Chapter 6

Mandy

I woke up with a drilling pain hitting my temples. My brows scrunched as my head kept throbbing along with my breath.

I never really learned my lesson. Alcohol was such a cursed drink, drawing you deeper into fun. But in the end, this massive headache would totally make you think about your life’s choices.

 Whatever the heck I ate last night, I could feel it slowly rising, touching almost the end of my throat. I slammed my face into my hands to cover it up. I swallowed a thick saliva to push it back.

 I opened both of my eyes only to notice I was in an unfamiliar room. The white ceiling above me spun rapidly. I couldn’t remember the last day I was befriended by a hangover.

 Then panic slapped me in the face.

“This isn’t my room!” I exclaimed, quickly sitting up on the bed.

 The blanket slid down and my naked body was exposed.

 “Why the hell am I naked?” I tried to jump back in time, but not a single thing came up in my mind aside from Abbie’s face, who kept asking me to drink more.

 I tried to pick up the last thing that happened before I came here. I looked around for my clothes. A mild soreness appeared between them as I moved my legs slightly.

 At that point, my eyes widened. Some foggy memories greeted me in the morning. I had a wild night with an unknown man.

 “Oh no…” I whispered to myself, holding my head with both arms.

 Then I heard a continuous splash of water coming out from the bathroom. Someone was taking a shower.

I wasn’t alone up until now.

So I didn’t hesitate. I jumped quickly out of bed, bare naked. I searched across the floor for my clothes. They were near the bathroom door, so I had to crawl and grab them quickly. Within a swift few seconds, I got dressed.

 When I was about to grab my purse on the desk, the sound of the splashing water stopped. It was such ill timing. The man’s footsteps were coming near the bathroom door.

 I tried to beat the final seconds with my swift movement. I dashed toward the door not caring about my loud footsteps. I clutched my purse when a voice emerged across the room.

 “Where are y—”

 I grabbed the doorknob, not even tilting my head behind. Before he could even finish stopping me, I quickly slammed the door closed and ran across the hallway.

 I wouldn’t regret it even if I didn't glance at his face. I wasn’t interested at all. Or maybe, I was just too afraid to look him in the eyes after my shameless act last night. The alcohol wasn’t the one to blame. It was all on me. And I am not proud of it.

 I clutched at my purse more as I ran away from that room. It was a mistake I wished I could rewrite.

 “Wait up!” the same voice shouted behind.

 But I fled like a coward. I didn’t want to involve myself with that mysterious man ever again.

 I went straight to the elevator. While I was inside, hurried stomps approached my spot. My heart raced. I reached for the close button and pressed it repeatedly.

 “WAIT!” the man shouted.

 But he was immediately stopped by the closing steel doors.

 “That was close…”

 A deep sigh came out of me.

 As soon as the elevator opened, I ran away from that place. Good thing cabs were everywhere. It was easy for me to get out.

 My racing heart finally calmed down inside the cab. I asked the driver to take me back to the villa where we stayed.

 The sun was already beaming high. I pulled out my phone to check the time, but it was off. I turned it back on and boom, tons of notifications came. Messages after messages flooded my inbox. And they were from one person: Abbie.

 “Where the hell are you? I’ve been trying to reach you since last night.”

 I heaved another deep sigh.

 “I’m on my way home now…” I whispered while I typed the text message.

 I was still held captive by my headache, so I just leaned my back against the seat. There was no more energy left in me to check every message.

 It was a brief time of silence throughout the journey. I almost fell asleep.

 I arrived at the villa, pulling my sore body inside.

 Abbie stood up on the front porch. I greeted her with a faint smile as I went inside. Her face didn’t even brighten up when she saw me.

 “Why are you not responding to my messages?”

Abbie closed the door, waiting for my response.

 “I’m sorry.”

 “I’M SORRY?!” she exclaimed. “I almost had a heart attack worrying about you. George informed me about everything. I called the staff from the villa and you didn’t come to your reserved room? Why? What happened?”

 Abbie crossed her arms, blocking my way. She was upset, of course. But it’s not that I purposely did it because I didn’t care. I drowned myself in alcohol. I barely remembered anything. And I was left alone.

 The soreness in my body, the drilling pain in my head, and the stress I got the moment I woke up all stirred inside me.

 Tired and annoyed, I answered,

 “I made a mistake. I entered the wrong room last night.”

Abbie’s jaw dropped.