes.

8 I love you too. Now we just need to get you to give up those cigarettes. Mia couldn t help but chuckle which then caused Noah s mother to focus her attention on her son s girlfriend. I m proud of you too she informed me as she gave me a hug, You helped my son get where he is today. It was a team effort joked Mia, briefly looking up and smiling at Noah. Well either way, I think you are the perfect girl for my son. I think you d make an amazing daughter-in-law. Mom! cried Noah as he gave her a look that politely told her to shut up, Enough! Relax Noah teased his mother, I m going to go find your brother. Good idea mom. She wandered off as Noah pulled Mia off to the side under the double door doorway. She giggled as her hands locked behind his neck and his hands were place on either side of her hips. He smiled down at her, love shimmering in his eyes. Her ocean blue eyes stared back up at him as she waited for him to say something. You know, I wouldn t be here without you he admitted. Me neither. You saved me she confessed. We saved each other. What s that saying that describes situations like this? It s something cheesy. True love conquers all. That s it he smiled as he pulled a small box out of his jean pants pocket, And on that note, I wanted to give you this.

9 He opened up the black velvet box to reveal a glimmering diamond ring. Mia looked at him in shock as he slowly dropped down onto one knee. Someone had spotted the spectacle and now everyone was watching the scene unfold. Mia Evans, will you marry me? Of course I will you handsome idiot! exclaimed Mia, tears gathering in her eyes as she pulled Noah up from the ground and planted her lips on his. He slid the ring on her finger and everyone cheered again. Noah stood behind Mia, arms wrapped around her as she leaned back into his broad chest. I love you future Mrs. Noah Parker. I love you too, more than you ll ever know.