The Perfect Arrangement

The bright rising of the morning sun brought me out of my unconsciousness and back to my senses. I opened my eyes to unfamiliar surroundings and knew at once I was somewhere I shouldn’t be. The man beside me was breathing lightly, his heavy arm was snaked around my waist, and I could feel his breath raising goosebumps on my neck. A couple of long strands of his jet-black hair fell down across his eyes   My throat felt hoarse and dry from the countless shots and vodka-based drinks I had consumed the night before and I could already feel the dehydration setting in. As I slowly began to wriggle out of the awkward position I was in and slide myself out from under his arm, I was suddenly greeted with familiar stormy-grey eyes. I froze, wishing this was all a terrible nightmare. But then I remembered my Fathers company party the night before, how his business partner’s son had approached me on the dance floor, the smell of alcohol thick on his breath as he asked me to dance, the way his hands held my waist as we moved, the tingling sensations I got when his fingers interlaced with mine as he led me up to his suit. I internally cringed, waiting for him to recognise me and push me out of his bed in disgust. Instead, he smirked and said; “you want a round two before I kick you out?” His finger traced circles on my bare thighs under the duvet. Relieved that he didn’t seem to know who I was and ignoring the tingling he left where he touched my skin, I politely declined his offer. Within a minute or two, he had groaned and rolled over, his back was facing me, and I could tell by the slowness of his breathing that he had slipped back into sleep. Not wanting to risk him waking again, I quietly slid out of bed, gathered up my clothes from the floor, and begun to dress as I moved through the apartment towards what I assumed was the way out. By the time I’d reached the door, I had my underwear and last night’s dress on; I saw my bag hanging on a hook beside the door, grabbing it, I closed the door behind me and stepped out into the corridor with hopes that nobody was around to see my walk of shame.               Luckily, the corridor was completely empty, and I practically jogged halfway down the corridor and towards the emergency doors. I figured as my dad’s business partner owned this hotel, and I had just come from his suite, it would be better if nobody spotted me. My plan was to go down the emergency exit staircase and use the fire exit at the back of the hotel. I halted abruptly in front of the doors and cursed aloud. The small light above the keypad on the wall told me the door was locked, and without the code there was no way I was going to be able to get out this way. Panicking, my mind became scrambled, and my heart begun to thud in my chest. After rummaging around in my bag for a minute or two, I finally found what i was looking for. My phone was almost dead but had enough life in it to text an SOS to my best friend, Alex. His response was almost instant, and he told me he would pick me up at the back of the hotel. I sighed a sigh of relief. Now I just needed to find a way to get out without being spotted.               Suddenly, my attention was drawn to the end of the corridor, where the lift had just made the sound signalling it had stopped on the floor I was on. My stomach twisted into nervous knots as I looked around in a panic. The lift doors had opened, and I heard the chattering of voices emerging from it. In a pure blind panic and determination not to be seen, I ducked into the only open door and shut it behind me, leaving only a small sliver of a gap. I pressed my head to the gap and saw two men of around my age walking along the corridor. From the quick look I got of them as they passed, I knew they must have been at last nights party as they were still dressed in their formal suits and tux. “Wonder if Theo is awake yet” One of them said. “Nah, of course not, pal. He’ll be nursing his hangover in bed.” “Yeah, probably” the first man chuckled; “That or trying to remember the name of last night’s conquest.” “Well, whatever her name was, Theo is one lucky dude. She was one cute blonde.” Their voices grew quieter as they reached the end of the corridor, the sound of a door slamming behind them informed me they had entered the apartment I’d just come from. I let out the breath I was holding and sunk to the floor. The nausea and pain in my head had finally made an appearance, I wondered if I could really be experiencing a hangover when I still felt drunk, nevertheless, I sat and allowed the dizziness to wear off before I dared move. It suddenly occurred to me that in my blind panic, I hadn’t even bothered to look at the room I had taken refuge in. It was a dark, box shaped room with shelving units that covered every inch of wall. One wall was stocked with crates of beer, multipacks of bottled water and other refreshments in bulk, while the other was stocked full with mini bottles of spirits the size of my thumb. The storeroom was clearly used to restock the apartment I had spent the night in and no doubt the hotel staff would be arriving soon to retrieve some of the stock that surrounded me. My stomach growled at the sight of the back wall which was covered with boxes upon boxes of all the snacks I could possibly imagine. Wrapped up in my own thoughts and nauseous state, I did not even notice the light flooding into the room as the door behind me opened. “The f**k are you doing in here, Blondie?”