“Righting Wrongs”

Alex woke up to the sound of his alarm clock going off. After a few moments of cursing the blasted thing for waking him from a particularly nice dream he was having, he was able to will his arm into reaching out for the clock and switching of the alarm.

He lay there a moment, basking in his accomplishment and relishing the silence that followed.

Finally remembering why he’d set the alarm to begin with, Alex let out a big yawn, stretched and opened his tired, bloodshot eyes. Today his new friends, Andy and Lucy, were getting married and he’d promised to be there.

He heaved himself over onto his back and propped up onto his elbows, then looked down to survey his condition. Last night he and some of the other guys in town had taken Andy out to the bar for “one last shout”, as his Aussie friends had put it, and they’d all managed to get pretty shit-faced before calling it a night. Truth be told, he only had a slight recollection of the limo-ride home and wondered to himself how he’d ever managed to get himself all the way up the stairs and into his room – where he’d apparently collapsed, fully clothed, face-down on his bed, before passing out.

Once he was sure the room had stopped spinning, Alex sat up straight and swung his legs over the side of the bed, steadying himself a moment for attempting to stand. His legs felt a bit like lead until he tried to stand on them, then they went all jelly-like on him, causing him to sway a bit on his feet.

First things first – shower, change then coffee, and lots of it! After slipping out of his clothes and taking care of all the basic necessities, he headed downstairs to see about getting a hot cup of joe before heading over to the church.

Naturally, Andy’s place was closed this morning, as they were preparing it for the reception there after the wedding, so Alex decided to drive over to Colin’s place instead and see about bumming a cup from him. Besides, he figured Colin might need a wake-up call this morning, as well as a ride to the church since the man still couldn’t drive due to his broken leg.

On his way over, his thoughts turned to the new friendship he’d started with Colin and what had led up to it. Alex couldn’t help but feel guilty about the way he’d aided in breaking Colin and Abby up, something he hoped his new friend wouldn’t find out about. Her husband, Dwayne, had hired him to locate her, and if it wasn’t for him, Abby and Colin might still be together.

Of course, he hadn’t known either of them back then, he surmised, and he’d only been doing a job he’d been paid to do. Paid well, too! It was only when he found Colin stumbling through the back door of Millie’s, covered with mud and his leg broken, that Alex began to feel the guilt of what he’d done. Now, he planned on making amends, righting the wrongs he’d done, so-to-speak, by helping Colin out whatever way he could.

Last night had been a big step towards that, too. He’d actually managed to find Colin a cute little honey of a girl there at the bar. Hell, if he hadn’t of felt so guilty about his part in breaking up him and Abby, Alex might have had a go at the gal in the bar himself! Hopefully, if things had gone well, she’d still be around there this morning when he stopped by. Colin was a good man, Alex thought, and he deserved to be happy.

He pulled into the drive in front of Colin’s house and parked his car. Lights were on upstairs. Good sign. Well, unless the poor bastard was too shit-faced to turn them off last night, he chuckled to himself, thinking again about the condition he had found himself in that morning.

He looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror, hoping he’d be able to someday like the man he saw staring back at him once again. He hated himself for what he’d become, for what he’d done to Colin, as well as others...for the jobs he took in order to pay a few bills. Now, however, he had some work to do... setting his conscience as well as his life right again.

TBC...