She couldn't remember how she got there. Realizing she's on the floor, Meena gets to her knees and starts rolling her shoulders and shaking her head as if she could literally shake off the pounding headache that was consuming her thoughts. Looking around the room, remnants of the night before began to take shape in her memory. She slumps crossed legged and her head falls into her lap.


Frustrated, her body shoots upright and she yells "Fuuuuuck, I can't believe I did this shit AGAIN!!."


Looking up at her perfectly made bed, then down on the floor where she slept, her eyes follow the trail of clothes that lay scattered on the floor all the way up to the entrance of the bathroom. After composing herself for a moment, she takes a giant inhale of breath and exhales slowly.


Under her breath she says "How many drinks did you have?"


Another giant inhale, she holds it this time just a little bit longer, gives her back a stretch and reaches for the sky and says quietly, "Ok, you're ok, are you ok?"


In one motion she goes from cross legged to standing on her feet and instantly regrets it.


"Daaaamn, head rush!! This fucking sucks." at her wits end.


Her hands collide with her face as she rubs her eyes and puts her hands through her hair and shakes it out tiredly. Slow small steps she makes her way to the standing mirror that's placed against her bedroom wall, makes eye contact and just stares at herself.


"You're such a slob, what are you doing with yourself." she continues to talk to her reflection as she gets closer and closer to the mirror to get a good look at herself. "Meena get it together, you can't keep doing this shit!"


Using the mirror she gives herself a thorough examination and notices dark bruises on her biceps and her thighs. The face in the mirror reflects concern as she tries to piece together what could've happened to her.


"What the fuck happened to you... sheeesh, you really fucked yourself up last night."


Slowly she turns from the mirror, head down looking at the floor. Locating a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, she throws them sloppily onto her body and makes her way towards her bed. That's where she notices her phone neatly placed onto the middle of the bed.


"At least something had a good sleep last night, fucks sake," she says sarcastically.


Grabbing the phone in frustration, it recognizes her face, unlocks and she sees no notifications. Not surprised at all by this, she throws the phone onto the bed and falls face first into her pillow. After a few minutes of wallowing and self pity she rolls over, grabs her phone again and begins to message her coworker Anne to see if anything unusual happened last night.


"Hey Anne"


She stares at the screen and waits for the check mark to double up and go blue.


Anne replies, "Hey girl, you good?"


Meena looks at the screen concerned, "Yeah, I'm ok...

"I'm a little extra hungover from last night but fuck it, I guess I'll be ok."


"That's messed up, you didn't even drink that much!!" Anne exclaims.


"Right??? That's what I thought."

"What the hell Anne, why do I feel like I got hit by a bus?"

"I have bruises on my arms and legs."

"Did I get into a fight or something?"


She waits, the screen says "typing..."


"No Em, you were pretty good when you left, you got in an uber and went home."


More confusion settles on Meena's face as she looks at Annes reply.


Anne continues "You were talking to that older lady for a bit, she came outside with you before the uber showed up."


Looking at the screen in disbelief she says to herself, "Old lady?? What the fuck is she talking about."


She continues to stare at the screen and fight with her memory trying to remember any of what Anne is talking about.

Her eyes are glued to the message as if she stares at it hard enough the memory of last night will fall into place, but nothing happens. After a few moments of exasperation, she resigns her attempts of recollection and replies to Anne one more time.


"Honestly Anne, I have no idea what you're talking about, thx for telling me that though, I'm gonna jump in the shower and I'll see you later."


For now she decides to pay the events of last night no mind and continues on with her life. Going through the motions of a functional human she showers the feeling of grossness off her body, brushes her teeth and tries to put her face together but the lack of a good sleep is showing itself. Walking back into her room she scavenges the floor for appropriate clothes to leave her one bedroom apartment with, and settles on jeans, a tank top, and a giant hoody overtop to bury herself in. Taking one last look in the mirror she puts the hoody on, walks out the room and past the tiny kitchen that's only big enough for a fridge and a stove and two chairs that are facing a table big enough to host two regular sized humans, eating out of two plates. Opening the fridge she grabs one remaining red apple and a bottle of water. Turning her head to the one drawer in the kitchen, she pulls it open with urgency to reveal the ever present bottle of tylenol. As if it's an everyday occurrence she effortlessly pops the top of the bottle of pills and the bottle of water, tosses two of them into her mouth and takes a giant gulp from the bottle.