Chapter 12
1658 Words
Jessie spent the entire night on her stomach, her head resting on the pillow. When she opened her eyes, she saw it was already morning.
She sat up and used both hands to support her head. She was in the throes of a hangover.
She realized she was naked when she dragged the blanket across her chest. She gasped but didn't feel any pain underneath, indicating that she hadn't had s*x with anyone, so why was she naked and how did she enter the room? She had no recollection of what occurred the night before, although she had hoped it wasn't the man she had met at the hotel. He was the obnoxious man who accused her of stalking him.
Jessie started looking for her things on the bed, but something shiny caught her eye as she looked at her finger. She shaved her head to be able to see the object clearly.
She let out a gasp. "Please don't be real," As she stroked the ring, she spoke in hushed tones. Her heart started to beat quicker. She examined the ring and discovered that it was made of plastic. Jessie snatched it from her finger and tossed it to the ground.
Something wasn't quite right in the room she was in. She looked around the room with her gaze. The room she checked into the day before wasn't the same as the one she was in now.
"Could this day get any worse?" Jessie said. Her two feet were planted on the ground, and her gaze was drawn to the transparent window, which had a piece of paper adhered to it with a written word. 'Good morning, Wifey,' it says. She gasped once more, but quickly hurried to fetch her clothes, which had been left on the couch. She put it on and walked back to the bed to get her phone, dropping the pillow to the floor in the process.
When she bent down to pick up the cushion, she discovered a thick piece of paper underneath. Jessie scooped it up, flipped it, and then flung it back on the ground. What she saw in the paper astounded her. It was a wedding photograph, and she was included. In the role of the bride, flowers were also used to adorn her hair.
She knelt to take it up once more. What had happened last night that she couldn't seem to recall? She took a quick look at the man's features. Din Cooper, was it? He stood close to her, while a man stood behind them. He was clad in the robes of a priest.
Was there a wedding going on at the club where they were? How did that happen? It had been professionally photo-shopped. She assumed. Din Cooper had to edit an image to harass her since he wanted to get on her nerves so badly.
Jessie tossed the photo on the bed and walked over to the window to remove the glued-on paper.
When she turned on her phone, she noticed that she had six missed calls from Taylor. She had called Taylor to meet her at the reception, and they needed to talk.
Another thing caught Jessie's attention as she almost walked out of the room. It was only a few inches away from under the couch.
Something stung Jessie as she bent down and placed her hand under the couch. She quickly removed her hand and noticed the small amount of blood on her finger.
She tugged the object out with her hand underneath it once more. Her face was flushed with surprise, and she dropped the object she had found on the ground. The flower that was on the ground was the same one she had seen in the picture. It was the same flower that was placed on her head. She promptly rose to her feet.
She's baffled as to what's going on. Maybe the image wasn't manipulated in any way. Perhaps they did have a wedding.
She closed her eyes hard and put her palms on her head. Her mind was filled with images from the night before. Din had taken her into this room since she was inebriated. She guessed she passed out because she couldn't recall anything after they exchanged a kiss and were almost having s*x.
She didn't come to Vegas for this. She came to get rid of Marco in her head, and now Din has entered the picture? Jessie had hoped the marriage would be a hoax.
Before heading out to meet Taylor at the reception, she returned to the bed and picked up the picture.
Din Cooper may be anywhere. Jessie hurried to the reception desk to meet Taylor.
Taylor was able to see how quickly Jessie had run. Taylor's shoulder had served as a source of support for Jessie when she got to the reception. She was breathing faster as a result of her run.
"Can you tell me where Din Cooper is?" Jessie locked her focus on the in-charge receptionist. The receptionist was perplexed by her query. "Din Cooper,"Jessie said again. "Last night, he booked into this hotel. I need to track him down. Has he left?" Jessie questioned.
Taylor drew Jessie's attention, turned to her, and whispered, "Calm down, Jess." She inquired, "What is going on?"
