Kate's head was pounding and her tongue was as dry and rough as sandpaper when she woke up a few hours later.
Opening her eyes slowly she took in her unfamiliar surroundings. Where the fuck was she? she panicked as she rolled over and came face to face with some one, a man, who she had apparently shared the bed with over night.
Gradually, as she became more conscious she remembered his name was Steve. He was a police officer, she recalled as more pieces fell in to place. The Ben fund disco! Yesterday's shift. Steve had offered to help her get over it. They'd gone to his room. Got drunk. No taxi to take her home.
Panic over! She thought as she felt herself begin to calm. She remembered everything. She hadn't done anything very stupid except drink too much. She had the hanger from hell she realised as she looked at her watch. 6:30 am. She'd had about three hours sleep which didn't help.
Kate glanced at Steve again. He was fast asleep. As she continued her observation, it slowly dawned on her that Steve appeared to be naked.
As was she.
Oh fuck!
They hadn't done what she was beginning to suspect they might have, had they? as she became aware of a soreness between her legs. She reached down and felt the tell tale stickiness of her arousal in her thighs.
Fuck! Kate thought. She'd done the one thing that she promised herself she would never do and slept with a relative stranger.
She had to go before Steve woke up and realised what a mistake he'd made. She'd seen it with her mother and her one night stands. Once the beer goggles were off, they couldn't wait to get as far away from her mum which left her feeling completely worthless. She didn't want the same thing happening to her.
As quietly as she could, Kate got out of bed and scooped her pile of clothes off the floor before locking herself in the small bathroom. She smelt of sex but a shower would wake Steve up. She would have to have one when she got home.
She studied her naked reflection in the mirror above the sink and noticed a mark at the base of her neck, over her clavicle. She touched it but the blemish didn't disappear. Kate leant towards the mirror to get a better look and realised it was a bruise. A love bite. Wonderful thought Kate. An unwanted reminder of this night for the next couple of days. At least her uniform blouse would cover it so there would be no teasing questions from her colleagues.
Kate began to dress. As she put her bra on she couldn't help but notice the skin around her nipples looked a little red and her nipples were a little irritated and tender rubbing against the material of her bra. A sudden flashback of Steve paying them lots of attention caused a fresh wave of arousal to pool between her legs. How ironic the best sex she'd had had been during a one night stand.
Taking a deep breath Kate continued dressing as she reminded herself that Steve probably felt different. He'd remember how inexperienced she was and do a runner.
Once dressed, she gave herself one last glance in the mirror as she ran her fingers through her hair. She exited the bathroom, picked up her bag and quickly fled the room.
As she quickly marched through the hotel reception area she studiously avoided the receptionist's gaze. They had to know what she had got up to last night, Kate thought as she felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment. Oh well, she thought as she finally reached the entrance door, this was one hotel she would not to be coming back to in case they remembered her.
Being a Sunday morning, the city was quiet as Kate began her walk of shame back home. Only a few shopkeepers who were beginning to open up their businesses and a couple of cars on the road saw her which she was grateful for.
Reaching her bus stop, Kate saw she had ten minutes to wait before her bus arrived. She took a spot on one of the basic plastic seats in the shelter and planned the rest of her day as she waited.
All she had to do once she got home was make it to the safety of her bedroom without Jayne seeing her and she would be none the wiser about what Kate had done. Kate would then do her best at trying to forget the whole evening ever happened.
She was one of only a few passengers on the bus and the journey was much faster then usual without stopping at every bus stop. Soon Kate was alighting and walking the couple of streets to her flat.
As quietly as she could, Kate put the key in the lock and opened the door before entering, making sure to avoid stepping on the one squeaky floorboard in the hallway. She pushed the door closed behind her with a gentle click and rested her forehead against the door. Almost there she told herself.
"What time do you call this?" a familiar voice said behind her.
Kate jumped in shock before turning to see Jayne at the kitchen door in her dressing gown. So close she thought disappointedly.
"I thought you said you were going home early last night," Jayne persisted, keen to know why her flatmate was only returning home now.
"What are you doing up so early on a Sunday for?" Kate replied haughtily as she entered the kitchen.
"Rich had an early shift," Jayne replied.
Of course he did, Kate thought grumpily. Just her luck.
"So who was he?" Jayne prodded, excitedly.
"Don't," said Kate as she sat down at the table and buried her face in her hands, ashamed.
"Want a cup of tea?" Jayne asked.
"Please," mumbled Kate, not removing her face from her hands.
