The Morning After

5:45, TUESDAY, the morning light slowly enters the room, and it hits the grand chandelier hanging in the tall ceiling, which results in the small rainbows dancing on the floor.

The tall guy from last night, sitting on the chair, across the still sleeping Ellise, sat unmoving while watching her. The feeling of being watched and the strong smell of alcohol woke up Ellise. As she stretches her numb legs from being folded the whole time she was asleep, she catches a pair of long legs under the coffee table. She sits up quickly, touches her body, and checks her clothes. And when she feels secure nothing is amiss, she sighs a deep breath of relief.

"So, you are actually still scared for yourself? That's surprising." the owner of the long legs under the coffee table spoke.

Upon hearing the sarcastic voice, Ellise twists her neck too fast, that she feels her head erupted in pain, and she ends up holding her head in her hands and slowly watches the owner of the voice from the spaces of her fingertips, where she is greeted with an unreadable handsome face of a man. Totally handsome.

"Do you remember how I ended up here in your hotel room?" he asked in a low voice, eyes not leaving her face.

She didn't dare answer the questions, rather she just sat there gaping at the man.

"I already called room service for breakfast. Why don't you go wash up quickly so I could bring you home, after breakfast," he said in a voice with no room for argument.

Ellise, trying to sort her memory of last night, stands up quietly and walks to the direction of the bathroom. She entered the bathroom and looked at her ghastly reflection in the mirror, then remembered that her clothes are all inside the closet and she has to get them first. She got out of the shower room without a sound, got a change of clothes, and went back to the bathroom.

A few seconds later, she slightly opened the door and said "What's your name?"

"Tian Daquan. Your name?" the man from the sofa answered

Ellise suddenly closed the door after hearing the man's name. " Tian Daquan," she said softly to herself.

She hurriedly, stood under the shower blasting cold water, to chase away the cobwebs of sleep. After a full two minutes of ice cold water, she opens the hot water and stays under it for another two minutes. Turn off the faucet, shampooed her hair, lather a body soap on her skin, open a new bar of soap to wash her face, and step out of the shower with full suds and find the toothbrush, returned under the shower, quickly brush her teeth, throw the one time used toothbrush, opened the shower to wash the shampoo from her hair and the soap suds on her body, spit the toothpaste from her mouth, gargle to clean her mouth from the remaining toothpaste.

Turn off the faucet, grab a towel to wrap her hair, and another towel to dry her body. She wraps another towel on her body, she walks to the bathroom counter and puts a moisturizer on her skin, lip balm on her lips. Put on a pair of clean underwear, and shimmy up a red mini summer dress, with small daisy prints. Remove the towel from her hair, and blast it with the hot air from the hairdryer. As she turns on the hairdryer, she smells a whip of coffee and pancakes. She runs a brush on her hair once more, turns off the dryer, and comes out of the bathroom with her hair half dry.

Walking to the breakfast table, her eyes meet with Tian. She feels her face turn embarrassingly red. "My name is Ellise," she said as she stood an arm length away from him.

Tian walks closer to her, "Let's eat." he said as he pulled a chair for her.

She sits down without a word. Pick up a cup of coffee and sip it quietly.

"Where do you live?" he asked as he sat down opposite her.

"East of the City." she murmurs her answer.

"Ellise, what's your family name?" he asked as he picked a sunny side up egg to put on his plate.

"Just call me Ellise, please," she answered in a small voice, refusing to meet his eyes.

"I don't have any problem with what you did, but just to remind you that it was really dangerous," he said. But Ellise just keeps her head down. "Hey, do you hear me?" he said once again.

" Yeah, I know," she said. "Could you let me have my coffee in silence?" she asked with annoyance as she finally looked at his face.

Tian stared back, looked at her plate, and said "Aren't you going to eat?"

Ellise with her furrowed eyebrows answered, "I don't eat breakfast."