Hey, Stranger!

In a busy hospital.

Latton woke up from her coma. An IV and a buzzing machine were hooked up to her. She’s confused, asking herself how she got there. 

Her mind was a blur, and her body felt heavy. Everything hurts. 

"What happened? Did I get into another car crash?" She asks herself as she glances around the room searching for her father or any family member.

Soon a nurse entered the room. She appeared surprised and immediately pushed the red button on her bed signaling the doctor on shift. While waiting, she asked Latton a series of questions. She tried to answer everything to the best of her ability, but her mind was still blurry and disoriented.

"How do you feel?" The nurse asks. 

Latton wants to say, "I feel like shit that was run over by a truck." But she kept it to herself and said, "Everything hurts, and I can't move my legs."

The nurse nodded, "Do you know what day it is?" 

Latton frowns, unsure how to answer, "Is it Friday... March 31….? 2024??” Her reply is more of an inquiry than an answer. 

The nurse smiled faintly, "What's the last thing you remember?" She asks as she adjusts the IV.

Latton’s brows furrowed as she searched from the depths of her mind for the last thing she did before waking up in the hospital. "I was at a party dancing and drinking!? I think," she said in uncertainty. 

There was a significant change in the nurse’s face, but before she could say what it was, the doctor came.

Unlike the nurse, the doctor was so straightforward that Latton almost choked on her spit. He nonchalantly told Latton that she had been shot in the head, and the date today was June 19, 2026.

Latton’s face paled, "Two years, I lost two years," she yelled internally. She wanted to ask them, but her head started to hurt, and then she began to remember what and why it happened. She knew she deserved what happened to her and had no regrets about it.

Two and a half years ago...

"I AM NOT A CHILD. You can't tell me what to do." Latton yells at the top of her lungs. Her eyes reddened in anger, disappointment, and frustration. She turned to leave the room, but before she could, her father grabbed her wrist, then yelled, "Don't you dare turn your back on me, I'm still talking to you."

His grasp tightened as he screamed, "You’re nothing without me! You're just a little girl who knows nothing about this world." The veins in his forehead pulsating in rage.

She sneered, "You know what Dad, every day I'm starting to regret choosing you over Mom—"

SLAP! Her father's hand landed on her face. Her eyes widened in horror and her cheek throbbed in pain.

Her father then held both her shoulders tightly. "You spiteful little brat."

She could feel his nails digging into her skin. "You will listen to me and listen to me intently. I’m your father and I’m telling you. You are going to marry Thomas or you could kiss your inheritance goodbye."

The scene of her argument with her father earlier kept on replaying in her head.

The slap no longer hurt, but his words cut her deeply.

"I could be anything I want to be." She yells internally. She drank a good amount of liquor and then headed to the dance floor.

Meanwhile, at the other side of the bar, a man was sitting in the bar front drinking beer alone, looking at all the girls ordering different drinks from the bartender. He observes them like a lion looking for prey. It’s one of those nights where he is in search of a fun evening. A playmate. Someone who can help him ease his lonely mortal body.

He’s been busy lately and today was one of those nights where he felt extremely horny, so he drove from the city to a nearby suburb to drink, unwind and look for a fling.

Though he has a long-time girlfriend, she can’t satisfy his needs since she’s very traditional and wants to get married first before letting him touch her. He wants to marry her, but his parents detest her, as she stopped working and stopped advancing her education a year after she landed him.

This makes his parents suspicious of her, and they find her a gold digger waiting for the jackpot. After all, he is the only child and heir to the family fortune that was built from his parents' blood, sweat, and tears.

While drinking his beer, he notices a bottle of 750ml of Vodka 2 seats away from him, and 1/4 of it is already gone. The bartender noticed him looking at the bottle and told him that a girl had bought it and was just dancing.

He immediately looked at the dance floor to guess who purchased the vodka.

There are a few groups of people dancing on the dance floor. Most of them were in pairs except one, a short brunette girl around 5 '2 with shoulder-length straight hair wearing a black dress and 2-inch red sandals. She dances like she’s in a metal band concert even when the song changes to a sweet one.

"That’s certainly the vodka owner," he said to himself while observing the girl in the black dress.

Not long after that, the girl walked toward the front of the bar and sat on the chair in front of the vodka bottle. She then opened the bottle and drank it as if it was water. After doing that, she lowered her head and stared at the bottle.

He chuckled while seeing the scene before him and saw that she was lost in her thoughts. He was about to move close to her but a young guy about the same age as her, around his early 20s, walked toward her. She looked at him and said, "You’re cute!" This made the guy blush, "but you’re not my type," she added.

The guy smiled faintly, accepted the rejection, and then walked away.

The man continued to observe the girl for another 10 minutes. He could see that she was not happy. There was a hint of sadness and despair in her eyes.

As if she felt his gaze, she then glanced at him, and now they were both staring at each other, unmoving, none of them blinking. He could feel the tension building up, and he could feel his cock throbbing as if it was saying, "That’s the girl."

The song playing on the dance floor caught her attention, she stood up with the bottle in her hand and started walking. She stopped midway and looked at him with an inviting gaze.

He grins mischievously, chugs his beer, and follows her. When he saw her, she was no longer dancing like before, now she danced slowly as if she was trying to seduce him. Facing her back, he slowly moved towards her and groped her waist to spin her close to him.

With his sudden action, a quick memory flashed through her mind, then she heard the voice of the man who had hunted her for the past 12 years, "Shhhh. It's better if you remain silent. No one can hear you here."

Her face turns pale, and she almost punches the guy in front of her. She calmed herself and quickly drank another good amount of vodka, pushing that memory back into the dark corner of her mind.

She regains herself and laughs it off. Hoping the guy wouldn't notice her sudden lapse. He grinned at her, not noticing anything bizarre, he then took the bottle and drank a good amount of liquor.

She put one of her arms around his neck and the other in front of his chest. Her fingers were playing with the buttons on his shirt. He felt what she was doing, so he held her waist tighter, took a sip from the bottle, then, using the arm holding her waist, lifted her chin, transferring the liquor from his mouth to hers.

Her eyes widened in shock but played along with it when all the liquor was transferred to her. He kissed her passionately.

Breathless, she blurted out, "I’m about to get married to an old guy 25 years older than me and I don’t want him to be my first. You look like someone with a lot of experience." She said while her other arm was around his neck. "So I’m choosing you!" She added.

He brushed his hair with his hand and took another sip of vodka.

He stared at her in mischief, leaning closer to her, "There’s a hotel nearby," he suggested in a deep raspy lustful voice. 

She nods with a shy smile on her face.