Drunken Mistakes

***All characters are over 18 and are fictional. Any resemblance to any real-life persons or situations is purely coincidental.

...

Alan couldn't blame Julia for what happened; she had way too much to drink that night and wasn't thinking clearly. The incident started at their company's annual New Year's party. They were usually a lot of fun with plenty of alcohol. Everybody they worked with was there, and most of them had a date, be it a spouse or a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Julia was there with her boyfriend Thomas, while Alan, on the other hand, had to go alone. His fiancé, Becky, was stuck in Canada when she was visiting some friends for a couple of days, and her flight had to be canceled because of engine problems, so she couldn't make it back in time. So, she's spending New Year's with her friends in Canada while Alan is here alone with his friends and colleagues.

Alan explained Becky's absence to everyone at the party, and they understood. Some of the guys joked that he should've brought a date and Becky would never know. The joke didn't fly well with some of the other ladies at the party. Although Julia did have a good laugh about it, she was cool like that.

That night, Julia was wearing a tight black dress with one shoulder strap. She was about 5'4", with nice curves and long black hair. Alan once had a crush on her back when they were in college together, but it never went anywhere, which was a good thing because she was a cool friend to have and Alan didn't want to jeopardize the friendship. Plus, he knew that if he had done something back then, he probably would never have met his Becky.

The night was going pretty smoothly. Everybody was dancing, telling stories and jokes, and sharing office gossip. They told each other their New Year's resolutions and then joked about which ones they would give up on first. Around 11 p.m., the usual suspects began to get drunk and had to be kept an eye on because they needed supervision and were most likely not allowed to drive. Alan was grateful there were companies like Uber and Lyft for these occasions.

It was about that time when Alan noticed something was going on with Julia and her boyfriend. He saw them in the far-off corner of the party, arguing but trying not to show it because there were people around. Alan wasn't sure what they were arguing about, but it caused Julia to storm off and Thomas to follow her. It looked like she was going to leave the party, but they went into one of the empty offices, probably to talk things out in private.

"Looks like Julia is celebrating early," someone next to Alan said.

Alan looked over and saw Jake Miles smiling at him. He was the office pervert, so it was no surprise to Alan that sex was the first thing that came to mind for him.

A minute later, Julia and Thomas left the office, not looking happy. Juia walked back to the party, pretending that everything was normal, while Thomas stormed off and left the party.

"That didn't take long," said Jake. "I would've gone twice as long for her."

"Sixty seconds is still bad," Alan told him.

Jake didn't like that joke at his expense, but Alan didn't care. Alan didn't know where Jake got the idea that they were friends, but he would always try to hang out with him, and it almost always led to him making dirty jokes.

Julia walked up to Alan just as Jake walked away to hit on an intern who was too hot for him.

"Is everything alright?" Alan asked.

"Everything is great," she said with a big fake smile.

"I saw what happened, you want to talk about it?"

"No, what I want to do is drink."

They went to the liquor table in the conference that held a variety of drinks for everyone. Alan opened two beer bottles and handed one to Julia, who drank half of it in three seconds.

"I'm sorry, Alan," she said. "It's just that Thomas can be such an ass."

"I understand, but you should take it easy."

"I'll be fine," she said before finishing off the beer and grabbing another one.

"That's what you said in the last year of college--"

"Don't you dare say it," she said angrily.

"When you broke up with your boyfriend--"

"You are such a bastard," she said, smiling this time.

"And you got drunk at the frat party and started stripping on a pool table."

She laughed hard, and then they both drank another glass of champagne.

"And if it wasn't for you, I would've gone upstairs with those two football players," she said.

"Something I'm not sure if you appreciated or hated me for."

"Appreciated," she said. "Although I wouldn't mind a couple of football players screwing me right now."

They eventually separated to mingle with their colleagues at the party. Julia seemed fine when she went off to speak to a couple of her girlfriends, so Alan went off to speak to a couple of guys about their predictions for which team is very likely to win the Super Bowl.

