The morning sunlight streamed through the curtains, casting a warm glow over the room and the body tangled in bedclothes. Lyse was awoken by the light penetrating her eyes and she groaned at her head pounding.
When she tried to sit up, a wave of nausea washed over her. Her mouth tasted like what the butt of a skunk must taste like and her throat was dry. She hunched her head as she recognized the feeling, she was hungover.
Slowly, she blinked her eyes, trying to focus then she was seized with fear as she looked around. The room was a tastefully and lavishly decorated room, with a king-size bed, a dresser, and a huge nightstand and the frame of a massive art piece.
It was also not familiar to her. She did not know where she was and she did not know how she got there.
Her heart started to race while she concentrated hard and tried to remember what had happened when memories of the previous night slowly trickled into her head and she almost fainted.
With shaky hands she lifted the blanket up and gasped when she saw that except for the man's shirt she had on, she was as naked as the day she was born.
A shiver ran down her spine as she tried to remember everything from the night before. She had been out drinking with James, mourning her ruined wedding.
She could barely remember the gentleman who had saved her from the tour at the bar, she remembered slowly swaying on the dance floor in his arms and then... nothing. Had she spent the night with him?
Panic set in as she fully realized what she had done, She was not in her own bed. She was in a stranger's bed, and she had followed him home willingly.
Realizing that there was no time to scold herself, she quickly scrambled out of bed and saw her dress on the floor. When she picked it up she crinkled her nose as she realized that she had thrown up all over it.
'What kind of person has sex with someone who was so intoxicated that they threw up on themselves?' She thought in disgust.
'I should be given an award for picking the worst men.'
She rushed to the wardrobe with the duvet wrapped around her, her heart pounding in her chest. She had noticed that the man was not in the room and she hoped that he would not come and see her as she was not ready for such a confrontation.
She just wanted to leave and forget that last night had happened. Somehow she doubted that she was going to forget that she gave up her virginity to some stranger she met at a bar.
Unfortunately for her the wardrobe was bereft of any clothes, she stared at her ruined dress and wondered if she would be forced to wear that smelly dress but she looked around and saw clothes folded on the chair. She quickly jumped into the too big jogging pants and then grabbed her gown before rushing out of the room.
As she ran to the elevator and waited for it to open she asked herself how she could have been so stupid? She had always been careful about her alcohol intake, but last night she had lost control all because of Brandon and now she was having to do a walk of shame and to make matters worse she did not know who he was.
When they Elevator opened, she was glad to see that it was empty and as she waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor she tried to piece together the events of the previous night.
She could vaguely remember getting into what might have been a taxi after they had left the bar but she could not for the life of her remember anything else, she did not even know if she knew his name.
She had had a one night stand with a man and she did not even know his name, he must think that she had serious problems.
She put her face in her hands and groaned. When the elevator opened she quickly hurried out of the hotel. Unknown to her, someone was watching her progress with interest.
As she walked down the street, she felt a mix of relief and dread. Relief that she was alive and safe. Who knew how lucky she was that she had not picked a psycho, the guy could have easily been a serial killer with a perchant for drunk women who threw themselves at him.
She also felt dread at the thought of facing the consequences of her actions, she did not even have the consolation of remembering it so that she could know exactly what she had done.
But then, maybe that in itself was a good thing. It was already erased from her brain and she would not be burdened by such no doubt humiliating memories.
Thankfully the stranger's hotel was not too far from her hotel and about ten minutes later she was banging loudly on James room.
"Oh my good god!" James said and he flung the door open and pulled her into his arms. "Where have you been? I have been half dead with fright."
He shut the door behind her and examined her, thankful that she did not seem to have any injuries or was hurt in any way. He had been so worried that he would see some segment on news about a young woman being pulled out of the river or being scrapped off some sidewalk.
He was just so glad that she was back in one piece that he hugged her again.
After he had finished his online meeting the previous night, he had gone back to the bar and found Lyse's seat at the bar was occupied by a stranger and when he asked where Lyse was the person swore that the seat was empty when he saw it.
Hoping that she had just gone to the rest room to relieve her bladder or touch up her makeup, he had called the bartender's attention.
"Do you know where my friend has gone?" He asked and the bartender's face had clouded in confusion.
"I got a little busy and I lost track of her." He said apologetically.
James just stared at him in shock.
It had taken a lot for him not to jump across the bar and choke the bartender out, he had asked if he had seen her going out alone or with someone but he had been of very little help.
He went around asking people at the bar but they had been too drunk to give him any useful information and he had hurried back to the hotel in the hopes that he had somehow missed her and to his horror she had still not returned.
He had tried calling her family but they had not wanted to speak to him about Lyse, leaving him enraged. The fact that they still did not care about what had happened to her made him so upset.
He had gone to the police station at midnight and the police had not been much help either.
Apparently, she might have decided to just go somewhere so that she could be alone and since she was an adult he could not file a missing person's report until twenty four hours had elapsed.
And even after he tried to explain to them that he was worried that she could harm herself or get in trouble thanks to her emotional state, they had dismissed him. He had even called Brandon and the rat told him Lyse was no longer his problem.
Feeling fearful over what might have befallen her, he had come back to the hotel and spent a sleepless night praying that she would call him or come back safe.
"Where did you go?" He demanded again, he still could not believe that she was there in person. "this was not what you were wearing." He stated in a critical tone.
Lyse raised her hand to scratch her head awkwardly, she did not know where to start from. She had always been so sensible, she felt so dumb to have done something so careless.
Then she noticed that James's eyes grew big as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.
"What. Is. That?" He demanded looking absolutely gobsmacked.
"What is what?" Lyse asked, completely confused and looking around at what had him so shocked.
"Why are you wearing a wedding band?" James yelped.