The Morning After – Fiona Law – 2670 words (Humour / Romance)

Waking up with a hangover and in a strange room Jean tries to remember what she did the night before - and with whom. Her antics at her snobbish cousin's engagement party are revealed in flashbacks as she pieces together her memories.  Family competitiveness, family ties and new friendships are exposed as Jean recalls the events that led to her being in this hotel room.  As her cousin slots the last puzzle piece into place, Jean is filled with relief and the promise of romance adds to the light heartedness of the tale.

The Morning After

Dreams dance and jangle to pulsing bursts of noise, they bend and warp into the glare of morning sunlight on closed eyes. Nausea creeps in, sliding sleep aside. And a headache sits on Jean’s head like a demon, its claws pressing in, tightening. She peeps through the slits of her leaden eyelids and opens her mouth. A dry rasp is all she can muster. She groans and turns. Through throbs and waves of ache and nausea she remembers…

…Jean, having been trumped yet again by her prettier cousin, stood in the sun lounge of Pembleton Halls – Historical Manor House, now open to the public to hire for functions – and watched the other guests mingling in their designer eveningwear as they celebrated her cousin’s engagement.

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