Morning After

The next time Aria opened her eyes a morning light broke through the tall window. The sun was worryingly high up in the sky.

Aria looked around realising that where Alessandro laid last night was an empty space. Only when she moved she felt her body aching where Alessandro's grabbed her and there was a dull pain between the legs. 

She didn't even hope that there was ever going to be anything more than the single night so she wasn't surprised that he wasn't there. Perhaps, she only went along with it because she expected it to be that one time.

Somewhere, deep within, Aria  knew that it will take a lot to ever fill the void that this one time has created. 

With sheer panic Aria got up and searched for her clothes. She only found the ripped dress and no underwear. 

With difficulty, she pulled the dress over her head but she didn't bother adjusting it.  

Now that the morning came, she felt dirty and disgusting and filled with shame. She run into the bathroom, wiping herself very quickly, before absolutely legging it out of the room. The door to the bedroom was unlocked which made her even more worried. She didn't bother putting her shoes on, trying to run down the stairs and towards the back door. Once downstairs, her heart raced before it came to a halt as she heard some distant voices and steps coming towards her. She hid behind the pillar awaiting the person to pass. They went up the stairs that she just came down by. Once they were out of her earshot, Aria run to the staff entrance, grabbing clothes, her jacket and phone from the hook, glad that they were still untouched. She bolted outside through the rear garden passing a few servants on the way, afraid to stop.

She looked at the time realising that the cafe was meant to be already opened. She saw a few messages from Jess. She replied with 'I'm alive. I will be there soon. Explain later.' 

She pulled her jeans over the dress and then called a taxi, going back to her apartment where she was relieved to have a shower while questioning her life choices. Alessandro, if it was truly his name, was the first man she ever slept with and he was beyond anything she ever experienced before. 

Once she felt somewhat clean, she rushed to the cafe in her usual attire, stopping by the pharmacy on the way, getting some preventative medicine, realising how stupid she was to not consider how unsafe last night was. She run inside the cafe and got on with the work immediately. Jess was already beyond busy with a few customers waiting in the queue.

"Where have you been?" Jess asked as she was cleaning the counter from the crumbs of the cake she just served to the customer.

"Long story." Aria panted as she quickly washed her hands and put on the apron.

"Go on." Jess smiled, instantly interested.

"That waitressing job last night took an unexpected turn. It was a little bit more dodgy than I first expected."

"How dodgy?" Jess looked at Aria with concern.

"Picture a Princess Leia cosplay in a billionaire's mansion."

"What?"

"They had weird dresses for it and it didn't help that the dresses didn't go above size 14 so I was in essentially bondage because why would there be a waitress in size 18 clothes?" Aria grumbled while rolling her eyes. 

"Sounds intriguing." Jess said carefully. "What did you do?"

"Literally just serving drinks and snacks. Or hors d'oeuvres." She gesticulated, pretending to be extra fancy, putting on a very exaggerated English accent. This made Jess roar with laughter. "While trying to not breathe too deeply so that I didn't rip the seams. The dress was so small that I couldn't put it on while wearing my bra so I was nicely showing everyone my 'pew pews'."

"I'm so sorry, Ari." Jess tried to stop the laughter. "What time did it finish?"

"I don't know." Aria turned red to the tips of her ears. It didn't escape Jess's attention.

"Go on, Aria." She punched her playfully.

"Okay." Aria blushed. "You remember Fiona? She was there and she was unbearable last night. I am sure that she set herself on trying to get me fired."

"Oh, for fuck's sake with her." Jess rolled her eyes. "Jealous bitch."

"Yeah, I know." Aria agreed. "She purposefully tripped me up when I was carrying glasses of wine. My luck had it that I spilled it onto some fancy-schmancy rich guy."

"Noooo…." Jess opened her eyes wide. "You didn't!"

"I did." Aria nodded, but then she remembered the excitement of last night and smiled. "I was obviously very apologetic and I went upstairs with him, hoping to get the stain out." Aria scrubbed the worktop, not daring to look up at Jess. "And… he was build like a Greek God. Honestly, he was so fucking hot!"

"And?" Jess looked at Aria sideways while making another shot of espresso.

"Well…" Aria struggled to spit it out. "I might have had a one night stand for the first time in my life with someone so hot that it was physically painful to look at him!"

