I woke to the sound of people arguing. My head pounded and my mouth felt like cotton wool. The bright light hurt my eyes. I battled to keep them open, so I had to close them.

Muffled voices grew louder. Daniel and Belinda? I listened; no, it wasn't. I fought to open my eyes again.

A woman yelled, "I told you she was trouble!"

"She's not the trouble, I am!" a man yelled. "Don't you get that? I've caused her trouble because of this shit, not the other way around." I recognised Adam's voice. The argument was about me

A sharp pain seared my skull. I struggled to open my eyes.

"Yeah, I warned you! I told you it wasn't the right time. You put us in jeopardy...everything in jeopardy, and for what? Sex! Why couldn't you have fucked her and let it be."

I buried my face in the pillow and then opened my eyes and turned them towards the light as I listened.

"If it was just sex, I would have continued fucking you!"

I heard a sharp, crisp slap and guessed the woman had slapped him across the face. I wish it had been me doing the slapping.

Everything went silent.

As I managed to get my eyes opened, a surge of nausea swept through me. I leaned over the bed and vomited on the mat. A bucket was placed out of reach. I scrabbled to grab it, slipped onto the floor with a loud bang, then scrambled onto my hands and knees, gripped the bucket, sat on my haunches, and retched again as the bedroom door swung open.

Two voices spoke at once. Adam's panicked, "Jasmine?"

The other was annoyed, "Jesus!"

I vomited again. Adam commanded, "Get a towel!"

"What the hell for? She's got it everywhere anyway."

"Get a fucking towel! And water!"

My head pounded. My throat and stomach hurt. My hair dripped with vomit. I was dressed in one of his button-up shirts that hadn't been buttoned all the way, so it hung off my shoulder.

Adam came towards me as I heaved again. I scurried backwards into the corner of the room, dragging vomit across the floorboards with my knees. He crouched in front of me and swept hair from my face.

"Don't touch me!" I hissed.

He frowned and gave me a sorrowful look. "Jasmine, let me help you."

I couldn't answer because I vomited again. When he reached out to me once more, I slapped his hand away. "Don't you touch me! Don't you dare!"

Gillian held out a towel and water bottle. I was sure he hadn't stopped sleeping with her. She sneered, "What did you do to her? She's like a caged wild animal."

Adam grabbed the towel and bottle from her. "Piss off, Gillian. Just piss off."

"Fuck you, Adam! We don't have time for this shit!"

He ignored her. "Come on, honey, let me help you."

The pulse in my head pumped and pumped. I gasped for breath when he touched me, then slapped him on the side of the face. He swore under his breath as he clutched my wrist with one hand and took hold of the bucket in the other.

I kicked at him. "Leave me alone!"

"I'm not going to leave you alone."

I kicked him again. Gillian said, "Leave her alone, we don't have time for this."

"Gillian! Fuck! Off!"

"I'll give you thirty minutes, arsehole, and if you mess this up for us because of her I'll kill you. You hear me! I'll fucking kill you!"

She stormed away and slammed the door. Adam wrenched me towards him. I struggled, got my wrist free and knocked him off balance. He fell against the wall, holding me around the waist. I swung my fists blindly, pounding him over and over, trying to break free.

Adam buried his face in my stomach. I hated him. I wanted to hurt him so much. In the end, I sapped all my energy and collapsed, exhausted in his hold.

He carried me to the shower and stood under the water in his clothes. The memory of him doing this, as I vomited on his shirt the night before, came back to me. I fought to hold back my emotions as he undressed me and sat me on the floor. Then he stripped off his clothes. Adam didn't say anything as he soaped and rinsed us. He got out and wrapped a towel around his waist, then shut the water off, covered me with another towel and carried me to the bed.

Adam drew the covers over me, got dressed, sat on the bed, and swept hair from my face. I tried to turn over, but he grabbed both my wrists in one hand and held my chin in his other, forcing me to look at him. "Stay here, Jasmine. I have to go now, but please stay here. Please be here when I get back. I'm begging you."

As soon as I heard his car drive away, I got out of bed and gulped the water from the bottle Gillian had put on the bedside table. My stomach quavered. I didn't want to be here when he got back. I had no intention of seeing him, to have him convince me that it was a misunderstanding on my part.

I searched the room for my dress and found my bag from the week before. My shorts, T-shirt and underwear were inside. He had washed them. I fought back tears and went into the kitchen to find my bag hanging on the back of one of the chairs. Belinda's dress and my underwear were soaking in the laundry tub. I squeezed the water out as best I could and put them in a plastic bag. Then I washed my face and wished I had some Panadol. I shoved everything in my clothes bag. The bedroom was a mess. Should I clean it? What the hell was I thinking? Fuck him. I strode to the front room and found a pen and a piece of paper.

I don't want to see you, don't come anywhere near me, or I'll call the police.

That was all I needed to say, and then I left the note on the kitchen bench near the kettle with a cup on the corner so he wouldn't miss it. I closed the door, took a deep breath, and was determined not to cry.

Once I was on the train, I rang Belinda. "Where are you?" she asked.

I gasped into the phone and told her what I could remember.

She said, "Daniel and I'll meet you at your place."

"No, Belinda. I want to be alone. I want to sleep. If I need you, I'll call, okay."

"Okay. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I sensed she was relieved and realised it must have been hard putting up with me. I wiped tears from my eyes and smiled a little. The only good thing to come from my drama was that Daniel and Belinda had come together.

I slept for the rest of the day and woke at four. I was hungry and thirsty. Before I ate, I had another shower and tried to put the pieces together. I got drunk with Macy and had been sitting with some of Daniel's friends because he and Belinda had gone home. The rest was hard to follow. People fighting. Someone pinching my bum and a dream about Adam.

I remembered him carrying me and vomiting over him. I thought he was Daniel.

Macy was there somewhere. I couldn't remember and hoped she got home safely. I woke up at Adam's. He must have taken me there. I was certain he had been the person fighting.

I couldn't understand why he had taken me to his house because Gillian hated me. She had said that if everything was ruined because of me, she would kill him. They must be in a relationship and still having sex.

Why did he do that? What had I ever done except catch the train?

Men always did this shit to me. I wondered if I had a radar that put out a signal saying, "Come and get it. Sucker waiting to be used."

Did Adam do the right thing by taking Jasmine home with him?

She could have been in danger from that other creep.

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