Chapter 2

~ LILLIAN'S POV ~

I had just finished slipping on my shoes. I didn't want to look at him but his voice stopped me.

My heart was beating uncontrollably.

I couldn't help but notice his manly features. He was my type to a T.

A piece of white towel was wrapped around his waist. He moved with the kind of confidence that made it clear he was used to being admired.

He looked so sexy...so hot...I dared not compare him to kaz.

Memories of our sex last night invaded my mind again...the way he was sliding inside and repeatedly stroking me.

Oh...he had done it so good.

I felt hot all over.

Oh no!

This was not the time to think about how good he was.

I shook my head and forced myself to stop thinking about him.

All this while he was just there...as calm as a cucumber.

Maybe if he had said a simple good morning, although nothing was good about the morning...then maybe...just maybe I wouldn't have been so anxious.

Wait...

Why is he staring at me like that?

What. didn't I satisfy him enough?"

I mean he did it really well but I brought my "A game" as well.

I saw him reach for the bedside and picked up his wallet.

And before I could wrap my head around it.

He said...

"So..." lightly, almost playful. "How much do you want for last night?"

The words hit me like a slap.

Does he think I'm a prostitute?

I've never been so humiliated like this before.

Slowly, I turned to face him, hoping I had misheard.

But no, I hadn't.

He was deadass.

Heat rushed to my forehead, rage filled me.

Pull yourself together. Lojain.

"Excuse me?"

He leaned against the wall as if this was the most casual thing in the world.

"Come on. Don't act surprised.A girl like you, drinking alone, desperate, running into a stranger's arm... I just assumed this was your business".

Shame threatened to swallow me whole but then something inside me snapped.I hid every beat of emotion in me.

I refuse to leave here carrying his insult.

I opened my bag and took out the last hundred dollars left in my bag.

Slowly, I moved closer to him, holding the money between my index and middle fingers.

Looking up at him straight in the eyes, I let out:

"Though you're good looking, your skills are quite terrible. And it's actually worth less than a hundred dollars...but you can keep the change".

I tossed it at his chest. The note fell to the floor between us.

I didn't wait for a reply, I turned and stormed out of the room with my head held high despite the range inside me.

While I was fleeing, I could hear him roar..."Fuck"

I felt satisfied knowing that I had deeply insulted the man.

As soon as I heard the door slam shut behind me, I started walking as fast as my legs could carry me and didn't stop to look back.

My heart was pounding so violently it felt like it might burst out of my chest.

The hall way of the hotel stretched out in front of me like a tunnel.

An empty tunnel.

Every step I took felt heavy with shame.

As soon as I approached the elevation, I finally summoned the courage to look back and realised he wasn't running after me.

I jabbed the buttons with trembling fingers and when the door slipped open, I rushed in.

I pressed my back against the cool steel wall, closed my eyes and tried to steady my breathing.

I let my head tip back until it touched the mirrored panel behind me. My hands gripped the rail at my sides.

Just breathe.

Everything's fine.

I got drunk and had a one night stand with a stranger.

It was just a mistake.

Besides, I certainly won't see him ever again.

When the elevator jolted softly at the next floor, I forced my shoulders back up.

Nobody has to know what I had just done.

By the time I pushed through the hotel's glass doors and stepped into the bright morning sun, I realised my car was parked at home so I took a taxi.

When I got home. The small familiar space greeted me with quiet relief.

I dropped my bag by the door, kicked off my shoes and walked straight into the kitchen to make something for myself.

I had barely finished my food when my phone rang.

I smiled seeing that it was my mom.

I picked.

"Hello.mom"

"Oh. Lillian. I hope you haven't forgotten that your uncle Richard's 70th birthday party is tomorrow tonight. You would be there, right ?"

"No, mom. I have to go to work "

If I went to that party, I would definitely run into my father and my stepmother and I wasn't in the mood to see them.

"Come on, Lillian. Your uncle Richard and his wife have been very kind to us. It's only right that we honour his invitation." My mother persuaded me.

When I was seven years old my father cheated on my mother and abandoned her. If it hadn't been for uncle Richard our life's would have been miserable.

"Fine . I'll go." And then, I hang up.

Twenty years ago my mom had knelt begging my father not to leave but he refused.

She told him she was willing to allow his infidelity; he should stay for the sake of my sister and I.

I could never bring myself to forgive him for the pain he made us go through.

I hurried up with my meal so I could get some sleep before resuming my shift in the evening.

I exhaled after I had successfully squeezed my car into the parking lot.

I drove a Toyota Camry, and it wasn't the kind to be shown off, it was the kind that coughed awake in the mornings and prayed along with me that it would last just one more trip.