Chapter 3- The wrong door
1355 Words
CHAPTER THREE
Some mistakes don’t feel like mistakes at first.
They feel small.
Like nothing.
Until they become everything.
The hallway was too quiet.
Scarlett leaned against the wall, her fingers brushing lightly over it as she tried to steady herself. Her head felt heavy, like her thoughts were moving through thick fog.
“I’m fine…” she whispered.
But she wasn’t.
The music from the club was gone now. Everything felt distant. Slow.
She had only stepped out for air.
At least, that’s what she told herself.
Ethan had helped her upstairs.
“Just stay here,” he had said. “I’ll be back.”
But she didn’t know when he left.
Or why the room suddenly felt too small.
Too tight.
“I need air…” she murmured.
So she left.
Now she stood in the hallway, trying to remember which room was hers.
She turned slowly.
“…They all look the same.”
A small, tired laugh escaped her lips.
“Great.”
Her eyes landed on a door slightly open.
Without thinking…
She pushed it.
And stepped inside.
The room was dim.
Quiet.
Different.
But Scarlett didn’t notice.
She closed the door behind her softly and slipped off her shoes.
“I’m back…” she mumbled.
No answer.
She frowned.
“Ethan?”
Still nothing.
She took a few steps forward,
And then….
Click!
The sound was sharp.
Cold….
Scarlett froze.
Something pressed against her forehead.
Hard,
Real,
Her breath caught.
“Don’t move.”
The voice was deep.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
Scarlett’s eyes slowly lifted….
And everything inside her snapped into place.
The drunken haze?
Gone.
Completely gone.
Standing in front of her…
Was a man with a gun pointed directly at her head.
He wore nothing but a towel around his waist, water still clinging to his skin, his hair damp from the shower.
But it wasn’t that that made her freeze.
It was his face.
Sharp.
Cold.
Unmistakable.
Her heart skipped.
But before dwelling on this godlike face of his she was more focused on what was beneath that white towel….
“He looks freaking huge..” she said in her mind… actually hoping she really did say that in her mind…
“Scarlett come back to your senses, you are here at gunpoint but you are thinking about a man's erection?..” her mind kept playing pranks on her… but she felt at peace knowing it was the alcohol speaking and thinking through her because she would never…. But then back to his face…
“…Dominic.”
The name slipped out before she could stop it.
The same name she and Lila had whispered about that morning.
The same man people didn’t joke about.
The same man she had seen in the club.
Watching.
Observing.
Him???
Dominic’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You know who I am.”
It wasn’t a question.
Scarlett swallowed.
“I… everyone does.”
The gun didn’t move.
“If you know who I am,” he said slowly, “then you should know this is a bad place to walk into by mistake.”
Her hands lifted slightly.
Not in panic.
But in surrender.
“I didn’t mean to,” she said honestly. “I thought it was my room.”
Silence.
His gaze stayed on her.
Sharp.
Reading her.
“You walked into the wrong room,” he said.
“Yes.”
“With no hesitation.”
“…Yes.”
“You’re either very brave,” he added quietly.
“Or very stupid.”
Scarlett let out a soft breath.
“Tonight… maybe both.”
For a second—
Something shifted in his eyes.
Just slightly.
Then he looked at her again.
Properly this time.
Taking her in.
Her slightly messy hair.
Her unsteady stance.
Her dress slipping just a little at her shoulder.
And then__
Recognition.
“You were at the club.”
Scarlett blinked.
“Yes.”
His grip on the gun didn’t tighten.
But it didn’t relax either.
“I saw you,” he said.
A pause.
“You were with someone, a guy precisely...”
Ethan.
Scarlett shook her head slowly.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
Dominic didn’t respond immediately.
But something about that answer settled quietly between them.
“I thought he was taking you home,” Dominic added.
Scarlett let out a small laugh.
“He tried.”
Her voice softened.
“I got lost instead.”
Another pause.
The tension in the room didn’t disappear.
But it changed.
It wasn’t sharp anymore.
It was… something else.
Something heavier.
Dominic lowered the gun.
Slowly.
Carefully.
But he didn’t put it away.
Not yet.
Scarlett exhaled.
Only then realizing she had been holding her breath.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For not shooting me.”
Dominic’s lips almost curved.
Almost.
“You’re lucky,” he replied.
Scarlett tilted her head slightly.
“Am I?”
Their eyes met.
And this time….
Neither of them looked away.
The air changed.
Not safer.
Just different.
Scarlett didn’t move toward the door.
Even though she should have.
Even though every logical part of her mind told her to leave.
Instead __
She stayed.
Dominic noticed.
“You’re still here,” he said.
Scarlett nodded slightly.
“Yeah.”
“You should go.”
“I know.”
But she didn’t move.
And neither did he.
The silence stretched between them.
Heavy.
Alive.
Scarlett’s gaze dropped briefly…
Then lifted again.
“You were watching me,” she said.
Dominic didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
A small pause.
Then….
“You stood out.”
Her heart skipped.
“…How?”
He stepped closer.
Not too close.
But enough.
“You weren’t trying,” he said simply.
Scarlett frowned slightly.
“Trying what?”
“To be seen.”
That caught her off guard.
“Oh.”
Silence again.
Then she smiled faintly.
“Well… you saw me anyway.”
“Yes.”
His voice was quieter now.
Lower.
And somehow….
Closer.
Scarlett swayed slightly.
Not from alcohol this time.
From something else.
Something she didn’t understand.
Dominic reached out.
Instinctively.
His hand caught her arm before she could lose balance.
The moment his skin touched hers….
Everything stilled.
Scarlett looked down at his hand.
Then up at him.
Her breath slowed.
“You’re warm,” she whispered.
Dominic’s jaw tightened slightly.
“You’re not steady.”
“I think I am now.”
A pause.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them let go.
Scarlett’s fingers slowly lifted….
Resting lightly against his chest.
Testing.
Feeling.
Real.
“You’re not what I expected,” she said softly.
“And what did you expect?”
She hesitated.
“Something… colder.”
His gaze darkened slightly.
“I can be.”
“I don’t think so.”
That made him pause.
For real this time.
Something shifted again.
Not fear.
Not danger.
Something deeper.
Scarlett didn’t know when she leaned closer.
Or why he didn’t stop her.
But suddenly….
They were standing too close.
Close enough to feel each other’s breath.
Close enough to hear every small change in it.
“You should leave,” Dominic said again.
But his voice wasn’t firm this time.
Scarlett shook her head slightly.
“I don’t want to.”
That was the moment.
The exact moment everything changed.
The first touch wasn’t rushed.
It wasn’t careless.
It was slow.
Careful.
Like both of them were testing something they didn’t fully understand.
Dominic’s hand moved from her arm….
To her waist.
Steady.
Grounding.
Scarlett’s breath hitched slightly.
But she didn’t pull away.
Instead….
She leaned in.
And when their lips met…
It wasn’t wild.
It wasn’t messy.
It was quiet.
Deep.
Like a question neither of them asked out loud.
And somehow…..
An answer.
Sho
cked… Scarlett pushed herself away from him and tried walking out of the room but he held her closer than before…
“You are not leaving this room just the way you came in—” and before she knew what was going on she was pulled back facing dominic with her back on the door..
- Writer
