New Life : A Second Chance

"Chris?" Xing Han said, "So who was he? What was he like? What did he look like?"

Kyle shrugged.

"I don't remember," Kyle replied.

"Huh?"

"As Kylie, I suffer from alcohol blackouts,"* Kyle revealed, "I forget everything whenever I am drunk. The last thing I remember was coming here, downing a few drinks and then ... the next morning. He was gone."

Kylie had a drinking problem, though she didn't think it was serious. She simply drank a lot to help her tide the days, and when her spouse wasn't around or not interested.

Such heavy drinking caused her to have these blackouts. It didn't mean that she fainted, but rather, she just could not remember anything at all. She was conscious and even appeared rational, but retained no memories.

Kyle sighed.

The guilt ate at him because of that night and he finally stopped drinking because of it. He had also been more tolerant of his spouse and inattentiveness.

Even now, Kyle was very careful about drinking and would not want to fall into that trap anymore.

They reached the cab then, and they finally started their move to the airport. During the ride, Kyle's mind went back to that fateful night.

? Flashback??

The ringing of the phone entered Kylie's subconscious mind and it took her a minute or two before it registered in her mind what the sound was.

Reaching out groggily, she stumbled towards where the sound was coming from and picked up the phone, mumbling, "Yes?"

"Ms. Raine, this is your wake-up call at 3am," came the voice on the other line."

Huh? Raine? Who is this Raine? Wake-up call? Wrong number?!

Slowly, Kylie's muddled mind came into focus.

Wait.

She looked around in a daze and a panic. She's not at home! And it's 3am?!

"Ms. Raine?" came the voice on the other line.

"Oh, yes. Yes, sorry. Thank you," Kylie replied, putting down the phone quickly. There was no sign of anyone else in the room, but there was a note on the dresser.

Taking it, she read, "Thank you for the wonderful night and the talk. It cleared up a lot of things for me. I will cherish this night forever - Chris."

Raine groaned and banged the pillow.

Her mind was fuzzy still but seeing her undressed state, it was obvious what had happened. Yet, her legs didn't feel weak or anything.

Her heart beating rapidly, she quickly touched herself and reached in to check something for confirmation.

Nothing.

She checked the dustbin and the surrounding area.

No used condoms.

Kylie checked her body and groaned. Although there were?lots of love bites, there were no sticky residue.

Kylie hit her head and swore never to drink again. She didn't think she would have a blackout this time, for she hadn't touched a drink for nearly a year! Why? Oh, just why was her body like this??

She had just been so agitated by her husband's apathy and after the latest rejection, she had to go out. She lied and told her husband that she was meeting up with the girls and he waved her off.

She thought it was safe. Obviously not.

Picking up the paper again, she cringed.

Chris, huh? It sounds like a foreigner, most likely a tourist that was in the area.

Guilt assailed Kylie.

She had cheated on her husband with another man, but fortunately, they hadn't gone all the way. Not that it absolved her of any fault, of course.

Then she got depressed again.

What sort of man would do that? A half-naked woman and they had obviously done things, but he hadn't gone all the way? Had he been so?upset with her body or her reactions, so he stopped?

Kylie laughed bitterly, thinking that at least, it had been good for something.

She quickly got dressed and left.

When she found that the room had already been paid for, Kylie sent a silent thanks to the unknown Chris.

Thinking about it, Chris had been a real gentleman.

After calming down, Kylie realised that it may not have been that he had been repulsed by her. That had been her own low self-esteem talking.

Chris had not taken advantage of her. From the positioning of all the love bites, it was obvious that he had not been repulsed by her body. It had been everywhere! He also arranged for the wake-up call so that she would not go home too late and paid for everything.

She also felt guilty for not feeling that guilty. Did that make any sense? Even though she didn't remember what had happened, there as this sense of peace she had inside.

Kylie sighed as she walked out. She took a cab home and swore never to drink again.

? End of Flashback??