Third Wheel

The blaring sound of the alarm prompts Daniel to shoot up from his bed clammering to shut off the alarm that he ment to remove from his alarm settings but never quite remembers to do so. 6:00 am He grunts at the time displayed on his phone. Regretting yet again coming home early in the morning. 2 hours of sleep is not a new concept for him, but the accompanying throbbing of his head was not at all welcome. He heads to the bathroom to wash off the enveloping sticky feeling from the humid air of last night that lingered on him like a layer of thick syrup. He puts on the shower. Freezing cold to shock himself back to reality. "Damn it!" He exclaims at the sharp sensation as the cold water hits his skin. After a few minutes of staring blankly at the marble veins of his porcelain tiles in a sort of tantric state, he snaps out of it and finishes his shower. With a towel on his waist, he inspects his face and contemplates whether to shave his stubble, but the grumbling of his stomach calls for something greasy, so he heads out to his kitchen in search of something to eat. He grabs his ice-cold brewed coffee and frozen bacon, searches for the sliced bread and plops them all on the counter. He then continues to grab all the utensils needed, clinging and clanking, moving in a manner of habit to fix himself up with breakfast to ease his grumbling stomach. The harsh sunlight streaming from the windows wakes a very groggy Kacey. She rubs her eyes open and quickly asses her situation. Where am I? The question in her mind reminded her, snippets of the events that happened last night, but all she could gather was flashes of her drinking what seemed like shots of alcohol, but the problem with that picture is she doesn't drink. Disoriented, she calms herself down by taking in deep breaths, feeling the plush sofa from underneath her, she pulls the fluffiest of blankets close, forgetting for a moment that the view she's seeing is not at all familiar. A clinging and clanking of metal objects snaps her into reality as she jolts up to the direction of the noise. She sees a bare-backed male whipping up something behind the kitchen counter. Oh, no! What did I do? Who is this? Where am I? I need to get out of here. Slowly, let's walk to the front door. Where's my bag? She takes a step back as she looks down in search for her bag. A wave of fear hits her after finding out she was wearing just a button down polo which causes her to hit her leg unto the center table, which sent a surge of pain causing her to scream in pain. "Ow!" As she falls back onto the sofa, she hears a clanging of the pan on the floor coming from the kitchen and the man letting out his frustration is equally caught in surprise. "f**k! Who's there?" Kacey stood as fast as she could to see who the man behind the counter was. There she saw the familiar face of her cousin's friend, Daniel. "KACEY?!" "PARKER?!" Both call out as soon as the situation registers in their mind. Daniel starts to walk out of the counter when Kacey stops him. "Please tell me your dressed down there." Kacey points out, as she was only seeing his naked top half "Your one to speak, is that my shirt? And why are you here in my living room?" Daniel retorts. Kacey quickly pulls the blanket over her to cover up her less than decent number. "I have no idea, but I'm really relieved that it's your condo and not some psycho." She plops onto the sofa. "Do you remember why I'm here?" stupid question she says to herself as she looks at his confused expression. "Does this mess look like I have a clue why you're here?" "Nevermind." she recants. "So what now?" she asks. "Well, since you're here, breakfast? Or half of it at least." Daniel picks up the pan and shows the contents to her. Kacey moves closer to the counter as Daniel sets up a plate for her. "Coffee?" He holds up his brewed coffee. "I'm good thanks, I don't really like coffee. Some water would be nice." He grabs a pitcher of water from the fridge and puts it next to her glass. He stands there observing her as she looks everywhere but avoiding his gaze, then he realizes he is not dressed. "Eat. I'll go ahead and change." He clammers as fast as he could and heads to his bedroom. Kacey smiles at his flustered reaction to everything. It's a side she hasn't seen in him, as they don't cross paths too often. She only knows him as her cousin's friend. Daniel Ellis Parker is an architect by profession. He works with Kacey's cousin Sophie and Husband Aiden on some projects. The three of them have been friends since college and have been thick as thieves ever since Kacey could remember. "So, I found your phone." Kacey jumps at the voice of Daniel from behind her while enjoying her food. "Yes!" she says in glee as Daniel hands her her phone. "Did you also see my glasses anywhere?" "Sorry, but no." She scrolls for any messages and missed calls, but surprisingly, there aren't any. Probably because her parents are still on a cruise and, well, she doesn't have anyone special apart from her fur babies. "Expecting a message?" Daniel asks inquisitively, reveling in this very rare moment of having someone in his apartment and Kacey of all people. Wondering if they spent the night together. . "Uh- no. um there's no- I don't-" she trails and ends up letting out a giggle at this weird situation and Daniel gives out a chuckle at the novelty of it all. " Um- you don't think we -" She starts "I don't think so. If we did, you wouldn't be out here." Daniel says in his most convincing tone. He stares at her blankly while trying to jolt his memory, but none came to mind as he just now notices her in his shirt, deshiveled hair deliciously hanging over one side, the slight blush on her cheeks, her brown eyes glowing brighter like a pool of honey. She shifts a little, hiding her embarrassment as she feels his gaze washing over her. In a sudden shift, the air in the room grows thick. She tries to look around to avoid his gaze as she thinks of what to say next. "So I'd-" before she can finish, the doorbell rings, jolting Daniel as he catches himself staring. He quickly opens the door, revealing Aiden and Sophie with bags of takeout in hand. "Good morning!" Sophie exclaims "Park." Aiden hands Daniel a baggie that smells of waffles "I bought food!" Sophie says while walking towards the kitchen counter, places the food down and hugs Kacey with her other arm. "What happened last night?" Daniel asks Aiden "The usual, eat. Drink. Bar hop." Aiden states "Dude" Daniel exasperates "Oh, you mean this situation? You don't remember?" Sophie catches Dan's frustration. "Well, after the club, Kacey rode with you as collateral because we were going to meet up at the coffee shop but both of you never showed up. I guess you ended up here." Sophie explains, seeing Dan's and Kacey's faces shocked with concern. "Kidding." Sophie finally put them out of their misery as both Dan and Kacey grunted at her for the bad joke. "After the club, we decided to come here because your place is nearer. When we arrived, we partied a little more and then Kacey had way too much and vomited all over her dress, so I asked for a shirt that she could borrow." Sophie hastily explains. " Wait, you didn't think you two-" She teases them both "Sophie!" Daniel and Kacey exclaim as she and Aiden chuckle at the thought. " Come now. Let's eat!" Sophie says as she sees the tension deteriorate gradually. "You don't happen to have my clothes?" Kacey asks, still with a blanket over her. "They're still downstairs at the laundromat."