Elizabeth woke up dizzy in the bright bedroom. The light seemed to hurt her eyes as she opened them wide. She sat up, losing her state of mind, like she hadn't left dreamland yet. Dazed, she tried to render her surroundings. But quickly, her head starts to hurt and the view in her eyes seems to twirl all around.

   She tried to stand up from the bed, but couldn't seem to find her footing. Slipping, falling, body forward to the thankfully carpeted floor. She used both her palms to slam herself down, but the impact made the nausea even worse. With the strength she had left, she basically flung herself to the door right in front of her, hoping it would be a bathroom.

   The sight of the toilet as she opened the door felt like a blessing at that moment. Stationing herself in front of it, kneeling at its foot. She dunked her head in and immediately let herself go.

   She threw up.

   The purging feeling inside her quelled as she vomited vigorously into the bowl.

   It relieved her of the nausea as she stood up from the bowl. She flushed the remains and gargled a handful of water from the sink beside her. She washed her mouth a couple more times and splashed the cold tap water onto her face. That surely woke her up.

   There, only Elizabeth realized where she was.

   This wasn't her bathroom!

   She opened the door back into where she slept for the night and scanned the room, now knowing.

This is not my apartment?! Where am I?!

   With quick steps she goes to the main door where she could exit the room. She went out and looked around. She marveled at how beautiful yet empty the house was. It had a high ceiling and a wide space to walk around. She scanned the pictures on the wall hanged by a door close to the room where she came from.

   She could only see different pictures of flowers and focused herself completely on them. Suddenly, a click sounds beside her and she was so frightened she backed herself from the wall in shock. A figure donned in just a towel came out from behind the door.

   "Oh, you're up?"

   There, Elizabeth knew where exactly she was and who exactly took her home after she stupidly got drunk last night.

   Instinctively, Elizabeth covered her eyes from the sight and said, "Clothes." with a small voice. She slightly peeked through the gap between her fingers and was impressed by the form in front of her.

   "Oh, sorry." Mark smirked as he replied. Slowly a making his way to his room a couple doors forward while drying his wet, frizzy hair.

   She took off the covers that blocked off her eyes slowly. She could see his back muscles rippling as he flexed one of his arms to reach his hair as he walked away. He had wide shoulders, and that made Elizabeth realize he certainly wasn't the boy she knew back then.

   Wait, nothing happened, right? Probably not.

   She bid herself to stop mentally drooling at the man in front of her and wondered what happened last night for her to arrive at his place. She must have been that drunk that now they seemed close, as if they had talked a lot, to where he wasn't the smallest bit embarrassed about her seeing him semi-nude.

   Well, he also might be just a guy, who doesn't care about the fact his torso was just there out in the open. And honestly, remembering a bit about it, they probably did talk a lot, so they might have grown close without her even noticing.

   Suddenly the room opened with Mark now fully dressed, exiting from his bedroom. "Did you have a good sleep? I bought hangover medicine while I was on my jog this morning." He then handed over a small glass bottle for her to drink.

   "Wait, come with me. I'll get you some water." Mark said. And wordlessly, she followed him.

   Walking across the enormous villa to a wonderful-looking kitchen. Mark grabbed a glass of water from her and set it down on the counter as he said, "You should drink it up now, so that the feeling won't get worse later."

   Elizabeth then directly did what he had said and opened the small bottle in her hands, downing it all in one shot. It was sweet yet bitter, so the water Mark prepared came in handy right after.

   "So how are you feeling?" Mark seriously asked.

   "Well, I woke up dizzy, and I then puked. The feeling was mostly gone after that, but now I'm having a headache."

   "I'm surprised you woke up early, but I guess that's one of the side effects. The medicine will probably help you with that headache and wash up and go back to sleep right after."

   Hearing his words, Elizabeth was surprised and immediately retorted,

   "No! No need. I'll just head home and do those things there."

   "El, It's fine and going home will probably only make you feel worse because we're pretty far away from the city right now and maybe you'll get worse in car rides."

