Hera’s hands reached out in desperation, trying to seize the towel back. She’s not sure whether it’s because she pulled it too hard or he purposely let it go she fell off the bed, and her head hit the floor hard. Squeezing her eyelids, she winced in pain.

Rubbing the sore spot with one hand, Hera frantically searched for the towel. Only she didn’t find one. She looked down at her body, and to her surprise, she wasn’t naked either. She found herself fully clothed in the same clothing she changed into before going to bed yesterday night. The dampness she felt had nothing to do with her hair. It was completely dry, and there’s no wet towel anywhere near her. 

For obvious reasons, she was sweating like a pig. 

Hera couldn’t understand anything as confusion clouded her mind. She looked around, searching for Hunter but couldn’t find him. There’s no trace of his presence in the room at all. She realised that he’s nowhere in sight. 

“What the hell just happened?” Perplexed, Hera asked aloud in the empty room while her heart was still beating crazily. Slowly, her brain started to function, and she realised what just happened. 

“My God! It was a dream? But it felt so fucking real!” 

She was dreaming. No, it wasn’t just a dream. It was a nightmare. She felt dampness sliding down her cheeks and realised that she’d been crying in her dream. Wiping the trace of tears, Hera looked around. 

She hadn’t switched off the lights, and she even forgot to close the sweet box. But how did that happen? She vaguely remembered closing the box and going to sleep last night as soon as her head hit the pillow. Now everything made sense. She had somehow dozed off while eating those sinister sweets. She let out a few strong curse words accusing Hunter of everything. 

‘Did they drug me or something?’ 

Hera suspiciously eyed the sweet box before glancing up at the wall clock. An involuntary gasp escaped her mouth when she checked the time. It’s ten past five in the morning. 

“What the actual fuck?” Hera was stunned by the unbelievable coincidence. Didn’t the clock show precisely the same time in her dream as well? 

The unpleasant bits of memory from her dream created a chilly feeling and made her shudder. She climbed the bed, settling herself comfortably, and took deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Once it returned to normal, she thought about taking a bath, but the time showing on the clock made her rethink. She wouldn’t want her nightmare to come true, would she now?

Hera leaned her back against the beautifully carved headboard, drawing her knees up to her chest. That nightmare was seriously screwing with her conscious mind as it started to replay. She recalled everything steps by step and tried to decipher the source of her horrible dream. In all honesty, she knew what triggered the nightmare. 

Whatever Hunter said in her dream, she’d heard him say those exact words at the time of their breakup. It wasn’t just a dream. It was a part of her past. She’d been through that hell in reality. An involuntary shiver ran through her body. Just remembering that unfortunate day makes her sick to her stomach. Ignoring the uneasy feeling, she thought about the scary dream once again. 

“What a nightmare!” She eyed the sweet box in disapproval, clearly judging it as the culprit. “Must be because of the sugar high,” she guessed. “Or maybe that bloody message I read.” 

Hera pulled out her purple diary which she’d kept under the pillow yesterday night. She opened it to the page where she’d pasted the wrapper of the last messenger sweet. Her fingers ran over the stylish cursive handwriting of Hunter written in purple colour. He’d used the permanent glitter paint marker to scribble on the silver wrapper. She read every message one by one he’d sent her since the day they first met each other. 

She spent more than an hour reliving the bitter past before she decided to freshen up. 

When Hera entered the bathroom, she remembered that she forgot to bring her toiletries and stuff. But to her surprise, she found all her things neatly arranged on the glass shelf already. It wasn’t hard for Hera to guess, Jessica had instructed the servant to do so when he was bringing Hera’s backpack. Hera silently thanked the Housekeeper. 

After attending to her nature calls, she brushed her teeth. Then she shamelessly enjoyed soaking herself in the bathtub filled with hot water. It was pure bliss. Using her vanilla body wash, she cleaned herself thoroughly. The steamy hot bath relaxed her nerves, and she forgot the time. The water started to feel less warm, forcing her to leave the bathtub. She jumped under the shower, shampooed her hair before rinsing it off. Hera always loved the smell of her strawberry, fruity shampoo. 

