CHAPTER ONE

Laurie sat across the table from him, her head resting on her hand. She pretended she cared about what he said, even though most o fit was unable to be understood through his slurred speech. He sipped what had to be his sixth Manhattan. She waved the waiter over.
 
"Can I get the bill now, please?" she said. The waiter nodded and gave her a sympathetic look after he glanced at the man across the table from her.

"Thanks f...for picking this up. I can't bel...believe I left my wallet at home," the man said.
 
"No problem Mark," Laurie said, pulling out her charge card. After she got it back with a receipt, she stood up. Mark nearly fell over trying to do the same.

"Whoa there," she said, grabbing his arm and hoping that no one else in the restaurant had seen him. She helped him to a Taxi, and they rode to his apartment. On the way there, it seemed that Mark couldn't keep his hands to himself. Laurie slid over in the seat as far as she could to keep some distance between them. Drunk men made her sick, especially when they got too feely.

"Let me help you up to your place,"she said. She'd rather have just left him to get upstairs on his own, but her conscience wouldn't let her.
 
"Wait for me," she told the cab driver. Laurie grasped Mark's arm and helped him to the elevator.

"So you want to come up to my place?" Mark asked suggestively once the doors had closed.

Laurie rolled her eyes. "No, I'll just go home."
 
Mark moved closer to her, sliding his arm around her waist. "Come on, It'll be fun," he said.

A drunk guy trying to make out with me. Oh yea, loads of fun, she thought. "No, really, that's ok. I have a plane to catch tomorrow," she told him, silently praying that he would accept the excuse and let her leave without any trouble.

He didn't.

Instead he pulled her closer to him and pressed his lips against hers. He reeked of liquor, and the smell made Laurie want to puke. She pulled back. "Mark, no-" She was cut off when he pulled her face to his again, this time his hands moving all over her. Laurie realized that talking wasn't going to work with him. So she did the only other thing she could do. She fought.
 
She shoved him away, and in his drunken state he fell onto the floor of the elevator. He scrambled back up and tried to pull her down. Laurie kicked his hand, and he fell back again. He pulled himself up, and just as he tried to make a run at her, the doors opened. Laurie shoved him through the opening and hit the 'door close' button. The elevator began its descent back to the first floor.

This never would have happened with Nick, she thought to herself. She immediately dismissed the idea. "Nick's not coming back. Stop acting like he will," she whispered to herself. She walked quickly out to the cab, and sat down quietly as she rode home.