❛𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒... ❜ | 𝟏𝟖+

𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝓌ℯ𝓃𝓉𝓎 ℯ𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 | 𝒶𝓂 𝒾 ℯ𝓃ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽？

Anna's POV:
Ouch. Why do hangovers hurt so much? Whoever decided that horrible fact should be imprisoned until they forget their own name. I'm woken up by the sound of my cell phone ringing, just like it did time and time again whilst i was out at one of Colorado's most popular night clubs, dancing with the radiant Aaliyah... who's sleeping next to me in my hotel room. Shit... shit, did we have sex? I must've been too drunk to remember... i pick up my phone in annoyance, swiping to accept the call without reading the name displayed. "Ugh, who is it?!" "It's Sam. The woman who's been calling you for hours. Don't forget that i'm also your boss, so you'd be correct to never speak to me like that again." "Oh, piss off." "Excuse me?" "I'm sick of you, and your entitled ass walking around like you own me. Call me when you realise that i'm a human being, not someone to toss around like petty cash." i hang up, feeling a sense of relief. After taking my medication, i hear Aaliyah stir next to me quietly, rolling over to face me eventually. "Hey..." "Nghh, what time is it?" "Just gone 10." i give the brunette woman opposite me a few minutes to collect herself before broaching the obvious question, a question that i'm weary to get the answer of. "Last night was fun..." "Yeah, yeah it was... did we... y'know...?" a look of confusion that was upon Aaliyah's face slowly turns to one of recognition, and she belts out a loud "Oh! No, we didn't. If there's anything my father taught me, it's to never take a woman up on the offer of sex when she's intoxicated." she rises to her feet and stretches her arms overhead, her stomach showing just underneath her green crop top due to the action. "As soon as we arrived back, you were spark out." as the brunette continues the conversation with herself, i ponder her closely. I'd like to get to know Aaliyah better... Sam doesn't seem to be showing her true colours anytime soon, and i'll be damned if i waste my precious time on this earth on one woman. I'll have to realise eventually that i deserve better. "What do you say we get some breakfast? I think the breakfast buffet downstairs is still open." Aaliyah's hot mouth curves into a knowing smile, one i wish i could see every day without fail, and one i know i'd never get sick of seeing. "Of course. I'd be more than happy to... but first, i'm in desperate need of a shower..." Aaliyah's eyes turn from a soft brown, to a domineering one. Her proposal intrigues me... as does the look on Sam's face when she finds out, looking like she's chewing a wasp as she realises i let someone else's hand smack my ass aside from hers. But something inside me is triggering me to decline... but why, exactly? This is an offer i could never refuse... but it looks like i have to. "I'll meet you down there." as i excellently pivoted Aaliyah's offer, i get dressed, and we leave for breakfast.

After helping ourselves to the wide-range continental breakfast buffet, me and Aaliyah pick a round-edged table close to the window, the view of Denver a lushly morning one, the mountain peaks soaring into the sky with a strong sense of altitude. "I hate to admit this, but i heard your conversation on the phone before i woke up this morning." something catches in my throat, a sudden spark of embarrassment from the previous event piping up. "Oh... i see." "I wasn't eavesdropping, i promise. I couldn't help but overhear." "Think nothing of it, Aaliyah. I can hardly call it a private conversation when i was belting down the damn phone." "Girlfriend troubles?" i sigh, cutting up my chocolate-buttery croissant and stabbing a piece onto my glistening, sharp fork and taking a bite to buy myself some time. "Something like that..." after admitting i have someone else pining for me to the woman i spent the night with, you'd think she'd be more bitchy, but instead, she offered me a generous hand as a polite sign of comfort. "If you wanna talk about it, there's no judgement." i decide to take Aaliyah up on her offer. Since Blaine left, no one else is willing to listen to my first-world problems... "I won't disclose who this person is, but they seem to have ulterior motives to wanting my attention." a quirked look appears on her face as she ponders my statement, one that makes her seem even more attractive somehow... "Ulterior motives such as...?" just say it, Anna. There's no way to hide from it, and i may have been dreading admitting this idiotic statement, but it's now or never. Just because Sam isn't being true to me, doesn't mean i shouldn't be true to myself. "I think they're using me for sex." Aaliyah clams up: her face a priceless picture even i couldn't afford. It's clear she wasn't expecting to be stumped, but nevertheless, she answers quickly. "What makes you think that? Obvious observation or gut instinct?" "I'd have to say a bit of the latter. They're like a tap with no key: is it hot? Is it cold? I have no clue, and as a scientist, that is my least favourite emotion." after a small chuckle, "I'm sure it is. I may not know the ins and outs of your special relationship you have there, but i know that after spending one un-regrettable night with you, even i can tell you deserve a lot more than what it seems like you're getting." after seductively sucking on the top of the strawberry that she holds in her forefinger and thumb, i lean in closer, feeling Aaliyah's pounding heart against the air around mine. "And what would you bring to the table that they couldn't?" raising her eyebrows slightly, Aaliyah crawls into the conversation deeper, showing her obvious keen interest. "I-" but before she can come up with an answer, a glass of water spills abruptly, dousing the table below our perched elbows. "Oh, shit! I'm so sorry!" "Don't worry about it." i dab the mess with a few napkins, the incident forgotten shortly after... but i'll have to suffer the loss of not knowing what Aaliyah could offer that Sam could never... damn you, water.

As i enter the hall of my home, the motion-sensor lights flicker on at my arrival, due in at 3:00am after my flight from Denver. All i wish to do is go to bed and sleep off the jet lag, with a possible cup of coffee thrown into the mix, when my phone rings annoyingly through my ear drums. I'm so close to smashing the damn thing with my bare hands. With a groan, i answer, and beg that the person on the other end who is disrupting my lushly thought out plans does a gruesome death. "Ugh, who is it?!"  "If you bothered to look at the name on the screen, you'd know." i'd recognise that demeaning voice anywhere, especially from when i told it to piss off only 48 hours ago. "What do you want? I'm jet-lagged, tired, and most importantly, i stink of airplane." Sam manages to stifle a chuckle before answering, "Tomorrow, La Grenouille at 8pm. I want to show you your worth, and nows the time to do so before you come to a realisation dump me for someone more worth you time." and that 'someone' also happens to have a better offer... do it, Anna. Walk away. Walk away and forget ever knowing Samantha Dalton: it's the logical choice. You're a scientist for goodness sake, you're programmed to listen to logic. But do matters of the heart overpower logic? Some would say so, and some wouldn't. I'm no ordinary person... and i know part of me is dying to know what would happen if i dipped my toe in just a bit deeper. "... i'll be there."

𝒶／𝓃： 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ！
𝒩ℴ𝓉 ℊℴ𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝓁𝒾ℯ， 𝒾 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶 𝒷𝒾𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝒷𝓁ℴ𝒸𝓀 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝓁ℴ𝓁 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓇ℯ𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓉ℯ𝒹．
𝒢ℴ 𝒶𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓂ℯ 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀， 𝒾 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓇ℯ𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓉ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝓂ℯ𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓍
𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀－ 𝓈ℯℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓉 𝓌ℯℯ𝓀！ ❥