#65: The Morning After (and the morning after that)

"Ugggghhhhhh," Alice exhaled, as she eased herself into a chair after she finally rolled out of bed about noon on Saturday.

 "Hey, sleepyhead!" Bill teased Alice.  "How you feeling???"

"Pretty bad," Alice admitted.  "And I have to go to work in a couple hours, and I still have 2 more dishes to prepare."

"Regina and I were pretty surprised that you went at the cocktails so hard last night," Bill said carefully.  "But I guess you were really stressed out."

Bill could see that Alice wasn't much in the mood for conversation.  "Well, you'll be happy to know you've got the place to yourself," he said, getting up from the table.

"Regina's out collecting seeds for her garden," he explained, "and I'm going over to Derek and Kelly's to put in a side door while they're on their honeymoon."

"And where's Dude?" Alice asked, trying to sound casual.

"On tour, of course," Bill reminded her.  "The band van came to pick him up at 6:00 this morning."

Regina got back to the house after Alice had left for work, and started a new garden.

After installing Derek's new side door, and an outdoor light,

Bill spent most of the evening fishing, got up to Level 3, and was able to give Regina some fish to fertilize her garden.

Alice returned home at 10:00 p.m.  "Well, against all odds, I actually got promoted today," she announced.

"That's great, Alice!" Regina congratulated her.

Alice made a quick salad, and Regina kept her company while she ate.

"You see?" Regina said encouragingly.  "It's always darkest before the dawn!"

"Yeah, maybe I was making too much of it," Alice admitted.  "I'm just so MAD at myself for falling off the wagon."

"Alice, it's not that you can't have a drink now and then--just maybe not a half dozen at a time."

."Well, I'm giving up and going to bed," Alice said, plodding up the stairs.  "I'm sooooo exhausted."

'Oh, geez,' Alice moaned, getting into bed, too tired even to hang up her uniform.

'Why do I still feel so crappy a whole day later?' she wondered, clutching her forehead.  'I guess I'm really out of practice with drinking....'

_______________

The next morning, Alice had her answer.