Chapter 3 - Not a great hangover cure

“I’ll have a Stella” said Leah, barely touching her seat before asking for a drink. The request seemed to have caught the waitress off guard. And with reason. “Oh- okay. Yes, for sure. That’s on tap or can?” Leah always thought that was a stupid question. Tap always tasted better. It was like comparing water with pop. Day and night.

“Tap please” she smiled politely. The waitress scribbled something down on a notepad then looked at the dark haired man across from Leah. “And for you? Anything to drink?” Makoto looked at the menu briefly, thoughtfully, then said “I’ll just have a chocolate milk.” Leah almost burst into laughter. “Of course” said the waitress.

Once the waitress was out of earshot, it was Leah’s turn. “Chocolate milk?” she said, barely suppressing a grin. “Yes! Chocolate milk. Is there something wrong with that?” “Not if you’re 5!” “I like chocolate milk! Let me be.” “Oh sorry sorry. Didn’t mean to hurt my poor baby. Here let me go get your soother” She was laughing now. So much for suppressing it. “Alright, alright, you’ve had your fun.” Lead wanted to torment him further but figured she could give him a break. It was only their first date after all.

Hardly a minute went by before the waitress came back with their drinks. “Your Stella” she said, handing Leah the lager. “And your chocolate milk.” “Thank you” said Makoto as he reached out and gently took the drink from the waitress’ hand. “Anyway. How’ve you been?” asked Makoto while taking a sip from his glass, “How’s life been treating you?”
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The rest of the night was a bit of a blur. For both Makoto and Leah. And it wasn’t because of the alcohol. Or, not all because of the alcohol. It was just that conversation seemed to flow between the two of them. Everything natural. New conversation topics popping up like an unwanted YouTube add. It was actually… really nice.

Leah couldn’t remember the last time she had so much fun on a date… come to think of it, it was possible she never had so much fun on a date. But when she woke up the next morning, she definitely remembered the familiar feeling of a hangover dawn over her. “Fucckkk” she groaned, her head throbbing as a result of the night before. How much did she drink? 6 beers maybe? Maybe more? And how much did she eat? Did she eat? She must have.

After Leah managed to roll out of bed, she stumbled into her bathroom. She needed a shower. They always made her feel better after a long night of drinking. Leah turned on the nozzle then got undressed. Once she was fully naked, she realized something. She felt… softer somehow. Her skin squishier than she remembered. Had she gained more weight since the last time she weighed herself? Leah looked beneath her sink. The scale looked back up at her. “Nahh” she said, “It’s probably my imagination.”

So, rather than face her demons, Leah hopped into the shower. The thought of any added weight quickly leaving her mind as the hot water fell onto her face and dripped down her body. Showers were amazing.

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Leah turned the nozzle to shut off the shower, droplets of water now dripping from the shower head periodically, the droplets making a faint “drip drip drip” noise when they hit the ceramics of the bathtub.

Once out of the shower, Leah dried herself off, then threw on some clothes. It was the weekend (thank the heavens) which would normally mean that Leah would just sit in her PJs today but she had plans. Plans to go to the gym. Plans to get into shape. Plans to- *grrr* eat breakfast apparently.

Walking to the kitchen, Leah found an empty pizza box in her recycling bin. She didn’t remember having pizza. Not at home anyway. Strolling up to the bin, she found it was a large pizza. “Maybe Makoto and I had pizza last night?” She thought, trying to piece together the mystery of the empty pizza box.

Realizing it didn’t really matter, Leah continued on to her initial destination: the kitchen. She pulled out some eggs from her fridge and some breakfast sausages. Turning on the over, she began to cook them. Normally, Leah wouldn’t have more than 2 eggs and a sausage. But she was feeling a little more hungry this morning so she threw on an extra egg and an extra sausage. Just to get her day going. No point in going to the gym with an empty stomach.

While her food was cooking, Leah decided to make a smoothie. It was going to be a work out smoothie which meant she put protein powder in it. This would add a couple extra calories to the smoothie but that didn’t matter. She was going to the gym. She could use the extra calories.

Once she was done, the brown eyed girl poured the smoothie into a glass, grabbed her breakfast, and sat down. Leah was more hungry than usual so she ate quickly. Her sausages and eggs disappearing as if she had taken a vacuum to her plate. It was a weird thing. Being this hungry this early in the morning. But there was a first for everything. There was no cause for alarm.

After finishing her smoothie, Leah stumbled on to her room where she changed into her gym clothes. A pair of leggings and a sports bra were all she would need today. While she pulled up her leggings, a quiet ripping noise which was barely audible echoed across the room. Leah thought she heard something but the noise was too faint. Too brief to notice. So, she continued pulling them up. They were a little tighter than she remembered. Granted, it had been a long while since she last put them on. It was possible that she had just simply forgotten how they felt on her. Anything was possible.

Forgetting about the tightness of her leggings, Leah moved to put her sports bra on. She bent down to pick it up from her bed when- she paused. There was that noise again. More pronounced this time. Leah could have sworn it sounded like her pants had ripped. She looked down and did a brief inspection of her pants. All seemed to be in order. No rips. None that she could see anyway. No cause for alarm. So, Leah brushed off the thought, grabbed her bag, and headed for the gym.


The gym was harsh. Cold. And full of sweaty people. But every gym was like that. She threw her bag in a locker then began her routine. After about 5minutes, she noticed someone looking at her. A man. Looked like he was staring at her ass. “Pervert” she thought as she moved from the treadmill to another machine that was further away from the perv. A few seconds past when she felt another pair of eyes on her. She looked around and noticed another person staring at her. A girl this time. “Lesbian maybe?” It wouldn’t have been the first girl to stare at her ass. Say one thing about Leah, say she had a nice ass. She smiled and continued her workout.

About half way through, Leah had seen at least 10 people sneak a glance her way. Both men and women. She was starting to feel self conscious. Was she doing something wrong? No. She’d been a gym rat once upon a time. She knew how to do a workout. So then what?

Feeling uneasy, Leah decided to wrap up her workout. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to complete the whole thing, but half a workout was better than nothing. Leah moved to the squat bench and lifted the bar. She bent down once. Twice. Three times before she felt something. A cool air tickled her ass with each squat. It was an uncomfortable feeling. Like someone was gently blowing on her ass with each squat. She looked behind her. No one was there. “Weird” she thought as she finished her last squad. But she was done now, her breath still heavy from the workout. Heavier than usual. That was to be expected though. It had been a while since she last found herself in a gym.

Leah grabbed her stuff from her locker, and left. And as if on que, her stomach growled the second she left the building. Hungry? Again? She was on a diet now. Maybe she could have a snack when she got home. Something small. Something – her stomach growled again, louder this time. Something like McDonalds. A big mac maybe. Yes a big mac was the perfect thing. With a coke. And maybe a small fry. Her stomach grumbled again. “A large order of fries then” thought Leah. “With a brownie for dessert”.