1: strange man

When Aria's eyes shot open, it occurred to her that she did not sleep at her own house, because she did have her sleeping eye mask on.

She would remember the details later, but first, she had to yawn; she felt weak. Her head ached her like a war was happening inside of it, and pain seared through her body, mostly between her legs. Aria's eyes scanned through her view. Two milk chairs were placed by the sides of a black shiny table, the curtains were drawn apart, revealing a wide view of the glass window.

The room looked different; it wasn't the room she and Lily, her best friend, had booked yesterday. With a sense of urgency, she attempted to roll over, but her body stilled like a rock when a firm mascular hand gripped her waist. Aria gasped, her eyes bulged with terror, when she noticed that he wasn't Ivan, her boyfriend of three years.

She was in bed with a stranger whose name she didn't even know. Her heart raced faster and she felt like screaming even though she knew it was unwise to do so. She hoped it was just a bad dream she could wake up from. Trying to steady her breathing, she reminded herself that she had to get out of this mess. No, she didn't want to know who this stranger was, she just knew she had to get out of her here as soon as possible.

Aria took deep breaths and whispered to herself. "You have to get out of here before he wakes up."

Carefully, she withdraw his hand from her waist. She heard him make a soft groggy sound as he stirred. Aria hoisted her body and rested her back against the headboard. From the vanity mirror, she saw a reflection of herself. Her hair was scattered, and she was naked. Feeling conscious of her body, she covered her breasts with her hands. Then, the pain between her legs shot through her body. The realization dawned on her, she had slept with him. Her face contorted, she was about to cry. Helplessly, her gaze fell on him; he looked peaceful as he slept with his olive skin and dishevelled blonde hair that fell onto his face. The duvet covered the most part of his body, leaving just a small part of his smooth chest, and his toned biceps. She was sure he was naked like her.

Although, the tears had gathered around her eyeballs, yet she didn't let them fall because they were of no use. In dismay, she held her hands to her forehand. How did she get herself into this mess? So this was what she was up to on the night of her college graduation? Heck, she was supposed to thinking about getting a high paying job to clear her student loans, her father's debt, and mother's hospital bills. Not loosing her virginity.

Aria felt disappionted in herself. And being unable to vividly remember what had led to this made her frustrated as she ran her fingers through her hair. When her hands fell back to her chest, she noticed a glistening diamond ring on her fourth finger. She wasn't a fan of rings, she couldn't remember owning one. What was happening?

She shut her eyes tightly, willing her memory to recall what had happened the previous night. She knew she had been sad and angry that Ivan hadn't showed up for their agreed date. The memory made a knot tighten around her chest. Now what would Ivan think about her if he found out about this? Devastated, Aria had followed Lily to a party hosted at the hotel Lily had planned to spend the night at. Feeling out of place and sad, she took a few drinks, then met the strange man at the bar. Flashes of him flooded her mind. Deep blue eyes, his dimpled cheeks, flirtatious sideways smile, diamond stud on one of his ears, crisp suit, breathy whispers around her earlobes…

Quickly, Aria picked her underwear, gown, shoes and bag she found on the floor. She scurried into the bathroom. When she shut the door behind her, she pressed her back against the door and broke into a sob. What had she done to herself? The landlord had promised to throw them out of the house today if they could not pay his rent, and what she was doing? Having sex with a random man. Shameful. She wished the ground could just open up to swallow her, or maybe just wake up from the bad dream. Whichever option was fine by her.

Crying wouldn't solve matters, once again Aria reminded herself. She wriggled her body into her bodycon gown, wore her heels, pulled her hair into a bun and slung her small bag over her shoulders. Looking presentable and a little bit confident, she prayed that the man had not woken up yet, then she stepped outside.

Aria froze when she saw him awake, body hunched over his laptop, and legs crossed at his ankles. His gaze flickered towards her direction; his deep blue eyes bore into her. Aria's jaw almost dropped; he was drop dead gorgeous. His eyes was warm and fierce, daring you to stare back at them. He had the type of handsomeness that you could never be satisfied with just one first glance. Your eyes would beg you to feed it with more of his sexiness.

"Preparing to leave already, I see." He finally spoke. Aria noted his accent, he was British.

"Um yes," Aria answered, her gaze lowered.

"We did something yesterday," he announced, by this time he had closed his laptop with its lid.

"We had sex, yeah." Aria shrugged, pretending to be unbothered.

"If that were the case, then I wouldn't need to tell you about it again." He said calmly and relaxed, and a lit bit nonchalant.

"Then what?"

He looked over to the table by his side, and picked up something and stretched it towards her.

Aria grabbed it with shaky hands, eyes scanning through it. It was unbelievable. Reflexively, her hands flew to her mouth. She had gotten married to the stranger whose name was Robert Lincoln, judging from the marriage certificate. No wonder, she had the ring on her finger.

She raised her gaze to face him, his expression was a complete contrast to hers. He did not share in her horror, he was completely fine. His calmless annoyed her. What sort of a man is this?