Gen 3 Chapter 3: Part 2- Setting things Straight

Don't forget to read Part 1 before you read this! Oh, you have? Well then, read on!

 

When I got home I made a bee-line for the fridge, and ate a full plate of salad in a matter of seconds. I was starving, and exhausted, but figured I wouldn't be able to sleep if my stomach was on fire all night. As soon as the food hit my stomach, I started feeling better.

As I climbed into bed, (a different bed from last night, because I guess Sonata got up and decided to switch bedrooms) I tried to piece together in my mind what on earth happened tonight. Was it really the alcohol that made me pass out? I was so tired, I was having a hard time pulling up information I had learned about alcohol from medical journals. I'm sure me drinking on an empty stomach wasn't a good idea, and being exhausted didn't help either. But then, why did Ken get sick too? He obviously is an experienced drinker, because he asked the bartender for something "different". I was so confused. Maybe sleeping would help clear my head.

I woke up to the sounds of my sister exercising in the next room. Gah, how early was it? I felt like I could sleep several more hours. I slowly got myself out of bed.

As I stood there, trying to decide if I felt hung over or not, I heard Sonata's phone ring...

"Hey Mom! Sure, head on over, we're here!

-Uh-huh... Yes, she's here too, but I haven't seen her all morning, probably sleeping it off. I think she came in around 3 or so...

-I don't know, I haven't got the chance to talk to her about it. Ok, see you in a few! Bye!"

What were they talking about? Me? Why was my mom asking questions about me, like she knew what happened last night? What time was it? I thought my parents weren't coming until the afternoon.

I called to Sonata, "Hey sis, what time is it?"

"Almost 1 pm. I see the party princess has awoken from her slumber!"

"What I didn't mean to sleep this late! What do you mean party princess?!"

"Symph, you know the powers of the internet. And, you are Mikie Song's daughter."

Oh no.

As I grabbed another plate of salad and ate, Sonata filled me in while she was finishing her workout. Apparently I was the latest disgrace to the town, as the celebrity gossips were saying that I passed out in public. Apparently, some jerk who wanted to hype up what they saw, said I was at the bar with a prominent young doctor, getting completely trashed, and fell out drunk, then had to have security escort me from the building. SO NOT TRUE! Yes, I did pass out, but judging by how ok I felt this morning, maybe I wasn't necessarily drunk, just tired, and tipsy.

"You better go get dressed, Mom and Dad will be here any minute."

Crap. I had to face my parents. I hoped they would believe me.

While I was pulling myself together, Sonata went and let our parents in.

"Hey Mom! Did you find the place ok?"

When I came out of the bedroom, my dad was standing in our living room, looking around.

"Hey Daddy!"

"Symphony! This apartment is beautiful! You like it so far?"

"Oh yes, Dad, it's great!"

I gave him a big hug.

"So, anything you feel like sharing with your old dad? Like, I don't know, how it feels to be escorted out of a building? You certainly don't look hungover today, I'm impressed!"

"No, Daddy! No No No! It so didn't happen like that! You have to believe me! Most of what they said wasn't true at all!"

He laughed. "Oh, honey, I'm just teasing you. I know how the rumor mill works. I had my fair share of public disgraces, and none of them were ever true. So, tell me what really happened."

I told him the whole story. About the drink, and how weird Ken and I both felt, and how my first date ended in disaster, and how I didn't think I got 'drunk' but just drank very poorly.

He said, "Oh my, quite some night you had. Well, it sounds like to me, you just ordered a drink that was too strong for a beginner. Add that to you drinking on an empty stomach, and being completely exhausted, and I could see how that would make you pass out."

"Yes, well, I realize that now. I'm so embarrassed, not only about the rumors, but about what Ken will think."

"Well, if he's as great of a guy as you say he is, I'm sure he will understand. You are a good girl, I knew when I read that story of what happened last night, that it was nothing like the real you. If he knows you, he'll think the same thing."

"Thanks Daddy..."

