Chapter 15 #4
“Dalinaaaaaaa, nooooo. She doesn’t wa-nt to talk to me any-mooore,” he said, slurring his words in the language of drunks and completely lacking lucidity, while smiling as if nothing mattered.
“He’s drunk as a skunk,” Niky said.
“Henry, we need to leave. You’re putting on a pathetic show in front of Dalina,” Waylon repeated.
He looked at him again and burst into another laugh.
“I alllllready to-ld youuuu...” he began speaking with a slurred tongue, and I couldn’t take it anymore, so I stood in front of him.
“Henry Woollardy, get up from that couch right now and do what they’re asking you to do.”
Henry looked at me and lost his smile. Then he stretched out his hand and touched my arm.
I crouched down to be at eye level with his face, and almost got dizzy from the smell of alcohol emanating from his body.
It was obvious that what he had spilled on himself wasn’t vomit but an entire bottle of some strong liquor.
“Your sister and your friend are worried. You need to get up and leave this place. Come on! Up!”
Henry looked at me, brought his hand to my face and caressed it, closed his eyes, and collapsed on the couch, unconscious.
“Did he pass out or die from shock?” Niky asked, quickly approaching.
“He passed out. It’s probably better this way. I’ll carry him and we’ll go,” Waylon said, immediately grabbing him and putting him over his shoulders to get him out of there.
Waylon was a tall, strong guy like Henry, but carrying him in that state was quite a feat, though he didn’t complain. Henry, drunk and unconscious, didn’t move at all.
We reached Henry’s car and laid him down in the back seat. Niky, with her hands on her hips, looked at him, and I couldn’t tell if it was with worry, disappointment, or pity.
“Waylon, take your car. You’ve done enough. I’ll take care of driving him home in his car, and Dalina can take mine.”
“No way. How are you going to get him out of there?” he said, pointing at Henry.
“If it were up to me, I’d let him sleep in the car all night,” Niky said.
“I can help her,” I offered. After all, Henry wouldn’t even notice, and I wasn’t going to leave Niky alone with this.
“Let’s do this,” Waylon suggested. “I’ll follow you, help you get him out, and then I’ll leave.”
“I’ll go in your car, drop it off at your house, and then leave too,” I said.
“I can drive you home,” Waylon immediately offered.
“You want to be a dead man,” Niky said with a smile, and Waylon laughed.
The three of us got into the cars and headed to Niky’s house. She was in front with Henry sleeping off his drunkenness in the back seat, I followed in her car, and behind us came Waylon in his.
We arrived at the house, and getting him out of the car required all our strength.
To go up the stairs, Waylon carried him on his shoulders again and took him to what had been his room and the one I had occupied when I stayed at that house.
After he was laid, or rather, dumped on the bed, the three of us stood looking at him.
“Do you need anything else?” Waylon asked.
“Da-li-na,” Henry mumbled, and they both looked at me.
“I think I should go,” I said.
“Waylon, I know I’m taking advantage of your generosity, but can I ask for one more small favor?”
“Of course, tell me what you need.”
“Could you take off his clothes so I can put them in the wash? Because this man has made the house stink.”
“I don’t think I can do it alone. I can hold him up, but I need someone to undress him,” Waylon stated.
“I’m not going to see my brother naked,” Niky said, and again they both looked at me.
Undress him? Had they gone crazy?
“Fine, I’ll do it, but I’m not taking off his underwear,” I stated firmly. “And I ask that you never mention this to him.”
“Not a chance,” Waylon said.
“Me neither,” Niky said. “Let me know when you’re done and give me the clothes so I can put them in the wash, though I’ll tell you I could throw them away or, better yet, set them on fire.
With all the alcohol on those clothes, they’d surely burn right away,” she commented, and left the room, leaving me with Waylon.
His friend approached and lifted him by putting his arms under Henry’s armpits.
I came closer, unbuttoned his shirt, and took it off.
Then it was time for the shoes and socks, and we each took care of one foot.
Taking off his pants was the most difficult part.
