Chapter 5 V

Scarlet Brendan p.o.v

I opened my eyes slowly to see Rosaline shaking me.

The bright sunlight was seeping through the curtains, and it sent waves of pain through my temples.

I cringed, trying to avoid the bright beams of light and the harsh reality of the morning.

My head pounding.

I took in my surroundings and realized I wasn't in my room.

"Where am I?" I asked groggily.

"You don't remember last night?" She asked, looking distraught.

I shook my head, which was pounding, as I tried to remember.

My mind felt foggy, memories of the previous night slowly creeping back in.

I remembered the bar, the glances exchanged, the laughter, and then him taking me. But now, in the sobering morning light, I couldn't help but feel a sense of regret and unease.

"Oh gosh! I think I'm going to be sick." I got up and looked around and saw an adjoining door and ran right in.

Panic surged through me as guilt washed over me like a wave, drowning me in shame.

What have I done?

How could I have allowed myself to get caught up like this?

I prided myself in being more responsible, more in control.

I made my way to the bathroom, closing the door behind me to gain some solace in solitude.

Leaning against the sink, I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

My disheveled hair, smudged makeup, and the puffy, tired eyes looking back at me only intensified the disappointment I felt.

I couldn't even recognize myself.

Turning on the faucet, I washed my face, hoping the water would wash away both the physical and emotional remnants of the night.

But no matter how much I scrubbed, the guilt lingered within me.

As I stood there, contemplating my next move, a knock on the door startled me.

"I will be out shortly." I mumbled, knowing fully well who was knocking at the door.

I hastily splashed the water on my face, drying it with a towel before opening the door.

Rosaline came into the bathroom and handed me my clothes.

She gave me some privacy and I hurriedly put my clothes on.

I felt so stupid.

Ace was not even here with me.

He probably just left after getting what he wanted and went on to the next girl.

It is unclear to me why I was so stupid to let him have me.

"Where is Ace?" I asked Rosaline as soon as I came out of the bathroom.

"Who is Ace?" She questioned, looking at me with a confused look on her face.

Oh, she didn't meet him.

"Never mind. How did you find me?"

"I came to get you last night, so we could leave, but I couldn't find you at the table I left you, so I asked the bartender, and he said you left with a certain guy. I asked some people outside the bar after describing how you looked and the outfit you were putting on, then they showed me to the hotel. I inquired about your whereabouts from the receptionist, and she told me the room number after many pleas. I wanted to come get you, but you were like really loud and were screaming for the man not to stop, and since I didn't have a death wish, I wasn't going to be the one to break it up. I hanged out with someone until we fell asleep. I just woke up and checked the time." She explained.

So Ace really did just sleep with me and left.

I felt so low at the moment.

I hung my head, I walked out of the hotel, straight to the cab Rosaline had called for.

I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me as soon as I walked out onto the driveway.

Ace was standing next to the passenger side of a car with no shirt, and a lady had her arms around his neck and her lips plastered to his.

I saw him pull back after what felt like forever but could have been seconds, and she looked back and saw me staring at them mouth wide open.

Who knew that a stranger had the power to shatter my world with five simple words.

"You were amazing this morning" she said, smirking at me with a knowing victory look, before she slipped into the car with a girl, maybe perhaps her friend and they drove away.

I stood there too in shock to move even though I knew that Rosaline was behind me and Ace would turn around at any moment.

"Scarlet let's go, the cab man is waiting for us." Rosaline said as she yanked me towards the direction of the waiting cab.

Ace Rocco's p.o.v

I couldn't get her out of my head.

I have never met anyone like her before, and I can't stop thinking about the way she looked when I woke up.

But I had a job to take care of, and I can't afford to get distracted.

I steeled myself and turned my attention to the task at hand.

As I sat there, staring at my laptop screen, all I could think about was her.

The night we spent together couldn't stop replaying over and over in my mind.

And then I heard the ding of a new message from my friend, Daniel, asking how things were going.

"Did you get the job done?"

I was contemplating on whether I should tell Daniel about this girl, perhaps he could find a solution to how I could get her off my mind.

Should I tell him or keep this to myself?

After giving it a thought, I decided to tell him.

I took a deep breath, and typed out a message to my friend.

"I haven't gotten it done yet. There was a...distraction." My fingers hovered over the keyboard, as I still debated whether to tell him about her.

Then I took a deep breath and hit "send."

Daniel's response came quickly.

"A distraction, huh? A good distraction or a bad one?"

I could practically hear the smirk in Daniel's text, and I couldn't help but smile despite myself.

I thought for a moment, then replied,

"A very good distraction."

And then I waited, wondering what Jackson would say next.

Daniel's response was instantaneous.

"Oooh, do tell! Spill the beans, my friend!"

I hesitated for a while before my fingers hovered over the keyboard once more.

Should I tell Daniel about Scarlet, or try to play it cool?

On one hand, it would help me perhaps get her out of my head.

So I took a deep breath, and started typing again.

"Okay, but you have to promise that you won't say anything silly."

My friend quickly replied,

"I promise, you have my word buddy"

I smiled at the reply, and then started typing again.

"Remember that club we went to on Friday?"

Daniel's response came quickly.

"Oh, you sly devil! What happened? Spill it!"

I chuckled to myself, and then started typing again.

"We were having a great time, and then I saw this girl. The second I saw her, I knew I had to talk to her." I paused, wondering if I should tell Daniel the rest.

Daniel's response was just as quick as before.

"Okay, you have got me hooked! Don't keep me in suspense! What happened next?"

I grinned, and then typed out my response.

" I walked over to her and said, 'Hi.'"

"No way! What did she say?"

I was grinning now, enjoying the exchange with my friend.

"what do you expect, of course She said 'Hi' back!"

I could almost hear Daniel on the other end, waiting eagerly for the next part of the story.

"We talked for a while and I realized that she was a little tipsy, so I took her to my private room in the hotel."

" Bad guy. "

I was about to type something when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." I answered.

The door opened, and my eyes were still on my phone as I thought about what to send to Daniel next.

"Good day sir." A voice said.

That voice sounds familiar.

I raised my head to see who it belonged to, only for me to look up to see the one woman I wasn't expecting to see.

"We meet again."

To be continued