I bid her goodnight and closed the door after she left. I was sleepy but I decided to take a quick shower. To my surprise, there were some robes and clothes for me that I could wear for the night. I jumped into therge and soft bed. It was sofortable that I thought for a second that I was sleeping on the clouds. I buried my face into the soft pillow as I hugged the pillow to me.


    I wasn’t sure when I drifted off to sleep but it must have been soon after jumping into bed. Thefort of the bed felt so perfect for sleeping in and my body definitely needed the rest. I closed my eyes after promising myself that I would work harder to better understand Hayden the next day.


    …


    The sudden realization that I had forgotten to set the rm the previous night made me bolt up right in bed. The unfamiliar sight of the princess-like bedroom that greeted me caused some initial panic before my confused mind began recalling the events that took cest night. That’s right, I went to dinner with Hayden and after that he drove me to his ce.


    Last night, I spent the night here in this room.


    Reaching over to the bedside table, I quickly grabbed my phone and that was when I realized that I had overslept by a few hours. Was I that tired fromst night? The slight pain and throbbing in between my legs served as sufficient reminder of how things quickly spiraled out of control between Hayden and me.


    However, now wasn’t the time for me to be worrying about that. I had sses to teach today and I’m still here! If I remembered correctly, his ce is in the opposite direction of my ce and the art school. If I don’t hurry, I’m going to bete for my afternoon sses. I need to leave immediately.


    I got out of bed, showered, and dressed before grabbing my things and heading for the door. There’s an hour left, if the traffic isn’t bad, I should be able to make it to the school on time. Hopefully.


    I thought that the only obstacle in the way of getting to school on time was traffic; however, when my hand reached out to turn the doorknob, I found out that I was so wrong. No matter how many times I turned the doorknob, the door wouldn’t unlock. I tried over and over again to unlock it from the inside, but I couldn’t push the door open. I tried pushing it repeatedly and with all my force.


    Then I tried pulling it. The result was the same: the door just wouldn’t open.


    My first reaction was that of pure frustration. I was in a hurry, and I didn’t need this issue right now. Why did the door have to breakdown today of all days?


    "Help! The door is broken!" I called out loudly as I banged on the door.


    Silence.


    I blinked rapidly at the door in confusion as I still half expected the door to just open on its own. I mean, how can this be happening?!


    "Excuse me!! Is anyone out there? Help! I’m stuck in here!" I called out louder this time.


    Silence.


    Now, I was starting to panic. Quickly, I started dialing Hayden’s number on my phone. The line connected but the regr beeping told me that the line refused to connect. Why isn’t he picking up his phone right now of all times? He told me to call him if anything happens and now, he’s not answering my call? I redialed his number again as my other hand hammered on therge door in front of me.


    I’m being so loud, there’s no way that the people outside couldn’t hear me. Was it possible that there’s no one out there right now? I did recall the mansion being quite deserted when I arrived heretest night. That doesn’t change what I must do now though.


    "Help! I’m stuck in here! Help! Open the door please!!!" I continued screaming and banging on the door.


    Hayden still didn’t answer my calls and my hand that was beating on the door had started to hurt. By that time, I was angry and upset with the situation that I had found myself in. I stuffed my phone into my bag so that I could bang on the door with both my hands.


    I had tears of frustration in my eyes as time ticked by and I wasn’t getting physically closer to the art school where I had to conduct my sses. It’s been close to twenty minutes now and that meant that there was no way that I could arrive on time to start my first afternoon art ss. I hated to do this, but it didn’t seem like I had any other choice.


    "Hi. Umm…about the ss in the afternoon today…" I began saying hesitantly as the feeling of guilt flooded by heart and chest.


    I didn’t want to do this. Cancelling my ss would cause trouble and inconvenience for so many people. The students. Their parents. The other teachers and the art school. This was all because this goddamn door just wouldn’t open!


    "Oh, Malissa. We’ve already canceled all your sses for today for you. There’s nothing for you to worry about. Just focus on your recovery, ok?" thedy said through the phone, and I could detect a hint of worry in her voice.


    sses cancelled? My recovery?


    "My sses were already canceled?" I asked nkly.


    What is going on here?


    "Yes. We received a call early in the morning saying that you came down with a very bad feverst night and was still recovering. You better rest and drink lots of water. No need to worry about your sses, they’ve been cancelled for today," the woman said reassuringly.


    "I see…" I mumbled, still in shock.


    Did Hayden do this? Why? I didn’t have a fever or anything. I wasn’t even sick.


    --To be continued…