CHAPTER 1
Aurora fluttered her eyes open. The ceiling blurred in her vision, and she blinked many times until the fogginess in her sight cleared. She moved her head as she felt that something warm and heavy was wrapped around her waist. She looked down. Her eyes bulged. It was an arm. A solid arm of a man as her eyes traced it up to his face. Then her eyes could have popped out of their sockets.
Her body froze, and she forgot to breathe for a minute. What. The. Hell. What had she done?!
Shit! Shit! Shit!
She swallowed hard and tried to think that it could just be a freaking nightmare. It had to be for her sanity to remain intact. Her breathing came faster as her lungs demanded air. Her panic was rising.
No. She had to get out of there. ASAP. She swallowed hard again and lifted his arm carefully. She was thankful that he was a heavy sleeper, as she had known him. She carefully separated her body from him and got out of bed.
She staggered as she felt dizzy and a hangover attacked. Of course. And that was why she did it with him last night. Just great.
And she had a strange soreness in her body, especially in her intimate area. She winced slightly. Damn it. She couldn't remember exactly how long they must have done it.
She stared at the man again. He was ever so handsome even with his eyes closed. She looked at the bathroom and contemplated if she could risk having a shower before he woke up. Fuck it. Yep. She had already fucked it. She went to the bathroom and quickly took a shower to feel slightly better.
But the moment she got in, she immediately embraced the toilet seat. Yeah. And she wouldn't be saying that she'll never drink again. No. She didn't just vomit because of it. It was also from the disgusted feeling in herself for making such a mistake of sleeping with him. She hated it. She'd wanted to kick herself for it, but she had to hurry up before the beast on the bed awoke.
Aurora finished in just five minutes. That was the fastest she'd ever moved inside the bathroom. When she got out, the man was still sound asleep. She was a bit relieved about that.
Her nose scrunched as her senses slightly came back to normal after freshening up. She could smell their unholiness in the air.
Langya naman talaga! (Damn humiliating!)
She bit her tongue to refrain from cursing out loud.
She quickly opened her suitcase to change into clothes. Just a shirt and pants. She could care less about her outfit. Then she put on her sneakers and grabbed the jacket on the rack beside the door. She also had a mask on her face and black shades.
She glanced at her wristwatch. It was already 9:00 am, and her flight was at 10:00. Just fucking perfect. The airport was 30 minutes away. She pulled her suitcase out the door and closed it behind her slowly. She sighed after closing it, and she hastily got to the elevator. She couldn't be completely relieved unless she got on a plane and was out of the country. Far away from him.
Her freaking headache was banging her skull, but she ignored it. She'd buy something on the way.
She reached the ground floor, and she didn't stop at the reception area to check out. She had already paid for her hotel room upon check-in, and there was still someone in the room. That would only alert him if the housekeepers made a clearance before she could check out completely. She'd rather skip that trouble.
She was about to get to the door when a man stood in her way.
"Good morning, Signora." She knew why he was blocking her.
"Back off, Gelo. I'm in a hurry." She wanted to take off her shades to give him a glare, but that would only worsen her situation. People might recognize her.
"Mi dispiace, Signora. (I'm sorry, Ma'am.) I was just ordered to do this in case you ran off while he was still asleep." Gelo stood his ground. He was his secretary. And she was sure that the man she left was still hibernating on the bed. She wasn't sure how he did—
A memory popped up in her mind. She heard him talking on the phone before sleep took over her. Damn it. He had told his secretary after their long activity.
She didn't have time for this. She had a flight to catch, and her headache was knocking incessantly. "Move." She growled at him. "Or I'll make a commotion here that you are harassing me."
There were people now that were looking their way since they were in the lobby, near the exit that was just a few steps from the entrance. Heads turned at them curiously. And the guards that were standing near the door were becoming wary.
"No, Signora. You wouldn't do that. You don't want to attract paparazzi here."
That made Aurora snort. Now, he made her angry. And when she was angry, she didn't give a goddamn care. "Oh, then, let them come take a picture." A pang of pain made her grunt and another memory popped in her mind. "Wait." She gestured for him not to talk or interrupt her just functioning brain again.
When Max was bringing her to her room last night, there was someome with them. She heard him call 'manager'. And he was ordering her around like he was the boss, not questioning his intentions of her. She had a question she was dreading to ask then.
"Does he own this hotel?" She gritted out.
Gelo nodded.
She took a sharp breath and tried to compose herself as she wanted to bang her head to a wall. How unlucky could she be? Of all the freaking hotels... Gad. Damn. It. She heaved another calming breath. If she was Cyclopes, there could already be red lasers shooting out from her dark shades.
Her grip to her suitcase tightened. "Get off my sight, Gelo. Or I would drag this hotel's reputation down as well. A condemned celebrity was much more redeemable than a tarnished business. You wouldn't dare allow that to happen, would you?" She arched an eyebrow at him, though it might not be that obvious because of her sunglasses.
Gelo stood still in how intimidating she was. He was used in threats from his boss, but it was also another thing if it was from the one and only Aurora Fontalva. She was known for her arrogant behavior even before she had risen to fame.
"Move or I'll take off these shades and mask, and you'd regret it." She spat some more with venom in her tone. She would actually do it. She never bluffed her words.
Aurora wasn't just looks and talents. She had brain as well. Yeah. Fucking brain that didn't exist last night. And Cupid shot it down, dead, and buried six feet under when she fell in love.
Gelo stood aside with his shoulders slumped in defeat. Not just for the woman in front of him but also how he could imagine Max's reaction in how he failed to contain her.
"That's more like it." She snipped and moved past him.
A line of taxis was waiting for any possible customers from the hotel, and she called one. The driver hopped down and put her suitcase in the back compartment after opening the backseat door for her, and she entered quickly. She instructed him then to get to the airport as fast as he could, and she would pay him triple.
In the airport, she still had a few minutes left before boarding. She had made a minute stopped at the pharmacy to buy some medicine for her hangover. She was now sitting at the departure area lounge seats. Her luggage was already checked in. She couldn't help looking around. She was agitated if she saw even just a shadow of him.
"Ugh." She grunted and rumpled her hair out of her face. Out of all the males in Italy, why him? She could have done it with a freaking stranger. Yeah. She thought she was doing it with a fucking stranger. But then her mind got hazy. She blinked and tried to remember.
"Attention passengers for flight XXXXX to XXXXX operated by XXXXXX, boarding is now commencing at gate xxxxx. Please proceed to your gate."
The announcement made her feel half better. She quickly made her way to her gate number in her ticket.
When she boarded the plane after a few minutes and it started to take off, that was just then that she felt completely relieved. She took off her shades and looked at the window.
She had finally left him again for the second time. But there was a dread deep inside her that it would never be the same again. That her life would take a new turn. Chills started to crawl in her skin upon memories of the night erupted in her mind. And how ironic it was that she was all over him before, but now, she just wanted to get away.
She would confront him next time about the divorce papers that had been long due. She sent for it years ago but there was never a response from him.