The sweet taste of burnt caramel and the sharp smoothness of my lemon brûlée did not sit well with the third glass of wine. Maybe it was the sweet dish that didn't suit it, more pallet-able with a savoury meal, but the wine tasted peculiar as it passed over my tongue. The burn as is coated the back of my throat was more pronounced, and I swear that it left behind an almost chemical after-taste.

 I screwed my face up in distaste at the first mouthful, quelling the unpleasantness with a hasty spoonful of my dessert, and Leon seemed to study my reaction curiously.

 “I'm sorry, Sarah, I should have ordered a dessert wine.” He said suddenly, appearing to have understood my strange facial expressions. “It seemed a shame to let the last of that bottle go to waste. Would you prefer I order you something different?”

 I almost cringed as I shook my head. I was struggling to stomach the last glass from the bottle he'd already bought, I was certain that a new bottle of something would be sure to make me sick. Really that last thing I wanted to do was vomit over the dinner table.

 “No, honestly, it's fine. I don't think I could drink any more as it is.” I said as I set my glass back down on the table.

 “Well, as long as you are sure, I will just let you finish that one then. But don't attempt to claim that I didn't at least offer to treat my date properly.”

 That hadn't been quite what I had meant. The thought of finishing that one small glass made my mouth dry and caused a burning to rise in my throat. But Leon's smile at his own little quip was bright and warm; and even a little fuzzy around the edges. I felt it would be rude not to finish the wine like he had assumed I would, and, for some reason though I could never have put my finger on why, I didn't want to disappoint him.

 I managed to choke down most of what was left in my glass, alleviating each acrid gulp with the creamy, sweetness of my dessert, but I knew the two were curdling in my gut and it was all I could do to keep it all down.

 The sound in the room seemed to become rather muffled and I had trouble focusing on exactly what Leon was saying. I found it a lot harder than it should have been just to co-ordinate my spoon, or glass, to my mouth. I was concentrating far too hard, deep frown lines furrowed my brow as I tried to manoeuvre the final bit onto my spoon.

 There was a silence that had stretched across our table for several moments before I realised that Leon had stopped talking. I hadn't been following his words at all, but the pregnant pause made me assume he'd asked me a question and was waiting for my reply.

 “Uh, I'm sorry...” I said as I shook my head and tried to clear away the daze that seemed to have spread from my ears to my eyes too. “I think I must have....trailed off there for a second, or something. Did you ask me a question?”

 “Yes.” Said Leon slowly, his expression hard to read. “I asked if you were feeling quite well.”

 “Not really, now that you mention it.” I replied, with some relief. “I'm not sure that last glass of wine was such a good idea.” I added as I looked at the discoloured dregs in the bottom of my glass and felt my stomach turn.

 “I am sorry, Sarah.” Leon said, yet again, his face forming a grimace. “This is my fault, isn't it? I coerced you into having that last glass when you said that you weren't a big drinker. I do apologise.”

 I had to smile, it might have been a weak smile through tight lips as I willed the churning in my stomach to stop. But it was still a smile.

 “Yes, well, you hardly held me down and forced it down my throat now, did you?” I shrugged. “I should really work on learning how to say no, shouldn't I.”

 “Well, I don't think it is a word I have heard from your lips as of yet.” He said, also cracking a smile as he realised that I wasn't blaming him – at least not entirely - for how I was feeling. “I like your positivity.” He added with a nod. Though I wasn't quite sure just what he meant by that.

 It made my head hurt to think about anything too much, and I could feel my eyelids start to droop as a wave of drowsiness crept over me.

 “That may be, but I think I'm going to have to ask you to take me home.” I sighed.

 “But of course. I will have the waiter fetch the bill and then we can leave. Making sure you get home safely is the very least that I can do.” Leon gushed, apologetically, as he pushed away his empty dessert plate and slipped his linen jacket back over his shoulders.

 The waiter arrived, scurried away upon Leon's instruction, and hurried back again with the bill. Leon cast a sweeping glance over the figures, keeping the slip of paper carefully tipped away from my eye – not that I could have read it through the murky haze that clouded my vision. He handed it back to the young man, along with his credit card and a handsome tip. I was sure I would have had the fright of my life if I'd been able to see the total cost of our meal; I might have been earning a decent wage from the club, but high end restaurants were still out of my reach.

 The waiter, in his waistcoat and bow-tie, had hurried once more around the restaurant and made his way back to the table, looking rather flushed, and carrying the card reader. He handed the machine to Leon, who keyed in his PIN number and waited for the receipt.

 I took the opportunity, while Leon was occupied with paying the bill, to grab my clutch purse from the table and check through its contents; a part of me knew that I hadn't removed anything from the small bag since I'd left my flat, but pure paranoia prevented me from leaving the restaurant without at least checking.

 My fingers fumbled, clumsily, with the catch as I forced the bag open. I frowned at its contents, everything seemed to still be in its place, but was that really all that I had brought out with me? I ran over the list in my head – checking off each item as I spotted it in my bag – keys, phone, money, lipstick...yes, that was all, surely.

 “Everything okay, Sarah?” Leon asked, catching sight of my confused look as he fished the car keys from his pocket.

 “Um, no...I mean, yes.” I snapped the bag shut suddenly and pushed the running list out of my mind. “Sorry, just checking I still had everything. Are we good to go?” I asked hopefully.

 Leon nodded and I leapt up from my chair with far too much enthusiasm.

