Scarlett woke up in pain. Her head pounded as if she’d been knocked out by a hammer. She groaned and opened her eyes, one after the other. Her mind was still foggy but she could tell that there was something wrong going on. For instance, she didn’t recognize the room she was in. Scarlett wondered what had happened to her last night. She couldn’t remember a single thing. In fact, it took her at least five minutes to recall her own name.
She moaned while trying to lay on her back. She could feel the weight of her entire body, as if she took some extra kilos during the night. And there was this dull pain between her legs as if…
A yelp broke out of her mouth when her arm hit something while she was trying to find a comfortable position. Something hard. Her fingers poked at it one time, two times. She just couldn’t make out what it was. Therefore, Scarlett turned her head to the left and her eyes widened in disbelief.
Her mind was definitely playing tricks on her, she thought. The man laying next to her on the other side of the bed could simply not be real. He didn’t look real. Scarlett stared at his face that had clearly been made with the sole purpose of seducing whoever would set their eyes on it. His jaw was perfectly defined, just like the tall bridge of his nose and his thick set of eyebrows. Scarlett’s breath shortened when she noticed those lashes. Man, she wished hers were that long. They sat elegantly on top of the man's cheekbones, making him seem even less realistic. She hesitantly neared her hand until her finger poked at his soft lips. Then, unexpectedly, the man’s eyes flew open. Her brown pupils met his gray ones.
Scarlett screamed loud enough to wake up the entire floor. She sat up on the bed at the same time as he did. She realized with horror that she wore nothing but a thin piece of lingerie that didn’t leave much to the imagination. She covered her chest with both hands.
“W-who are you?!” She yelled at the man’s face. “What are you doing in this bed you…You perv!”
But Scarlett didn’t have to wait for his answer. Suddenly, memories of last night came to her bit by bit. She remembered being with her friend Megan. It was her idea to spend the night in a hotel room, have a few drinks and watch a movie together. Well…That was the plan but they never got to watch anything because as soon as Scarlett finished her first glass of wine, the world was already fading around her. She remembered feeling so exhausted that she had to lay down on the carpet and stare at the ceiling. Then, she heard Megan laugh but it was different. She sounded like a different person.
Scarlett was in between slumber and consciousness when the girl she considered a close friend leaned over her with the most hateful gaze plastered over her face. She said:
“You will never find someone who cares for you as much as I do, Scar. Guess what? I have a surprise. I booked the most exquisite man in LA to come and spend a night with you, free of charge. They say he can literally take you to heaven just by the power of his looks, so imagine what it will feel like to have him inside you…But just in case you need a little push, I put a bit of aphrodisiac in your drink. How are you feeling already?”
Scarlett didn’t understand half of what Megan was saying. All she knew was that she was feeling extremely warm and needed to get off her clothes as soon as possible. She started unbuttoning her shirt while Megan eyed her with a nasty smirk:
“That’s it. Get naked, slut…When Austin will see these videos of you with another man, he will finally realize that you are nothing more than a cheap little-”
Scarlett wanted to throw up. Those memories could not be real. Megan would never do something so cruel, not to her. Her shoulder trembled as she ran a hand through her hair, her head pounding more than ever now. The man next to her frowned in concern:
“Uhm…Are you alright?”
Scarlett glared at him, gritting her teeth in fury. Megan hired that disgusting bastard to sleep with her while she was unconscious. She didn’t care that his gray eyes were as captivating as a spell. Beauty didn’t make him less than a monster.
She grabbed the first thing that came in hand. Unfortunately, it was only a pillow. Scarlett used it to hit the man numerous times, punctuating each struck with an angry snarl:
“You. Fucking. Rapist! You took advantage of me! I will make you rot in jail, just you wait. I’m going to the police as soon as I’m done with you.”
Scarlett gasped when the man grabbed the pillow when she tried to hit him again. He effortlessly managed to take it from her and toss it across the room. She shivered in fear when his eyes became as cold as steel. His voice was low when he spoke:
“It was all you last night, princess. You were all over me, so eager to get screwed. I never forced you, I didn’t have to. You were not unconscious while it happened. You can go anywhere you want but you won’t ever prove that I raped you because that’s just not what happened. Alright?”
“Son of a…”
Scarlett bit her lower lip, her whole body shaking with anger and shame. She realized that the man wasn’t wrong. She couldn’t remember what happened with him but clearly, she was not forced. There was no sign of resistance on her. If she went to the police, she’d only make a fool of herself.
But what would happen then? Was there really nothing she could do after getting in the cruel trap that her friend set for her? Hot tears coated Scarlett’s cheeks. For the first time, she noticed the blood stains on the bed and it made her cry even harder. That explained the pain between her legs. She’d never been with a man before. Her first time was with a disgusting male escort. He took away her innocence and would remain unpunished because she could not prove any of the wrong that had been done to her.
The man followed her eyes and also noticed the blood on the sheets. Of course, he’d felt that she was a virgin, last night. Seeing her break like that in front of him softened his gaze. He didn’t know how to react. He opened his mouth but struggled to let out the words that hung on the tip of his tongue. Finally, he said:
“Look I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know, I…Even if you took all the initiatives last night, I’m still willing to take my responsibilities.”
Scarlett let out a dry laugh. Take responsibility? What did that actually mean coming out of the mouth of a male escort?
“What, you’re going to give me back my virginity?”
He frowned. She didn’t give him the time to respond:
“Just get the hell out of this room! Now or I swear to God, I will kill you with my bare hands!”
He didn’t need to be told twice. He jumped out of bed and picked up his clothes as calmly as he could. He took the time to put them on despite the murderous glare that Scarlett was throwing in his direction. He then took a business card out of his jean’s pocket and handed it to her:
“If you change your mind…You can call me. I mean what I say, princess.” Scarlett snatched the business card and tore it into pieces right in front of him. “Get. Out.” She said through gritted teeth, pointing at the door.
The man took a deep breath. He saw the suffering in her eyes and knew she wouldn’t hear anything he had to say. So, he walked away.
As soon as he was out of the hotel room, he heard the woman cry like a child behind closed doors. For some reason, it made his heart ache. He’d never been one to feel any kind of emotion and yet…
He forced himself to leave and took the elevator to the ground floor. He walked out of the hotel, hands plunged deep in his jeans’ pockets. When he passed the glass entry door, he looked straight at the clear blue sky and took a deep breath in. That’s when two men dressed in dark suits approached him, severe looks plastered on their faces.
“Sir.” They greeted him in unison.
The man tore his gaze off of the sky and started walking straight ahead, his two bodyguards following at a close distance.
“That Girl…” He said.
“Yes, sir?”
“Gather all available information about her immediately and report to me as soon as possible.”
“Yes.”
When a dark Range Rover stopped next to them, The man got in and his bodyguards closed the door behind him.