Chapter 2

My head was pounding, hung over in a daze.

The throbbing headache continued.

I rolled, slipped, and fell out of bed. I felt like someone had stuffed cotton wool in my eye and pushed me down a stiff cliff. I got up and pulled the now very itchy sequin dress off and got the fright of my life when I realized I wasn't wearing any underwear.

I knew I left the house with panties on last night. Hadn't I?

I was already running late for work. I had accidentally pressed the snooze button way too many times. But I couldn't rush to work looking like this. I looked like a huge mess.

I grabbed some cotton wool and face wipe, dunked it in makeup removal, and attempted to wipe the thick, chalky layer of black smokey eyeliner makeup off my face.

My red lipstick was smudged and one of the lashes clinging on like a dry leaf.

The makeup was coming off but the glitter was more stubborn.

"To highlight your beauty". Allison said as he emptied the whole jar onto my face.

The glitter was sticking to my face like glue and some bits had even gotten into my hairline.

The wig was even worse. The clip holding it in place had twisted so badly that everything was completely stuck.

No doubt from rubbing my head back and forth in the backseat of a total stranger's car.

Instant nausea rose as I started to think about it again - crap shit!

But the wig was my top priority right now and I was left with no choice but to painfully rip it off my head. I yelped in pain as a tuft of brown hair came out in chunks, then I cursed the wig and tossed it onto the floor.

I couldn't believe I'd worn the thing - it looked like a dead poodle.

I dissed my usual middle part, scraping my hair back into a ponytail.

Contact lenses out - after inventing some new yoga poses to pry them from my dried-out eyes.

Then one last mirror check before running out.

On my way to grab my laptop bag and a handful of headache pills, I passed my mom's room.

I hadn't seen her for days now.

She never came out of the house. And now she's not coming out of her room. I stood in front of her door. I'd be late. Maybe I'll check up on her later…

I sighed and, as I went out to my car, my face went red-hot at the thought of a sudden image that flashed through my mind.

My twenty-year-old Toyota had been acting up lately. Another thing to add to the growing to-buy list, along with socks without holes, black pumps with non-peeling soles, and now some new undies.

But I just couldn't afford a new car right now or ever, not between paying back loans my mom owed or secretly sending money to my sister.

"Please start, please start, please start" I pleaded.

My job was the most important thing in my life.

Without it, I wouldn't be able to help Cindy. There was no way I was going to let that happen. I cannot afford to do anything to jeopardize it.

I also knew what being late meant. I would surely walk slap-bang into an apocalyptic crisis lifted straight from the book of Revelations.

Working at an ad agency means going from one emergency to another. High stakes, lots of money on the line, demanding clients, demanding creatives, and tight deadlines. It was my first job out of college, to talk about baptism by fire.

My car finally started after a few smoky chugs and I threw a few thank-yous out into the universe to whichever deity was listening. But as soon as I drove out of my apartment complex and turned onto the highway, I was assaulted by bumper-to-bumper New York traffic and it made even worse mini taxis.

The static traffic gave me time to think and reflect.

What the hell had happened last night?

Most of it was a blur but now and then, an image flashed through my mind

Vodka. Lots and lots of vodka.

"Is this seat taken?" That smooth move and that husky voice.

Slowly grinding himself into me on the dance floor, running his hands up my thighs, creeping way, way too high for public decency laws, until his hands

were...

"You're so fucking beautiful. " He'd whispered in my ear, his hands coming up and cupping my face.

"I want you so badly, Aria"

How did he know my name?

"I need you." That was the moment I melted and decided to walk outside with him...

Fumbling for his car keys... On him.

Under him...

Windows steaming up...

"Fuck, you're amazing." More words that made me lose my mind as I writhed on his lap and forgot myself in the moment...

His tattoos, those dark piercing eyes...

"I could do this forever, " He whispered in my ear seductively.

"Aria". I gasped as he came on top of me, the weight of his body crushing me into the seat.

Oh. My. God. Had I really fallen for every lame jackass line in the book? He probably said that to all the girls he shagged in his back seat.

After a frustrating hour, I arrived at work, but the only parking space I could find was all the way on the other side of the office park, so I was forced to run with a pounding head and lurching stomach.

But when I finally got inside, I was downright shocked. Something was very wrong.

I was expecting to run straight into the usual office chaos: people screaming at each other, screaming into the phone, screaming at the coffee pot or the copy machine. But something bizarre was going on today.

People were sitting around lazily…. chatting.

It was as if someone had come in the night and tranquilized all my co-workers. Has someone put Xanor into the air conditioning system? That was surely the only explanation for this eerie calm. Did I inch my way to my desk feeling very uneasy-was this the calm before the storm?

Before I had a chance to pull out my chair, Vanessa slunk up to me and whispered conspiratorially into my ear.

"Have you heard?" she asked.

I half turned to her but she cut me off quickly before I could manage to respond.

"They hired a new Creative Director. Apparently, he's a fucking rock star. Blake something I think-"

At the sound of that name, one of the junior copywriters who happened to be walking past quickly corrected her, "Isn't it Blade? I heard his name was Blade?"

Next thing I knew, an equally excitable art director joined the conversation, "Blaze? Isn't it Blaze? Or Slash?" She was practically squealing.

I looked from one glowing face to the other. Their eyes were lit up like firecrackers and their cheeks were flushed a bright shade of pink.

"I heard they offered him a huge financial package to come here," Vanessa said with a wild, wide-eyed look.

The other creatives simultaneously nodded in agreement, declaring that he was probably worth every cent, maybe even more. Yes, he was definitely worth more, they concluded. Then they walked off... no doubt to spread more legends of this creative man-god.

In an ad agency, creativity is king.

It's the currency and the Holy Grail. So when one of these so-called creative geniuses comes around, it whips everyone into a star-struck frenzy. He might as well have been an actual rock star because everyone here at CTS was whipped. I was too hungover to be vaguely interested, but the rest of the office buzzed like the static on a television.

"I heard he doesn't sleep...ever, " the strange pale vampire girl from Layout said dreamily.

"He's going to bring in a lot of new accounts.."

"Not to mention awards"

Two senior managers said as they passed.

"And apparently he nailed all the chicks at his last job," Two guys from IT said before a macho fist bump.

I sighed and started to roll my eyes, but they hurt too much. I opened my email and there it was: Meeting in the Canteen to introduce a new CD (Creative Director).

The meeting was in ten minutes. I lay my head on my desk and waited for the headache pills to kick in.

I must have drifted off to sleep though because I thought I heard someone say, "I heard he was raised by wolves."

I opened my eyes and looked around, but no one was there. I glanced at my watch.

Crap!

I jumped up and ran to the canteen as fast as I could without tripping and landing on the floor. When I finally got there, everyone was already inside and standing around a black-clad figure.

That must be him!

I could only see the back of him from where I was. I glanced around looking for Vanessa and finally saw her standing in the front row with the other starry-eyed women. I finally pushed my way forward trying not to be seen but when I got there, he turned and suddenly my heart seized in my chest and I couldn't breathe.