Kate heard Jayne moving about the kitchen before a mug was placed down on the table in front of her. "There you go," Jayne said.
"Cheers," said Kate as she finally raised her head from her hands.
Jayne took a seat at the table opposite Kate with her own mug of tea and Kate knew she wasn't going to escape an inquisition.
"So who was he?" Jayne repeated.
"Steve," Kate said before she grabbed her mug and blew on the hot liquid to cool it down.
"Steve what?" Jayne asked.
Kate paused as she tried to find the answer to Jayne's question before realising she didn't know it. She had slept with someone without knowing their full name. "Oh god!" Kate said ashamed as she put her mug down and reburied her face in her hands.
"It's not that bad, Kate," Jayne consoled as she reached across the table and gave her friend a gentle squeeze to the shoulder. "Everyone's done it,".
"Not me, though," Kate replied sadly, knowing she had let herself down. "He's from the Met, I remember that,".
"Ok," replied Jayne. "Was Steve From the Met any good?" she asked after a while.
Kate's reddening cheeks were her silent answer. "No comment," she replied.
"You need to let your hair down once in a while, Kate," Jayne advised. Kate was pretty serious most of the time and it wasn't good for her. "Sounds like you needed a good shag after what happened yesterday," Jayne pointed out. Kate looked at her friend. "Jase told me what happened on your shift," Jayne explained. "You ok?".
"Yeah," Kate replied.
"You were safe right?".
Kate looked annoyed at her friend annoyed. "Yes!" she snapped.
"So you've got nothing to worry about," Jayne replied. "I'm sure Steve from the Met feels the same way,".
"Wouldn't know," Kate said. "I left before he woke up," she confessed.
"Poor Steve from the Met! I hope he isn't broken hearted,".
"I doubt it," Kate replied. "He sounds like he's had a few one night stands before,".
"You know what might help get over yesterday as well?".
"No," replied Kate, getting a feeling she wasn't going to like Jayne's suggestion.
"Performing some bridesmaid duties and helping me sort out the wedding favours," Jayne said. "It's suddenly hit me that I'm getting married in eight weeks,".
"Sure," replied Kate. It wasn't top of her list of things to do in her day off but at least it would prevent her stewing over the previous night. "Let me just have a shower,".
"Arnott?" his friend bellowed as he knocked loudly on his hotel door waking Steve. "Are you in there?". Steve hadn't been seen by any of his mates since the disco the previous evening.
"Yeah," replied Steve as he stretched and wiped the sleep from his eyes.
"You gonna open the door, mate?".
"Yeah," repeated Steve as he got out of bed, putting his briefs on as he walked to the door.
"You are alive then," his friend said as he finally saw Steve. "Although only just," he amended as he studied Steve. "You look rough, mate. Big night?".
"Yeah," Steve agreed. He didn't feel great.
"I'll say it was," his friend said. "Rumour has it you left with a member of the opposite sex last night?" Steve's friend prompted. "Finally over Sam? It certainly sounded like you were getting laid when we got back last night," his friend continued. "Had to walk back because the queue for the taxi was horrendous,".
"Yeah, I know," Steve replied remembering the wait Kate was going to have.
"So where is she then?" Steve's friend persisted as he looked over Steve's shoulder into his hotel room. It certainly looked like the bed had been slept in by two people but the female occupant was no where to be seen.
"I don't know," Steve replied disappointedly as he realised that he was alone.
"She done a runner?" Steve's friend teased. "Didn't it go very well?".
"Obviously not," Steve said crestfallen. He had thought he had shared some sort of connection with Kate and that it was more than just a shag. He must have been wrong.
"Never mind, mate," his friend consoled as he slapped him on his back. "You'll get your groove back. Get them moaning your name again very soon,".
"Yeah,".
"You up for some breakfast?".
"Maybe," Steve replied, hedging his bets. He could probably manage a coffee.
"We'll give you ten minutes to sort yourself out," the friend said before departing back to his room.
Steve closed the door and slumped on to the bed dejectedly. Kate had just disappeared in to the night and he had absolutely no way of finding her. He was like a modern day Prince Charming but without a glass slipper to track his Cinderella down he thought as his eyes fell on to the crumpled tissue that contained the used condom from the previous night.
He paused. That wasn't completely true. He did have her DNA he realised before completely disregarding that idea. Tracking her down that way was creepy and it wasn't very romantic. He was just going to have to get used to the idea that he and Kate were a one night thing.
Sighing, Steve got up and headed to the bathroom to freshen up before meeting his friends for breakfast.