"There you are!" Mikayla said as Lauren walked toward her. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"Mikayla, can we talk for a minute? Something happened and I need to—"
"But we're already late for the Welcome Dinner!" Mikayla interrupted her. "And they're giving out the first awards! Can't we talk afterwards?"
"No, it's really important."
"My two favorite girls!" said a familiar voice. Mikayla and Lauren turned to see Dex striding down the hall towards them.
"Finally!" Mikayla said. "I was beginning to worry you decided to stay in the bar instead of coming to the dinner!"
"I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Dex said, taking Mikayla's hand and kissing it. For once, he sounded genuinely happy, no hint of sarcasm. His eyes met Lauren's. "Lauren. Good to see you."
Lauren nodded, mutely. She felt numb. Was she in shock?
"Come on, let's go find our seats," Mikayla said.
Lauren followed Dex and Mikayla into the ballroom. The dinner had already started and almost all the tables were full.
"You guys go ahead," Lauren said. "I need to find a restroom first."
"OK, we'll save you a seat," said Mikayla.
Lauren ducked out of the ballroom and hurried down the hall. She found the women's restroom and went inside. Dex wouldn't dare follow her into the ladies room, would he? She locked herself in a stall and pulled out her phone. Her hands were shaking.
Who was she supposed to call? If she called the police, Dex would show the compromising pictures he'd taken of her and the texts he claimed she'd sent. Would the police even believe her? And what had Dex done anyway? What could she tell the police? That she took a nap and when she woke up a man was in her bed?
At that moment, Lauren heard the door to the restroom pushed open. She paused. Click-click-click. High heels on tile. Lauren peered under her stall and saw a pair of patent leather pumps walk into the stall next to hers. Phew. It wasn't Dex.
She decided to text her best friend, Casey. Casey would know what to do.
Casey, I need to talk to you immediately. Please call me as soon as you can.
Lauren waited. Her phone lit up. It was Casey. Lauren left the bathroom stall and cupping the phone with one hand, whispered into it. She told Casey the whole story as quickly as she could.
"Is there any way you can find out what he has on his phone?" Casey asked.
"I don't think so, not without putting myself in danger. I don't know what he's capable of," said Lauren.
"It's just that you don't know what actually happened. You need more information. I mean...is there any possibility you DID get drunk and invite him to your room?"
"I had ONE beer," Lauren answered. "At least, that's all I remember having."
"Oh God," Casey said. "What if you actually did give him your room key? I mean, how else would he have gotten it? Did you check your text messages?"
"No. Oh my god I can't believe I didn't think of that. Hang on a sec."
Lauren opened her text messages and scrolled through. She saw a text sent from her phone to a number she didn't recognize. She opened the message. 348. That was her room number.
"Casey," she said, her voice trembling. "It looks like I sent my room number to a phone number I don't recognize. It's not in my contacts. Oh, God. What if I DID do this thing? What if I DID invite him to my room?"
"It doesn't sound like something you would do," Casey replied. "Let's calm down and think this through. There's still a chance he got into your phone somehow and sent the text himself. Were you showing him any pictures on your phone when you guys were in the bar?"
"I don't remember. I don't even remember leaving the bar, to be honest."
"OK, so let's say you drank too much and there's a chance you unlocked your phone to show him some pictures or maybe you unlocked your phone to check your Twitter and when you set it down, he picked it up."
Lauren sighed. "I don't know WHAT happened. Maybe I did drink too much. I do feel pretty groggy. I mean, he WAS flirting with me. I guess there's a chance I did something really stupid."
"I'm gonna go with the idea that he drugged you," Casey said. "Sometimes you can be impulsive but inviting a practical stranger—one who's married to your friend, no less—to your hotel room seems wildly uncharacteristic of you."
"Should I tell the police?"
"What would you tell them? That text message with your hotel number looks suspicious."
"So what do I do? Pretend it didn't happen?"
"I don't know. Maybe you can try talking to Mikayla. Or try to get more information first."
"I really don't need this kind of drama right now," Lauren said.
"Keep your eyes peeled and keep me posted. Call me after the Welcome Dinner. Aren't you supposed to be winning an award tonight?"
"Yeah."
"Well, get back in there and call me after it's over. Stay away from Dex and Mikayla. Maybe after you eat something you'll remember what happened."
Lauren hung up with Casey and went to the mirror. She dabbed on more lip gloss and washed her hands. Taking a deep breath, she left the restroom.
And there, waiting in the hall, was Dex.
YOU ARE READING
The Unwanted Affair
ChickLitCOMPLETED! Lauren was a popular blogger, happily making a living on her inspirational lifestyle blog. She never intended on having an affair. She didn't even want it. But once the bomb went off at the hotel where she was staying, she became an alibi...
