9. Confidant

“Another one!”, yelled the girl at the bar. She was already lying face-down on the counter while holding up her empty glass. Ben walked over to her and exchanged it for a glass of water. She pulled herself up and took a sip: “This doesn’t taste like anything! I want booze! This is a pub! Why won’t you give me booze, Ben!”

And back into her arms on the counter her face went. Ben was getting worried. Ophelia often came straight from work and was then joined by her boyfriend and sometimes her brother. But it was almost midnight and Ophelia didn’t seem to expect anyone. Maybe she and her boyfriend broke up. That would certainly be one explanation.

“Ben! Come here! I have to tell you a secret!”, she tried to whisper, but it still came out as brawling. “I wasn’t sick. I was just really upset and in the hospital and couldn’t deal with all of the drama. Maybe I was drama sick. Is that a type of sickness? They should allow you to take drama leave. You do medicine, Ben. Do you know doctors who could make this real?” Ophelia stared at him with big drunk eyes.

“Ophelia, do you want to tell me what happened?”, Ben sat down across from her and pushed some nuts in her direction. It was almost empty, so he wasn’t tied up.

While chewing the nuts, Ophelia answered: “It’s all Harry’s fault! And Larry wasn’t helping either! So, Harry wanted to do this stupid prank, but it wasn’t even funny! He wanted to scare his uncle, but my father came by and a bag of peanut flips exploded in his face. And he’s allergic to peanuts! And Larry got mad at Harry and then punched him with our dog’s pillow and Harry is allergic to dogs! So then both my father and Harry were in the hospital. And Larry and Harry just kept fighting when Harry was feeling better. I was just standing there. But then I was crying and couldn’t breathe. And I don’t have any allergies, but they gave me something, and then I slept and when I woke up, they sent a doctor’s note to work, and now I’m fired”. She buried her head back into her arms.

Ben patted her back. The amount of alcohol in Ophelia’s blood suddenly seemed a lot more justified. He didn’t know what to say to comfort her, but since she just kept going, that didn’t matter.

“Do you know the worst part? I would have done so well on that project! But I didn’t finish and forgot to send what I had, and my laptop was home. And the people at the hospital wanted to keep me there. Do you know why I wanted to work on that project? I love Denmark! It’s so hygge and cute!”, at that Ophelia started crying. Ben kept patting her back.
“Maybe you should move there”, was the first thing that came to his mind.
Ophelia jerked up: “I should move to Denmark, right!? I don’t have a job or a boyfriend here any more. You are a sage Ben! Call me a cab while I’m in the bathroom!” And to the bathroom the stumbled.

As Ben reached for his phone, he felt a fortune cookie. Again? I was barely an extra in this scene. Confidant? He raised an eyebrow. I suppose that checks out.