If Life had a Restart Button

Chapter 1

            Megan woke up with a banging headache, and she could swear that her whole body was too sore for her to move. The club’s leather upholstery didn’t help her either with the massive hangover she had that very moment. The sun had barely even risen over Sakura Heights yet Megan hadn’t been home since yesterday when she left for work. She was a proper mess. She was clad in yesterday’s crumpled outfit, her slacks all crumpled, her button-down shirt untucked; her cardigan was tossed to a corner, and her messy bun coming undone with a few hair strands sticking to her moist forehead. She wasn’t sure if it was from the sweat after hours of dancing the night before, or from the uncontrollable tears that she had shed yet again. Last night was nothing but a foggy memory like the rest of the days she had before. All she remembered was downing shot after shot, dancing maniacally on stage, and finally clinging onto Alex as he helped her up to the club’s private rooms where she found herself sleeping in these past few days. She was aware that the situation didn’t look as okay to everyone as she thought it would, especially for a 20-something-year-old professional like her; well-respected, well-looked up to. But she couldn’t care less. Her life was already in a mess as it was. Alex, the club owner, was Megan’s best friend’s college buddy who she had grown very fond of. Lucky for her, Alex was gay and was one of the very few men she trusted herself with. He was like her soul mate, or so they liked to assume with all the things they had shared in common like there common fan-girl crush over a foreign vlogger that Alex admits to be stalking 24/7. She was grateful she met Alex, especially at times like these where she wanted to avoid anyone with a face. But as reality would have it, that would never happen and with the job Megan has, she had no choice.

She stumbled out of Alex’s club at half past 3 in the wee hours of morning, where she waited for a cab that he had called for her earlier. She was leaning against the cold brick wall, trying to remember her schedule for the day. Like usual, her schedule was packed. She had to be at work by 8:30, meet up with 3 clients, go through 2 therapy sessions then pick her niece up from kindergarten. All this plus a stack of paper work to go through was waiting for her, and she hasn’t had any proper sleep yet. She groaned loudly, dreading having to go through another tough day. If she were asked how she thought about her life 2 weeks ago, she’d say it was tough but she enjoyed it. Now, she was dreading it all. Usually, Alex would have been driving her back to the apartment by now. But as luck would have it, he had to rush back home himself a little earlier than he usually did because of a meeting with a business partner that had just returned from a very long trip. Alex had bombarded her with apologies the moment she woke up, and she reassured him that was going to be fine. “I’m almost 30 for Christ’s sake! I can handle myself, Alex. I’ll call you when I get home. I promise.” She had said. Still, he couldn’t shake off the guilt having to leave her wallowing in misery. She has had a rough time lately with the news of the wedding. Alex kept stealing glances at her small figure from inside the club, checking to see if she really was fine. When he looked again, he only saw her back as she climbed inside the cab. He kept his eyes on her until the cab sped off. She will be fine, he assured himself.

            Megan arrived at her apartment a little past 4 a.m. and was welcomed by the buildings security officer with a warm smile. She had moved to the apartment 5 years ago and everyone who lived and worked there had somehow become like family to Megan. She nodded and returned his smile. As she came up to her door, she battled with sleep as she punched in her security code. Inside, as much as she wanted to go to bed, she immediately rushed towards the bathroom taking a cold shower hoping that it would wake her up as much as help her with the troublesome hangover. When she was done, she changed into some joggers as she sat herself down on her messy desk. She either had to finish this now with minimal sleep or doze off to dreamland where she would then have to do it in her office where more work was waiting for her; she chose the former instead. So with her large mug of coffee, she started to go through each of her patients’ files and her clients’ old sessions.