Married By Accident

01: Motion Sickness

| Franki |

Raindrops were splattering faintly against the window when I woke up. The forecast was right; it would be colder than expected but it was warm here, underneath the sheets, beside a woman whom I can't even remember the name.

I'm in Vegas celebrating Maza's birthday party. We've been arranging this trip for quite some time now but knowing us, palagi yan drawing (plans rarely materialize), so this is a first.

And I'm in a stranger's hotel room. Also a first.

The woman next to me rolled over and said, "Hi."

Then she got up and walked towards a tiny coffee corner—probably was about to make a cup or two. I gathered the sheets to cover myself and tiptoed towards the bathroom.

Taking a swig from a bottle of mouthwash, I tried to recall getting to this hotel suite but was coming up blank. There are dim memories of a party, something like lots of tequila shots and Maza wearing a sparkly tiara. Overall, I feel warm and surprisingly well-rested, but I could feel an oncoming headache.

The view as soon as I stepped out was her staring outside the window with a cup of coffee in her hand, "Hey." She turned to face me.

An immediate shade of blush covered my cheeks. She's tall, probably 5'9, has long black hair and dark brown eyes. She was only wearing an oversized white shirt that hung like a dress on her. It went down low hitting the middle of her thighs but didn't look like a poor fit. She filled it out, highlighted every curve, and clung to every inch of her. She had tiny breasts and you can see the outline of her n****e through the thin fabric.

"Good morning," I replied, trying to distract myself from my thoughts.

She smiled and started walking towards me as soon as I crashed back in bed. Her shirt rode up with every sway of her hips, flashing enough skin. I couldn't stop myself from blushing as I stared for a moment too much.

Get a grip, you can't even remember her name.

She sat beside me as I reached for the cup of coffee in her hand. She pulled it away, raised an eyebrow, and took a sip, "I don't remember saying you can have any." She said while setting the cup on a bedside table from behind her.

"Rude," I whispered through a smile and leaned closer for a kiss. Then I nuzzled my lips against her neck and got a peek of a sexy tattoo resting just right below her collarbone. I dusted her soft skin with tender kisses and feather-light teases of my nose, "Mmm..." inhaling her warmth deeply, letting her scent wash over me. We both smelled like lavender.

My hand snaked under her shirt, short nails scratched lightly over her ribs, then fingers finally trailed upwards caressing the underside of her breast.

"You shouldn't have put this back on," I said as I took her shirt off and abruptly threw it on the floor.

She laughed a little before leaning in, "I love your adorable Aussie accent." She whispered, grabbed the back of my neck, then kissed me. It was hungry and sweet all at the same time.

I pulled back and kissed a path down to that one sexy mole on her neck, her collarbone then down to her tattoo and sucked a dark purple spot on the soft bulge of her left breast, "Mmm..."

She whimpered softly while I moaned around her hardened n****e, my tongue moving lazily circling it over and over.

"Franki..." She whispered while rolling the sheets off of my body revealing my fully naked figure. I smirked while placing a lingering kiss to her neck.

She knows my name. We definitely exchanged names, but that's not important right now.

Phoebe Bridger's Motion Sickness started playing.

"Sorry, that's my ringtone... And I'm ignoring that." I gently pushed her to lie down then crawled on top of her naked form then my phone started ringing again.

We sighed at the same time and let out a small laugh. I reached for my phone and saw that she couldn't stop grinning.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked.

"Pretty grim song for a ringtone." She stifled a laugh and leaned in to give me a soft kiss, "You should get that, I can wait." She said while pushing strands of my hair behind my ears.

I checked my phone and of course, there's only one person who would interrupt me while I'm having an excellent moment...

Maza.

"What's going on?" I tried not to sound too annoyed.

"Franks, badly need your help, y'know what I mean." That's not her, it's Jodie using her phone. Something's up and I think I know what it is.

"Give me a few minutes." I was so trashed last night but Maza probably drank an entire distillery, that's her typical Saturday and this is one of her episodes.

Damn... what's her name?

My thoughts went back to this amazing woman next to me. I wish we had everything taped from how we met last night because my memory is fifty-fifty. One of Maza's friends probably introduced us. I can slightly recall us having a few drinks then she started taking photos. Everyone was so busy so I had all my attention to her, we flirted for a bit then left. We went to a bar, had more drinks, started making out, the rest was a blur, and here we are.

"Is everything all right?" Her soft voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"It's fine, I need to go but um..."

