CHAPTER 2: RIGHT MESSAGE, WRONG PERSON

Myla.

I woke up to sunlight streaming right into my eyes and realized, much too late mind you, that I must have left the curtains to my room wide open. Wait. Did my room have curtains? I couldn’t quite remember, mostly because I was squinting my eyes shut and trying to ignore the thumping, painful migraine pounding inside my head. I groaned miserably to myself wondering what had possessed me to down so much alcohol last night. I didn’t even drink.

Something breathy, like a slight summer breeze, wafted across the back of my neck. I stiffened immediately, my body poised to either fight or fly the hell out of that bed. My vote, if I was able to cast one, would be for flight. Definitely flight. Because there was somebody in the bed with me. My heart started to race and I felt a wash of icy fear roll through me like a tsunami wave.

Who the hell was it?

I wracked my tired, achy brain but all it wanted to do was bombard me with even more pain and discomfort.

Did someone sneak into my room last night? No. I discounted that immediately because I vaguely remembered opening the door. Whoever was in my bed, I invited them in.

Flashes of images started to flit past my mind. Very, very…steamy…images. A man kissing me. Me kissing back. A hand caressing my breast. Me reaching down and grabbing something incredibly hard. My legs wrapped around that man’s neck, pushing his head deeper into my…

Okay. That’s enough of that, I thought to myself. The memories coming back to me were starting to cause a reaction completely at odds with the sickening migraine practically making me an invalid. I forced myself to slide out of the bed, trying to ignore the slightly sore feeling in my pelvic region or the way I kind of liked it.

Have to get out of here before whoever the hell that is sees me leaving. I couldn't even bring myself to see who I just lost my virginity to. Oh my God. How could I lose control like that?

I had to stop. For one, I was an adult. I wasn’t some child that didn’t know what she was doing. Okay, admittedly, I didn’t really know what I was doing at the time considering I was drunk, but I made the choice for myself, drunk or not. Why should I feel so bad about it? Other people didn’t have these weird hang ups about sex. People were screwing each other left and right all the time or so I imagined anyway.

Despite my continued self-rationalizations, I still couldn’t bring myself to see who the man was that I had sex with last night. I made my way quietly through the hotel room, grabbed some of my clothes, got dressed, and then left.

As soon as I got outside my room, I headed directly to the elevators. My head still hurt abysmally but somehow, I managed to get there. I kept looking back toward the room I just snuck out of, terrified it would open and the mystery man would come out to chase after me. I would just die of shame if that happened. Shame and embarrassment.

Ding!

Finally the elevator got up to my floor and it opened. I dashed inside but didn’t press the button for the lobby. I pressed the button for the third floor where Sofia had her room. As soon as the doors opened again, I went down to it like an unstable but laser-guided missile and started knocking on her door. The sound was loud and each knock drilled into my head. I forced myself to bear the pain.

“Hold on,” a muffled voice said.

After a moment, Sofia finally opened the door. She was dressed in a thin, white robe that was practically see-through with her hair in a wild disarray. She squinted at me as if she couldn't tell who I was at first.

“Rough night?” I asked her, although I had no room to judge at that point. I felt like she looked. Who was I kidding, I probably looked pretty much the same as her. I didn’t exactly have time to do my hair before fleeing my own hotel room like a prisoner escaping from jail.

“Eh,” Sofia replied with a shrug. She rubbed her temples with both hands. Apparently, she had quite the night as well. “Whas go in on?”

“Can I come in?” I asked her. “I need a place to sleep for a little bit.”

“Wha…” She rubbed her temples again, more furiously. Then she looked closer at me. A sly, knowing smile spread across her face. “Wait a minute. I know what this is. This is a walk of shame. You had sex! You had sex with someone! Oh. My. God!”

“Shut up,” I groaned. Her voice was drilling into my head. “Just let me in. I need more sleep.”

“Come on,” Sofia moved aside and I squeezed past her.

I immediately collapsed onto the bed and slammed a pillow over my head to block out as much light as possible. There was a horrible moment when I thought I would puke but after a few seconds, it went away, thank God.

“Why don’t you just sleep in your own bed?” she asked, confused.

“Can’t,” I mumbled.

“Is he in your room right now?” she pressed but the only answer I gave her was a groan.

She finally decided to take mercy on my sad state and let me sleep. I was snoring just a few minutes later.