Instead of speaking, Jessie handed Taylor the wedding photograph.
Taylor took it in her hands and looked at it, puzzled. She shifted her attention back to Jessie. "Can you tell me what this is?" Taylor enquired.
"Taylor, it's a wedding picture."
"What?"
"Exactly? Din Cooper appears to be playing with me." Jessie had tears in her eyes, but she blinked them away.
"What do you mean?" Taylor enquired. Her eyes returned to the photograph.
"I believe there was a wedding last night. Din and I had a wedding, I believe. A ring on my finger and a message glued to the window awaited me when I awoke. I awoke in the room he had taken over, not mine. What exactly happened?"
"Calm down, Jess," Taylor said again.
"How could I de-stress?" She cried out and turned to look around. "How could I de-stress?" She inquired once more, but this time in a more subdued tone. "It doesn't appear to have been photo-shopped."
"How did you figure that out? Because you noticed a note and a ring on your finger? That is just meaningless. You were both inebriated." Then, Taylor made a sneering remark. "How could you have a wedding if you both have no idea what's going on?"
"Take a look at this." Taylor was shown the mark on Jessie's finger. "This morning I got hurt, and guess what hurt me?"
"What?" Taylor inquired. Curiously.
"It was the same flower that was on my head in that photo. Taylor, it disturbed me." Jessie started looking around. "Have you seen Will?" She asked. "Will he be able to tell us where Din is?"
Taylor swallowed her saliva and cleared her throat.
"What? You have no idea?" Jessie was the one who asked. "You were both together last night. At the very least, you should know his phone number." Her gaze was fixed on her friend. Jessie reached out to Taylor's robe and took a wet ivory-colored rubber that was clasped to it and slowly removed it. It had become indistinguishable from her robe. It would have gone unnoticed. "This appears to be a condom." "It's an old one." She held it up for her friend to see.
Taylor quickly gathered it and stuffed it into the robe's pocket.
"Oh God, you slept with him." Jessie was irritated, and she threw her hand into the air.
"No, no, no," Taylor shook her head in denial.
"The condom is soaked. Your boss wasn't here last night, Taylor. If my memory serves me correctly, you were with Will. You were both talking and drinking."
"It's not what you're thinking of," Taylor said.
"Then explain yourself, Taylor!" Jessie lifted and then lowered her voice. She muttered, "How could you do that?" "How did you manage to sleep with everyone? Couldn't you just close your vaginal entrance for a change? How could you not have respect for yourself? We don't know anything about him because he was that man's friend. That man married me last night, and now he is gone." Jessie said. "Taylor!" she called. "I'm disappointed in you." Jessie shook her head as she said goodbye to her friend and returned to her room.
Taylor stood there watching Jessie walk away. Jessie's words echoed in her head. It was a painful experience for her. How could she have slept with a complete stranger she only knew by name?
She closed her eyes for a few seconds and went back to her room. She slid open the door cautiously, revealing Jessie seated on the bed.
Taylor stepped gently inside the room and over to her friend. She sat next to Jessie and was silent for a few moments before Jessie broke it. "It's your body, and you have complete control over it." Jessie's tone had softened. Her gaze was fixed on the ring Marco had presented to her. She eventually decided to sell it.
Taylor responded, "He's gone. Will stated that he was returning to Los Angeles and that he had work to accomplish. We didn't discuss Din at all, but I'm sure he took him with him."
Jessie let out a sigh.
As Taylor stated, "It's a good thing." Jessie gave her a confused look. As she grabbed her friend's hands in hers, Taylor nodded. "It's for the best that he departed. That indicates you're no longer enslaved. Perhaps you and Din had a phony marriage because you were both drunk. I don't think he'd go looking for you because of that."
"You think?" Jessie was the one who asked.
Taylor smiled and nodded. "I know." She stepped up and said, "Now, let's get ready and go home."
- Writer
