CHAPTER 54: HANG OVER

The afternoon sun spilled light into the living room through the open windows, revealing a human outline under the blankets on the couch.

Lillian groaned as the light hit her face, which was the only part of her body that wasn’t covered, forcing her to move beneath the blanket.

Her head was pounding with every movement she made and she immediately regretted her choices the previous night.

She turned over and buried her face into a pillow, but the sting in her temples refused to go away.

"...Ughhh," she mumbled, slowly pushing herself into a sitting position. Her blanket slipped off her shoulders, revealing her crumpled clothes from the night before.

She blinked blearily, taking in her surroundings. She was in her apartment... on the couch... and there was a half-empty bottle of water sitting on the center table with a sticky note on it.

She leaned forward and read the neat handwriting:

"Drink this when you wake up. –Ethan."

And just like that, everything that happened the previous night came rushing in.

Her face immediately turned beet red.

"Oh my god," she muttered, covering her face with both hands as mortification flooded her.

She remembered what she said. How close they got and worst of all, how she tried to kiss him.

"Kill me now," she said as she lay back down, pulling the blanket up to cover her face.

Lillian didn’t remember exactly how much wine she had drunk the previous night, but she was sure it was a whole lot.

After all, she was a bit nervous about drinking with Ethan, so what was the best solution?

Drink until she couldn’t anymore.... Yeah, that was a bad idea.

At this point she wondered how she’d face him ever again. Maybe she’d avoid him? No, that wouldn’t work, after all, she worked for him.

Pulling her out of her thoughts was the sound of a microwave beeping, which, thanks to her hangover, was annoyingly loud.

But that’s when another thought crossed her mind, was Ethan still around? Was he the one in the kitchen?

Luckily, and maybe a bit disappointing, the one who walked out of the kitchen with a bowl in hand was Aria.

"You’re awake," Aria said as her eyes locked on Lillian on the couch, there was a teasing smirk at the corner of her mouth. "About time. I was starting to worry I’d have to feed you through a straw."

Lillian groaned and threw the blanket back over her head. "Don’t talk to me. I’m dead. I died. This is my ghost."

Aria laughed. "Your ghost has terrible hair, by the way."

"Please."

"I’m just saying," Aria said, walking over and plopping down on the armrest near Lillian’s feet, "now get up, have some soup and spill what happened after I left, and I mean everything."

Lillian peeked out from under the blanket just enough to glare at her before saying, "I use my right to remain silent."

"Denied," Aria chirped, blowing on a spoonful of soup. "I made this hangover soup for a reason. Well, heated it, but same difference. Now eat and talk."

Reluctantly, Lillian sat up again, taking the bowl Aria offered. The warm scent of chicken and ginger wafted up to her, and her stomach grumbled in appreciation, even as her head protested any kind of movement.

"You’re evil," Lillian mumbled, accepting the spoon and slowly blow on the soup as her final act of defiance but Aria saw right through it.

"And you’re stalling."

Lillian gave her another half-hearted glare as she took a cautious sip. Her brows immediately raised in surprise as she looked at Aria, "who made this?"

Aria had a smug smile on before answering, "would you believe me if I said I did?"

"No," Lillian answered.

Aria’s cooking skills left a lot to be desired. It’d be a miracle if she entered and exited a kitchen without burning it down so there was no way Lillian would believe that she made this delicious bowl of hangover soup.

"Fine, I didn’t," Aria said with a pout, "I ordered it from a newly open Vietnamese place," Aria finished, scooping some noodles, she had prepared for herself, into her mouth with zero shame. "Figured you’d wake up feeling like a corpse."

Lillian didn’t respond at first. She was too busy downing the next few spoonfuls, both because the soup was helping with her headache and because she was embarrassed talking about it.

Aria waited a full ten seconds before breaking the silence. "So. You and Ethan."

Lillian paused mid-spoonful, groaned and dropped her head onto the armrest beside her. "Why are you like this?"

She was hoping Aria would forget about it or just drop the topic but that was no more than wishful thinking.

"Because I was born for this," Aria said proudly, nudging her with a socked foot. "Now quit stalling. What happened after I left? You were already two glasses in when I left."

Lillian sighed. "I drank too much."

"Nooo," Aria said with faux shock, clutching her chest. "Really?"

This earned her another glare from Lillian before she stood up, and said, "I’m going to the kitchen."

"And I’m right behind you." Aria said as she also stood up with her noodle bowl in hand and followed behind Lillian.

They both stood in the kitchen in silence for a moment before Lillian asked, "you’re not going to let go of this, are you?"

"Nope," Aria shook her head.

"Fine," she let out in resignation, "the thing is—"

"You tried to kiss him?!" Aria screeched after hearing the details of what happened between Ethan and Lillian the previous night.

Lillian immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shut up! I already want to bury myself alive!"

Aria’s expression was equal parts gleeful and shocked. "What did he do? Did he kiss you back?"

Lillian shook her head furiously. "No! He... pulled back gently before I passed out and now that I’m sober, I don’t even know how to face him."

Aria chuckled and patted her on the back. "Okay, listen. You were drunk. You made a move. He didn’t take it the wrong way. Honestly, sounds like you two survived a very cliché rom-com moment. That’s a win."

"Doesn’t sound like a win to me," Lillian said, "it sounds like I just embarrassed myself."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Trust me, if he was uncomfortable, he wouldn’t have left you a sweet little note and water like some domestic boyfriend from a K-drama."

"Stop!" Lillian yelped her face turning beet red as she threw a dish towel at her.

They both burst into a short laughter as Lillian was finally getting over her embarrassment, well mostly.

"Anyway, you just need to not mention it if he doesn’t and you’ll be fine." Aria advised, "or if it really bugs you, you can talk to him about it, preferably sober."

Lillian chuckled at her last remark before nodding, "you’re right."

"I know I am," she responded smugly before giving Lillian a once over, "now go take a shower, you’re still in last night’s clothes."

Lillian looked down at herself realizing that Aria was right, before she headed towards her room in a hurry.

_____________

Meanwhile, Ethan sat on his dining table facing Isabela, waiting for her to say something.

"I’ve thought about your offer and I’ve come to a decision." She said.

"Is that so," he said as he rested his fork on his plate, "let’s hear it then."

"I’ll take the deal," she said without the least bit of hesitation as she seemed to have thought this through. "On one condition."

"Which is?" he asked with a raised brow.

"I know I didn’t connect much with the members of the Vigilants," Isabela said as she adjusted her glasses, "but I want you to help me destroy the person behind that fire."

Outside, Ethan’s face remained neutral but inwardly, he had the biggest grin his face could allow.

Bringing down Nathaniel was already his goal so Isabela’s condition wasn’t much of a bother.

But he still leaned back on his chair and asked, "how are you so sure that it wasn’t just a fire outbreak like the news reported."

"I’m not stupid," she calmly said. "Withe the way Tag had that place constructed, even if the whole block caught fire, there’s no way it would reach the base."

She then looked directly in his eyes as she added, "someone is responsible for this and I know you know that too."

Honestly, there was a certain thought that crossed her mind when she just found out that he was the CEO of OmniTech Corp, and Sentinel that they tried hacking belonged to him.

What if in he was the one responsible for the fire as retaliation for their hacking attempt but that thought had faded almost as quickly as it came.

It didn’t make sense for him to retaliate over a failed hack and even if he did, Isabela doubted he had the connections to cover it up as a simple electrical fire.

She believed that someone even more powerful was behind this and she was going to find out who.

Ethan chuckled at her words before standing up and offering a hand, "alright then, welcome to OmniTech Corp, Spectra."