****

Sofia was the one to wake me up maybe two hours later. The hangover was still a royal shit show to deal with but I guess I didn’t really have a whole lot of room to complain. I did it to myself, after all. I opened my eyes and found a blurry version of my best friend hovering over me. She was dressed in a sleek, black pantsuit with a maroon blouse underneath it. Her gorgeous, blonde hair was half up and half down.

“Wakey wakey, Sleeping Beauty,” she teased.

“What time is it?” I asked. Then panic set in and I jerked upright. “Oh my God. Did I miss the meeting?”

“You’re fine,” Sofia replied. “You should have plenty of time to run up to your room, get changed, and then head back down to the lobby. But you better hurry.” She grabbed hold of my arms and pulled me out of the bed. When I was standing up, she slapped my ass. “Go on. Get going. Meet me down in the lobby and we’ll ride over together.”

“Okay,” I replied, feeling a bit of nervous fear hitting me. What if “he” was still in my room? I couldn't worry about that though. Sofia was right. I had to get changed and ready. Plus after a few sniffs of myself, it was apparent I needed a shower too. “Give me thirty to forty minutes.”

I left her room, went over to the elevators, and reversed my walk of shame back to my hotel room. The closer I got, the more my nerves started to wreak havoc on me. Was he still there? It’s been a few hours. There’s no way, right? I finally came to my door and pulled out my room card. My heart beat wildly inside my chest which only made my migraine worse.

I knocked lightly before I opened it.

It’s your room, idiot, I told myself.

I made my way inside, actually tip-toeing to make as little noise as possible.

“Hello?” I called out. “If you are the random guy that ended up in my room last night…uh…get out…uh…please.”

No answer. Thank freaking God for that. The room was empty. I went straight into the bathroom, shed my clothes, turned on the water as hot as I could stand, and stepped inside. I let it sluice over my head. It felt so soothing but things were not meant to last, unfortunately. I had to finish up and get out. I quickly washed myself, shampooed and conditioned my hair, and then rinsed. I turned the water off after I was done, grabbed a towel, dried off, and then wrapped up my hair. I had to hurry because time kept slipping through my fingers. I still had to brush my teeth, blow dry and straighten my hair, put on my makeup, and get some clothes on.

I sped through the process as much as possible while still making myself look professionally put together. Today was an important day, after all. Which made me mentally kick myself in the ass some more for drinking so much last night. Today was the day my company was to meet with Roseforce Inc’s top managers to continue discussions on the merger.

After I was fully dressed, I gathered up my briefcase, papers, and ID badge and headed out. I made my way back to the elevators yet again and down to the lobby. Sofia was already waiting for me there, sitting on one of the lobby’s couches.

“Feeling better?” she asked with a sarcastic smile.

“Ha,” I said, pausing dramatically. “Ha.”

I sat down next to her, closed my eyes, and breathed in and out steadily. My migraine wasn’t as bad but still far from good.

“Oohh,” Sofia said in a singsong. “Look over there. Our fearless, and incredibly sexy, leader is coming. Mr. Fabian Ness himself.”

I looked over to where Sofia was pointing and found Fabian and his entourage coming out of the elevators. He was dressed in a fancy, pinstripe suit that he looked really good in. I couldn’t help but notice that and as he walked, his face was impassive and icy, the mystery man I had sex with last night suddenly adopted his face for some weird reason. It was so realistic, it felt more like a memory and just thinking about it was doing unpleasantly pleasant things to my body.

“He is looking so hot today!” Sofia said, leaning close to me. “The things I want to do to that man.” She smiled wickedly. “They’d be criminal. I could die without any regrets if I fucked him.”

Fabian walked hurriedly through the lobby, heading toward the doors. He was focused, that much was evident. He barely seemed to take in anyone else. Despite that, our eyes still met for a split second and something jumped between us. It was electric. A feeling that jumped through everything inside me.

He turned and leaned toward one of his entourage, a man named George Clarke. George also happened to be my direct manager. I couldn’t make out the first part of what he told him, but I did catch the last part.

“...have flowers, chocolate, and champagne sent up to room 501 with a note saying ‘Until next time.’”

That had to be wrong. I didn’t hear him correctly. Did he just say 501? That was my room. And “Until next time?” What? Did that mean…

Oh no. No, no, no. That can’t be.

Fabian was the man I had sex with last night!?