Chapter 372: Trying to Remember Last Night.
As she went to sit down at the kitchen counter, she continued to press herself to try to remember what she had done the previous night. She had been slightly tipsy at the party, but due to experience she was still sociable, she only sounded friendlier because of it.
Then Michael insisted that they leave early because she was drunk. She had refused, but after some persuasion, she conceded to his request and left with him.
After she had gotten in the car and befortable, and all the tension she had had about being around strangers was finally let go. This was how she felt, like she suddenly got even drunker than she was before.
Michael had not had a drop of alcohol because, at the end of the day, his face still represented Lewis & Co. He had never drunk before, so he did not want to try it just to embarrass himself in front of all the potential and current clients of thepany.
But even though he was not drinking, he still kept track of how much Alex had drunk that night. She had had around ten sses of wine, not counting the champagne she had when they were toasting the newlyweds. That was a little over three bottles.
Alex stared at the light traffic in the road, asionally squinting when an oing car had its headlights too bright. But she had grown quiet, she was both flustered and drunk and even though she wanted to say something, the person beside her was too focused on the road.
Michael parked the car at the hotel and went to open the door for Alex. When she stepped out of the car, she almost stumbled onto the ground if not for her catching herself on the door and Michael grabbing her other arm.
"Can you walk?" Michael asked, and Alex nodded stubbornly. She took a few more steps forward with her heels and almost fell on her face. Luckily Michael had been watching her so he caught her on time. He moved in front of her and knelt on one knee with his back facing her.
"What are you doing?" Alex asked in her drunken confusion.
"Get on, I''ll carry you back," Michael said.
"Oh, okay," Alex responded and pulled up her tight dress before putting her hands on his shoulders and hopping on his back. When Michael reached back to hold on to her so she wouldn''t fall, his hands met the bare skin of her legs.
He almost released her from surprise, but he held on to her before standing up from the ground. Alex wrapped her hands around his neck from behind and rested her cheek on his shoulder.
Every time she exhaled, Michael could feel the warm air tickle his neck. Gradually his ears turned red but his expression wasn''t too different from normal. He took the elevator to her floor and stopped in front of her door.
"Alex," he called because he thought she had fallen asleep from how unresponsive she was to her own front door.
"Mmmh?" she responded.
"Open the door," Michael said to her. She did not give him a hard and gave him the clutch she was carrying. Michael couldn''t open her purse with one hand, and he was too worried that if he let her hang there by herself, she might end up slipping down and falling, or she might choke him to death. So, he chose to let her down first.
"Stay here," he said as he stabilized her so she could lean against the wall. He deftly opened her purse and took out the key card inside and opened the door. He then put one of her arms over his shoulder and held her waist to support her into the house.
He took her to the couch and sat her down, removing her shoes for her afterwards. While he was removing them for her, he felt her weight on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Michael asked her and looked up after he was finished.
"I want to shower, what''s this smell? It''s quite good, " Alex asked as she sniffed his neck. Before Michael was even given a chance to respond, she had already bitten him and even licked him a few times. Michael was so startled he even pushed her away from him, grabbing the warm area on his neck while looking at her like she was a rogue.
After his racing heartbeat finally calmed down, he finally stood up from the floor. He noticed that there were a couple of things that were scattered around and thought that she must have been in a hurry before she had left that morning.
"Where is your room?" he asked her, and she pointed at the door to her room. Michael helped her up once more, and they slowly made their way to the room. After turning on the light, his expression changed. If Jen were around to see him, she would have felt a sense of camaraderie.
Alex went to sit on her bed while looking a bit dazed. Unlike the previous day, her clothes were now draped over the seat next to the window. She realised that if she put them on her bed, she would end up losing her sleep while trying to clear the bed.
Michael brought her a ss of water and forced her to drink all of it. After finishing the water, she finally felt a bit of relief.
After Michael left again, she randomly picked up a nightgown and went to the bathroom for a quick shower.
Michael had been looking for the first again kit in the kitchen. When he found it, he took out some painkillers and poured Alex another bottle of water and brought it to her room.
Hearing the running shower, he felt a bit worried that might slip and fall in the bathroom, so he knocked on the bathroom door.
"I''m in the shower!" her voice shouted from inside.
"Okay," Michael answered but did not leave in case an ident happened, so he stood at the door listening for any bumping of falling sounds until she was done with her shower.
Not even a minuteter, the bathroom door opened, and Alex walked out. She hadn''t even bothered to wipe herself off; she was too drunk and tired to extend her moment of lucidity.
Michael was startled that she came out so fast. But after seeing her nightgown stuck to her wet skin, a faint hint of her nipples showing through the gown is cheekspletely heated up and he quickly turned to avoid the view.
"I feel horrible, my stomach is acting funny," Alex said as she climbed on to the bed from the bottom on her hands and knees. Hearing this, Michael turned to check on her in his concern, but the view that greeted him made him turn back around with his face an even deeper shade of red.
"Do you want anything?" he asked while still looking away from her. The only response he received was her mumbling incoherently.
"What?" he asked, but no answer came. When he built up his courage once more to look at her, he slowly turned his head and found that she had already fallen asleep. Her neck and shoulders still a bit damp and her wet legs were randomly spread on the bed.
Worried that she might end up catching a cold, he went to the bathroom to take a towel to at least wipe her neck and arms and legs. When he went in, he saw that the bathroom was not disorganized like her room. He picked a towel from the drawer under the sink and went to help her dry up.
He did not dare touch any other area, so when he was done, he ced her under her covers and tidied up the area. This was a subconscious action for him. If he did not do it then he would be haunted about the scene all night.
After he finished, he turned off the lights and left. After closing her bedroom door behind him, he went to pick up his jacket and wanted to go back home. But as he looked at the door in front of him, he hesitated. She had said that her stomach was ufortable.
What if she ends up vomiting in the middle of the night and choking to death? She did not dry herself properly what if she gets a fever? So many worst-case scenarios appeared in his mind and just like that he had given up on going home.
He texted his mother to tell her not to wait up for him before going to the room that was opposite hers. He too took a shower and called the hotel services toe and pick up his clothes for dry cleaning.
While still in a robe, he gave the man who had knocked rather than rang the bell per his instructions for his clothes and asked him to deliver them at 10 am. He wanted to get some rest and knew he wouldn''t wake up early, and he was unwilling to disturb his sleep to pick up his clothes.
After the man left, Michael opened the door to Alex''s room to check on her and saw that she was still sleeping in the same position that he had left her in before. He closed the door and also went to his own room to sleep.
All of this happened the previous night. But thest thing Alex remembered was Michael taking off her shoes. She looked at the red area on his neck again and her eyes becameplicated.
"We didn''t do anythingst night, right?" she asked. She knew she didn''t sleep with him cause she would definitely feel it if she did. Michael looked at her with aplicated expression. She clearly took advantage of him, but it looked like she had forgotten.
"No, I can''t do anything to a drunk person," Michael said as he turned off the stove and took a bowl to put a serving of the soup.
Alex pocked the hickey on his neck when he stretched his hand up to the kitchen cab. She looked at it even after he had taken out the bowl.
"Then what happened here?" she asked and poked it again.
"You bit me while saying I smell good when you were drunk," Michael answered honestly. Thinking about it again, did she want to eat him? Was he like food in her eyes? Hearing this, Alex opened and closed her mouth several times, not knowing what to say.
"I apologise," she said as she inwardly reprimanded herself.
"It''s okay," Michael said with a small smile, exposing the small dimples at the bottom corners of his lips.
[.]