Why now?

Chapter 1

Amadeus Elestial

I blinked my eyes improperly. Light had obscured my vision and my eyes took their time before they adjusted to the light that poured in from the windows. The curtains weren’t drawn when I left for dinner. I didn’t even have red curtains. I gradually rose to a sitting position as my head started aching. Two hands appeared in front of me with a glass of water.

“Here.” A voice spoke. Female; that was the only thing I was able to comprehend before I took the glass and took a gulp of water. My vision slowly became clearer. I could hear something and whatever it was, it kept on repeating. I finally looked around to discover a woman looking at her phone intently while she paced across the room.

“You…” I groaned. The woman looked at me and I looked at her and suddenly, my mouth refused to speak. I merely looked at the woman whose beauty had taken me off guard.

“Headache?” The woman asked. I dumbly nodded. She offered me a faint smile which somehow didn’t look genuine to me and resumed looking at her phone.

“Where are we?” I finally spoke with a groan involuntarily escaping my lips. My headache hadn’t disappeared completely.

“Hotel Willow.” The reply took me by surprise. But then I started remembering how I met her in the first place.

“Who are you?” I asked. I realized that I didn’t know her name or anything about her other than her appearance. I finally received her attention when she looked at me and started walking towards me. She sat on the bed, all the while maintaining a reasonable distance from me.

“Quite the curious child, aren’t you?” She looked at me with an amused sort of expression. “I won’t tell you my name.”

“Why?” This unbelievable woman just called me a child. A child wouldn’t go to a bar and have s*x with the first attractive woman he sees.

“I don’t want to.” She replied.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to.” She briskly repeated.

“Alright.” I gave up because my head was still aching. But I wanted to perceive everything. Particularly this refusal to disclose her name.

She held out a strip of tablets while still looking at her phone and I muttered a word of gratitude. I saw that two tablets were missing from the strip. I guessed she might have taken two for herself. My memories of the previous night started becoming clearer. 

I was at a restaurant to attend a dinner with my parents. They left for Belgium the same night after dinner and the two hours I spent with them were filled with their worries that I wouldn't settle down, their doubts about my sexuality and advice to find a lover all while they used my age and the need of humans to have a family of their own to support their arguments. 

After my parents had left, I went to the bar of the restaurant and ordered a drink before noticing the woman next to me. She was dressed in jeans and a loose sleeveless top. In a couple of shakes, we were drunk but not intoxicated. I initiated everything with a hasty kiss which had been given a swift response and I knew I wanted the s*x no matter how intoxicated I wasn’t at the moment.

“My phone.” I derailed my train of thoughts knowing exactly where naked bodies led each other and started frantically looking around.

“If you are well enough to panic, then go and get your phone. It’s over there.” The woman pointed to a pair of pants with a phone poking out of one of its pockets. I became mildly annoyed at her indifference to this situation.   

I jumped out of the bed and walked towards the phone. As I bent down to get my pants and the phone, I realized I was still exposed and immediately turned to look at the woman. She was still looking at her phone. I sighed with an unknown relief before putting on the pants and his light grey dress shirt.

After dressing, I sat on the only sofa in the room with my navy blue blazer in my hand. I didn’t expect the sofa to be too much like a pillow when I sat because I had sunk into it. She was still looking at her phone. She hadn’t caught sight of me dressing. I took out my own phone and looked at the time. After awhile, I randomly decided to click her picture. I breathed in relief when she didn’t detect me clicking her picture.

This woman was beautiful. She had jet-black wavy hair that reached till her shoulders. Unlike other females who came to bars and clubs in short dresses and pointy heels, she wore a pale blue formal shirt and blue jeans with flats. 

She was tall, definitely tall. Her long legs were proof, or so I thought. Slender. She was slim, but not the type of slim like those girls whose bones were visible to the point that they could replace skeletons in biology labs. Her cheeks weren’t too chubby, but enough for me to me to want to pinch them. 

“Are you dressed?” The woman spoke. She was still looking at her phone.

“Yes.” My voice came out with irritation. I was somehow bothered by the fact that this attractive woman was so much in love with her phone that she had completely dismissed the presence of a person with whom she had s*x with. Fortunately, the woman noticed my irritation and looked at me. She sighed. What was that supposed to mean?

“Do you want to leave or stay? Because I’m willing to pay half of the bill but I have places to go.” She stood up and she walked towards the door.

“Let’s leave.” I stood up and joined her. We exited the room, locked it and went to the reception with the keys. I mentally noted she was tall. Not as tall as me though.

“Excuse me. We would like the bill please.” I spoke as I placed the keys on the reception counter. The receptionist received the keys and examined the key number. After a couple of seconds, he looked at me.

“Sir, the bill has been paid. Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoyed your stay here.” I instantly turned to look at the man with narrowed eyes and suspicion on my face.

“Who paid it?” The woman spoke. The man turned to her and stared at her  as he took in her beauty. By all means, I know she is lovely. Just tell me who the paid the damn bill. I audibly cleared my throat as I repeated her question. The receptionist snapped out of his daze before he replied.

“Mr. Amadeus Elestial.” The woman’s eyebrows sank in confusion. I extracted my wallet from my left pocket and examined it. I groaned and placed in it inside my pocket.

“What happened?” She inquired.

“Nothing important, let’s go.” I took her hand and gently directed her out of the hotel.

“Is Amadeus Elestial your friend?” Oh thank god. I did not want to reveal my name to a woman who had refused to give me hers.

“Kinda. Do you want to have breakfast?” She nodded in reply. If she didn't want me to know her name, then she shouldn't know mine.

“How about there?” I pointed to a small food truck. 

“I’ll pay.” She declared. I nodded in agreement, and we walked towards the food truck. She ordered fries and I ordered a sandwich. We walked towards an empty bench near the truck and sat there in silence as we ate. We devoured our food almost simultaneously before looking at each other, searching for ways to bid farewell to each other.

“Did you use a condom?” She asked, shattering the uncomfortable silence. I took out my phone and removed its rubber case. A small packet of the condom a few bills laid there.

“I didn’t.” I replied and noted her amused look. After all, I had just revealed a condom hidden on the back of my phone. I groaned and placed my palm on my forehead. She laughed a little and I smiled.

“Goodbye.” The woman spun on her heel and walked away. I looked at her retreating figure and followed her with my gaze as she crossed the road. What a pleasant view. I stood there for a while, pulled out my phone and made a call.