Last Night

Andrew looked at the clock as he woke up – just after eight. He slid out of bed so as not to disturb Amy and moved towards the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. After the night they’d had, he was certain that Gary, Toby and Rebecca were going to need it. He quickly registered an unexpected woman on the couch, seemingly still asleep, and a very plain brown-paper wrapped box on the counter that separated the kitchen from the lounge.

Both of these were curiosities rather than anything else. It wasn’t the first time that somebody had brought a friend, or even casual acquaintance, to stay over after a night out and, as anonymous as the box seemed to be, there was nothing sinister about it. He idly wondered which of his roommates had brought them back. It couldn’t have been Gary – he and Amy had put him to bed relatively early in the evening, and it had only been the three of them. Gary had taken shots – always a bad idea – but it had led to a really fun evening. At least until he’d passed out.

Andrew took a couple of coffees back to bed. Amy had woken by the time he returned. He handed her one of the coffees and she gave him a grateful smile.

“Anybody else up yet?” she asked whilst holding the steaming cup beneath her nose.

“No,” Andrew replied. “Strange woman on the couch, and a mysterious box on the kitchen counter, but everything else seems normal.”

Amy looked to be considering both facts for a few moments before she shrugged. “Not my problem – I’m staying in bed until somebody else is up to deal with them.”

Andrew nodded to her and climbed back into bed.

Gary struggled out of bed with a groan. He wanted to stay there – he really did. However, his bladder and his head were at war and that is a battle that only ever ends one way. He stumbled through the living room and into the bathroom on autopilot. He didn’t make any noise on the way, managing to avoid falling over anything – later, he would have to make sure that his roommates were suitably grateful for his efforts to let them sleep later.

He paused in the living room on the way back, briefly considering the idea of the coffee that he could smell. It was then that he noticed the box on the counter. He gazed at it for a moment, wondering when it had arrived. Presumably, one of the others must have brought it back, but it was a really weird trophy for their night out. Gary opted for more sleep, rather than caffeine, and when he turned to return to his room, he saw the woman on the sofa.

She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t tell where from. One of the others must have brought her back – possibly along with the box. Either way, he couldn’t just stand and stare at her until she woke up – that would be creepy. And he wanted more sleep. Gary stumbled back to his room and fell back into bed.

Rebecca cursed at the sunlight coming in through her hastily closed curtains and tried to bury her face in her pillows. It was too early. Far too early. However, the smell of coffee managed to get into her room, and she grinned, despite herself. Somebody was already up and had made coffee! It was probably Andrew – possibly Amy, but more likely her boyfriend. She glanced at the clock – almost nine. Ah well – she wasn’t going to get any more sleep, so she might as well get up.

Stumbling through the lounge into the kitchen, Rebecca could hear the shower running – clearly somebody else was up. As she drank the wondrous coffee, Rebecca noticed the box. She squinted at it, wondering where it had come from. Had she brought it? She tried to recall the previous night. A lot of it was a blur, but it had been a good night out. An amazing night out. They’d all started together, of course, and Gary had started on the shots. Always good for a laugh. He’d passed out quickly, and Andrew and Amy had taken him home. However, an hour or so later, he’d reappeared! Toby had moved on by then, but Rebecca had introduced Gary to Stephanie, one of her friends. She hadn’t thought it would lead anywhere, but Stephanie needed a fun evening, and Gary would at least give her that.

She’d gone home shortly after that – she hadn’t had much luck picking anybody up for herself, and Toby had already moved on which ruled out her usual back-up plan. Anyway – she was fairly certain that it wasn’t her box. Rebecca picked it up anyway and gave it a shake like a Christmas present, but it didn’t make any sound. She turned it upside down to see if there was anything on the bottom – there wasn’t. It didn’t seem to have anything on it to indicate who it belonged to.

She was about to open it when she heard the shower stop. Rebecca wasn’t ready to face more people yet, so she picked up her coffee and headed back to her own room, and her own bed. She’d solve the mystery of the box later, when the caffeine had helped her to become human again.

Toby was woken by the sound of the front door closing and immediately looked to his left. No – there was no problem. Dana was still there. Her name was Dana, wasn’t it? He picked up his phone, saw that it was almost nine-thirty and opened the reminder he’d left for himself. Yes – Dana. He idly wondered who had left, surprised that anybody was up and about so early on a Saturday morning after the night they’d all had. Well – most of them had had. Obviously, Andrew and Amy had had to be the sensible ones… he grumbled to them about it, but he had to admit that it was, sometimes, useful to know a couple of them would be sober in case of problems.

By now, there was almost certainly coffee. Toby pulled himself out of bed, not worrying too much if Dana was woken, but pleased when she just continued to sleep, and pulled on a robe before going for the coffee. He noticed the box on the counter – wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. He was sure it hadn’t been there when they left for their night out, but he really hadn’t been paying attention when he’d returned.