We visited a little more, and then it was time for them to go. My mom stopped me as they were going out the door, and said, "Hey, sweetie, I know that gossip can be vicious, and they love to exaggerate and make up things, but please, do be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Oh, don't worry mom. I've learned a lot in the last 24 hours, like the do's and don'ts of drinking, when it's a good time to go out and when it's not, and that no matter what, my family loves me. "

"Aw, sweetie, that's good to hear. I love you, take good care of your sister, ok?"

"Ok mom, I will, I promise."

After they finally cleared out,  I decided I needed another nap. This was my last day to catch up on sleep before the work week started again, and I didn't feel like I got enough sleep last night, even though I slept until the afternoon!

Yet again, a phone call woke me up. I looked at the caller ID. It was Ken! Oh my, here we go...."Hello?"

"Symphony! It's so good to hear your voice. How are you feeling, are you ok?"

"Yeah, Ken, I'm just fine. I just think I was exhausted and hungry, and the alcohol didn't sit with me well. I'm ok. What about you? Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm ok too, just extremely embarrassed. Hey, do you think I could come over, and we could talk? I'd rather talk face to face."

"Uh, sure, come on over! Do you know where my place is?"

"Yep sure do. I'll be over in about 20 minutes."

"OK, see ya."

Well, normally I'd be all giddy because Ken was coming to my apartment for the first time, but instead, I was full of apprehension. Was he upset over how things went last night? I'm sure his name was being dragged all over the rumor mill too, was he mad that hanging out with me got him so much bad public attention? I hoped he at least still wanted to be friends. Oh no, I hope all wasn't ruined with him!

So when he arrived, I showed him around my place, and when we ended up back at the dining room, he stood to face me and said, "Ok. I guess we need to talk about what happened last night."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well first off,  I am so sorry that I bailed on you, and didn't even tell you I was leaving the building last night. It was just that nausea hit me so fast, I didn't think I could make it out of there fast enough. I'm a vegetarian, and right before we met at the Plasma club, I must have unknowingly eaten something that had meat in it, meat makes me terribly sick."

"I didn't know you were a vegetarian!" I said in surprise.

"Yes, I am. Sometimes when I get really nauseous like that, I can go outside and breathe fresh air and is subsides, but I guess since I mixed a meal with meat, and alcohol, which my body wasn't used to, it equaled me throwing up in the corner of the lobby, disgusting all of the people watching. I was so embarrassed."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry! That must have been awful. Wait, did you say your body isn't used to alcohol?"

"Yes. I guess I was just trying to look cool, and impress you, but I've never really had an alcoholic drink before."

I giggled. "How funny. I never had either. I was ordering whatever you got, because I had no idea what to ask for!"

He and I both started laughing.

"Well, apparently we ordered a drink that wasn't for newbies like us!"

We laughed again. "Ok, well, let me tell you the TRUTH about what happened to me while you were downstairs." I told him about being tired and hungry, going to look for him and passing out.

"I'm so sorry I left you alone, Symphony! What kind of jerk am I!?"

"It's ok, Ken, it sounds like you had your own issues to deal with."

We both stood in silence for a minute, then busted up laughing again.

"What a match we are. Apparently a night out for simple drinks is way too wild for us."

"I guess so! Well, at least we were both dorks together. Which reminds me, I'm really sorry for all of this going public, and getting twisted around into lies."

"Oh, that's ok, it's kind of cool seeing my name and yours in the news together. I'm sure it will all blow over in a few days."

"Hey, there's something I want to ask you about. Something you said last night. You said to me as we were leaving that you were going to tell me how you felt about me, what did you mean?"

"Oh, I must have been out of my mind! Did I say that out loud!"

"Yes. And I'm not letting you out of it that easily. What did you mean?"

"Well...I...uh. I don't know if I can say after what a fool I made of myself-"

If only he knew that he could never look like a fool to me. I wanted him to know how I felt too. Bravely, I stepped forward, and and looked straight into his eyes.

