"Hey! Time to get up, you lazy bum!"
I felt something slapping me in the face, which woke me up. As soon as I sat up, I felt a sharp pain deep inside my head.
What the hell happened? Where am I? Was there someone here?
Squinting my eyes, I scanned my environment. After realizing where I was, it all came back to me.
Last night...
"Alexis?" I said, hoarsely. "Alexis, where are you?"
My hangover prevented me from standing up. I laid back down. I realized I slept on one of Alan's nice couches the whole night. The last thing I remember was seeing Alan and Alexis going at it in the pool.
"I said," Alan grabbed a hold of my ear, "it's time to get up!" Alan threw me off of his couch by the ear. The pain hurts a lot on top of the hangover I was feeling. I fell on the floor face down. Even though the floor was carpeted, it still hurt like hell.
I heard a loud "clink" next to me.
"Here," Alan said. "This will help with your hangover. I need you at 100% in a few minutes. We have a big day today!" His voice trailed off as he exited the room.
Big day? What did he mean by that?
Still on the floor, I looked up to my right to see a drink on the edge of the glass coffee table. For some reason, the thought of using a coaster crossed my mind.
I slowly started getting up with the help of the couch I was still on. I pulled myself up until I was sitting down on the couch. It was then that I realized I was still naked. I nervously looked around for anything to cover myself up with. To my relief, there was a towel underneath me. I quickly covered my privates with it.
I stared at the drink Alan had left for me, debating whether I should drink it or not.
"Where's Alexis?" I called out. Even talking loudly gave me a headache.
"She's fine," Alan said from another room. "After another great night with me, she went back to your room. I told her I would have you sleep here for the night!"
That seemed...pretty nice of him? But at this point, I knew Alan well enough that he had something else up his sleeve.
"She said it was very sweet of me. Even gave me a kiss for it!" Alan laughed.
It made my head hurt even worse.
"Last night was amazing. Alexis couldn't get enough-" Alan was talking as he entered the room, but then stopped when he saw me. "Hey! Hurry the fuck up and drink that! You don't have all fucking day. We need to start the next phase in our plan!"
Alan walked away and entered another room.
What next phase? What plan? Our plan?
I wanted to press the issue further but I thought it best to drink Alan's mystery concoction before he gets really upset.
Upon first glance, it looked like it could be sweet tea, with its dark brown, yet transparent, complexion. It's cold when I picked up the glass. I took a small sip. The taste was revolting.
I gagged, dry heaving a little. I covered my mouth in fear of throwing up in Alan's room. Alan must've heard me.
"It tastes like shit, but it'll knock out anything bad in your system. You'll feel better within the hour. Just in time for you to get ready."
I didn't know what he meant by that, nor did I want to drink his "special" concoction. But if he was telling the truth, then I wouldn't mind. Just as long as it could get rid of this awful hangover.
Taking sips was not going to work. It still tastes just as bad as if I took big gulps. I resigned to chugging the whole thing while pinching my nose.
Ugh. Why was there so much?
Even after I drank it all, the aftertaste lingered. It took all of my willpower to keep the questionable substance down. And that wasn't easy.
I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths until I felt okay.
"Now there's a good boy," Alan said, entering the room. He had on a white dress shirt in with khakis and shoes to go with it. "I have to take care of some business this morning before I start the day." He was fixing the buttons from his left wrist collar.
"In a few minutes, you'll be on your way back to Alexis. When you see her, you're going to tell her you have this incredible idea. That after talking with me and how you discovered I never married, you want her to marry me and live like a married couple for 24 hours. Got it?"
Alan gave me a moment to let his words sink in. I must still be drunk because I don't think I heard him correctly.
"Wait, what...?" I mumbled.
"I thought about it and you know what? She's never going to know what it's like to be married to a real man. It seems like a damn shame. And unfair to the poor girl. So I figured, why not give her a taste of what it's like to be married to a man like me." Alan grinned.
That's what I thought I heard.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Alan, you-"
Slap!
