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by sticking my finger down my throat, but all that does is make me gag. Why is no one helping me?
     
    He walks for what seems like forever, and somewhere along the way I either fall asleep or black out. When I open my eyes again, I'm somewhere soft and warm and without smoke smell. And I have the world's worst headache.
     
    "Where am I?" I manage to whisper without making my head explode. A lamp comes on in the darkness, and I can see a man sitting in a chair next to me. He doesn't look amused. "Reed?"
     
    "Good morning. Well, it's one in the morning, but morning nonetheless." He definitely isn't amused at all. Shit. My first night as an intern and I get drunk and don't show up. Nice.
     
    "My head is killing me," I say as I try to sit up while holding my forehead. Instead, I get a jabbing pain and lay back down. "I'm so sorry, Reed."
     
    "Don't bother, Willow. When I gave you the internship, I didn't know you were a party animal. I need someone I can trust with deadlines and actually showing up, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to..."
     
    I sit straight up and push past the pain in my head. "No. Please, Reed. You don't understand. This isn't who I am normally. That Emmy girl invited me, and I caved. That was the first time I've had alcohol in my life, and I obviously cannot handle it."
     
    He moves closer and sits down on the coffee table across from me. "You've never drank before?"
     
    "No. I know, I'm square," I say rolling my eyes.
     
    "Square?"
     
    "It's a word. People say it."  He laughs a little and hands me an icepack from a bowl on the table. "Here. Use this for your head. And take these," he says handing me three orange pills. "Ibuprofen."
     
    I swallow the pills and put the ice on my head before lying back against the sofa pillow. "How'd you know where I was?"
     
    "When you didn't show up, I was hoping I was wrong but I decided to check. I found you snuggled up with some guy, and I didn't like it..."
     
    "Wait. You didn't like it? What is that supposed to mean?"
     
    "It means I didn't want him taking advantage of you in your situation, Willow."
     
    "It sure didn't sound like that's what you meant," I say smiling.
     
    "Don't read anything into it. You're a beautiful girl, but I'm not focused on relationships right now." He stands up and turns on another light.
     
    "I didn't say anything about a relationship, Reed. Get over yourself," I mumble without thinking. Way to go, Willow. Lose the internship completely.
     
    "Look, I was just being nice, okay? I've only known you a couple of days, but I didn't like seeing you in that position." He hands me some crackers. "Eat these. They'll settle your stomach."
     
    He's really pissing me off now. Bossing me around, telling me I'm beautiful. Wait, did he say I was beautiful or did I imagine that?
     
    "I'm sorry I let you down, and it won't happen again. I was just trying to fit in. Be normal again." Oops. I did not mean to say that part.
     
    "Normal again? When weren't you normal?" he asks as he sits back down.
     
    "Nevermind," I say as I stand up and then woozily fall back down.
     
    "Willow?" he whispers.
     
    "Yes?" I whisper back.
     
    "You're not going anywhere."
     
    "You can't keep me here. Drive me home please."
     
    "Your parents gonna be okay with you coming home drunk?"
     
    "No." I am positive that seeing me drunk will upset my mother quite a bit.
     
    "Then stay. I live here alone, and you can get some sleep." I look around and realize this isn't a dorm room. It's a nice apartment or condo of some kind, and I can still hear the ocean waves.
     
    "Where are we?"
     
    "Just off campus. Lexington Glen." Whoa. Those are the nicest condos in town. Bruce owns the complex, so I ought to know.
     
    "Nice place," I say.
     
    "You should know," he says with a smile.
     
    "Yeah, well, Bruce might be rich but I'm not. This is an impressive place you've got here."
     
    "Oh, please, Willow," he says as he sits down beside me. "Your house is a mansion on the