<strong>Danielle Avena<br/>Home<br/>Alone | with Tristyn at 3am - morning</strong><br/><hr/><br/>Sana had given Michelle and her a silent ride home. Danielle was tired, more from her tears than her anger, and had drifted off to sleep along the way. Once home, she said her farewells and exited the car. She entered her apartment building and took the lift to the 14th floor. She inserted her key into the lock, unlocked the door and went in. The digital clock on the shelf read 12:17am. She closed the door and locked and proceed to go to the bedroom. She removed her jacket and the things in her pockets, including the phone with that dreaded message. Upon unlocking the phone's standby screen, she saw the damned message and realize these sequences of words made her anxious for nothing.<strong>"Bamn you, father of Phoenix!"</strong>she shouted and deleted the message from her phone. With the message gone, all that was left was the picture that Sana took of Tristyn and them. For the first time in the first twenty minutes of today, she smiled, remembering the fun, the drama, and the talks they had that night. All the good and bad summed up to a result that was better than this message, which fell into the oblivious of deletion.<br/><br/>She sent a simple text to her boss, asking if it was alright for her to cover the new mall nearby. With all the drama from her rejection towards Tristyn's proposal out of her head, she chose to focus on something that kept her spirits up. With her message to her boss finished and awaiting approval, she laid herself on the bed, not bothering to change or get under the covers.<br/><hr/><br/><em>Around 3am...</em><br/><br/>Danielle did not sleep that well and woke out of her short slumber by a bang at the front door of her apartment. "Dammit, locked," Danielle recognized Tristyn's voice behind the door. She got out of bed and looked out from the door frame that separated the living area with the bedroom. She watched the door, hoping Tristyn would come in. When he didn't, she hoped she wasn't hearing things or that the person behind the door was just another drunk stumbling into the wrong door. Out of all the times Tristyn and her went out, he never drank past his limit. She couldn't even recall a time where he was drunk, either in public or under her private eye.<br/><br/>She went back to the bed, slowly, hoping Tristyn would come home. It had been 3am when she woke and she hoped either Tristyn was bunking with a friend from the Navy or on his way home. She grew worried as the clock hit 3:05am. At 3:06am, the door to their apartment opened and wonder if the person stumbling in had been the same drunk from before, thinking he somehow had the door opened for him. She turned off the light and got out of bed to see who the intruder was.<br/><br/>Danielle saw a glimpse of Larry, the maintenance man, who waved goodbye as he closed the door behind him. On the couch she saw a incapacitated Tristyn who reeked of a unique, sweet and spicy mix of alcohol. She couldn't bear to get within personal distance to him. Since he was here, unaware she was home and out cold and off to sleep, Danielle smiled. She knew Tristyn couldn't hear her, but she talked to him anyway.<strong>"I'm sorry, baby. I'm the stupid one. I let your father's E-mail scare me into rejecting your proposal. And, oh, how it was the best proposal ever. I'm stupid. I should have said yes to you."</strong>If I did, we would have went home together and had newly-engaged sex, she thought, smiling at the thought.<strong>"I hope you'll try again and not give up on my, baby. Next time, I'll say yes, I promise you."</strong><br/><br/>Danielle disappeared back into the room, only to come out with a blanket, which she covered Tristyn with. She went back into the bedroom and slept the best she could.<br/><hr/><br/><em>Around 7am...</em><br/><br/>Danielle awoke to her vibrating and ringtone-blaring phone. She got up, realizing it was stupid once she had straighten up since she got a headache from rising too quickly. She was startled, for the ringtone was not her alarm clock, but an actual incoming call. She fumbled for the phone, answering the call at the last minute. It was her boss.<strong>"Yes, I'll ... I'll be there, Mrs. de Pardo,"</strong>she said, ending the call quickly and getting off the bed to prepare herself. A quick shower and change of clothes later, she was out of the bedroom, with her camera, laptop, phone and anything else she needed for the day. Upon getting out of the bedroom, she smelled the hint of the mixture of alcohol from the couch, seeing Tristyn lying on his side still asleep. She smiled and before she went out, she lit a lavender candle, hoping the scent would cover the wretched stench from whatever Tristyn drank last night. Danielle also hoped the candle along with the blanket would let him know that she was home and still cared for him under the roof above them.