Paint It Black by Janet Fitch

Author:Janet Fitch
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: FIC000000
ISBN: 9780759568129
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2006-08-31T21:00:00+00:00

20

Sweden

Her headache wound around her forehead, a crown of tequila thorns. Light inflamed the uncurtained windows she had not had the foresight to cover. The clock said 3:00, but it always said that now. She guessed it was more like seven. The light slashed across her eyes like a belt with a metal buckle. Sombreros, a drinking contest. And there next to her, on Michael’s pillow, lay a glowing reddish blond head. Oh God. It had not been a dream. She was fucking strangers in his very own bed.

She staggered into the bathroom, crouched over the rust-stained toilet in which someone had pissed and not flushed, and vomited into the stench. The bitter twice-tasted tequila flooded out in a yellow gush. She waited to vomit again. And then again. She wished she could vomit herself to the bottom, until everything that made her Josie Tyrell came up and there was nothing left but a dried skin, a bug crackle blown by a breath of wind.

She lay on the cold bathroom floor, dragged the bath mat over herself. She could have gotten up, but knew she’d have to vomit again, so she lay on the tiles, shivering, imagining Michael watching her, with that man, that actor, in his bed. This is how much you cared. This? She might as well have taken Nick Nitro up on his offer at Lola Lola’s. At least they would have gone back to his place, not done it here. Fucked in an alley standing up in garbage and been done with it.

She crawled to her knees, pulled down the kimono hanging from the back of the door. It wasn’t warm either, but she didn’t want to be naked anymore. There was only so much nakedness a person could stand, and she had had it. She pulled herself up on the doorknob and tied the robe, the ties so long, she was growing thinner, like a refugee. She ran some water and brushed her teeth. The new tube of toothpaste tasted too strong, she had grown used to Michael’s old-fashioned tooth powder, now buried somewhere in his dark childhood room.

She leaned in the bedroom doorway, wanting to go back to bed, but she could not lie down next to the actor. She felt dizzy and sick, hot and cold all over.

“Get up,” she said hoarsely.

The head didn’t move.

“Get up,” she said. “Wakey wakey.” She went to the bed and shook him.

He groaned. “God, what time is it?” Groping on the bedside table for his watch, knocking over the vase of peacock feathers, that fell heavily on the floor and rolled under the bed. He squinted at the watch. “It’s early.” He sank back down to the pillow.

“No, it’s late,” Josie said. “You have to go now.”

He focused, his arm shielding his eyes from the light. A weak smile came over his face. “Hi, you.”

“Get up.”

He opened the covers to show his muscular body, the ripped abs, the morning hard-on. It was a bit of a wonder, considering.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.