The Protege

He stirred the ice cubes in his vodka with a finger. As if not satisfied with what he felt, he picked up another couple of cubes and added them to the glass. The plonking of the ice cubes was the only sound that came out of the dark room. He resumed his stirring without as much as a second glance at the glass as if he were in a trance. He then picked the glass up and drained it in one gulp. Just then his cell phone beeped to signal the arrival of a message. He had no doubt it was her. His hand moved towards the table but it completely ignored the cell, instead he reached out to the near empty bottle lying there. He moved the bottle in his hands, gazing at the shimmering liquid inside. He put the bottle to hsi lips and drained its contents. And then, as was inevitable, he collapsed in his chair.

~

It was still dark outside when he woke up with chainsaws and jackhammers pounding in his head. The digital clock, displayed prominently on his desktop, showed the time to be 4:52:37 am. As he was trying to rouse himself  from the mires of slumber he was aware of an irritating buzz coming from somewhere near him.  He groped in the dark till he found the source of his irritation: it was his cellphone. Not yet fully awake, he pressed the answer button, and a groggy voice, that was not quite his own, said hello. 

Caller: Why have you been ignoring me?

It was her. The sound of her voice pierced through the alcohol induced sleep and suddenly his bloodshot eyes were wide open. As he spoke the next line, What do you think, the words themselves seemed to taste bitter, for he spat before continuing Are you sure that's the question that you want to ask?

to be continued