C48 The After Effects

When Chris woke up, his head felt unbearably heavy. For a few seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling, trying to piece together what had happened the night before. The last thing he clearly remembered was collapsing near his room door after leaving the celebration. Slowly, his eyes shifted downward.

He froze. He wasn’t in his own bed exactly the way he remembered it. His clothes were on the floor, and the room felt unfamiliar in a way that immediately triggered panic. Then he heard it. A soft, shallow breathing beside him.

His heart stopped. He turned his head slowly.

Sarah Wood. Everything hit him at once. “My boss’s daughter…” “Ben’s sister…” “Kelvin Wood’s family…” His thoughts collided violently in his mind, one after another, until he could barely breathe. Did I Sleep with her? But How, i remember collapsing. I did not enter my room so who took me inside? Was it her?

What truly broke him was the realization of how close she was lying next to him.

His face instantly turned pale, then red, then completely frozen in shock. And then his eyes caught something on the bedsheet. Blood stains. He didn’t need anyone to explain it. His entire body stiffened. His Head hurts. He remembered few explosive scenes Sarah's beautiful face. Her soft lips. Their scene doing it. He looked at her again and noticed she was only on her underwears. Her Clothes were on the floor next to his.

Without thinking, he rushed toward the bathroom and shut the door behind him, leaning against it as his mind spiraled. Inside the room, the sudden movement woke Sarah. For a moment, she simply stared at the ceiling, confused about where she was. Then memory returned in fragments Chris collapsing, her trying to help him, the confusion, the closeness, and everything that followed in the haze of emotion and exhaustion. She wasn’t drunk.

But she had been overwhelmed, emotionally shaken, and completely unprepared for what had happened. Her face turned pale. She tried remembering who took the initiative. But the only think she recalled was that hug. For five minutes they hugged each other. Then somehow Kissing happened. She did not know who started it. Scenes of her clothes being taken off surfaced. Scenes of her taking off his clothes surfaced. His handsome face after he fell asleep.

Without wasting another second, she grabbed her clothes, dressed quickly, and quietly left the room. No one saw her. The hallway was still quiet, the hotel only beginning to wake up.

When she finally reached her own room, she closed the door and leaned against it.Silence. Then regret. Not anger. Not confusion. Just a deep, sinking realization that she could not undo what had happened. “I didn’t plan for this…” she whispered to herself.

Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, Chris stood frozen under the cold tap water, trying to clear his mind. But nothing helped. Every thought made it worse. He kept replaying the same questions over and over. How did this happen? What exactly did she think happened? What will she say to her family? What will Ben do? What will Mike think?

Then another realization struck him harder than the rest. This was her first time too. His breathing became uneven again. That made everything worse. “This is serious…” he muttered under his breath, gripping the sink tightly. Fear replaced shock. Fear of consequences. Fear of misunderstanding. Fear of being accused. His mind spiraled further. What if she says I forced her? What if I get reported? What if this destroys everything?

He shut his eyes tightly, trying to push the thoughts away, but they kept coming back stronger. At the same time, I woke up in my own room feeling slightly dizzy from the drinks the night before. The room was quiet. No messages. No notifications. No good morning text from Laura. That alone felt unusual. I picked up my phone and immediately checked my chat with her.

Everything looked normal. Our last conversation was still about the successful contract and returning soon. Nothing strange. Nothing emotional. Nothing out of place. I frowned. “I swear I sent something last night…” I muttered. I stood up and went to the bathroom, still trying to recall it clearly.

While showering, fragments of memory returned. The celebration. The drinks. The confidence. And then it hit me. I had sent a message. “I’ve been thinking about you all day…” I froze under the water. “That’s right…” But something didn’t match. I quickly finished showering and rushed back to my phone.

My hands were slightly shaking as I opened the chat again. Then I saw it. The message had been sent. But not to Laura. It had gone to Alicia. My stomach dropped. I stared at the screen, trying to process it. “She saw it…” “But she didn’t reply…” A wave of panic set in. Is she angry? Did she misunderstand? Did she think I crossed a line? What about the brotherhood thing we promised? I tried to calm myself down.

At least I had written “Laura” at the end.

So she probably understood it was a mistake.

Right? But the doubt didn’t leave. I sighed heavily. “I shouldn’t have drunk so much…” I muttered. “I should’ve just had juice.” Alicia woke up shortly after. Unlike the rest of us, she didn’t feel physically unwell. But something felt… mentally unsettled.

She showered, got dressed, and instinctively reached for her phone. Then she remembered. The message. Her fingers paused slightly before opening it. She stared at it again. The same words. The same name. The same confusion. She hadn’t replied. Not because she didn’t want to… But because she didn’t know what to say.

Instead, she placed the phone down, took a slow breath, and stood up. “I should go see him,” she said quietly to herself. And with that, she walked out of her room. Not fully understanding it yet… But knowing that everything between them had already changed.