Through the Screen novel Chapter 54

unknown: hey man, thanks for keeping me company at the bar

noah sighed, running his fingers through the greasy mop of hair on his head and slumping back into the soft cushioned backrest of his recliner. he had a pulsing headache when he woke up this morning, a sticky note pasted to the fridge by adrian who informed him that he had went to school.

noah was feeling terrible.

both because of the guilt of leaving his child alone at night to drink away his pettiness and because of his self assumptions about abel. he felt like he wasn't good enough of a person, let alone be a father or a husband, and the reality of the situation was only clawing at his skull, begging to break free.

this feeling of apathy when it comes to abel and the utter ignorance towards adrian was doing nothing but filling a pool of guilt in the pit of his stomach, and he decided to be slightly rational, wanting to make up to both of them.

he regretted giving a random man his number, for god's sake, he didn't even remember his name. last night for him was full of self pity and confusion, and degrading talks with an absolute stranger about his family.

he had missed work today as well, not giving any notices, nor answering any calls from his office because he was simply tired. the cup of coffee he had managed to make when he woke up was sitting next to him, the temperature of the hot liquid quickly melting away into a cold, bitter and unappetising mess, just like noah's life.

noah was in no mood to hang out with a person he met while he was absolutely wasted, he didn't know anything about him and while noah may have found him interesting under the intoxication of alcohol, he might find him unbelievably annoying when he's sober.

so noah decided not to reply to his text, and picked up the unattended mug, pressing his lips against the edge and letting the mildly warm liquid slide down his throat.

noah was surprised at how much it tasted like his life.