Chapter 8 Morning After
"Ugh... my head... where am I?" Audrey mumbled, the pounding in her head made her winced.
Slowly, she tried to sit up but was stopped by something heavy and warm pressing against her waist. Her heart raced as she looked down and saw an arm wrapped around her.
Panic hit her instantly. She turned quickly to see who it belonged to.
"Mr. Harrington?" her voice trembling in disbelief.
Elliot was still asleep, his hair messy and his face relaxed, a stark contrast to the cold, composed figure she knew from the office.
Audrey froze, trying to process the situation. Her body tensed as she felt a mix of anxiety, confusion, and shame. She moved carefully, trying to pull away, but the motion made Elliot groan and slightly open his eyes.
"You're awake?" he mumbled with his hoarse voice. He blinked a few times, trying to gather his consciousness.
Audrey flinched, pulling her body further away until she was nearly falling off the bed.
"Sir... why... are we here? What... what happened last night?" Audrey asked, her voice filled with confusion and panic.
Elliot sighed and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at her. His expression was a mix of exhaustion and mild irritation, but he stayed calm.
Audrey’s confusion only grew. "S-Sir!"
"Calm down. I couldn't sleep last night because you kept moving so much—"
"W-what?" Audrey’s face instantly went pale. She stared horrified at Elliot. Her mind raced with all the wrong possibilities.
'Did we... no, we didn’t...'
"You don’t remember?" Elliot raised an eyebrow, clearly confused by her reaction.
Audrey's heart skipped a beat. ‘No, no, no!’ she screamed inside her head.
The question was always the prelude to some kind of revelation in those drama shows she watched!
"Did we... Oh God!" She panicked, her hand going to her mouth in disbelief.
"What’s wrong with you?" Elliot scoffed, watching Audrey’s exaggerated reaction.
Before he could get out of bed, Audrey suddenly lunged at him, both of them tumbling back onto the mattress, with her now sitting on top of him.
"AUDREY!" Elliot yelled, his eyes wide in shock. He was genuinely startled because Audrey was actually sitting on his stomach!
Audrey stared down into his eyes, visibly distressed. "We didn’t... we didn’t do anything last night, did we? Tell me we didn’t..."
"Damn it! Stop!" Elliot snapped, irritated by her overreaction. With a quick move, he flipped their positions, now pinning her under him.
Audrey’s eyes widened. She froze, her face flushed as she realized how close they were.
Elliot stared down at her, his gaze sharp but filled with a hidden tension. "You... don’t remember?" he asked, his voice dropping low.
Audrey swallowed hard, her body stiff. She glanced away, avoiding his gaze. "I... I really don’t remember," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. She could feel her face burning.
Elliot sat up beside her, rubbing his neck again. "Honestly, you don’t need to make such a big deal out of it," he muttered, trying to sound casual, but then he seemed to remember something. "Actually, something did happen..."
Audrey tensed up, gripping the blanket. "Really?!" Her mind raced.
Elliot met her eyes seriously. "Yeah, you nearly drove me crazy. You kept complaining the whole way here."
Audrey’s face tightened. "Complaining? About what?"
Elliot shrugged, looking exhausted. "About everything. Your job, me—oh, and you even said I was handsome and that you liked me...?"
Audrey’s eyes went even wider. "What?! No way!"
‘Avery, you’re dead now!' she thought to herself, mortified.
"Believe it or not, you definitely said that," Elliot said, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Sir, I’m serious—"
"We didn’t do anything!" Elliot cut in quickly, clearly irritated. "You were just tossing and turning. I couldn’t sleep. That’s all."
Audrey’s face turned crimson as she covered her face with both hands, completely mortified. "Oh my God, why was I thinking such weird things?" she muttered, embarrassed beyond belief.
"Stop worrying about it," Elliot said, standing up. "You should clean up. You look a mess."
Audrey peeked out from behind her hands, still mortified, but Elliot just raised an eyebrow and walked toward the bathroom.
"I’m going to clean up too," he added, not bothering to look back. "So hurry up, or you’re paying for this room."
After Elliot left, Audrey sat on the edge of the bed, her heart still racing. The memory of the recent exchange was making her cheeks burn, and the image of Elliot so close to her kept replaying in her mind.
"Audrey, what are you doing?" she muttered to herself. "Get it together!"
She rushed to the other bathroom, splashing water on her face to shake off the strange feelings that had started to creep up. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw Elliot’s face, his intense stare, the way his voice had sounded. It all felt so captivating.
"Don’t be crazy, Audrey!" she hissed to herself, trying to push the thoughts away as she dried her face.
When she emerged, she found Elliot already finished, standing near the door and focused on his phone.
At that moment, Audrey couldn’t deny how attractive Elliot was.
As she stood there, a bit lost in her own thoughts, Elliot glanced up at her, his expression unreadable. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, though his gaze remained steady.
‘Damn it! Why am I thinking like this?’ Audrey cursed internally, her heart pounding a little faster.
"Done?" he asked curtly, though there was something in his voice that caught her attention more than usual.
"Y-yes, Sir. Done," Audrey stammered, still nervous, trying to hide the awkwardness on her face.
Elliot nodded slightly, putting his phone away. He started toward the door but stopped before leaving then turned to Audrey.
"Oh, and one more thing," he said, his tone serious enough to make Audrey’s knees feel weak.
"W-what, Sir?" she asked, her voice soft, trying not to sound too strange.
Elliot looked at her intently, as though trying to read her thoughts. His face was flat, but there was something in his eyes. "Next time you drink, know your limits. I don’t want to be bothered taking care of you again."
Audrey’s cheeks burned again, and though she was ashamed, there was something else, something she couldn’t quite explain, that stirred within her.
"Yes... sorry for the trouble, Sir," she replied quietly, looking down, still too embarrassed to meet his gaze.