Taking a coffee and setting a new pot, he knocked on Andrew and Amy’s door. They were clearly awake by now. After hearing what he thought was probably permission (and at least would provide plausible deniability), he pushed it open and stuck his head in.

“Thanks for the coffee,” he said, seeing that they were awake and reading in bed – probably social media for Andrew, but more likely a novel for Amy. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” said Andrew without looking away from his phone. “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?”

“Nobody to keep you company in your own room?” asked Amy, similarly, not looking from her tablet.

Toby smiled at them. “Company isn’t the problem – just wanted to ask about the box.”

Now Andrew looked at him. “The box? That’s your biggest question?”

What else could it be? He wasn’t going to wonder what they’d done after they brought Gary home. Even though he’d seen Gary out again with a woman, that didn’t suggest that Andrew or Amy had done anything interesting.

“Of course, it’s the box. What else should it be?”

“The woman?” Amy also put down her reading as she spoke, her voice incredulous.

How could they possibly know that he’d brought somebody home last night? OK – so it was a strong bet, but they couldn’t be certain.

“You mean Dana?” Toby asked, his voice showing the confusion he felt.

“Probably,” Andrew responded, his tone non-committal. “Unless there are two strange women in the apartment.”

“Hey,” said Toby, jokingly. “That’s no way to talk about Amy and Rebecca!”

Amy threw a cushion at him.

“Anyway,” Toby continued, “the box? Whose is it?”

“Don’t know,” Amy answered. “Don’t care.”

“I assumed it was Dana’s,” Andrew said.

Toby gave the two of them a grin that he knew would come across as self-satisfied. “I can promise you; it isn’t Dana’s.”

“So, why is she sleeping on the couch?” Andrew asked, his voice incredulous.

“She’s not on the couch,” Toby replied slowly. “She’s in my bed.”

Andrew and Amy looked at each other, and both shrugged. “Seems there are two strange women,” said Amy. “And you only brought one of them home.”

Toby shook his head. “Only one now. She must have gone.”

“You’d think she’s have said goodbye,” Andrew wondered. “Somebody must have brought her.”

“Must have been Gary,” Toby replied. “I saw him with a woman last night, after you brought him home. But anyway – that doesn’t explain the box!”

“If you care so much, just go open it,” Amy said as she picked up her tablet again. She was clearly done with the conversation.

Toby nodded and left the room, intending to do exactly that.

Gary stumbled his way to the kitchen in time to see Toby come out from the other bedroom. He gave his roommate a quiet wave and went to get coffee.

“Is it your box?” Toby asked immediately.

“Good morning to you too,” Gary replied. “No, it’s not my box. Where’s the woman gone?”

Toby raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t get her name?”

“She was asleep!” Gary protested. “I wasn’t going to wake her up to ask her name.”

Toby shook his head. “No, no, no. Whoever this woman was, you brought her home. Don’t you remember any of last night?”

Gary concentrated. “I remember shots, and Andrew bringing me home.”

Rebecca walked out of her room. “Heh, Gary. How are you feeling?”

Gary raised the coffee. “Rough but improving. Did I leave the apartment again after Andrew brought me home?”

Rebecca nodded. “You sure did. How did you get on with Steph?”

“Is it your box?” Toby asked, insistent on getting an explanation.

“No,” Rebecca replied. “It’s not my box.”

“Who’s Steph?” Gary tried to re-enter the conversation.

“The girl I set you up with last night,” Rebecca responded. “You really don’t remember? The two of you seemed to be hitting it off.”

“I’ll say,” Toby joined in. “When I saw the two of you later, assuming it was the same girl, you were definitely getting along well.”

“Why would I leave her on the couch?” Gary asked.

“Why would there be a box?” Toby pushed.

“Enough with the box!” Gary shouted. “You both say Steph seemed to like me, and I seemed to like her, but now she’s gone? What does this mean?”

Rebecca’s phone rang and she quickly answered it, taking the conversation into her own room again.

“Whoever it is, ask about the box!” Toby called after her. Turning his attention back to Gary he continued, “What it means is that you blew it. You had a chance, and she ended up on the couch.”

Gary sat down on the couch. “Wow. And if liked drunk me, she’d love sober me.”

“Wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Toby replied.

Rebecca came back in. “That was Steph. She’s sorry that she left early, but she didn’t want you to be embarrassed – she put you to bed last night, after you passed out again, and then she slept on the couch. It’s her box – she’s asked me to take it to her later today.”

Gary looked at Rebecca, and then looked at the box. “I’ll do that for you,” he said. Maybe it wasn’t too late to make a good impression.