The Man from Last Night

Elena’s POV

“What the hell.” I groaned as I opened my eyes. “Where am I?” I mumbled, trying to recognize the strange chandelier.

Slowly, the events of the previous night haunted my mind. I remembered too much, and regret washed over me. God, what had I done?

I facepalmed myself and squeezed my eyes shut hoping the cringe would away. Something like that had never happened before. I had never had a one night stand!

“What have I done?” I mumbled under my morning breath which stank.

The sound of the water running in the hotel’s bathroom reminded me the man was still here.

Of course he was! I am the guest here. I needed to escape before he stepped out, saw me and the whole thing becomes even more awkward. I wobbled out of bed and started looking around for my clothes. The dress, half buried under the bed, the bra on a chair, and the heels were near the door.

Everything in the bore the scent of his cologne mixed with booze. I dressed hurriedly, not even bothering with my hair. My hands shook as I grabbed my purse. But I hesitated before leaving.

Guilt gnawed at me. I didn’t want to owe him anything and I promised to pay him last night even though we did not conclude on his price. I took five fresh hundred-dollar bills and laid them on the bedside table. It was foolish but I didn’t have any time to change my mind as the sound of running water stopped abruptly. I grabbed my phone and fled from the hotel room.

The hall was deserted.

“Thank God, I do not want anyone seeing me here. It will be a disaster.” I mumbled as I run-walked.

“My car…where’s my car?” I mumbled as I looked around only to recall he drove us down here and my car was still parked somewhere close to the club.

“Oh Great.” I hissed as I began trekking back to the nightclub.

Halfway through, my phone buzzed. I groaned when I saw that my mother was calling. Again.

I did not want to talk to anyone. Not now. But ignoring her would make it worse because she would call me till I picked the phone up.

"Hello, Mom," I said, trying to keep my tone flat.

"Elena, Good Morning dear," she said softly but I knew the greetings were bullshit and I was right. "I wanted you to know before someone else tells you." She said, going straight to the point.

I know where this is headed so I decided to speed things up. "The divorce?"

"Yes," she replied. "It's final. Your father and I are done."

"I know," I said. "Congratulations , I guess.”

"Elena, don't," she sighed. "You don't get it—"

"I get it," I hissed. "You cheated, Mom! He loved you. He didn't deserve that."

Her tone changed in an instant: "Your father never loved me. Your father loved you. That marriage ended long ago."

I found myself suddenly standing still, a little shocked. "That's crazy. He supported you for years. He gave you everything."

"Support isn't love," she spat. "He treated me like an object. I was unhappy, Elena. I stayed for you. Now, I am happy. I have found someone who makes me feel something. We are getting married soon, and—"

Then her voice faded. My phone was dead.

"How great," I muttered.

I clutched my phone tightly kept walking. My head was hurting, my legs were killing me. I had just slept with a stranger; my parents were divorced, and my mother would marry some guy she barely knew. Just great. I spotted my car and sighed. I unlocked it, sat inside, rested for a moment with my head on the steering wheel, and remembered I had to get my keys from Ryan's.

Fortunately for me, he was not at home when I got there and entered through the back door.

I grabbed my keys from the table and left before he came back. Once home, I dropped my bag, kicked off my shoes, and plugged in my phone and hopped straight into the bathroom.

I stood under the water for an unconscionably long time. I was sore from the night, and the events of the previous day kept replaying itself in my head.

I walked out dried myself and walked to my room.

Suddenly my phone pinged. An appointment reminder: "Interview at 11:00 AM - Vaughn Corporation."

I stared. Oh...the interview. Vaughn Corporation was pretty big. To get this position meant leaving my current one and getting away from my creepy boss.

There was no time for more thoughts. I quickly got dressed and left the house.

Destination in mind: Vaughn Corporation.

Anxiety gnawed at me due to the fact that I spent days searching for information on the CEO of Vaughn Corporation but I kept getting re-directed to other pages which led to F******k, definitely filled with scammers.

As I walked into a lobby which was filled with a lot of people, all looking like they stepped out of business magazine, my anxiety got worse. A prim woman at the front desk handed me a visitor's pass.

"Please wait in the seating area. The CEO is conducting the interviews today."

The CEO? This must be rare.

I took a seat next to some other candidates, all nervously flipping resumés. I tried to do the same but my mind had other plans, thinking about everything but this interview which we desperately needed to ace.

Finally, the receptionist called my name. "Miss Elena Morgan?"

I stood, smoothing my skirt, and walked to the office where the interview will be conducted. My heart was racing. I took a deep breath and opened it.

A man behind the desk was looking through an assembly of papers. He looked up at the sound of the opening door.

His eyes landed on mine, and I gasped.

This face looked familiar.

No.

It can’t be.

It was.

The man from last night, that stranger I had slept with, was sitting right there.

Adrian Vaughn. Business Tycoon. My one-night stand.