Chapter 10

The winter morning dawned bright and clear, Chris glared out of the window at it and wanted nothing more than to die. Her head was pulsating with unbearable pain, she had thrown up several times already and after hydrating, thrown up some more. She had settled her stomach now but she needed to get back to bed and sleep…. Or die, that was definitely on the table as well.

She was waiting for Rocco to come back to the room with pain killers and then she could try and sleep some more. She had had Hangovers before but nothing had ever come close to the Armageddon that was going on in her body right now. Even her eyeballs hurt... they felt several sizes too big for their sockets and they felt oddly dusty. She yanked the curtains closed against the beautiful morning and shambled back towards the bed. She lay down face first and groaned as her stomach churned again. The feeling passed thankfully.

She remembered the penthouse bar .Oleg was putting away whole bottles of Vodka, lulling Chris into a false sense of security, making her think that the booze wasn't that strong… She remembered HIM coming into the penthouse bar looking angry. It had spurred her to drink more… she didn't remember anything after that. She had woken in her bed… fully clothed, which meant that Rocco had put her there, he would never have had the nerve to undress her. She was thankful for that for a number of reasons.

She opened an eye a crack when she heard her door open and close quietly. Rocco had a pitcher of water and bottle of pills that Chris secretly hoped were cyanide, a plate of fruit and some crackers. He smiled at her.

"I saw a movie once…" He said quietly, as he laid his burdens on to the bedside cabinet "an old one about Dracula… your eyes look just like his did … there are no white bits left in them, they're all red" He said it matter of factly… trying not to sound amused.

"Was it very hard to get me to bed?" She voice was croaky from throwing up, but she meant to sound apologetic and appreciative.

"Nah," He said holding out a glass of water and a couple of little white tablets. "You where happy to get to your room after the boss dropped you off in the parking garage"

She had put the pills in her mouth and washed them down with a sip of water.

"Dropped me off?" she asked in surprise "Dropped me off from where?" She didn't remember going anywhere.

"Ummm… you went to a bar with Oleg… to do Karaoke … you don't remember" It wasn't a question, Rocco now looked amused.

It seemed a bit more happened last night than she originally thought.

"Oh God," She groaned in genuine pain, "What did I do?"

Rocco laughed quietly "Nothing too bad... you're a really good singer" he said encouragingly.

She ignored that. "Tell me what happened after that man left us in the Penthouse bar?"

Rocco looked confused for a minute and then clicked about who she meant.

"Oh Right." He said. "The Boss when back to his room and then you and Oleg kept drinking, you decided that you needed music to sing and Leon said it was Karaoke night at the Shillelagh and you and Oleg decided to go out and the Boss went after you and bought you back, you went to bed. Oleg, Pierce and Shaundi came back a few hours later… You didn't do anything embarrassing," He reassured her, "you made out with the Boss in the car, you sang in the elevator up here and I put you in bed. That's all."

She began to splutter on a piece of sliced melon from the fruit plate.

"I. Did. What?" She choked.

He knew what she was meaning and he grinned widely, "You made out with the boss in the car?"

She must have looked horrified because he suddenly looked concerned. "You're all good, the Boss put a stop to it" He said reassuringly.

"Put a stop to it?" She squeaked incredulously

"Well, yeah, I mean you were drunk and he knew you didn't mean it."

"I didn't mean….." She wanted the building to fall down around her right now. "You mean I kissed him?… Rocco… I kissed him?" She buried her head in her hands, groaned and rocked back and forward in shame.

Her head snapped up suddenly, jarring her already damaged brain as she had a chilling thought.

"You didn't say kissed did you." She said quietly "you said 'made out with'... "

Rocco looked hesitant to say anything else. He had not expected her to freak out like this and now he was a little wary of the consequences.

"What exactly does that imply?" She asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

Rocco started to get up, he looked very much like he wanted out of the conversation. She caught hold of his wrist and the look she gave him was pleading.

"Well… ah…" he started, already knowing what her reaction was going to be. "When I came down in the elevator I saw you guys in the car and then you sort of… ah…. leaped on him and then you were like… in his lap and kissing and stuff and … ah… he sort of stopped it and you got out of the car and …" he trailed off…

"Leaped on him" She said dejectedly "kissing and stuff"

How in Gods name was she supposed to face him ever again? She had drunkenly molested him in his car and he had had to peel her off him and put her out of the car… How Embarrassing!