"You would never look like a fool to me, Ken. Not in a million years."

"Following my lead, he stepped forward too, and gently took my hands in his.

"Symphony, the more time I spend with you, the more obvious it becomes to me what a great pair we are... we're both family oriented, over-emotional, and have no idea how to party properly-"

I laughed at that last bit.

"I never have to hide who I am when I'm with you. You are amazing, and I...I.... I think I'm starting to fall for you."

Everything in me melted to butter. Was I dreaming? Well, either way, I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass by.

"I guess that's a good thing, because I've already fallen for you, Ken."

He and I smiled love-smitten smiles at each other, and he broke the silence by saying, "I'm having a hard time keeping myself from kissing you right now."

That's all I needed to hear. I swiftly, but gently leaned forward, and kissed him softly on the lips.

As I pulled away, he replied, "Oh my. That might become a habit. You better watch it."

I laughed, and asked, "Hm, so does that mean you'd have a problem being my boyfriend?"

"A problem? No I don't think so."

He pulled me in for a hug, but as I turned my face to look him in the eyes, he kissed me. Not the sweet, soft kiss I just gave him, but much more passionate. Quite intoxicating, actually.

When we pulled back for air, he held my face so gently with his hand, and said, "I don't wanna have to say good-bye to you tonight, but I know it's late and we have to work in the morning."

"You don't have to go. You can stay here if you want."

"You have no idea how tempted I am to take you up on that. But, uh, well, it might be too soon for that."

"Oh, no, silly. I didn't mean, like "spend" the night, I meant like, you could sleep over. We have an extra bedroom, you know."

"Wow, don't I feel stupid, of course..."

"Don't feel stupid. Trust me, it's not like that thought didn't cross my mind too."

"You don't mind if I stay then? I promise to be a perfect gentleman."

I giggled yet again. "Of course I don't mind. I trust you."

So, I showed him where my room was, and then went to get changed in the bathroom before I came back to my bed. He was already asleep. Wow, he really was tired!

I quietly slipped  in bed beside him, and surprisingly enough, felt extremely drowsy as my head hit the pillow.

I thought it would be awkward to have a man, or even another person, sleeping beside me. But, it didn't feel that way at all. I was so happy to have him near me, and know that he cared for me the way I cared for him. Right now, that was more than enough for me. He was such a gentleman to be completely happy snoozing beside me. I turned over to fall asleep myself, and felt his warm arm wrap around me. I felt so safe in his arms, I fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, I woke up to my sister yelling from the front door, "I'm leaving for school sis, see ya!"

"Ok! See ya later!" I yelled back. Eek! I wonder if she knew that Ken slept over? Oh well. At least I didn't wake Ken up with my yelling. I tried to sneak out of bed as stealthily as possible so Ken could keep sleeping. He had a longer day ahead of him than I did, as he worked more hours than me, so I figured he could use as much sleep as possible.

As I was eating breakfast, I thought about how extremely happy my heart was right now. I know Ken and I were just starting our relationship, but everything in me told me he was the one, it was just all a matter of time.

After I ate, I went to wake Ken up. We couldn't' help but flirt just a little more before he and I went to get dressed for work.

Well, I could see my life becoming more difficult from now on. All my brain wanted to think about was Ken. Work, medical knowledge, other people, the rest of the world  seemed to fall right out of my mind, and was all replaced with Ken. How do people function when they are in love?

*buckey's notes*- So, there you have it, Symphony finally has a man! So, Ken really is a Vegetarian, and for some reason really did disappear mysteriously right after they got to the bar to drink. I was away checking out what Sonata was doing, and when I came back he was gone! The stomach ache scene happened right before Symph and Ken got on the elevator when they first arrived at the club. Sooooo, I just rearranged the story a little to try to make sense of things, you know. :) And, of course, she really was publicly disgraced for passing out in public. Poor thing! As always, thanks so much for reading! I love hearing from you.  :)