Chapter 2 After the memorable night

DANIELLE'S P.O.V

"Wake up!"

I heard the voice before I felt the tapping and I wondered who exactly could be disturbing me so early in the morning.

"Wake up!" the voice repeated.

This time the tapping was more painful and hurried. I groaned in pain as I sat up on the bed.

What do they say about alcohol?

It is said to induce inhibition loss, enhance poor decision making, and encourage impulsiveness.

So, why do we keep taking alcohol?

The answer is very simple actually. We do so because we always want what is bad for us.

I questioned my decision to ingest as much alcohol as I had last night. My regret deepened further as the rays of light, which escaped from the shielding of the curtains that covered the windows; fell on my face, causing my already banging head to split further apart in pain. Usually, the feeling of the early morning sun rays on my face was comforting, but this morning, they reminded me of the reasons why the intake of spirits should be declared illegal.

I applied pressure on both sides of my head, trying my best to reduce the pain but I uttered another guttural sound as a new wave of pain ripped through my head. I swore then and there to never consume alcohol; never again. My mouth tasted like I had drank gutter water before going to bed and I quickly ran my tongue over my teeth in an attempt to reduce the nauseating sensation of the taste.

"I said wake up!" the voice that awoke me from my slumber said again. It was such a deep and manly voice that commanded authority, causing me to jump in surprise.

I looked up at the source of the sound and I was immediately and utterly astounded by the incredible handsomeness of the man who stood before me. He was styled to perfection in a navy blue suit that was obviously tailored to fit his bodice, his blond hair which was combed back, and the Rolex on his left hand that glinted as he adjusted the cufflinks on the wrists of his shirt.

The realization that I was in a room alone with a total stranger began to dawn on me. Of course, I had made bad decisions last night; decisions which I blamed on the alcohol. I took a peek at my state of dressing under the covers of the duvet and the sight of my bare body drew out an impulse quiet cuss from my lips. After giving myself a quick mental berating, I looked back up to take a look at the creation of Aphrodite that stood at the foot of the bed, staring down at me with an intense expression on his face. I could not remember much from the previous night, but I knew that I did not regret having a steamy night with that beautiful man.

"Are you done?" the man asked.

Realizing that I must have gawked openly, I shook my head in an attempt to clear my head and focus on the situation at hand; an action that I, immediately, regretted taking as another wave of pain flooded my skull, drawing a wince from my mouth.

“I don't have the time for this.” he said staring down at me with a look that could burn a hole into the wall. The confusion that I felt was clearly written across my face as I looked up at the strange man who stood at the foot of the bed with a cool and expressionless face.

I watched as he pulled out a black wallet from the pocket of his tailored suit and ran his fingers through its contents. It was then that I was dealt the worst insult that I had ever received in my life. With a quiet and sickening thud, I watched as the paper notes dropped onto the bed's covers.

"There." He said, closing his wallet, "That is your payment for the night's activities."

"Excuse me?" I asked, shocked to my core by the implication of his actions.

"Is that too small? I did not think you were prehensile, but I guess books can not be judged by their covers." He said.

Still in shock, I watched as he opened his wallet and dropped another was of bills on top of those lying on the bed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked angrily, "What do you take me for?"

"I admit we both had fun last night but I would appreciate if you did not take that as an opportunity to lust for something more. I have no interest in pursuing anything more than a one night stand." He said.

I felt extremely insulted by his statement. How dare he speak to me like I was a wanton?

I scoffed at his statement and quickly made work of lifting myself off of the bed and looking for my items of clothing which had been shed all over the room in my our passionate haste the night before; a night I would, unfortunately, regret. I hurriedly pulled on my clothes, picked up my jewelry and my purse, and choosing not to wear my shoes, I held unto them.

After I had looked around the room one last time to confirm that I had taken all of my belongings, I turned to look at the rude stranger.

"I'm done!" I spat, angrily.

"I see that" he said with uninterested tone.

I was very infuriated by the snotty bastard but I refused to leave the room without giving him a piece of my mind as I would never allow myself me humiliated so.

"You're an asshole" I said.

He looked up from his phone and he looked at me in shock.

"What did you just call me?" he asks in disbelief.

"I'm assuming you're not deaf. You did have a lot to comment on last night, didn't you?"

The expression on his face was priceless and I almost chuckled in satisfaction at the look of shock on it.

I pried my purse open and pulled out a fat wad of cash before throwing it in his face.

"There! That is your payment for your work during the night; although it wasn't worth half of the money." I said with a smirk on my face.

Storming out of the room, I headed for the elevator. Once in the confines of the electrical box, I groaned in anger, cussing out the egotistical man that I had chosen to give my body to. I blamed it all on the alcohol.

"I'm never taking alcohol. Never again." I whispered.

On getting to my hotel room, I noticed something was off; of course, it was very odd to see huge men, dressed it suits and sunglasses, standing right outside my door. I got an eerie feeling and chills ran down my spine. As one of the men spotted me, he looked at me with familiarity before tapping his colleague. They both looked at me again and the colleague nodded like he was confirming something. In that moment, I realized that my greatest fear was right before me. My father had found me out.

I turned on my heels and made a sprint for the elevator. Luckily for me, they were still a long way from the elevator so they could not reach me. The only way to catch up to me would be to go down several flights of stairs from the 12th floor and there was only a slim chance of them meeting me. I was sure that they had backups somewhere in the resort so I had to find a hiding spot as fast as I possibly could.

Once the elevator eased open, I ran outside looking for a hiding place. Almost like the heavens were backing up my escape, I spotted an SUV with an open trunk. Without thinking twice, I ran towards the SUV, jumped into the trunk and shut it immediately.

My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty and my feet stung from running down the granite road. I took deep breaths of the stuffy air in the car trunk to calm myself down and after a few seconds, I started to realize I might have made a mistake in my choice of a hiding place. How was I to get out of the trunk when the only way out was from the outside?

I started to panic and desperately hoped the car's driver would come to open the trunk. Almost immediately, the car trunk beeped and opened. I squealed in delight, causing the driver of the car to recoil in shock. I sympathized with him; I would have been shocked too to see a sweaty, scantily clad woman, in the trunk of my car.

"What's going on?" a voice asked.

I froze at the sound of the voice. I had only ever heard that voice twice and my encounter with the owner of said voice had gone from beautiful to disastrous. I hoped I was just hearing things until my fear was confirmed when he joined the driver at the trunk. I watched his facial muscles strain into a frown and his eyes grow a shade darker in anger. I must have offended fate in my previous life or something for her to keep playing dirty tricks like that on me.

"You!" he said venomously.

"Surprise!" I said in the most sickeningly sweet tone I could muster.

The driver still stood awkwardly, holding suitcases in both of his hands.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"What am I doing where?" I asked, smiling smugly when he glared.

"Get out!" he ordered.

I took my sweet time getting down from the trunk before sashaying past him with a smirk on my face, turning to the driver, and patting him on his shoulder.

"It must be very hard working for this breed. Stay strong" I said and glanced at my target to check his reaction.

His face contorted in anger, giving me the satisfaction I needed. I chortled as I walked back towards the hotel, swinging my hips for good measure.

I didn't see any of the uniformed men in the lobby as I entered the elevator. On the passage way to my room, there were no men either. I quickly swiped my key card across the lock and entered the room, giving a little victory dance.

"I thought you'd never come. I've been waiting for you"

I froze in shock as my key card slipped from my hand and gave a thunk as it fell on the floor.

"I told you, my sweet. You cannot hide forever."

My throat felt squeezed as I managed to let out whisper.

"Dad!"