While she had been staring into space, Rocco had made his escape, she looked around the room and he was gone and the door closed. She felt sick again, not from the hangover this time. She had made a fool of herself. What else had she said to him in her drunken state? She shuddered in horror at all of the x-rated things that she had thought about her handsome host, things that she could very well have told him last night before 'leaping' on him.

She moped around her suite for the whole day. She showered, dressed and then comatose in a chair in abject humiliation. Her brain worked overtime, dreaming up worse and worse scenarios of what happened in the car and what would happen when she saw him again. She ate the fruit and crackers eventually and her hangover abated, and though she did not even leave her room that day, she went to bed feeling drained. The next morning after an unsatisfying sleep she had resolved to rejoin the world

"Good morning , malen'kiy angel" Oleg greeted her cheerfully when she entered the penthouse kitchen. "I hope you are feeling better today."

"Yes, thank you." She smiled warmly at the massive Russian and her cohort. "How were you yesterday?"

"I was very well. " Oleg replied "I had a very enjoyable evening and completed many projects yesterday."

"Didn't you get a hangover… you must have drunk at least ten times what I did?" Chris asked, already knowing the answer and very impressed with the giants metabolism.

"Net," Oleg laughed " I have not been hungover since I was a small boy"

She chuckled and began rummaging in the fridge. She needed a good breakfast to fortify her. She noticed a covered tray on the benchtop. She pointed at it and raised an enquiring eyebrow at Oleg.

"Pierce made muffins this morning." He supplied.

She lifted the cover and found some beautiful Blueberry muffins and what looked like Cheese and Bacon.

No she thought to herself… she had had nothing but booze, a plate of fruit and a few dry crackers in the last 2 days, She needed something substantial.

She turned to her shadow who had taken a seat next to Oleg, "Can I make you an omelette too, Rocco?"

"Yes ma'am" He replied, He had loved the fact that she could cook.

"Oleg?"

"Net, moya lyubov', but thank you, I ate much earlier"

Chris pottered around the kitchen, chatting away as she made two fluffy Cheese and Mushroom Omelettes with a yummy side salad. She thought that she covered very well though her thoughts were turbulent beneath the surface. She would see him today, she knew it and she knew that she would shrivel in shame when she did. She placed a plate in front of Rocco and watched him hoover it with gusto. Despite his love of sweets, Rocco didn't seem to put on weight at all. Chris gave a small smile and started on her own breakfast, with a little more decorum.

Olegs cell rang, and he excused himself as he left, He was replaced quickly by Terry and two other saints that Chris didn't know very well, Karl & Joe? Terry looked expectantly at Chris' plate of half eaten omelette… she sighed and pushed the plate towards him. He grinned at her and took her fork from her. She grabbed some fruit instead.

She relayed her plans to cook a massive feast when she left, the boys all nodded enthusiastically and each piped up with their favourite menu items and helped her plan the farewell meal. She kept an ear out for activity in the living areas, knowing that He would show up there eventually.

He did about twenty minutes later, the elevator dinged and he stepped out. He was dressed casually in dark jeans and a Black Tee Shirt , which looked like it would burst open around his biceps at any moment. She noted the tattoo sleeve that covered his whole right arm. She had never seen his uncovered arms before.

Chris mentally injected steel into her spine and followed him into the atrium.

"Umm. Excuse me…. ah… you" She said from beside the potted ferns.

He turned at the sound of her voice. "You?... What happened to Dirk?"

She looked confused for a moment and then remembered the name that she had given him 2 days ago. She must have used it more than once during her drunken excursion. She decided to ignore the question.

"I just wanted to apologise for what I assume was my appalling behaviour the other night. I have very little memory of the evening but I assume considering how I felt yesterday, that it got a little out of hand." She said in a rush. "Rocco told me that you got me home safely. So… ah, thanks for that." She smiled weakly at him.

He had crossed his arms and leaned one of his narrow hips against a potted palm tree. He lips had hitched up on one side in amusement. "It was quite an enlightening night." He said brightly, but with an irritatingly sly edge.

"I honestly don't remember a single moment of it." She said truthfully, she didn't remember, but she had been told and it made her shrivel inside that he was amused by it .

The Boss uncrossed his arms, stood up and walked slowly towards her, stopping inches away… "Pity" he said quietly, his gazed fixed on her lips.

"Just so you know… what ever I said or did" She rushed on, "I would never do under any normal circumstances… ever."

She turned and left the atrium as fast as her legs would carry her, leaving him looking after her in disappointment. She never saw his expression.