"Are you kidding?" Jess asked in disbelief. Aria shook her head barely glancing up at Jess. "Oh my god, Aria!" Jess squealed. "How was it?"

"The best thing ever." Aria admitted. "It was so hot and he was so good. It was fucking perfect. It felt as if we did it many times before. We were in perfect sync." Aria let out a dreamy sigh. "So that happened."

"That's my girl!" Jess moved and kissed her cheek before she started brewing another cup of coffee. "Did you get his number?"

"No, I didn't. It was a very much a one night stand kind of deal. I think that was what made it feel so exciting."

"Perhaps." Jess smiled at her friend not feeling angry for Aria running late.

"So, I'm late because I woke up this morning still in that mansion, stark naked, in a stranger's bed. Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's fine. As long as you are fine and it sounds like you are more than fine." Jess laughed. "No one would have ever thought that our Aunt Prudence would have had a one night stand with some hot guy in a mansion."

"I know but I don't think you understand what level of hot we are talking about." Aria defended herself. 

"And it sounds like a good sex too. Rarely goes hand in hand. From my experience they were either hot or good in bed. But with one night stands, it's rarely that good." Jess frowned.

"How did it go with Adam?"

"Mediocre sex." Jess sighed. "And he is really boring. Wasted condom, if you ask me."

"So sorry to hear that. Maybe you should actually do your next assigned gig so that you can have sex with a Greek god yourself?"

"It sounds like a tempting idea. Did Sophie pay you yet?"

"Yes." Aria nodded. "I did message her as I think she got the amount wrong."

"Did she underpay you?"

"Overpaid me."

"Keep it." Jess encouraged her.

"Not that amount of money." Aria didn't let Jess change her moral standing. "It was obviously a mistake. Instead of £240 I was transferred £2400. She must've made a typo."

"Imagine getting that £2400 for an evening of work."

"I don't think I deserve it. I vanished before the end and I feel like I should be the one paying for the privilege of fucking that guy."

Aria's blunt comments made Jess laugh again. 

The conversation with Jess came to a sudden halt when Aria's phone rung and 'Sophie' popped up on the screen. Aria hurriedly hid in the cafe's tiny office to answer the call.

"Hi, Sophie. I've messaged you in regards to the pay. Is that why you're calling?" Aria smiled subconsciously, not even realising how good her mood was that day.

"Yes, Ariadne. Just wanted to confirm that you got the right amount." Sophie replied. "You didn't return the dress, did you?"

"I received £2400, hence the panic."

"No, that's right." 

"What do you mean that is a right amount? I received £2400!"

"It was £240 per hour for six hours. That was about £1440 of base pay. You received tips of about £950." Sophie explained calmly. Her voice was exact opposite of how Aria felt.

"Who the heck tips £950?!"

"It was about twenty tips. Although, someone did give you £500."

"Fuck." Aria had to sit down to compute the amount of money she just earned in a single night. "And yes, Sophie. I still have a dress. I accidentally got the zip caught in a fabric when taking it off and it ripped. Would you rather me try to get it fixed or would you rather deduct the amount for it?"

"Oh well. It wasn't your size anyways so I can't blame you for the zip breaking. Don't worry about it." Sophie sighed. "Message me if you want to work any more events. You have been well popular."

"Will do. Thanks, Sophie." Aria agreed. She didn't plan to work many of those events but the money was tempting. If she worked a few more nights for that kind of money she could buy an apartment of her own in a few weeks or months at most. "Add me to the mailing list for the listings, please. I'll try to get a few nights in a month." Aria but her lip knowing that the amount of work will destroy her but £2400 a night was much better than the £2500 she got a month for her work in a cafe, if they were doing well enough.

"Will do. Stay in touch, girl." Sophie answered before disconnecting.

Aria took a moment to process the call and as soon as she came back out of the office she shared it with Jess.

"Can you believe it?!" Aria was struggling still to accept that someone would pay her that much for six hours of work.

"Good for you! One step closer to getting out of the renting nightmare." Jess was genuinely happy for her. "The stars are aligning for you, Aria! Some hot sex with a stranger and getting over two grand for it!"

"I'll split it with you, JJ. It was your shift after all."

"I will not accept it! Although, if you do end up working another gig with that amount of money, make sure I'm on the list too!"

"I'll try my best." Aria laughed.