Once done, she grabbed the towel from the towel bar of the shower door. Her thick, long hair needed too much time to get dry. She didn’t have the hairdryer, so she towel-dried it, blotting and squeezing it gently. Her hair was still damp but no longer dripping wet. 

Wrapping the towel securely around her body, Hera walked out of the bathroom. She took out a new pair of jeans and a T-shirt from her backpack along with her inner-wear to get dressed. 

Someone knocked on the door, demanding her attention which turned into a loud bang. 

‘Again?’ 

She threw up her hands in frustration. 

‘Will I ever get a minute to rest in peace?’ 

“Who’s that?” She asked, not trying to hide her annoyance. “Pixie, open the damn door,” Eric growled, he sounded so impatient. Rolling her eyes, Hera held the door wide open for him, bowed dramatically and gestured him to enter. Eric completely ignored her sarcastic welcoming gesture while his eyes annoyingly scanned her from head to toe. 

“Why are you naked?” He snapped at her, clearly disapproving her indecent exposure. She rolled her eyes at his immature behaviour. “I’m not naked. Can’t you see the towel wrapped around me?” She asked, and he snorted before replying. “A tiny towel which is hardly covering anything. Didn’t you bring clothes to wear?” Hera gritted her teeth for a second before sighing in defeat. 

“Oh, dear evil Spirit, to what do I owe this visit? What did I do to deserve this honour?” Hera asked, fluttering her eyelashes. She started with a sugary sweet tone, but she snapped at the end. Eric glared, thrusting his phone at her face and the name “Ace” flashed on the screen. To her horror, Eric had already received the call. 

“Get dressed and come down for breakfast.” Ordering her sternly, Eric gave his phone to her before he made his exit, closing the door behind him. She cursed inwardly as her stomach flipped, and heart fluttered. 

Hera scoffed at the thought of people feeling butterflies dancing around in their stomach. 

‘What butterflies? I can feel the whole fucking zoo in there, partying in full swing.’ 

Locking the door, Hera brought the phone to her ear. She felt the blood rush to her heart with a thud. Her anxious heart was going crazy. “Hello,” she mumbled quietly. “Why are you naked?” Hunter’s deep, rich voice roared in her ear through the speaker without any positive greeting, and she pulled the phone away in reflex. 

‘What’s his problem?’

Hera scowled, only to realise he couldn’t see her face. She groaned in irritation. “How are you, Hunter? I’m good. Thank you for asking,” she said. Hunter ignored her sarcasm, and when he spoke, his voice was furious. “Why the fuck are you naked? How dare you’re prancing naked around my friends? He barked, his angry tone was so high-pitched, she flinched. 

Hera hissed through her clenched teeth. “I’m not naked, and I’m definitely not prancing around your friends. I’m,” she was saying, but he cut her off rudely before she could finish whatever she was going to say. “I know, wrapped in a towel. I heard that. A tiny towel which is hardly covering anything and with no other garments beneath it sounds naked to me,” he proclaimed, disapproving. 

She wanted to laugh at his idiotic logic. 

‘I just showered and came out of the bathroom for God’s sake! Did he expect me to bath fully clothed?’ 

“I was in my room. Alone. I wasn’t prancing around your friend. Why don’t you question him before accusing me of anything? And he came barging into my room. I didn’t even ask him to come,” she said everything in one go and stopped to take a deep breath before continuing. “And I can roam around naked if I want to. It’s none of your business, Hunter,” she snapped furiously. 

Fist of all, how could he accuse her of such indecent behaviour? And second, did he think she was a shameless pest like him? A cheating bastard accusing her of such immoral conduct. 

‘Huh, that was your signature persona, Hunter, not mine.’ 

Hera wanted to laugh at his hypocrisy.