Bad Booze Nostalgia.

The taste was terrible. His tongue stuck to the roof of the mouth. His right arm was trapped under his torso. The room was actually spinning as he opened his eyes.

Paddy woke not wanting to move his head. he knew it was coming. He sat up. He was still fully clothed, but his blue jeans were open. The button unfastened and the zip fully down. Lipstick was on his boxers. He had fallen asleep on top of the duvet.

Once upright, he ran his bony fingers through his thick black hair. As he did so, he found a lady's pink clip in his hair. He held it between his fingers, not recognising it.

The heating was on in the room and his arm felt tingly. One of his socks lay on the floor near the door to the box room at the top of the stairs. The door was ajar, opening out onto the wide landing.

He saw his army jacket on the floor near the bathroom and a pair of lady's pink frilly knickers beside it.
Then saw a matching bra at the entrance to Alan's room. A partially deflated red balloon was attached to the bannister with string.

Paddy wandered into the bathroom to splash water on his face. He heard snoring from inside the bathroom. Jonjo was fast asleep in the bath clutching a rubber duck, with two empty cans of beer either side of him. A large bath towel covered some of him.

As Paddy turned on the tap, he saw his car keys in the sink. He had left his car at home and got a taxi back to Alan's house here.

Shaking his head and putting the keys into his pocket, he noticed his distinctive lime green toothbrush - how was that here? As he looked up at himself in the mirror, he saw a large cut on the corner of his right eyebrow and blood splatters on his t-shirt. Flexing his knuckles, he saw they were bruised too.

He tried remembering what had happened, but came up empty. Searching his pockets for clues, he found one unused condom and three small yellow tablets. They weren't his - Paddy never took drugs.

His wedding band was missing.

Scratching his head, he returned to the bed he had slept in. As he passed Alan's bedroom, he looked in. A slim naked brunette lay beside him. And she wasn't his wife.

Another brunette with familiar looking lipstick, lay fully clothed on the mat at the foot of the bed. The blue mat had two yellow pills near her hand.

Descending the stairs, beer bottles and cans littered the floor and units.

The kitchen was empty, but a complete and utter mess. It looked like a room after a row rather than a party. One chair was smashed and green glass was broken to smithereens near the sliding doors. Two knives sat on the chopping board with traces of blood on the blades.

Paddy noticed white powder on the counter top.

Opening the double doors into the living room, he saw one man he didn't recognise. He looked like he was asleep on the white leather couch. He was dressed in a shell tracksuit and trainers.

Then Paddy suddenly saw the stark contrast of red on white.

What confused him more was what he saw out the front window. 

Why was his car impaled in the fence? And who was at the wheel dressed like the man beside him?