Just before midnight, everyone paired off with their significant others to be ready for the countdown. This upset Alan as he had a woman to share a kiss with, but she was stuck in another country. There were a few others in the same position, so at least he wasn't alone, but he still felt left out.

When it was time for the countdown, everyone counted down from ten seconds, and when the clock hit zero, everyone cheered, chanted "Happy New Year," and kissed the person next to them. Alan simply stood in the back and observed the happy couples kissing.

Afterwards, Alan remembered about Julia and looked around for her. He found her by the liquor table getting herself another drink, and he could tell she had already had too much by the way she was spilling the bottle of vodka she was trying to pour for herself.

"I think you've had enough," Alan said, trying to get the bottle away from her.

"Shut up, I know what I'm doing," she said as she walked away from him.

Over the next hour, Julia got more wasted as she was bumping into people and laughing inappropriately at the dumbest things. He didn't see the whole thing because he was on the phone with Becky, seeing how she was. She complained about the cold and wished she was back home with Alan.

When he was finished with his phone call, he found Julia was so wasted she was flirting with Jake; worse yet, it looked like she was getting ready to leave the party with him. Alan had to intervene and run through a bunch of people before they got on the elevator.

"It's OK, Jake, I got her," Alan told Jake as he tried to take Julia away from him.

"No, dude, it's OK, I got this one," he said with that usual perverted smile on his face.

"I know where she lives."

"I thought I'd just take her to my place; it's closer."

"You're not taking her anywhere, Jake," Alan replied sternly.

"Let's ask Julia," he said. "Julia, who do you want to leave here with?"

Jake was very sure of himself that Julia would say she wanted to go with him because she was drunk and didn't know any better.

"ALAN!" She said, laughing at Jake's smug face. "I want to go with my buddy, Alan."

She pushed Jake away and gave Alan a big hug.

"Take me home, buddy," she said.

"Will do, buddy," he replied.

Jake stormed off, mumbling to himself about how he hadn't gotten laid in several months.

Another coworker friend at the party helped Alan get Julia into his car. He offered to buy her an Uber so Alan wouldn't have to drive her, but he told him it was no problem. Plus, he knew the surge rates would be crazy at this time, so he was saving that friend a lot of money. Also, even if they gave Julia an Uber ride home, there's no telling if she'd make it up the several floors to her apartment in her current state.

But the ride back to Julia's place was no picnic. She kept playing around with Alan's radio settings, playing with the stuff in his glove compartments, sticking her finger in his face as he was driving, and laughing about how squishy his cheeks felt. He was OK with it because he understood she was drunk. Also, he planned to tell her about her behavior when they got back to work after the holiday and make fun of her for it. He knew her well; she would be embarrassed but always liked to have a good laugh at her own expense. Also, she would've done the same thing for him if the situation was the other way around.

When they got to her apartment, she was hanging off Alan's shoulder as they entered the doorway. She pointed to where her bedroom was, and he dragged her all the way there.

"Here we are," he said.

"Thank you, Alan," she said. "You're awesome."

In the bedroom, he got her on the bed and took off her shoes. There was nothing else for him to do for her at this point, so he figured he should just leave.

"I'll be leaving now. Have a good night."

"No, don't go," she begged.

"I'm tired and should go home to my own bed."

"Why not stay here in my bed?" she said. "Let's have a sleepover."

"Maybe another time," he said, followed by a small laugh.

He was going to have fun telling her about that when he sees her again when she's sober. Just as he was about to leave, she called out to him.

"Just a moment," she said. "I have to tell you... tell you something... something important."

"What is it?"

"Come here," she said. "It's a secret."

He walked up to her.

"Come closer," she said. "I don't want anyone else to hear this."

He had to laugh again; the whole situation was getting too funny. He played along with her and leaned in closer to her.

"We never got a New Year's kiss from anybody," she said.

That's when she grabbed him by the head and kissed him hard on the lips. He was taken completely by surprise, and it took him a moment to realize what was happening. He tried to let go of the kiss, but for a drunk woman, she was surprisingly strong. He had to admit it was a pretty good kiss, despite the situation. But he was an engaged man, and she was obviously drunk, so he needed her to let go of him.

