Why had he said "Yes"?! Why on the good planet earth had he said "Yes"?!
Not only had they slept together that night, it had just been a one night stand. Lurline was apparently the kind of girl who was seductive then broke your heart: not like he had actually gotten his heart broken, of course.
But despite that, Perry couldn't help but feel guilty. Fourteen years after it happened, it still haunted him. What had happened to her? Had she missed him? Had her own heart been broken because of his weakness?
... Had she had a child? This was what bothered Perry the most, although he tried to hide it at the back of his mind. Although not likely, it was definitely still a serious option to consider. Had he impregnated Lurline?
And if he had, what had she done? Had she had an abortion, given birth to her child and sent it to an orphanage, or kept the child to raise?
If they did have a kid, Perry hoped it was one of the latter two options. He wasn't exactly pro-abortion, and the idea of it being his own child... Even if he would never know the truth, he certainly didn't want that.
"Perry?" a voice piped up suddenly, bringing Perry out of his deep, painful, guilt-filled thoughts.
He blinked and shook his head to try and clear it. "Pinky? What is it?"
His friend shrugged. "Peter, Terry, and I are heading out to the local bar, and we were wondering if you wanted to join us."
Perry chuckled. Anything to get the experience from fourteen years ago out of his head, even for a short while. "Sure, I'll come. But let's try to prevent anyone in our group- especially Peter- from getting drunk. Okay?"
Pinky nodded quickly. "Oh, absolutely."
With that, he left Perry's office. Perry grinned and got out of his seat. Even though he hadn't told his friends what had happened, at least they were there for him.
(...)
However, after only being there an hour, Perry had to go outside. Not only did being around too many people at one time get stressful for him...all his friends had headed over to the table the women were at. He had wanted to leave before the flirting began.
Would anything ever rid him of his guilt? Or... Was it just self-pity?
Perry stared up at the ceiling of the hotel room in shock, trying to process what had happened in the past fifteen hours. He... He had really just done that. He had let himself get weak enough to have intercourse with a woman he didn't even KNOW.
He was lying in the bed they had...used...because he hadn't managed to pull himself out of it yet. He was still recovering from the shock.
After they had finished getting...intimate...together, they had literally fallen asleep. Now it was about 9 AM. Neither of them had left yet, but Lurline was going to.
At that moment, she left the bathroom and came back into the main room. "Perry?"
"What?" Perry mumbled irritably, not wanting to let himself talk to her, in case he weakened again.
But she sounded so...so different than the confident, seductive young woman he had faced the night before. In fact... She sounded nervous. Perry would even go so far as to say scared. That alone pressed him to reluctantly look over at her.
She inhaled deeply and sat down on the other bed. "I... I'm sorry."
Perry raised an eyebrow. "It's not just your fault. That wasn't a rape."
Lurline just shook her head. "I-I think I'm insane," she whispered back. "For the past three years of my life... I-I've been ADDICTED to...to t-this..."
Perry sat up slowly. "What...?"
The blonde sniffled and nodded slowly. "M-My big sister got me into this, and... Although I take breaks, I-I can never permanently stop."
He wanted to pity her, but... Something stopped him. It was probably the fact that he was still bitter with her. "So?"
"I was going through a phase of depression at the end of highschool," Lurline blurted. "Not the actual mental illness, just a strong case of self-pity. M-My sister 'helped' and got me into this. T-The only..."
She inhaled deeply. "The only reason I even listened to her was because... I was desperate. I-I wanted love. S-So I decided to start this, finding men on the streets and..." She shivered. "I-I was waiting to really feel something different."
Perry raised an eyebrow. "And?"
Lurline stared at the bed she was sitting on. "P-Perry... I-I want this to stop, and I... I think I found the person to quit it with."
Although it took a few seconds to process that, Perry scowled immediately afterwards. "What on earth?!" he demanded. "You seduce me and then claim to have fallen IN LOVE with me?!"
Lurline flinched. "I-It's not like that!"
"It sounds like it to me!" Perry snapped. "That's sick!"
"I know!" Lurline cried. "I-I know it is! I'M sick! P-Please... Help me...!"
Perry just shook his head. "Nothing ever started between us, Lurline. So I can't say it's over."
Lurline pressed her hands to her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut. After a minute, she inhaled shakily and backed away. "A-Alright, then. I'm not sure why I was expecting anything different."
She grabbed her black clutch off the bedside table and headed over to the door. "Goodbye, Perry. I... I'm sorry."
Then she was gone.
Perry knew that, deep down inside, THAT was the cause of all his guilt. Not the fact he had slept with her, but... The fact that he rejected her. His job as an agent was to protect and help people who needed him, whether he liked them or not. And, with Lurline... He had failed. Nothing would ever change that.
So, yes, dark xD xD But don't worry, it shouild start being a bit lighter now! As far as I know, this will be the last awkward/uncomfortable chapter of the story xD (But don't hold me to it)