"You want my number?" She suppressed a laugh then took another sip of her possibly already cold coffee.

Can she read my mind?

"You wish," I replied in a sarcastic but playful note.

"Go get dressed and gimme your phone." She said in a very demanding tone. I don't know why but it gave me an intoxicating rush hearing her being in control. She reached for my phone while cracking an arrogant smile, an almost silent, 'Yeah I know you want my number.'

She handed my phone back but the name's blank. Would it be rude if I asked for it now?

My phone started ringing again, so I immediately scanned the room for my jacket. I found my shoes resting underneath a pillow on the carpet.

I found my shoes resting underneath a pillow on the carpet while I scanned the room for my jacket.

The place is a mess; I thought as soon as I noticed a variety of things on the floor.

A bunch of casino chips, a bra—not mine, an empty Fireside Lounge shot glass (How many bars have we been to last night?), a pile of random leaflets and brochures, another empty shot glass, a pack of peppermint breath mints, and an envelope marked with Viva Las Vegas, Disco Wedding.

Wait. What?

I instantly grabbed and opened it.

"My head's killing me. How much regret do you have right now?" She softly laughed while lying back in bed.

I subtly checked my finger for a wedding ring, "I have a lot of regrets. One of them is having too much alcohol and not remembering anything from last night." I replied mindlessly with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I don't have a ring on, but why do I feel like I did something that I shouldn't have?

"What's that?" She was referring to the envelope.

"Can you recall stuff from last night?" I was hoping she'd convince me we didn't do anything stupid before I checked it out.

"What—why? What's going on? To be honest... I don't remember much." She recoiled slightly, trying to remember anything.

"Okay..." I opened my mouth and closed it a few times not knowing what to say due to a combination of an early morning headache and panic. Then I see something glistening from my bedside table.

Still holding the envelope, I attempted a few slow steps back into the bed.

"Franki?"

An overwhelming wave of nausea hit me as soon as I realized what it was... two gold rings.

My vision started to blur and the word regret reverberated in my head while I opened the envelope. I was in a state of shock but I didn't need to read everything on the paper. There were notable words, enough to explain everything.

Certify.

Wedlock.

Undersigned.

Mutual consent.

I silently handed it over to her.

Her eyes widened, darting from the papers to my face and back, "Well..."

Then there was a succession of three soft knocks at the door. For a moment, the two of us just stared at each other in stunned silence. Came another knock and someone shouted this time. "Diana, are you up?!"

Diana, that's her name and the person at the door sounded like Jodie... how do they know each other?

"Hold on!" She yelled at the door while staring at me. We fumbled for our clothes, she found her underwear shoved under the sheets at the foot of the bed. She winced a little standing up and headed for the door. I panicked, jumped, and laid on the couch, pretending to be asleep.

"Oh thank god! I was wondering where Franki was last night. Ugh, I'm glad you two are here. I have a bit of a Maza situation in my room and everyone's dead drunk. I need all the help that I can get."

I dramatically fluttered my eyes open, "Oh hey J,"

"Hey, I see you met my cousin."

"Cousin?" I replied, Diana and I staring at each other, nervously.

"We were joking last night, thinking Diana may have run into someone from the bar and gotten drunk married!" Jodie's laughter shattered the silence as she pointed at her cousin.

Diana let out a nervous laugh, "Ha-ha... Uh yeah. That would be stupid."

"I know, right? Don't be like one of those dummies. Plus you might be getting married soon!" Jodie playfully hit her.

Diana only responded with a faint smile.

I had just gotten out of a very toxic relationship, well; I slept with my ex last week. I couldn't help it, but I promised Maza that was the last time. I thought I had finally gotten some diversion today, but apparently, this woman, Jodie's cousin whom I haven't heard about in my years of stay here in the Philippines, this gorgeous and amazing woman whom I was about to have lazy morning fun with, is engaged.

"Alright ladies, help me out here." Jodie left the room, leaving the door open. It was wide enough for me to see Diana walkout, not even turning for one last look.

I can feel another wave of nausea hit me. I recalled what was about to happen earlier, but all I see now is her walking away. She doesn't even take one last glance at me. She transformed into someone else when Jodie arrived.

Is she engaged to another guy? A girl? Was she scared that Jodie might find out that she slept with someone else?

Just like the song, the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach was like emotional motion sickness while her words echoed in my head.

How much regret do you have right now?