He slapped me across the face with his backhand, making me fall back down on the couch. I massaged my cheek as Alan spoke again.
"It's going to hurt worse every time you fuck up. Keep it up." Alan resumed fixing his wrist collar.
"S-sir...you can't marry Alexis," I said meekly.
"Why not?"
His reply bewildered me.
"Because she's...ya know...married to me."
"Right. For now. Just get your marriage annulled."
He said it so "matter of fact" -ly, it almost made me speechless.
"You want to marry...Alexis?"
"Sure, why not? I've never been married before. I've always been curious what the hype was about. What better opportunity than now."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Alan wanted to marry Alexis. My Alexis. Was it even possible?
"She'll never go through with it. I know her." I remained seated, looking down at the floor in astonishment.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I mean, no sane proper woman in the 21st century would ever do something like that. Not even for her husband." After finishing the buttons on his wrist collar, he stuck his hand in his right pocket, only to take something out of it. "But with these," he continued, "she'll be more than happy to oblige."
I looked up to see what he had in his hand.
My heart sank.
The "special" pills.
"I've already put some in the same type of drink I just gave you, for her. I told her to drink it as soon as she wakes up which shouldn't be long now."
What was he doing? Why was he so bent on breaking up my relationship with Alexis? If we already passed the point of no return, we just passed through another dimension.
"Because the idea is a little extreme, I recommend you double the dosage. Don't worry, it won't hurt her but she will be more susceptible than usual." Alan walked over to a nearby mirror to check himself.
"I-I-I don't think I can do this," I felt sick.
"Sure you can, bud. You have no choice. Remember?" He smiled at me through the mirror.
"But I love Alexis. You don't."
"Of course not. This is just hitting two birds with one stone. Well, more like three birds, to be exact."
I started taking deep breaths again, controlling the sickness I was feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"First, Alexis will know what it's truly like to be married to a real man, for a change. It's only fair for her, right?" He asked rhetorically.
"Second, I'll get to experience being a husband for a day. When my time comes, I can leave this earth saying I've tried the married life," he joked. "And third, and I think this is the most important," Alan turned around to look at me, "this is a part of your punishment."
I was on the verge of crying. I didn't know what he meant by that. As if reading my mind, he helped me remember.
"I told you already that being married to a woman like Alexis is wrong. It messes up the order of evolution. I feel it is my duty as an alpha male to put others below me in their proper place."
This was insane. He's insane. I couldn't let him do this. I couldn't let him get away with it.
"So you're going to help me. Not just because I'm blackmailing you," Alan walked up to me and kneeled down.
"Look at me."
I looked up at him with tears in my eyes.
"Because you know, that deep down, you feel the same way. That you don't deserve a woman like Alexis. It's wrong. If we're being honest with each other, I really am helping you realize that. Right?"
His question was not rhetorical this time. Alan waited for me to answer him.
I just nodded weakly.
In some messed up way, he wasn't wrong. I knew I was lucky being with Alexis. I don't know what she sees in me. Maybe being married to someone like Alan will realize her mistake. Maybe not.
"Good. Now, after she's on board, head over to the courthouse to get your marriage annulled. She'll probably want to talk to me first just to make sure I'm okay with it. To which I'll morph back to my gentleman self."
At least he doesn't want to make a big thing out of it. I can't imagine if he wanted to do a ceremony too That reminded me of my own ceremony. All of Alexis' family and friends were there. My family was smaller than hers, especially friends, but it was still a very nice ceremony and reception.
"After that, we'll spend the rest of the day on the island doing whatever the hell newlyweds usually do."
Alan had everything planned out. It's no wonder why he's in the position he is in now. Such confidence and discipline can give a lot of power to one man.
"And we'll end the night with a bang. I promise you she won't forget it."
It worried me a lot that I had no idea what he had in store for her. What else could he possibly do?
"And you know what, buddy? You're going to be with us the whole day too. I need someone to document our magical day together."
My god. He wanted me to record the whole thing too? That means there will always be evidence today actually happened.