He managed to let go of the kiss, but before he was able to get away, she grabbed his hand and made him put it on her breast. It was right above the dress, but it still felt good.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" she said with a big wicked smile.

Without realizing what he was doing, he gave the breast a few gentle squeezes and enjoyed the moment. He soon realized what he was doing and tried to force his hand away from her.

Julia laughed and finally dozed off to sleep. Alan stuck around for a couple more minutes to make sure she was okay and then left the apartment.

...

The next morning, Alan got a text from Julia, who thanked him for taking her back home safely. There was nothing in the text indicating that she remembered what happened between them. He decided not to bring it up until after they met back at the office; he just sent her a text saying he was glad to do it, and that was it.

That day, Becky found another flight and managed to get home safely. They were both very relieved to see each other. When they got back to their apartment, they ordered dinner, and she talked about what she did in Canada with her friends and what they were doing for New Years.

"How was your office's New Year's party?" she asked. "Did I miss anything? Did anybody get drunk and do something funny?"

"Several people got drunk and acted funny," he replied.

"Please tell me more about it. I could use a good laugh."

The conversation made him remember the incident with Julia at her apartment. Even though nothing happened and Julia was drunk when she made a pass at him, he still felt guilty at the idea of hiding that kind of information from Becky. He felt she had the right to know, even though nothing happened because of it.

"Well, there is something I think I should tell you about," he told her.

"What is it, sweetie?"

From the beginning, he told her about Julia's argument with her boyfriend and how much drinking she was doing at the party because of it. He then told her about how Jake was about to take her back to his place, but he intervened. Becky said that it was a great thing he did for Julia; she knew about Jake and really hated him.

Then he told her about the incident in her bedroom, and Becky's mood changed instantly. He told her it was just a drunken mistake on Julia's part, and she had no idea what she was doing.

"Oh, that tramp knew what she was doing," she said angrily. "I always knew she had a thing for you, and this confirms it."

"Come on, honey, she was drunk," he replied.

"Yeah, defend that slut some more. That makes things so much better."

She jumped out of her chair and stormed off to the bedroom. Suffice it to say, the rest of the night was no fun for Alan, as Becky could not let go of what Julia had done.

...

The next day, on January 2nd, everyone was back at the office. Everyone was back to their normal lives, except for Alan, whose fiancé was still angry at him for something he had no control over. He thought she would feel better about it after a good night's sleep, but that morning she was still pissed off at him. He hoped that by the time he got back home from the office, she would calm down and they would talk things out.

There was a knock on his office door, and he looked up to see Julia standing in the doorway. She looked much better than the last time he saw her.

"Good morning," she said, smiling.

"Morning."

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Sure."

She came in and took the seat across from his desk.

"I'm just going around telling everyone how sorry I was for my behavior at the party," she explained. "I was kind of an ass that night, and I'm very sorry about it."

"It's OK, you were drunk," said Alan. "And you had that argument with your boyfriend."

"Yes, but that's no excuse to get wasted and misbehave," she replied. "And thanks again for taking me back home and getting me into bed."

"It was my pleasure."

"By the way, did I really almost leave with Jake?" she asked with a cringe.

Alan nodded, and she made a face showing how grossed out she was by that.

"In that case, thank you for saving my dignity and self-respect," she said.

Alan laughed. "Again, it was no problem. I was glad to help."

"I have to ask," she said, feeling extra nervous at this point. "I sort of remember what happened when you took me home. But can you tell me... if I did anything... inappropriate?"

Alan thought it was best not to lie to her. He took a deep breath and told her every detail about what happened when he got her into her bed.

"Oh my God, that's what I thought I did," she said, turning her head away in embarrassment. "I am so sorry; I feel like such a slut right now."

"It's OK. Like I said, you were drunk and upset about Thomas. You were not in your right state of mind."

"But still, it was such a slutty thing for me to do."

"You're not a slut, don't worry about it," he assured her. "By the way, I have something to tell you."

