to Josh.
“We were not. You’re inebriated, Angie. Shame on you!”
“Joshua, go to your room.”
“Why should I? No! I’m moving out and Angie is going to come and visit me. When I move to England, she’s coming to visit me there, too. So, Pop, what do you have to say to that?”
“Talk to me when you’re sober, and I will have plenty to say. These ladies need to go home right now. You need to go to bed, Joshua.”
Josh looked over at Angie and said, “He only calls me Joshua when he’s really mad. Come along, fair lady, I always see my dates home. Do you want me to stay with you until I find an apartment?”
“Sure,” Angie said agreeably. “Mom can stay here. Win-win. Works for everybody. I think I’m going to be sick.”
Eva fixed her angry gaze on Josh, and said, “Young man, I am holding you personally responsible for my daughter’s condition. Do something!”
Josh stepped up to the plate for the second time that evening. “And I and I alone accept that responsibility.” He offered up a second sweeping bow and fell over, toppling one of the kitchen chairs. “The meter is running,” he said as Angie bolted for the kitchen door.
“Do something, Angus!” Eva hissed.
“It’s your daughter who’s…Well, she’s…”
“Your son got my daughter drunk. Don’t deny it.”
From his position on the floor Josh said, “No, no, she got that way all by herself. She had so many ideas.” A moment later he was sound asleep on the kitchen floor.
Angus shrugged. Eva did her best not to laugh.
Angie came back and looked down at Josh. “He’s not…dead, is he?”
“I’m thinking tomorrow morning he might wish he was,” Angus said.
Angie sat down on the floor next to Josh. “Oh, I had so many ideas. Josh liked all my ideas.” She untangled herself and laid her head on Josh’s stomach.
“I say we just leave them here,” Eva said. “I’ll let the taxi driver go. You get some blankets and pillows.”
“Then what?” Angus asked.
“Do you want me to draw you a map, Angus? Do you want to make your son out to be a liar? We’re going to canoodle.”
“Oh!” Angus wondered if Eva picked up on the anxiety in his voice.
And then she was back in the kitchen, a wicked gleam in her eyes.
Chapter Five
The sun was just making its way to the horizon when Josh stirred on the kitchen floor. He felt like a ton of bricks was sitting on top of his chest. Somehow, he managed to crank open one eye. A nanosecond later, his other eye flew open. He gasped. The woman wrapped around his torso stirred and mumbled something he couldn’t quite hear. Josh moved. Then the woman moved and rolled over onto the floor. She was awake in an instant, looking around as she tried to figure out where she was and why she was lying on a strange kitchen floor. A tortured groan escaped her lips.
Josh groaned in sync as he struggled to sit up. His eyes were as wild-looking as his hair, which was standing on end. Angie didn’t look much better.
“Ah, did we…? What I mean is…Do you remember?” he finished lamely.
Angie rubbed her temples in an attempt to ease the pounding in her head. “No, I don’t think, and…No, I don’t know,” she said just as lamely.
“Why are we…? We slept on the floor?” Josh asked this as though sleeping on the floor was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. “Why did we do that?” he asked as he got to his feet. He stretched out a long arm to pull Angie to her feet.
“Maybe because we were drunk?” It was a question and a statement.
Josh looked down at the floor to see the pillows and blankets. He cursed under his breath as he pointed them out to Angie. She looked away in embarrassment. “Are you sure we didn’t…?”
“I think I would remember that,” Josh said, walking over to the coffeepot. He thought his head was going to pound right off his neck. He filled the pot, measured coffee, and pressed a button. “Do you want some orange juice?”
“I didn’t even brush my teeth. It feels like something is growing in my mouth,” Angie said. “No on the orange juice. Oh, God, we left our cars at the Jade Pagoda. Now I have to walk there to get it. Damn. I look like someone who just…”
“Had a wild night of sex?” Josh asked.
“Stop saying that. We didn’t…I’m almost…No, I’m sure