Chapter 12 - a rough morning

Red blinked his eyes open, he felt cold and hungover, it took him a brief moment to remember what happened. He looked down and saw Carla was laid across the sofa, using his stomach as a pillow, he jostled in surprise and she mumbled. He heard the radio and noticed a scent of bacon coming from outside the door. He slowly reached into his jeans and pulled out his phone, it was 11:11. He realised it was the charity bike ride in just under an hour, he felt bloated and a little nauseous from the previous nights overindulgences. He looked at Carla and smiled, she looked adorable sleeping, but he woke her up.

Carla mumbled indecipherably and sat up, her hair was a complete mess... "What? Oh my God, Red, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

&quo t;I fell asleep on you, oh thats embarrasing." She pulled herself pff the sofa. "Oh my head."

"Go, get a glass of water."

Carla nodded and stumbled towards the kitchen. Red could hear muffled talking, but could not decipher the words. A minute later, he heard footsteps coming near and Sofi opened the door carrying toast and orange juice.

She sighed. "I'm going to drive you two to the race." She said and put the breakfast down. "Carla says shes sorry for 'molesting' you last night." She emphasised the word in air quotes and rolled her eyes. "She promised to never drink again."

"Oh? I don't mind."

"Oh, you don't mind?" She repeated in a frustrated tone. "Don't mind because you're polite? Or don't mind because you want to bang her?"

There was a shriek and a loud clatter from the kitchen. "Sofi!" Yelled Carla.

Red was stunned by the bluntness and could only make a vague nod in response.

"Yeah, you're fine, he hasn't tried to run." Sofi said over her shoulder. "and Red, put your shirt on, there are ladies present, it's frightfully rude." she said to him in a sarcastic manner before leaving and shutting the door.

He could hear Carla yelling, but the sound was too muffled to hear the words. This did not last long, before he heard footsteps pass the by towards the bathroom and the faint hissing of a shower came on. He did up his shirt and put his jeans back on, they still felt a little bit tight, he assumed he would have time to change at home.

Ten minutes later, the three of them were leaving. Carla was being much quieter than normal, she was wearing a billowy yellow and green knee length dress and matching headscarf to hide her obviously still wet hair.

They got in the car, Red directed the way to his apartment, here he changed into sweatpants and a hoodie, putting a spare set of jeans and t shirt into his backpack along with a bottle of water, his mouth felt dry and would have preferred to pick up a bottle of energy drink, but figured they were already too late to make a stop. He left the flat again and Sofi helped get the bike in the trunk of the car, it would not fit properly, so they let the rear wheel hang out the back.

The rest of the car journey was quiet, the three of them were tired and had varying degrees of hangover. They arrived at the starting line for the race, almost everyone was there already, mostly faces he recognised from the office, whom he had never seen on bikes before, almost all of them wore lycra and sat on shiny, fancy road racing bikes, he felt a little out of place dressed casually with his black hybrid.

He took the bike out of the car with Sofi and Carla had gone to pick up her collections bucket.

"Why do you guys seem obsessed with these bikes?" Asked Sofi.

"They're fun and economical."

"looks like a waste of effort to me, I stick to cars."

Red climbed on the bike and rode around Sofi in circles, ringing his bell. Carla was running back over carrying a bucket.

"Okay, pay up!" she said, she looked cheerier now.

Sofi and Red both threw in a few crumpled notes. The bucket was almost empty, the riders must have already paid one of the other assistants.

"Thanks guys." She smiled. "Red, you need to have a quick medical before you start."

"Why? It's just a bike ride."

She shrugged. "health and safety. Come on, i'll take you over, make sure the nurse doesn't try and slip a finger!"

"Okay guys." Sofi interjected. "I believe I signed up for a game of cards. I'm taking the car."

Carla nodded. "Have fun, honey, i'll text yo later." She blew a kiss and Sofi got back in the car.

Red waved, Carla grabbed his wrist and took him towards the nurse van. Inside the it was cramped, there nurse was a short, middle aged lady, wearing blue scrubs and a stethoscope.

"Name please." She said in a neutral manner.

"It's Red." She checked her list and ticked it.

"Okay, any pre existing medical conditions? Heart disease? Diabetes?"

"No"

" ;Are you on any medication?"

"Again no."

"Any drugs or alcohol in your system?"

"No."

" I'll take your word on that." The nurse said, looking at the dark rings around his eyes and unbrushed hair. "Height and weight?"

"Erm. Six foot, one hundred and eighty pounds."

She jotted something down, "we'll check that after we do blood pressure. Okay, hold out your arm." Red obliged and let her take the reading. Eventually she said. "Okay, that's fine. Now take off your shoes and stand by the measuring tape."

Red stood up, removed his shoes and stood by the tape which had been nailed to the wall.

"Six feet. Yes, now scales."

Carla gave him a pat on the back amd he stepped up on the scales.

"One Hundred and eighty six." The nurse read. "Nearly half a stone more than you thought."

Carla sniggered and let out a fake cough to cover it. Red was surprised, he only checked it a fortnight ago, could his diet over the last week caused this?

"Okay, your BMI is 25.1, that mean's you're slightly overweight. You just need to make a few changes, maybe cut down on the alcohol." The nurse lectured. "But you're fit and set to go."

Carla and Red exited the van.

"Poor boy." Said Carla, who gave his tummy a poke. "You can cycle it off and still enjoy the barbeque after." She smiled, reassuringly.

"Thanks. I will." Red smiled back. "I'd better go, everyone else seems ready."

"Okay good luck. See you at the end." She waved and walked off to the crowd.

Red sat on his bike at the start, he thought to himself. "Six pounds in a week. That's a lot." But, he neither felt shocked or upset. "That's quite interesting."