Chapter 1
I led in bed with one eye open, a piercing white hot pain coursing around my skull and my forehead and chest faintly glistening with the Jameson frantically trying to escape my body. The curtains were drawn but sabres of light pierced through the gaps that I could not muster the energy to fix. A precariously balanced glass of water on my bed stand seemed to hold little appeal despite my desiccation.
Momentary pain relief arrived as a grin made its way across my face. Murky memories of a great night in a small expat enclave whose inhabitants traded freely in oil, alcohol and extra marital affairs. Not necessarily in that order but at that time all in sellers markets. Much like my insides and the landscape surrounding me, my sex life had evaporated and weeks had long since turned into months. Long distance had exposed gaping wounds in a since abandoned relationship and I now found myself surrounded by an abundance of work and a dearth of single or interesting women.