A.S.A:

Kira:
I wake up in pain. My whole body hurts. My head feels like it's going to explode. My mouth is dry and my eyes are a crusting nest. I sit on the floor, contemplating the disaster around me. There are two empty whiskey bottles and one of wine. There is also the pizza box I ordered days ago, I'm naked from the waist up, I'm puzzled over the sticky state of the skin of my breasts, I would say that instead of eating the pizza I bathed with it.
I grunt, leaving all the mess in the livingroom and stumble up to the bathroom. I stink of alcohol and stale cheese, so getting in the shower, washing my whole body and even my hair. My chin is shaking. I thought I'd never do this again, I always do the same thing, I get drunk and cry like an idiot at each new disappointment. I'm exasperated with myself, I'm no longer a silly sixteen yer old girl, i'm not a credulous teenager any more, I'm a grown, liberated, empowered, independent woman, who knows what she wants... and has masterfully screwed things up!
Maybe I should have stayed home last night, maybe I should have discussed things with him, demanded that he be honest and tell me if he had someone else. But those doubts, accompanied by my growing feelings, made me irrational. I don't handle falling in love well… and I was. The girls were right, I'd been smiling for no apparent reason like an idiot for days.
What's done is done, well, there is no going back. I quickly look at the digital clock, it's ten in the morning. Shit! The girls of the beauty salon are going to kill me.

000

Damn thongs and damn Aphrodite!

I´ve come to work in the salon but the girls forbade me to go near the scissors, the dyes, the sink, well... they have forbidden me to move a finger. I'm uncoordinated, it seems like I'm in zombie mode.
Kelly and Andrea look at me with piteous expressions. Mila and Jess have made me drink three different kinds of coffee and also made me swallow a Tylenol.
—You look like shit.- Kelly whispers.
— Thank you.- It's true. I'm pale and haggard, I look like the corpse bride.
They look at each other and an awkward silence reigns among us.
— Go ahead, ask, I'm not going to charge you.- I grunt.
— Did something bad happen last night? - Mila ventured.
— Did you and the guy you're dating had a row? - Inquires Jess
— Did he hurt you, did he hit you?- Andrea whispers.
I sigh, squeezing the cup of hot coffee in my hands and wiping the treacherous tear that runs down my cheek.
— None of the above.
— Then why have you come to work in this state? - Kelly asks.
My friends have closed the salon. They're sitting in chairs around me, I huff, this looks like a mutual help group session, sort of like A.S.A: Anonymous Sex Addicts.
— What happened was that I didn´t wait for him in my apartment, I put on the red dress, the black high heels and... - I spit the whole sad story at once. - Then I got drunk.
The girls look at me puzzled.
Andrea takes the empty cup from my hands and looks at me seriously.
— It isn´t like I want to be the voice of your conscience Kira, but we have seen this pattern before.
— Yes. You did the same with Marco, Sebas and Raúl. - Jess informs.
I frown at them.
— It's true. You digged so much that the three of them ended up having a monstrous flaw, therefore you determined they only served you for casual sex. We all know, they wanted something more serious with you.- Mila says.
— Marco is a little boy controlled by his mother, Sebas is very immature and Raúl is... He is...
— He's married. He got bored of waiting for you and got married.- Jess says.
— He still calls me, sometimes.- I answer bluntly.
Everyone stares at me.

— Dont look at me like that, of course I ignore his calls, the married man thing I already did once and I've no intention of repeating all that drama.
— Anyway... - Andrea continues - ... it’s... good that you're a modern girl but at some point you have to settle down, darling.
— All men are not like Niko, not all of us are lucky enough to find a Niko.- I say through my teeth.
Andrea's husband is perfect, just perfect. They became a couple in high school and have been together for twenty years, ten since they've been married. Still, the man seems as in love with her as he was on the first day. His eyes sparkle when he sees her. It's romantic, and downright annoying.
— We aren´t asking you to find a Niko. Only that you are willing to risk a little more, emotionally.- advises Andrea.
— What for?- Kelly protests. - Every time she tries, the guy break her heart.
— It may be, but this time she screwed things up. - Mila comments.
—The man has a girlfriend. - defends Jess.
—We don't know that. Not even she is totally sure about it. - Andrea answers.
— Hey, girls, I'm right here.- I say indignantly.
Kelly bites her lip and continues.
— What you need is to confront him. Call him and have him clarify it for you.
They all look at me expectantly. I love my friends, seriously. We have known each other forever.
Kelly is the beautiful one, who looks like a porcelain doll, dresses as if she is a hippie and is gay.
Andrea has always been the reasonable one, the person in charge, to whom we all go for advice.
Mila is... complicated. She is unhappy in her marriage, her husband has been unfaithful to her with his secretary for years, she takes revenge by shiting on him every time we go out to Mykonos.
And Jess is the baby of the group, she's barely nineteen, she's Andrea's younger sister and she's going through a bit of a late emophase.
I lick my lips, looking at them nervously.
— There is something even worse that I haven't told you.
— What could be worse than the fact that you've sabotaged your possible relationship with a man who fucks and I quote... ‘‘As God commands''? - Jess asks, interested.
— Well, after getting drunk I... ah... I sent him some quite obscene voicemails and photos.
They all grunt.