Author's Chapter Notes:
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Luckily Laura was about the same size as she was, so she was able to borrow a cute little black dress, since the only clothes she had with her were her suit and the jeans she had worn the night before. She had told Jim to leave her overnight bag at Dunder Mifflin with the receptionist since it was in his car and she didn't want to have to see him to get it. She could tell he felt bad about leaving her there but she really didn't care. In fact, the worse he felt the better, as far as she was concerned.
Now, standing in front of the mirror in Amy and Laura's apartment, she checked out her reflection and thought she looked pretty damned good in the little black dress. Amy agreed, giving her a quick hug from behind and saying, "Jim doesn't know what he's missing."
She started to chuckle but her smile faded quickly. "Unfortunately, he does," she sighed.
Amy gave her a sympathetic smile and said, "Okay, enough about Jim. Let's get out of here. Laura's going to meet us later; she had some errands to do after work."
They grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby deli and then headed out to a bar that Amy frequented. She even knew the bartender by name (which was Joe), and some of the guys playing pool there said hi to her.
"What will it be?" asked Joe as they sat down at the bar.
"I think I will have a Long Island Ice Tea," replied Karen immediately.
"Whoa, don't you think you should start a little lighter?" Amy questioned.
"Nah, I need it. Bring it on, Joe!"
One Long Island Ice Tea and two shots later, she was officially intoxicated. She was always a loud, chatty drunk, which is one reason why she faked drinking that night so many months ago when she stayed late with Andy, Jim, and Andy's bottle of Jaegermeister. Her unrequited crush on Jim had been at full force then, and she hadn't wanted to end up saying something that would later embarrass her.
Tonight though she had no such worries. She was having a blast talking to this one guy who looked vaguely like Zach Braff.
"And so he just left me here, can you believe it?" She leaned into him and giggled, "Of course I told him to. But still, can you believe it?" And inopportune hiccup interrupted her train of thought, and she giggled some more. The guy politely smiled and then excused himself. She turned back to Amy. "I don't think he wanted to talk to me. Who else is there?"
Amy laughed. "You're not here to pick up guys, you lush. You just got dumped less than twelve hours ago."
"Not fair!" Karen retorted. "I dumped him. I think. Or maybe he was using reverse psychology." She shook her head. "Whatever. He's probably boinking Pam by now anyway, why shouldn't I have some fun?"
"Boinking? What are you, twelve?" They both started giggling hysterically although neither was sure why exactly. Amy didn't even feel that drunk. "Come on," she said, grabbing Karen's hand, "We still have another stop. Laura's waiting for us."
They ended up at a club where they met Laura, who was sitting with two guys that she apparently worked with. She introduced them as Derek and Frank.
"Frank?" Karen repeated. "You're like 30. Why are you Frank? Franks are old people." She snorted and laughed, lightly touching his arm. "Sorry."
Frank laughed, and replied, "Yeah, I get that all the time. You wanna dance?"
"Of course I do, Frank!" she replied, giddily, as he led her to the dance floor. She danced with him for a while, but he started to get a little too close and actually almost grabbed her ass at one point, so she excused herself and told him she had to go to the bathroom. She met Amy and Laura back at the bar.
"Where's Frank?" Laura asked.
"Had to ditch him. He had wandering hands." They laughed, and Karen added, "Actually, I am so wasted and I kind of want to lay down. Do you mind if we go?" She was starting to get cranky and didn't want to have to deal with being hit on anymore. She was having a good time, but the wound left by Jim was just too raw to let herself have too good a time.
Fortunately her friends had also had enough and they headed back to their apartment. She was anxious to sleep it off, but dreading the hangover she was doomed to have in the morning.
