Madrid English Version

Chapter 7

The brunette did not close her eyes all night, being too afraid that if she closed them, it would happen again. That the images of that night would come back and haunt her forever. That another person would walk in and notice her for eternity.

Aria, wishing to keep her mind occupied, spent half the night working, and the other half crying and rubbing her skin tirelessly, still feeling soiled by the evening. Having finally fallen asleep, Aria woke up with a start when she heard a noise coming from her door. She got up and walked carefully, looked through the peephole and saw that it was only room service, ordered by her employer.

She opened the door and intercepted the tray before the waiter could enter her room. She put it on the table, in front of her bed, and under the television. The Spanish girl sat on the bed, and contemplated this tray filled with food, which made her want to eat in normal time, but which at this moment, only made her disgusted, more than usual. The food on the tray was making her nauseous. She knew that she could not swallow anything, under penalty of having to spit it out only a few minutes later in the bathroom.

After having planted its eyes in the emptiness, during ten minutes, Aria rose to go to shower. It was her fourth shower since she had come home, and she still felt dirty. Just by seeing her reflection, she could see the marks on her neck, her shoulders... She could not bear to see her body like that. Her shower finished, the Spanish called one of her colleagues, with whom she was friend and to say to him that she really did not feel well, and that she must surely have a gastro, not to have to face one day of glances on her body, marked, soiled.

-TW: ED-

Her colleague telling her to rest, the brunette went to the toilets, tied her hair, sat down and put her hands on the edge of the bowl, before pushing two of her fingers, deep in her throat. The Spanish repeated the experience a few times before arriving at the expected result, her body already empty of food, was now also empty of alcohol remaining in her organs. Not being satisfied, Aria continued to empty herself of her bile, for thirty minutes.

The British pilot called the engineer to check up on her and to see how her presentation went. However, Aria did not answer any of the eighteen calls of the last fifteen minutes, too busy evacuating anything that could be evacuated from her body, through her throat, always over the toilet.

Her day was summed up as follows: vomit, cry, regret, eat to compensate, shower... So all day long continuously, without a break.

-TW: ED-

During the night, Aria resigned herself to send a message to the McLaren pilot, not to worry him, telling him that she had not been able to answer his calls, because of the stomach flu she had caught. It was better to tell the same lie to everyone who asked.

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The brunette managed to shorten her trip on the American soil, not being able to stay here. She booked a plane ticket to the Spanish capital, the next morning, for a take-off around eight o'clock. This meant that she had to pack her suitcase, to be at the airport as soon as possible, and thus leave those terrible memories.

An hour after buying her ticket, all her things were ready, and the Spaniard decided to explore the hotel at this late hour, in order not to meet anyone or as few people as possible. She discovered a large swimming pool, accompanied by a sauna and a spa. Not far from the pools, there was a gym. Empty.

Aria was an athletic person who had done a lot of sports in her youth, and who had had to reduce the length of her sessions considerably, due to her studies. During her five years of study, she did sports at home, once, almost twice a week. And for almost six months, she had completely stopped all sports activities, due to lack of free time.

Luckily, she was jogging. She chose to spend the time she had left here, physically exercising, to forget mentally. Aria started by running for thirty minutes, then she tried a lot of machines until her phone rang and she remembered that she only had one hour left before she had to leave for the airport.

With her phone in hand, she walked back to her room, out of breath and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. What an idea to do so much sport on an empty stomach. She showered, then left this place, where she promised herself, she would never set foot again.

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Once on the plane, Aria could not sleep. She saw all her neighbors succeeding, but not her. The brunette thought for a moment that she could sleep peacefully, and that nothing could happen to her with so many people around. However, it was false.

This young woman, lying in her plane seat, had been attacked by a stranger in the middle of a crowd. She will never be able to feel safe in a crowd again.

Who knows what a crowd can hold. There can be children, grandmothers, parents, doctors, lawyers, and muggers, rapists, thieves of self-esteem and confidence, of feeling safe, of trusting others...

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