Annabelle thought the pounding was all in her head at first, but after it continued for a good minute she realized that it was coming from her front door.
"Hold on." She screamed, and the sound of her own voice shot waves of pain through her skull. She had never been a big drinker, and after last night she was pretty sure she would never drink again.
Slowly she got out of bed and started walking towards the door. She had to stop, the pain in her ankle shooting up her leg. She was not a happy camper.
Neither was Layla who, the second Annabelle opened the door, stormed in. She had a newspaper in hand and was screaming so loudly that Annabelle had to cover her ears.
"You stupid cow!" Layla was waving her arms around wildly, occasionally thrusting the newspaper in Annabelle's face. "You stupid, cheating cow."
Annabelle shook her head. All of it was to much. The hangover, the screaming. She couldn't focus, couldn't even take in half the stuff that Layla was going on about.
"Slow down." Annabelle stood up straight, trying to snap out of her fog. It wasn't really working. "What did I do, and why are you mad about it?"
Layla didn't say anything this time. She just handed Annabelle the newspaper.
There on the front page of the gossip section was a picture of Annabelle locking lips with a young man. The headline read Is She or Isn't She?
Annabelle wanted to throw up.
"You stupid whore. You use me and then you run right into the arms of... of... that guy!" Layla was getting right in Annabelle's face as she spoke.
Enough was enough. Annabelle pushed past Layla and walked over to the front door, throwing it open. She didn't speak, she just pointed. She wanted that crazy bitch out of her studio apartment that instant.
"I'm not going anywhere." Layla didn't move, she just stood there, arms crossed, hips cocked to the side, her lips pursed with defiance. "You're not going to get off the hook that easily."
"Nothing happened last night." Annabelle closed her eyes, shaking her head. Her life was turning into a mess. "Even if it did Layla, what the hell would it matter to you?"
"So I was just your experiment? You were just trying me on for size?" Layla's voice was low, threatening. She was walking towards Annabelle now, her gaze fixed.
"No." Annabelle stood her ground, getting ready for the fight. "No, that guy helped me last night. I didn't sleep with him. I didn't want to. He made me realize something. I want to be with a woman."
Layla stopped, shock on her face. She almost looked happy, but Annabelle was not going to let that fly. No one stormed into her place, threatened her and then got away with it. If this was how Layla acted then she wanted nothing to do with her.
"Then you and I can..." Layla's whole body relaxed.
"I want to be with a woman, but not you." Annabelle was getting pissed. "Not some crazy bitch whose going to fly off the handle every time some paparazzi shoots some picture of me. Not you Layla. Not again. Not ever."
Annabelle didn't even wait for Layla to respond. She just grabbed her boss by the shoulders and shoved her into the hallway, slamming the door behind her.
Her hangover was gone, replaced with something else. Confidence. She knew who she was, what she wanted, and what she for sure as hell didn't want.
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