 “Great...oh,whoa....” The world swam before my eyes, a blurring of colours and twisting of shapes loomed at me as I fought to keep my balance. But my knees felt weak and a sudden flash in front of my vision caused the world to spine and my legs to buckle. I stumbled and fell against Leon's chest – the shape that had flashed in front of my eyes must have been him rushing forward to catch me should I fall. His arms grasped me securely around the waist so that I would not fall to the ground.

 “Okay, that was a bad idea.” I hissed, closing my eyes for a moment and willing the room to stop spinning.

 I took a few deep, calming breaths; breathing in the warm, spicy scent of Leon's aftershave and I found it comforting, soothing. I could almost have fallen asleep then and there in his arms if it hadn't been for the dark fumbling of his voice as it vibrated through his chest.

 “No, no. She's fine, just stood up a little too quickly.” I heard Leon say and then add in a slightly more hushed tone, “A little too much wine.”

 He wasn't talking to me, and I couldn't help but feel a little offended he was insinuating to someone else that I was a drunk...or that I was drunk. I couldn't be sure, my brain wasn't functioning at its highest capacity in that moment.

 I braved looking up, opening my eyes but a crack. The colours were blurred, but at least they weren't spinning any more. I could see the gold of Leon's shirt coming into focus, but I saw something else, something bright, glinting almost at the centre of my vision. I blinked, to focus on the gap where Leon's skin showed through the open top button of his shirt. Something bright and gold was glinting against the tan of his chest.

 I ran my fingertips gently over the rough gold chain and pulled a small crucifix out from behind his shirt. It's presence surprised me and I frowned. I really hadn't pegged Leon for a Catholic, it was almost puzzling and, for some reason, the sight of the man on the cross hanging around his neck disconcerted me. I couldn't quite put my finger on why exactly, could just have been my own abject lack of faith, but it felt almost unsettling.

 I toyed with the gold of the crucifix, face set in a frown and completely oblivious to the noise and scene of the restaurant around me.

 “Sarah!” Lenon's voice snapped through my concentration as he snatched the gold cross from my toying fingers. He sounded exasperated, annoyed. I had a feeling that he had called my name several times and felt I had been ignoring him.

 It was hardly my fault though, I hadn't even heard him. He couldn't have been calling particularly loudly.

 “What?” I snapped back.

 I stepped away from where I was almost pressed against his chest so that I could see his face. His forehead held deep furrows and his dark eyes were pinched tight in frustration.

 “I said, are you ready to go?” His voice, however, was calm; albeit a little too careful. It appeared he was trying to have patience with my drunken state, but it had started to wear thin.

 I huffed. It was partially his fault after all. Besides, I had been drunk, maybe once before in my life, and it had been nothing like how I felt in that moment. I was feeling something different altogether. Must have been the rabbit.

 “Yeah, let's go. I need to go home.” I said and I turned on my heel and made my way, unsteadily, towards the exit. I just hoped I wouldn't fall on my face on the way.

* * *

The journey home passed in a blur. We were suddenly standing outside my front door, Leon's BMW parked in the street outside as I fumbled in my bag for my door keys. But I couldn't, for the life of me, recall how we had managed to get there.

 I found my keys and promptly dropped them onto the concrete of the pavement. I sighed, exasperated by my own clumsiness. Why did I have to have a drink? I was making a fool of myself in front of Leon and it was mortifying.

 “Here, let me get the door.” He said, kindly, as he stooped to retrieve my keys and opened up the door.

 The interior of my small flat lay in darkness, and I wanted to keep it that way until Leon had left; I didn't want him to see the dingy mess that I lived in. But as I looked around to offer my thanks, apologies and say goodbye, I found Leon wasn't standing in the street beside me any more, he'd already stepped inside my flat and was flicking at the light switches just inside of the door.

 “The lights don't work?” He asked, curiously. I could see his face outlined in shadow, lit only by the pale glow from a street light as he gazed at me.

 I shook my head. “They're temperamental. Use the lamp on the end table.”

 I hovered in the doorway, waiting for the light to brighten in the room, and willed the throbbing in my head to ease. Perhaps leaving the place in darkness would have been the better option.

 “So, um, thanks for bringing me back home, making sure I got here safely and all that.” I said, noting that my speech sounded slightly slurred. I hoped that I was hinting to Leon that I wanted him to leave without sounding rude. “But, quite frankly, right now I feel quite horrendous. I should probably just go to bed.”

 I made to walk towards my bed. My feet were killing me in my new shoes and I needed to take them off, not to mention my entire body seemed to ache and laying down to sleep was all I could think about in that moment. I caught sight of it, still strewn with a wardrobe full of clothes and groaned with the realisation that I would have to put them all away before I could sleep. I tried to hurry, but stumbled on tired legs, my feet seemed to tangle around each other and I plummeted straight for the ground.

 I stretched out hands to help break my fall, but caught my head on the corner of the end table as I went down. The pain was sharp and instant and I felt the warm, stickiness of blood as it trickled from my eyebrow down my cheek.

 “Damn!” I cursed as I shuffled into a sitting position. I touched careful fingertips to the spot that pulsed painfully above my right eye and they came away wet, glistening red with blood. I felt my stomach turn at the sight of it. Leon knelt down in front of me, as black spots began to swim in front of my vision.

 “Quite frankly, Sarah,” He said mimicking my own words, “You're in no condition for me to allow you to be alone.” He said.

 His voice rang with barely concealed humour as I looked up and took in his face, contorted in a sinister grin. Confusion rang through my brain as the world swam and I felt myself swallowed by the dark of unconsciousness.