   "But, I don't want to give you a burden. The bus rides will be fine Mark, so I should just head home."

   "You're not giving me a burden, El. Just rest here, besides it's a day off from the game and you're good company."

   Elizabeth thought about it for a while and concluded what she's feeling now was the worst and she didn't want to suffer through another maybe 30 minutes to an hour bus ride. She hated the feeling of puking and thinking about a ride. She might puke at the bus, and she didn't want that to happen.

   She nibbled on the tips of her nails as she stared off into the floor. Mark's sweet voice snapped her out of it as he said a short, "Okay?" as he curiously leaned in.

   With no other argument and concluding it as a win-win situation, she simply nodded and smiled, saying, "Thanks."

   "No worries. You can wash up then rest in the room you were in after. You can go straight to the bathroom right after I give you the towels and clothes. Wait right here."

   Mark then stood straight up and walked to another room within the large villa.

 Mark was still as kind as she saw him back then. Though she may have thought about a second chance at friendship as she was tipsy, or even drunk, maybe it truly is the right answer in now's situation.

   Mark comes back and hands over a clean towel and clean casual wear.

   "Thank you. How do you have this?" She meant the female garments he had on hand, since she was honestly curious.

   "Oh, it's my sisters, Michelle's, you remember her?" Elizabeth nodded at this. " She has a stock here in case she visits since she's too lazy to bring her luggage."

 She started laughing at the answer and said in reply, "That's honestly so like her hahaha."

  Mark smiled at the words.

   "Yep, that's how she is."

   "Thank you Mark. I don't get why you helped me as I was drunk. You could have just gotten my phone and called somebody or something."

   "Stop with the thank you's hahaha... El, it's seriously alright, that's what friends are for."

   "Right... that's what friends are for." She replied with a slight smile. The statement of friendship right now was awkward, but it was better than nothing, so going with it would be an excellent choice. Even though somehow she hated the term.

   Elizabeth then proceeded to the bathroom that Mark used earlier and washed up there. She used Mark's stuff since he didn't have any other products, but she really didn't mind. It smelled good and fresh.

   She got out of the door, feeling more relaxed and better than when she came in. A good bath really heals and calms your nerves in harsh times. She headed to the room where she slept and laid down the nice, comfy bed.

   Not smelling like vomit is so much better.

   A ringing then shoots up her ears which made her stand up almost directly. She turned until she located the sound coming from her phone in the bag beside her bed. She picked up the device and saw that Megan was ringing her phone.

   "Hello Meg?"

   "Eli! Whew, it's good you picked up right away."

   "What's up?" She worriedly asked.

   "Oh, nothing bad. Just that, I just had a meeting with an editor-in-chief for the coverage for this season's show."

   "And?"

   "I overheard them they in dire need of a new writer right now and can't find anyone good. So, with confidence, I recommended you!"

   "What? That's cheating."

   "It's connections, girl. And I put in a good word that you're a great book author and is well versed in the different sections in writing."

   "Well, that's eighty percent true but..."

   "They want to meet you this afternoon! They're that desperate. And they are a popular general magazine as well, so getting this job would be good."

   "I was thinking of not getting on but on second thought, it might be better to not rely on my living expenses on a book I have not finished."

   "That's so right El, that's why I'm telling you to go on this meeting today at 3 P. M at their building.

   "Thank you Meg, I'll go for sure."

   "Aww, you will! You should impress them by busting their asses with your skills."

   "Come on, I'm not that good."

   "You are, and you're almost driving yourself broke, so do well. Bye Bye!"

   The phone then hangs up, and Elizabeth is ecstatic about the news. She was happy how Megan got a good thing going for her. She internally promised herself that she would thank her with a meal if she got this job.

   The feeling of the hangover disappeared almost immediately, replaced with excitement for this afternoon. Maybe it was just the medicine Mark gave her, but who cares.

   Elizabeth was finally going to start earning again!