Waylon lifted him again so I could pull them down from his waist, and then I just tugged at each leg.
We left him in his underwear, and his friend arranged him on the bed.
Henry didn’t move at all. When he finished positioning him, I noticed his head was twisted, so I approached to fix the pillow.
As I was doing this, Henry mumbled my name again and raised his arms, hugged me, and pulled me down so that I fell on top of him.
I let out a muffled scream, but he didn’t even stir and continued sleeping with me on top of him.
Waylon immediately approached and opened Henry's arms so I could escape from his tight embrace. Henry protested, turned onto his side, and continued sleeping.
“Thank you,” I said, now standing beside the bed.
“Nothing to thank me for.”
“Are you finished?” Niky shouted.
“Let’s cover him up,” Waylon said, and pulled the comforter over his body.
I picked up the clothes from the floor and told Niky she could come in.
“Now I’m leaving,” Waylon said. “Can I give you a ride, Dalina?”
Niky looked at him but didn’t make any further comment.
“It’s not necessary, I can take a taxi,” I stated.
“At this hour it’s better not to be out alone. Please allow me to take you home.”
“Dalina lives at the HAY hotel,” Niky said, and Waylon looked at me in surprise. “She’s the owner of the hotel and lives in the suite.”
“I know the hotel, it’s on my way. Let’s go, I’ll take you.”
“Thank you, then.”
“No problem.”
I approached Niky and said goodbye with a hug.
“Thanks for everything. Don’t worry, he won’t find out that you saw him in this state. Today he not only lost consciousness, he also lost his dignity.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow. Call me if you need anything.”
Waylon also said goodbye and left the room. Before leaving, I approached the bed and gave Henry a kiss on the cheek.
“Goodbye, Henry. Please take care of yourself.”
Henry mumbled my name again, and I turned to find Niky watching me with sadness.
“I’m leaving,” I said, and left before my eyes could fill with tears.
Waylon was waiting for me next to his car. He opened the door for me and, once I was seated, closed it and walked around to sit behind the wheel. For the first few minutes we remained silent, and I focused on looking out the window.
“Dalina, I hope someday you can forgive me. I truly never imagined that a woman was pretending to be you, much less that my friend had been drugged. When I think about it, I can’t forgive myself for helping her get him into the car so she could take him to her place and rob him.
I swear that’s been eating at me,” he stated with anguish.
“There’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t know me.”
“Now I understand why Henry kept you hidden.”
“Hidden?”
“He had told us about you, but whenever we said we wanted to meet you, he always made some excuse.”
I didn’t understand why he was telling me this. It didn’t make me feel good to have confirmation that Henry didn’t even want me to meet his friends, but what he said next left me perplexed.
“You’re very beautiful. Henry probably didn’t trust us.”
“I don’t think that was it. He simply didn’t want me to meet you, just like he didn’t want me to meet his family,” I stated, remembering how he had hesitated to take me to his cousin’s wedding.
“I don’t think he’s that foolish. I’m inclined to believe he was jealous,” he said.
I didn’t say anything more. I wasn’t going to argue about this topic with a man I barely knew.
“My friend has feelings for you,” he stated without warning.
“Would you mind if we stop talking about Henry?”
“I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine, but I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”
“I didn’t know you were the owner of the HAY hotel.”
“I am, along with my brothers.”
“It’s a beautiful hotel.”
“Thank you.”
A few minutes later, we were arriving.
“Thank you for bringing me.”
“It was my pleasure. I hope we’ll see each other again.”
I didn’t say anything and got out of the car.
When I reached the suite, I collapsed onto the sofa. I was distressed after seeing him in that state.
Why are you doing this to yourself, Henry? I wondered.
When I had seen him in that condition, I had wanted to take care of him, protect him, slap him so he would stop drinking, but I didn’t have that right.
I went to bed and collapsed onto it. My mind returned to the moment when he hugged me and I ended up on top of his naked body.
I would have given anything to stay there, taking care of him while he slept.
I closed my eyes and begged for sleep to win the battle so I could rest. At some point, it did.