It was almost midnight once Eugene had finished taking me around some of the late-night spots of Taiwan so it did not take the car long to reach the hotel as most of the streets were barren of people and other cars. By the time we reached, however, I was already lightly dozing on his shoulder, the combination of the pre-dinner anxiety and the warm delicious bites of the soup dumplings, late-night feasting and touring had set me in a post-Thanksgiving meal kind of food coma. Not to mention the amount of alcohol Eugene tempted me to taste but I believed it had added more to my floaty state.
"I'll send you up to your room," Eugene says as he guides me out of the car. "The state you are in makes me worry about your ability to get to your room in one piece."
My mind is too clouded for his words to measure fully as he gently takes me into the lobby and to the elevators where he takes my key card to get access to the level my room is on. Leaning against him for support, I smile tiredly as I struggle to keep my eyes open.
The beeping sound of the electronic key card reader goes off and the smell of the pristine hotel room fills my lungs. I don't bother to take off my shoes as I flump into the bed fully dressed, immediately going to sleep, not caring that Eugene is still in the room
So, I sleep.
By the time morning rolls around, the contents in my stomach are churning and before I know it I'm bolting out of bed, bent over the rim of the toilet and puking the undigested remains of everything I ate from the night before. My body heaves strongly as I purge my system of what nutrients I should be absorbing.
I groan softly in distress as I finish up inside the bathroom, flushing down the mushy greyish-white stuff as I peer into the mirror above the sink to see a red-faced woman with disarrayed brown hair pointing in all directions and a string of stomach fluid dripping out of the corner of her mouth dressed in a pair of blue plaid button-down pyjamas and shorts.
Ew.
Washing the foul taste of vomit from my mouth, I begin to question how something that tasted so good going down could taste so bad when coming back up and then it hits me. I never get sick from eating food.
"Oh god," I moan out as my stomach growls. "Could it be food poisoning?"
The memories of Eugene and I prowling the Taiwan nightlife, drinking and eating things from questionable vendors make my head hurt. I am not even sure if this nausea is a result of the drinking or if I got food poisoning. The last thing I remember doing last night was dozing off and Eugene taking me into my hotel room before I chose to fall asleep on the bed without changing clothes.
My head snaps to look at my reflection in the mirror in sudden realisation, I'm not wearing the dress from last night. The minimal makeup I had on is gone too. The first emotion to run through my body is fear. The clothes I'm wearing are one of the clothes Mrs Denise packed for me but who changed my clothes is a mystery to me. Mrs Denise isn't here so there are only two people that could have changed me.
Eugene or Alexander.
If It was Eugene, I think I could get past that embarrassment of him seeing me naked but if it were Alexander, it changes everything. Not only would he be wondering about where I got the dress, coat and clutch, but he also might or might not have seen the gun in the clutch and the scars on my back.
First of all, if he saw the weapon he knew Todd gave it to me since he was the one whom Alexander must have passed the weapon to if it was he who found it in the first place and that also places Todd in an awkward position. The scars will be something he'd question me about and I am not ready to explain my past just yet.
But I guess the main problem now is...I don't know who changed my clothes.
Leaving the bathroom, I slowly make my way back to the bed in the darkness of the room, with the curtains pulled tightly over the windows I can't exactly tell whether or not it's morning. The lump on the other side of the bed indicates that at some point in the night, Alexander came back to the hotel.
I guess I'll have to call Eugene when Alexander is not in the room.
Crawling under the covers, I lay on my side facing the window, my body tenses when I feel a heavy arm snake over my body, easily pulling my chilled back against a warm hard chest. His face nuzzles into the back of my head, inhaling deeply.
"Alexander?" I whisper questioningly into the darkness, turning around a little in his hold.
The deep rumble of the chest against my back tells me that he heard me. Knowing that he can't feel the scars on my back through the material of my nightshirt, I lean tentatively into his front, revelling a little in his warmth.
"GOOD MORNING!" someone suddenly screams at the foot of the bed, making both Alexander and I sit up on the bed in shock, the dark figure that gave us the rude wake-up call moves quickly towards the curtains, dragging them apart. "Holy shit!"
Wincing in the sudden light of the room, I turn my face away from the streaming mellow light of Taiwan and I end up face to face with Alexander's bare chest. My cheeks heat up instantly as my lips brush softly against his bare skin and my breaths leave my body in short spurts, blowing his chest hair softly.
Too close!
"Theodore," Alexander growls lowly, getting out of the bed. "You had better have a good reason to be in our room this early in the morning."
"Well, you did say you wanted to eat breakfast before going to the shipyard," Theo explains shrugging his shoulders, smiling gleefully. "Now's the best time to check out the hotel's buffet downstairs."
Alexander sighs heavily as he pulls a T-shirt over his head, nodding tiredly as my brother skips happily out of the room, probably off to tell the rest of my brothers about what he saw when he drew back the curtains. Grumbling something about remembering that he locked the conjoining room door with the deadlock, Alexander runs his hand through his trussed-up hair irritated at being jolted from sleep.
"Come on," He says, passing me a pair of shorts, a long-sleeved shirt and a bra. "I don't think they'll let us sleep in anymore."
Frowning at the thought of not being able to sleep in some more, I take the clothes and slowly make my way to the bathroom but Alexander catches my arm just as I am about to slip through the door.
"Are you alright?" He asks gently, his grey eyes searching mine.
"I'm fine," I quip, shrugging off his hold. "Uh...I...Uh...I'll meet you downstairs..."
For a while he just stands there, holding my gaze seemingly not accepting my answer but thankfully he doesn't press it as he nods shortly, making his way towards the door. I wait until he disappears before I dash for the flip phone. Quickly calling Eugene from the newly added number in the contacts list, I wait with bated breath for him to pick up.
"Did you change my clothes last night?" I ask the receiver the second the call connects, not considering whether he was still sleeping or at work.
"Well, good morning to you too," He grumbles moodily, his voice rough and irritated. "Yes, you passed out before you could change. I placed your clothes into the closet, don't worry, your clutch is in there as well."
"Oh god," I breathe relieved, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Do you have any nausea? I woke up vomiting."
"Nope, could be the drinking, you never did stomach alcohol well," Eugene comments as voices in his background speak to him softly. "If that's all I'm getting back to work."
"Yeah," I murmur, holding my head. "Thanks."
So, Alexander wasn't the one who changed my clothes...Thank goodness. Standing from the bed, I quickly undo the buttons of the nightshirt which slips smoothly off of my shoulders, clipping the hooks of my bra behind my back, I struggle as usual for a while to hook it.
I hate this contraption...I can't believe Eugene removed mine last night...Ah...I have no idea how I should feel about that...Should I be angry or grateful?
My heart and mind cease to work when a pair of warm, slightly familiar long-fingered hands take the hooks out of my hands, easily doing what I struggled to. Hesitantly, I turn around to look at my aide and immediately my heart begins to pulsate.
"Did it hurt?" Alexander asks tightly, his grey eyes staring into mine.
Oh, crab. I didn't lock the room door.