Chapter 20

SHE BLINKED.

She came to the realization that her top was off and she was cold. When did it come off? How did it come off? There was no recollection. She thought to cover herself because there were so many people in the room but as she glanced up from her chest she realized she was left with just Scott. The two of them were alone and she was standing topless in front of him, something that would usually take dozens of dates before she was comfortable to do so.

She blinked.

He was upon her, kissing her and squeezing her breasts. When did he approach her? She swore he was just ten feet from her. She took a second to compose herself and realized she couldn”t. She had no control and she had no idea what was happening.

She blinked.

She was on the bed. When did they leave the kitchen? The safety of being so close to the exit? Did she walk here herself? Or did he take her there? What was happening to her? Did she even want this? She thought to herself maybe she forgot coming on to him but that was definitely not something she typically did, especially to a married man who was leaving for another state the next day.

She blinked.

Scott was on top of her lying on the bed. She saw his arms moving up and down her body but couldn”t really feel the pressure of his hands. Was it there? Was she enjoying this? She didn”t think so but she wasn”t stopping. She couldn”t. She realized she had no control of her body and he was now in charge. A panic overtook her but she couldn”t react. Couldn”t even make a sound. Had she made a sound? Anything at all? Did she scream? She must not have because surely someone would have come to help. Her thoughts drifted to where everyone else went and how they got out of the room so quickly. She swore it was only a second and they were gone.

She blinked.

Hailey had the vague feeling of chill going up her legs and realized that her pants must be off. When they came off she couldn”t say. Did Scott rip them off or did he pull them off gently? It didn”t seem like he was being overly forceful. She was sure she wasn”t experiencing pain. But how could she know for sure? Her mind no longer connected to her body.

She blinked.

Scott now had her lower half slightly raised on the bed and he was thrusting into her over and over.

”You”re so wet,” he exhaled as he continued his thrusting.

Why was she wet? She certainly wasn”t aroused. She had the vague sense that he was inside of her but she felt no arousal, no pleasure in his touches. Yet somehow her body was still lubricating itself for him. Why wasn”t it listening to her?

She blinked.

He was lying next to her breathing heavily. He must have finished, she thought to herself as she continued to lay there motionless. At least, she thought she was motionless. She was actually shivering and her body had been violated. She had no idea if there was a condom involved or not. She had no recollection of him finishing inside of her and climbing off her. Had he tended to her at all to make her wet? She didn”t usually enjoy such violent thrusting, as she found him doing atop her motionless body.

She blinked.

The sun was up and she realized she must have passed out. She turned her head and she was alone. Had something happened? Wait, she thought to herself, what did happen?

She didn”t get the chance to ponder that thought because the overwhelming feeling of saliva filling her mouth overtook her. She heaved herself out of the bed where she was still lying naked, not even a sheet on her, and ran to a trash can sitting in the corner. She made it just in time and expunged everything that was inside of her. Could she also vomit up the shame that would one day follow when she realized what had happened to her?

Ugh, how much had she had to drink last night? She could’ve sworn it wasn’t even half a cup.

As the gushing slowed and she was able to take a break resting her head in her hand that was clutching the side of the can for dear life, she tried to think back on the night before. There were memories but they were a little garbled. Did she really drink that much that she blacked out and lost some memories from the night before? She didn”t think she had. Then, as another wave of gushing erupted from her she remembered: she had sex last night with Scott.

How could she do something so stupid? It was his last night in Jersey and there was no way she would ever see him again. A one-night stand was not something she was accustomed to.

She heard a buzzing that brought her back to reality and found her purse on the floor nearby. When she pulled out her phone, she saw it was a text from her mom asking if she had fun last night.

Did she? She must have to have slept with a guy.

After seeing the text, the time made its way into her consciousness. 9:30 a.m.

Shit. She had to be at work in an hour.

She steadied herself on the floor waiting for the urge to vomit to stop.

She heaved one last time, a yellow liquid emanating from her mouth with a projectile force that finally began to slow.

Dear God, she thought as she steadied her upper half against the trash can. She pulled a bottle of water out of her purse, because she was resourceful like that, and used it to rinse out her mouth before spitting into the trash can. She then poured just a little on the back of her neck and her forehead to try to get herself cooled down. Hailey raised herself to a standing position ever so carefully, not wanting to induce another round of regurgitation. She thought about how all she wanted to do was be the hell away from here and this feeling.

Hailey had to start getting dressed. She made her way slowly back toward her purse, trying not to move too quickly to avoid causing another eruption. At least her purse was here, scattered among her clothes, and it looked like all her stuff was still in it.

She grabbed her clothes from the floor and brought them to the bed to change into. Hailey settled on the edge of the bed and its plush navy comforter, steadying herself over the memory of a wave of nausea.

Putting on her clothes was a slow affair. Hailey did her best not to make any sudden movements and slowly pulled on each article of clothing with delicate care.

When she finished dressing, Hailey grabbed her purse off the bed. Phone, wallet, even her chapstick, everything she came with was in there and she was surprised to see it. She slipped into her shoes and slowly made her way downstairs.

Hailey was lucky she didn’t run into Andrew on her way out. He must still be sleeping in. Then she reminded herself that nothing about this night felt lucky.

Let”s get the hell out of here. She searched for a piece of gum out of her purse. Please don”t be sick again. She slouched her purse over her shoulder and made her way to her car.

As Hailey drove away toward home, details from last night started running through her mind. She brought her hand to her head to cradle it with support when she noticed her arms were awkwardly sore. What could that be from? At this point, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to know. She just wanted to go home.