Light filtered in from the drawn curtains, cool air tickled her arms, the soft sounds of birds chirping….all signs of the early morning.
Sira shifted underneath the thin blanket, her eyebrows furrowing as her head pounded – the unfortunate after effect of last night's alcohol intake.
As she stretched, she felt her legs slip around on the silk sheets.
'Hmmm~ I love my silk sheets~' She thought as she continued to stretch.
Suddenly, her eyes flew open.
'Wait a second, I don't have silk sheets!'
Her head pounded as she lurched forward into a sitting position, her hands flew up to apply pressure to her aching temples.
The room she was in was completely unfamiliar.
Large floor to ceiling windows, grey curtains and a black plush chair in the corner.
Old wood floor panels and the large dark green canopy bed made the room feel so dark.
Sira continued to look around the room, trying to make sense of where she was at, regain her memories from the night before, and trying to determine whether this was all a dream or not.
'There's even a weird lump in the bed….WAIT WHAT?!' She shrieked as she noticed the man laying next to her.
Azul furrowed his eyebrows and covered his ears.
"Shhh…..don't be so loud."
"Wh-What are you doing here?!"
Sira let out another shriek as she noticed he was shirtless, "And why aren't you wearing a shirt?!"
Azul's eyes trailed down to her bare chest, his eyebrow raising.
She followed his eyes down, a deep red hue spreading across her face as she frantically pulled the blankets over herself.
"What's going on?!"
Azul sat up, rubbing his forehead, chuckling quietly.
"First of all, this is my bedroom, the better question for you to ask would be what are YOU doing here? I can fill you in on that too if you want."
Sira pulled the blanket up further, trying to shield her embarrassment.
"What…happened…?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He asked, standing up, his nude form causing Sira to bury her face into the blanket.
"No…..no, no, no, no, no….." She groaned.
"Hmm….that's so opposite of what you were saying last night…let's see…. 'Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!' was it?" He teased while he put his clothes on.
Sira's body stiffened as she peeked out from behind the blanket, hearing the shifting of fabric while he changed.
"Did….we at least….use protection?"
Azul gathered her bathing suit that was thrown on the floor and handed it to her, ruffling her hair.
"'Fraid not."
Tears started to form in her eyes and his face immediately fell.
He placed a hand on her cheek and sat on the bed next to her.
"Hey, don't be so upset. It's alright. I'm clean, you don't have to worry about anything."
"As if that's the only thing to worry about! I'm not-! …..active….I'm not on anything!"
She laid on her side, facing away from him, holding back tears, "I can't believe I lost my first time and I don't even remember it….."
A look of shock came over Azul's face as he lifted an eyebrow.
"Ah….well….that explains a few things…." He said quietly, recounting last night's events.
His heart sank as she buried her face into the blanket, sobbing quietly.
"Hey, hey…" he began to gently rub her back, "it'll be okay, I'm here for whatever happens, okay? Although, I can't say I'm disappointed in being your first. If you want, we can do it again~"
Sira turned to face him, glaring at him, "I was waiting until I got married!"
Azul smirked, "How perfect. I have just the solution. I'll leave you to get dressed, come downstairs when you're ready."
Once she heard the door close, she got out of bed and put her bathing suit back on, her heart aching at what had happened.
She felt sick, she wanted to run away and hide from the world.
Unfortunately, there was nowhere for her to hide in Azul's house, and she'd have to face him before leaving.
As she exited the room, she looked around at the long hallway leading downstairs. There were multiple rooms and expensive art pieces on the walls.
Did he live here with his family? How could he afford this place? Maybe it was just a rues and he was renting it?
So many questions swirled in her head as she entered the kitchen, where he placed some bagels and a bowl of fruit on the counter.
"We don't have much time, so I hope this is alright."
It was touching that he took the time to make her breakfast, even if it was a quick and simple meal.
"This is fine, thank you." She could feel a blush creeping up on her face as she sat down to eat.
Azul stood across from her.
"You wanted your first time to be with your husband, right?"
Sira nodded, averting his gaze.
"Then be my wife and your problem is solved."
She covered her mouth and pounded on her chest with her fist as she choked on her bagel.
Swallowing the food down, she stared at him with a look of bewilderment, "Are you crazy? That's not how that works. You don't just get married like that! It's…you….you're supposed to get married because you love each other!"
"Well, I can't say this is how I was going to pitch it to you today at lunch," he said, indicating that he was already planning this, "but it just so happened to work out. I need a wife to get a few people off my back, and you need protection from your co-workers, although now there's the added bonus for you – you won't have broken your ideal."
There was a moment of silence between them as she stared at him in complete shock.
"Are you kidding? No way! I'm not going to spend the rest of my life with you just for some co-workers…"
Azul shook his head, "I'm not asking for your whole life. We'll just go to the courthouse and get married; we can get it annulled later on. It's just temporary. We can discuss details at lunch today. So, tell me, are you interested?"
Sira bit her lip.
"How about you think about it today, and then at lunch let me know if you're open to discussing it. How about that?"
She took a moment to consider, and then nodded.
"Alright fine. We'll see."