BEING SHAMELESS

"Have you, Mal?" came the question from behind.

Vilian glanced behind. Her eyes widened and stopped blinking, stuck by the devil's half-naked sight. Blood rushed up to her cheeks turning them crimson.

Astrel didn't seem to care as he walked toward them and stood beside her.

She felt her throat go dry and could not take her eyes off his chest. It wasn't the body that entranced her. Not that it wasn't good enough. God damn!!! I was hell of a sight to see but the black tattoo was what pulled her attention. A 3D tattoo of a snow owl had its large wings spread from his right shoulder to his right chest. Some unreadable writings added to it.

"Fancy the sight?" he whispered leaning over to her side.

"Huh? N-no! Don't you interrupt us," she stuttered and glared at him with her hot cheeks.

"Am I? I'm just curious as you are to know his reply," he smirked and continued, "Malcolm, didn't she question you? You wouldn't keep us waiting now, do you?"

"I- I wouldn't dare, sir," he stuttered, sensing his boss's aura turning cold.

"Hmm... what are you waiting for? Have you ever met her?"

"Y-yes, sir! Back then, during high school, I was E-Eric's friend," He shut his eyes and spoke out all at once. Vilian stood frozen. Slowly registering the words that left his lips she widened her eyes.

'No! Oh hell no! This can't be true!!!' she was panicking as she clutched her skirt tightly. Beads of sweat formed over her forehead.

"Is that so..." he dragged and stepped forward. Malcolm could do nothing but tremble in fear. He knew a day like this was to come. But this was too soon. "I wonder why have I not known," he said in a low voice.

"Forgive me, boss... Hiding it from you was not my intention! I swear it was all of a sudden. Allow me to explain it to you, sir. Please don't kill me, sir. Spare my life. Forgive me, sir," he kept begging from his knees.

"Kill? Unfortunately, I had nothing like that in my head but I must thank you for reminding," he said it dangerously, his lips lopsided to a side creeping the shit out of the guy standing in front of him. Malcolm felt his boss's eyes bore holes into him. Looks like my time has come, he thought, praying to god as he broke into sweats. "Leave!"

Malcolm's eyes widened unbelievably.

"This isn't over," he heard him whisper in his ears, and a loud chuckle escaped his lips. Malcolm dashed out of the room immediately.

"Hey, kitty! Why don't you freshen up yourself?" his deep voice broke Vilian from her trance.

'Why was it that her past was turning back?' she nodded her head as she clutched her skirt and half ran and half walked toward the en-suite.

"Damn!!! This Eric's ticking me for no reason!!!" muttered Astrel rubbing his nose bridge. His phone rang. It annoyed him more than he already was. Nevertheless, he answered the call walking out to the open space.

Biting her thumbnail, Vilian sat on the bathtub spaced with her muddled mind. Fear crept at the thought of Malcolm blurting about her past to Astrel. Sighing out for the umpteenth time, she took off her clothes and got into the shower. Water splashed from the silver shower faucet. It ran warm and free soothing her, soul to body.

With her eyes closed, she thought of the ways she could overcome the situation. Various scenarios played in every possible way. She thought of meeting Malcolm somehow at any cost. She had to convince him for the time being to not utter a word about her past. That was what she finalized stepping out of the shower and covering herself with the white fluffy towel. She took another towel and knotted it over her head.

"HOLLY CRAP!" She screamed. Her hands flew to her mouth, eyes widened. She had not taken whatever the new set of clothes Malcolm handed her into the entice.

A cold wind swept passed her. The clean white curtains fluttered at the speed of the wind.

"WHAT THE HELL!!!" Vilian shrieked, clutching her hands dear to her chest.

"What happened?" questioned Astrel inspecting the entice for any possible danger.

"Just what the hell are you doing in here? Get out," she screamed and ran behind the tub curtain with the towel that hung around her shortly, reaching past her bums. It bearly covered her exposed thighs. Astrel found her action funny.

"Weren't you the one to scream, almost deafening my ears?" he muttered the latter under her breath. He could not believe she was blaming him, "If there's nothing I'm off," and just like that, he disappeared.

After a while, Vilian peeked out behind the curtain. A loud sigh left her lips seeing him nowhere. Sliding the curtains away she ran toward the two-story cabinet.

"Ufff... Why is this thing so high? Shouldn't they think of people like her?" she groaned, blaming the hotel manager. Even when she stood at the tip of her toes the cabinet wasn't at her eye level. Even though she was able to put her hands on the down shelf she could not see what was in there.

Biting her lips, she thought of a way. To get help from Astrel. She felt like a rabbit trapped under a net, asking for help from the lion. She padded her bare feet over the polished marble floor and reached toward the door. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"A-Astrel?" her voice came out lower than she expected. She cleared her throat once again and called out once more, "Astrel!" Her voice reverberated in the entice. Startled by her loud voice, she bit her index finger, waiting for his deep voice to answer her calls.

'Is he not in the room?' she mentally questioned. Twisting the doorknob, she opened the door and put her head out enough for her eyes to get a glance at the luxurious room.

"Looking for me?" Startled, she leaped back and hit her head on the door pane. She whimpered as she craned her neck to look up at his face.

God!! The look of his gaze. She was sure her neck would feel sour if she were to crane her neck, tilting her head like a bird. Man, he was so colossal compared to her. He leaned forward at her struggle. His familiar masculine scent hit her nostrils. Her body stiffed further. Not at his fresh scent. It was how their faces were inches apart and their body separated by a wooden door.

She hid her lower face behind the door pane and mumbled in her tiniest voice, "Can I get my dress?" It was the wrong question.

"Well, go it. Why the child's play?" he meant the hide and seek. She facepalmed internally.

"No... I meant if you could lend me it..." she dragged the end as her eyes looked past him. She saw him glance over his shoulder at the cloth bag lying on the bed. As much as she hated it, she had no choice but to go down to him. Her self-respect was at stake. She could not lose it to some jerk.

"And why would I?" he questioned ever so teasingly. Wasn't it obvious? This was annoying for real.

"Do you have no shame? I might have to walk out naked!" she was losing her temper. Bad timing.

"I would not mind, you cat walking," he dropped it with a smirk.

"What!!!" she shrieked. Astrel blocked his ears using his pinky fingers.

'What a shameless pervert!' she gave a disgusting look. 'Men would be men,' thought Vilian.

"Besides, you don't have what I want," he added, inspecting his clean nails just after she cursed him.

Disgrace.

Wasn't being shameless enough? What was the need of disgracing her? She knew she was not as perfect as a model and he was a total opposite to her. She nothing compared to him-

Wait a minute...

What was she thinking? Was she disgracing herself while praising the jerk? What a traitor was her mind? She was utterly disappointed of herself.