He explained to her how he told Becky about everything and how he was now in the doghouse with her.

"Oh, my God. I have to talk to her."

"Oh, no, that's not going to happen," said Alan.

"I have to. I need to apologize."

"She's already pissed off. You talking to her might make things worse."

"But I feel so guilty about what happened, and now I may have thrown a monkey wrench in your relationship. I need to tell her how sorry I am for my behavior. You would do the same thing if you were in my shoes."

She had a good point. He would want to apologize if he were in the same situation as she was.

"Well, let's just wait a few days until she calms down a little," he told her. "After that, if you still want to apologize, I can tell her that you want to talk to her to say you're sorry."

Julia thought about it for a moment and then agreed that it was the best course of action.

...

A few days went by, and Becky was still angry. It was a nightmare for Alan; no matter what he did, nothing could make Becky forget what happened. He was going to tell Julia to forget about apologizing and maybe wait a year, but then he got a call from Becky saying how bad she felt about how she behaved lately. She realized Julia was drunk and didn't realize what she was doing, and at least Alan reacted appropriately when he pushed himself away from her. She also gave him credit for at least telling her what had happened rather than keeping it a secret like some men would.

Alan told her that all was forgiven and invited her to come by the office so they could go out for lunch. He told Julia about this, which gave her great relief. He also told her that when Julia stops by, this would be a good time for her to apologize for the incident without any problems. Unfortunately, he was very wrong.

When Becky came to his office door, she was stopped by Juila, who wanted to apologize for everything. Suddenly, Becky, forgetting everything she had said to Alan on the phone, lost her temper and attacked Julia in the middle of the office. Everyone was screaming as Becky was grabbing at Julia's hair and trying to throw her around. Julia responded by slapping at her, trying to get Becky to stop pulling her hair. Everyone in the office was standing around, watching the chaos. Some demanded the madness to stop, while others cheered them on.

Alan ran through the crowd and pulled them apart. He grabbed Becky and pulled her away to his office, while another male co-worker was holding Julia back by her arms as she wanted to go after Becky.

"SLUT!!" Becky as Alan was dragging her away.

"PSYCHO BITCH!!" Julia yelled back at her.

...

Things did not get better for Alan and Julia.

It took a while, but Alan finally got Becky to calm down and go home. When the coast was clear, he went to see if Julia was alright. Before he even got to her door, Thomas came barging out of her office. He saw Alan and charged at him. He picked up Alan and slammed him down on someone's desk. Again, everybody was gathering around, either screaming at them or cheering for them as they exchanged blows. It didn't last long before some sane people interfered and separated them.

He later found out from a colleague that Thomas came by the office and arrived at the end of the fight to see Julia and Becky being separated from each other and dragged away. When he got Julia alone in her office, she had no choice but to tell him everything that happened after their fight at the New Year's party. He, of course, got upset about the whole thing and said he wanted to kick Alan's ass. She attempted to persuade him that Alan was completely blameless, but he was unconcerned. That's why he attacked Alan as soon as he saw him.

...

Of course, word of these fights got back to their boss, and both Alan and Julia were called into his office. After everything was explained to their bosses, with a large number of white lies, everything went back to normal. But everybody in the office was talking about the fights that had occurred, and already rumors were going into overdrive about what they were about. Someone told Alan the big rumor so far is that he and Julia were having an affair, which was found out by their significant others. Alan was now worried that this was something else he might have to explain if his boss heard the same rumors.

...

Everyone in the office left by 5 p.m., but Alan stayed a little longer. Becky called him and said she was staying at her sister's place for a few days. Not wanting to go home alone, he decided to stay after work to make up for the amount of work he had lost because of the chaos throughout the day.

He had a bottle of scotch in his drawer and felt like drinking his problems away. He had that bottle to bring out for special occasions, albeit happy occasions. He wasn't normally a drinker, but after the day he had, he made an exception.

He had a small two-seat couch in his office in case he wanted to do some personal meetings. He was sitting there, cradling his first drink, when he heard a voice.