Only One Night

Chapter Five

Ceci woke up startled. He realized Sandy had gone. His memories were hazy and disoriented.

He checked the time, and it was 7 in the morning.

“What the hell went wrong?”

He pondered for a while, his mind racing as he slowly gathered the events of the previous night.

Why did she leave without saying anything???

He urgently needed to speak with her. He reached for his phone and scrolled through his contacts, his hands were shaking, and his heart sank the moment he discovered he hadn't got her number.

He felt a sudden sense of desperation suffocating him. He was thinking of several ways he could reach out to her.

“Did I go overboard? Was it not consensual? Or did I rush things?”

He continuously questioned himself as he thought of several options to salvage his situation.

Then a hint of a solution popped up, “She's friends with my buddy, Chris, I could get her number from him!” he said with slight delight as he put back on his shirt, zipped up his trousers, rearranged his hair to look a little bit decent and turned on the ignition, heading for Chris's home.

Arriving at Chris's home, he met him almost driving out of the garage and parked beside him, came down and walked up to him.

“What's up, man? What brings you here?” Chris greeted him with a curious expression.

“I need your help, I may have messed up”, Ceci replied to him.

Chris raised an eyebrow, “You didn't do anything to hurt Sandy, right???”

Ceci heaved silently, “No, I didn't. We spoke for a while and got engrossed in the conversation. We seemed to hit things off, or so I thought, but when I woke up this morning, she was gone. No note or text. Help me out here man,” he said sympathetically.

“Did you call her or something?” Chris asked, quite unsure of what Ceci wanted him to help out with.

Ceci shook his head, looking quite embarrassed, “I didn't get her number, that's kind of why I'm here, actually."

“You want her number from me?” Chris's brows furrowed. “That's a bit crazy, Sandy's going to kill me if I give out her number without informing her first”.

“I'm out of options here, man” Ceci said in desperation, “I just need to talk things out with her. What we had last night wasn't just something casual to me.”

Chris looked at him pitifully, “I could only direct you to her academy where she goes. She leaving abruptly probably meant she was embarrassed or maybe something worse.”

“You think she regrets it?” Ceci's eyes shone with despair.

“Calm down bro, I don't think she regrets it”, Chris said while patting him on his shoulders, “I only feel you both should talk things out in person, rather than through texts or calls, besides she could get really upset with me if she finds out you got her number through me”.

“Okay, but what if she doesn't want to talk to me if she sees me?" Ceci asked frantically, his eyes still sunken in fear.

“There's only one way to find out”, Chris said, trying to cheer him up. “I will only take you there. I won't follow you in or be involved in the conversation. I have an urgent appointment to attend to."

Ceci's face lit up with gratitude, “I'm super fine with that, I owe you one, big time.”

"Hope you'll not resent me for that?” Chris asked, his eyes searching for reassurance.

“You doing this is more than I even asked, it's really fine,” Ceci replied with a calm demeanor, relieving the tension in him.

Chris gave a friendly nod and said, “Alright then, get in your car, I'm headed that way anyway, the academy's just a short detour.”

They both got into their cars and headed for the academy.

Parking a few blocks away from the academy, Chris alighted from his car and walked to Ceci's, which was parked in tandem with his own.

He leaned over and peered into Ceci's car through the open window. “This is my stop buddy, I'd leave you to your fate,” he said with a chuckle.

“Thanks again, man. I just hope I don't embarrass myself in front of her,” Ceci said with a gentle smile spread across his face.

Chris' expression turned to a warm encouraging smile, “You'd be fine, just keep me posted on how things turn out. I've got to hit the road now.”

With a nod, Ceci climbed out of his car and walked towards the entrance of the academy, pushed the heavy doors open and stepped into the reception office.

He walked up to the receptionist and inquired about Sandy. Unfortunately, she had left the academy about an hour earlier and didn't mention when she'd be back.

He turned to leave when he bumped into a girl who was rushing around the corner. He helped her up, and their eyes met.

Alexa's gaze narrowed as she tried to remember his face, then her expression changed, and she smiled knowingly. “Hey, Ceci, right?” her voice full of curiosity. She had sighted him at the party.

“Yeah, I am,” Ceci's confusion deepened.

Who was she?

Observing his puzzled look, she quickly introduced herself, “I'm Alexa, Sandy's best friend.”

“Oh, right, she said a lot about you,” he said, forcing a smile. “Do you know where she is?”

“I'm not sure, she didn't mention where she was going,” Alexa denied. She didn't want to entertain any more questions from him and immediately added, “I have to leave now, I'm late for a lecture”.

“Is there any way I could get in touch with her? Her phone number or address, anything?” He asked, his voice filled with despair.

“If you could wait a bit, I'd be right back” Alexa blurted out without thinking of her repercussions.

She hurried to the locker room and dialed Sandy's number.

“Sandy, you wouldn't believe who's here” she shrieked.

“Who?” Sandy asked, confused.

“Ceci,” Alexa replied. “He's in the lobby looking for you.”

“Oh my God…” Sandy gasped, her voice trailing off in disbelief.