Chapter 3 In The Dark

'One Night That Changes Everything'

The details in the file sent to James seem nothing like that of someone he knows.

"Looks more like a forged document"

He thought as he continued sipping his cold beer until He passed out after his friends had gone.

Suddenly Alexa was caught up with him while she was about to retire for the night. It was past 2am and the bar had already been closed, there was no one to help him.

But this man, a handsome, haunted stranger had collapsed in her arms, and somehow, in the middle of her shattered world, she didn't have the heart to leave him behind.

The bar manager wanted to call the police since there was no one there to take him home, but Alexa shook her head in disagreement.

James had dismissed Tomas almost immediately when he dropped him off.

"No he's not violent, he's just drunk.... I'll take him to the staff quarters."

She volunteered.

They looked at her like she was crazy, maybe she was.

The scene wasn't new to them. He had always come there to get drunk often.

Still, Alexa struggled to carry him through the narrow corridor into one of the storage rooms turned into sleeping quarters.

He was tall, heavy with dead-weight liquor and entirely unaware of her existence.

She laid him on the thin mattress, heart pounding, and then she sat beside him to catch her breath.

That was when his hand moved again.

Caught her wrist

"Lily".... he murmured

Her heart stopped

"Why did he call me that?"

She thought to herself.

"I'm Alexa," she whispered, brushing damp hair from his forehead.

"You've got the wrong girl, man".

Moments after she had rested a bit, she turned to his direction and watched him sleeping.

Immediately, he opened his eyes for a fleeting moment, gaze unfocused, searching her face like she was an answer to a riddle he couldn't solve.

Then he grabbed her by the arm and kissed her.

It was lustful, surprising, full of something lost and aching. She should have pulled away, but she didn't.

Maybe it was the way his lips trembled.

Maybe it was the loneliness crawling inside her.

Maybe it was the moment they shared in silence. Two broken people in the middle of a dark room.

The kiss deepened

He pulled her closer

His hcradledling the back of her neck, his breath warm and ragged against her cheek. She kissed him back, not because she wanted this.. but for once, someone had looked at her like she mattered.

Even if it was a lie. Even if he was just chasing a ghost.

Her hands slid beneath his shirt, and his hands wrapped around her like she was his only lifeline.

They didn't speak, words would have ruined it.

In that room, that night they both disappeared into something they couldn't explain.

Hours later!

James thought he wasn't supposed to be there, he wasn't supposed to have felt that way.

His head pounded, but there was warmth on his skin. Softness, a touch that didn't hurt. A breath that wasn't judgement.

And a kiss, so tender that it healed something inside of him.

In the Dark, he saw flickers, her face lit by dim light. Her voice gentle and hesitant. Her hands trembling but still choosing to stay.

Not Marlena's lies, not his father's conditions. Just... her.

He didn't know her name, but at that moment, it didn't matter.

He remembered the way her breath caught when he touched her.

The way she bit her lips unsure.

The way she whispered "Are you okay" even when he didn't deserve the kindness.

He wanted to stay in that moment, but something inside him always ran.

When Alexa opened her eyes the next morning, the room was empty.

The spot where he lay was cold.

She sat up father st, heartbeat skipping.

Her clothes were crumpled, her hair tangled and the silence in the room was deafening.

He was gone.

She stumbled into the hallways barefoot, scanning every door, every turn, nothing.

No note. No name. No clue.

Just the memory of his face, strong jaw, wounded eyes, lips that kissed like he was trying not to drown and a sad smile that spoke of secrets and things left unsaid.

That, and one more thing....

She glanced at the clock - 9:Am. A rush of panic shrugged through her chest. She had to get to work.

As she tidied up the sheets, she saw a hotel access card, by the side of the mattress.

"Everett Grand - Executive level"

"Wait... Everett?"

Her heart caught. She worked as a cleaner at the hotel and had just been offered to transfer to the front desk.

Could it be?...

No. No way!

A man like that wouldn't end up in a place like the Velvet Room.

Unless he didn't plan to...

Unless he was running,.oo..

She clutched the card to her waist.

"What have I done?" She thought

Her fingers fumbled over her shoes, trying to piece together a life that suddenly fell out of place. She managed to dress in a hurry. Her movements were stiff and mechanical, she grabbed her purse and left the room.

Made sure to keep her head down as she walked past the bar, avoiding the prying eyes of the other workers.

She was used to being invisible.

By the time the sun rose, James was already in his father's estate, standing under the cold shower trying to erase that night.

But he couldn't.

He remembered her fingers in his hair.

The way she whispered in his ears, not out of pain, but real concern.

He remembered the way she touched him. Like he wasn't broken.

But worst of all he couldn't remember her name.

He tried, he did try.

It was like waking from a dream you didn't know you needed.

Later that morning Tomas glanced at him in the rearview mirror as they drove to the Everett Grand.

"You alright sir?"

"You look like hell... sir," Tomas remarked as James slid into the backseat of the car.

"Don't remind me" James muttered while rubbing temples.

Not until he could piece together the fragmented memory of her face, the way she had held him like he mattered like he wasn't just another tired billionaire looking for a distraction.

He sighed deeply. Sinking into the seat.

"I don't even remember her name, but she felt different."

Tomas raised an eyebrow. "Different?"

James didn't respond, just stared out the window, hunted.

Then he waved a hand. "Never mind."

"I think I lost something important," he murmured.

"You say that like you had it in the first place," Tomas said gently.

James gave a humourless smile, "Maybe I didn't."

But he was wrong.