Chapter 3
1001 Words
The club was exactly what Emma promised, loud, crowded, and full of people who didn't know Aurora's story.
Emma had forced Aurora into a tight black dress that showed off her curves, then spent an hour doing her makeup to hide the sadness that lived in her eyes now.
"Here," Emma pushed a drink into Aurora's trembling hands. "Start with this."
The alcohol burned going down her throat, but it felt good. Like it was burning away some of the constant pain in her chest.
"Another one," Aurora told the bartender, her voice getting steadier.
"Slow down," Emma warned, her eyebrows creasing with concern.
But Aurora didn't want to slow down. For the first time in days, she felt a different feeling due to the alcohol other than sadness. The music was so loud she couldn't think about Kaiden's cold voice or Sophie's cruel laugh. The alcohol made everything fuzzy.
"I want to dance," Aurora said after her fourth drink. Her words came out slightly slurred.
Emma looked worried, her lip caught between her teeth, but she followed Aurora to the dance floor.
Aurora lost herself in the music, moving her body to the heavy beat. She threw her head back and closed her eyes, letting the alcohol and the noise wash away Kaiden's face, Sophie's voice, all of it. Her hips swayed, her arms moved above her head, and for a few precious moments, she felt free.
The music pounded in her chest, the lights flashed bright colors behind her closed eyelids. Aurora danced wildly, her body moving on its own, letting the alcohol wash away her pain. But after a while, her head started spinning. The room tilted sideways, and she felt sick.
"I need the bathroom," she mumbled to herself, stumbling off the dance floor. Her legs were unsteady in her high heels, and she had to grab onto people to keep from falling.
She pushed through the crowd of sweaty bodies, the noise making her head pound worse. The hallway was darker, quieter. She could barely think straight, everything looked blurry.
She saw a door at the end of the corridor and walked toward it, weaving back and forth. Her ankle twisted in her heels, but she caught herself against the wall.
"Bathroom," she mumbled to herself, reaching for the handle with clumsy fingers.
The door opened easily. Aurora stepped inside, expecting to find sinks and mirrors.
Instead, she found herself in some kind of private room. Leather couches, dim lighting, and she wasn't alone.
Her heart started beating fast, but the alcohol made everything feel distant and dreamlike.
Everything after that became a blur of sensations and haziness...
Morning After...
Aurora's head felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer. Bright sunlight streamed through unfamiliar windows, stabbing into her eyes like knives. She was lying in a bed that definitely wasn't Emma's.
Her stomach churned with nausea.
She sat up slowly, the room spinning around her like a carnival ride. She was n***d under silk sheets that looked very expensive.
Her heart started pounding with panic.
The room was huge and elegant, floor-to-ceiling windows, expensive furniture, art on the walls that looked like it belonged in a museum.
Where am I? Her throat felt dry and scratchy.
Memories from the night before came back in broken pieces that made her stomach clench with horror. The club. The dancing. Looking for the bathroom. Opening the wrong door. Everything after that was a foggy blur, she couldn't remember clearly what happened, but her body felt different, sore.
Her hands shook as she looked around frantically for her clothes. She found them scattered across the marble floor, her dress, her shoes, her underwear, like they'd been removed in a hurry.
Her face burned with shame.
As she was getting dressed as quietly as possible, her fingers fumbling with the zipper, she heard water running in what must be the bathroom. She caught sight of herself in a huge mirror and gasped.
Her face was a mess, her makeup was smudged all around her eyes like a racoon, her hair looked like she'd been in a tornado, and her lips were swollen and bruised, obviously from kissing.
Aurora's heart pounded so hard she thought it might burst. She needed to get out of here before he came back. This was all wrong. She didn't do things like this. She didn't have one-night stands with strangers, especially not when she was drunk and heartbroken.
Her hands trembled as she grabbed her purse, but something on the nightstand caught her eye. A business card, thick and with elegant gold lettering.
MARCUS DAWSON
CEO, Dawson Industries
Her knees went weak.
Dawson Industries was one of the biggest companies in the city. She'd heard of Marcus Dawson on the news. He was powerful, wealthy, and according to the gossip magazines, completely ruthless in business. Women threw themselves at him, but he never seemed interested in them and people rumored him to be gay.
Aurora stared at the card, her mind racing in circles. Her hands shook so hard she could barely hold it.
What had she done?
Still reeling from the shock, her whole body trembling, the bathroom door opened.
"You're awake," came a deep, low voice that sent shivers down her spine.
Aurora didn't wait to hear anything else. Pure panic shot through her like lightning. She bolted for the door, her heart hammering against her ribs so hard she thought it might break through.
"Wait!" she heard him call behind her, but she was already running down the hallway. Her heels clicked frantically against the cold marble floor, the sound echoing off the walls.
Her breath came in short gasps as she ran. She didn't stop running until she was out of the building and on the street, gasping for air like she'd been drowning.
Her whole body shook as she leaned against a lamppost, trying to catch her breath and figure out what the hell she had gotten herself into.
- Writer
