What happened?

Ana slowly came to consciousness and opened her eyes.

There was a white false ceiling with mellow LED lights in front of her as she gradually came to herself and wondered what happened. The surroundings didn't feel so familiar and she soon realized that she wasn't in her bedroom.

She felt a sharp headache on one side caused because of a worst migraine.

Suddenly it all came to her. She was drunk, she was checking out the pendant, then went to sleep but had a really bad nightmare and she felt like….. her boss trying to kill her.

This is the most ridiculous nightmares ever!

Nowadays her mind was coming up with creative ways to agonize her. She sighed and touched her throat which didn't feel sore at all. So, it was all just a dream.

Oof!

The bed she lied on felt silky and soft against her skin and she inhaled a beautiful scent of lavender. She touched the smooth fabric of the bedsheet and the rug covering her and noticed that she was almost naked underneath it.

Fear gripped her heart and she took a hand to touch herself, but as soon as she did that, a burning pain shot up her arms and straight away reached her head. She bit her lips in pain and felt so weak and exhausted.

She still managed to bring her hand to see under the blanket and was shocked that she was indeed almost naked with only her undergarments. She noticed that she wasn't in her bed either.

She turned her head around to take the environment fully in and knew that it was someone else's house. There was a small white lamp on a bedside table and a big closet adorning the other wall. She wanted to get up and sit but the overwhelming pain was unbearable and she was unable to move. 

She lifted her head up a little and noticed a figure sitting in front of her looking at an iPad.

"Oliver...?", she crocked in perplexion. It was Oliver again? What was she doing with him?

Oliver heard some rustles under the sheet but was now clear that she woke up and his full attention was on her.

Ana's head was spinning just with that one movement and she put back her head on the pillow. Was she still dreaming? Did she do some drunken mistake with Oliver yesterday? Was that why she was dreaming about him?

Nothing made sense and the more she thought about it, her migraine was getting worse. 

She closed and opened her eyes multiple times to register if everything was a dream. When she opened her eyes for the final time, she saw him standing near the bed, looking down at her like she was a unique specimen in the museum.

"You're up….. finally….!", he murmured softly.

"You were out for two days and I thought you were dead….", he suddenly touched her forehead as a gesture to check her temperature.

Ana's eyes widened in panic as soon as Oliver's cold hand was on her forehead. She stopped breathing for a moment and saw him like he had just committed the highest treason there is.

"Your fever is gone…", he said and dragged up a chair to take a seat facing her.

Her breathing was getting ragged by the minute, because her brain had so much trouble understanding what was going on. She took a gulp of air to steady herself and spoke finally, "Where am I?".

He was very casual and since she was unsure if everything was her imagination or if he really tried to kill her, she refrained from asking him anything.

"Sit up", he instructed face all scrunched up like that was the least she could do.

Oliver shot her a menacing look, making her feel like her skin was on fire.

She swallowed, averted eye contact and spoke, "I…. I can't…."

He glared at her for more than a beat and suddenly bent down towards her too close violating her boundaries.

Ana's breath caught in her chest and she squirmed trying to be anywhere but there. It felt too familiar. Too real. She remembered something similar happening in her nightmare and all her nerves came on high alert.

She turned her face to the other side, too afraid to look at him directly. She remembered those fierce blood red eyes and didn't dare to verify if she'd find that again. 

"I'm not going to say this again, weakling.….. Don't test my patience.... If I tell you to sit up, you sit up....", he uttered each word so slowly against her ears inducing goosebumps in its wake and Ana had to bite her lip to control herself from retorting back to him. She was weak and not in a position to argue.

As he moved away, she dared to see him and made sure that he was still just Oliver, her boss. It was extremely confusing for Ana to discern dreams from reality as every one of her dreams were too intense and felt true.

She sat up slowly. Her entire body felt as if it's been poked by sharp pins everywhere but, somehow despite the pain, she pushed herself up.

Suddenly she felt that Oliver was holding her back and helping her sit up. She was taken aback by his warm gesture and looked up at him. He immediately took his hand off like he had no idea why he did that.

Ana didn't fail to notice his confusion because of his actions.

She suddenly felt that the blanket she was covered with was dropping away. She quickly held it up with one hand and covered herself again shooting a dangerous look at him.

"That's cute, sweetheart! But, I'm not interested….", he gestured to her whole body making her clench her teeth in fury.

That was the end of her patience.

She couldn't hold back anymore, "Are you kidding me?!? Why am I here? Why are you here? What the fuck is happening? Did you do this to me? And why the hell am I not wearing clothes in the first place?", she finally yelled at him after keeping it in for a long time.

Ana was fully on guard this time and if he tried to do anything funny, she was ready to launch a counter attack.

"It's a long story.....Shame that you don't remember anything, hey! But who cares? Tell me how you got that pendant ..…. I don't have all day to waste on you", he was completely undisturbed by Ana's little tantrum and pointed to the red diamond pendant she was wearing.

She looked down and noticed that she was still wearing it. In her dream, the pendant radiated light so brightly causing her to fall and wince in pain.

"Why are you asking?", she was unsure why he was exactly pointing out something that had bothered her in her dream.

"It's mine and I want it…", he replied.

Unsure, she instinctively clutched it in her hand and suddenly a flash of light shot up blinding her, causing a sharp pain in her head.

Ana collapsed again on the bed, unable to sit anymore. Some sort of crazy jumbled images floated around in her head causing a strong agony followed by giddiness. 

Her head throbbed beyond tolerance and somewhere she could hear Oliver's voice but couldn't understand what he was trying to say.

She finally heard, "Let it go" and then released the pendant abruptly.

Everything stopped!

Ana slowly opened her eyes and was gasping for breath to see Oliver being in the same condition as her.

Although he tried to hide it, he was barely seated, gripping the hand rests tightly, panting and gasping for air. His green eyes were on Ana mirroring the same expression as her.

They both stared at each other for a minute and she spoke first breaking the silence, "What the hell was that!?", but she could sense that he probably didn't know the answer too.

"Are you in..... pain?", he asked her slowly trying not to show any weakness but Ana could feel it in his strained voice.

She just nodded "Yes" and couldn't say much else to him. Everything felt too real to Ana which made it impossible for all this to be a dream. She looked down at the pendant hanging around her neck and wondered if it was causing her harm or if she was the one losing her mind.

"Fuck!", he cursed and got up. He quickly bent down to the bedside cabin and took out a medicine.

"Just take this and sleep… Once you're fine, we'll talk", he passed the medicine to her with a glass of water.

Ana steadied herself and saw the tablet with suspicion.

"What? Eat it… It's for the pain… I'm not trying to poison you…", he glared at her but she didn't want medicines, she wanted answers.

She saw him for a second, taking the tablet from his hand but hesitating to eat it.

"Why am I here, Oliver?", she asked one last time trying to grasp at the final straw before she could decide whether to trust him or not. But Oliver didn't throw her any bones, "I'm exhausted, Ana….. Just eat the damn tablet and go to sleep… We'll talk once you are fine!", he grumbled running a hand through his ruffled hair.

That was when Ana finally noticed it.

His green eyes were droopy with blackheads and it looked like he didn't sleep at all. His perfect bronze skin lacked lustre and instead seemed really dull and tired.

His hair was completely unruly and ruffled and unlike his usual self, dressed in expensive suits or trench coats, he was just wearing a casual shirt and pants. Ana finally understood why he looked almost human to her.

She gulped down the medicine with a mouthful of water and caught him looking at her intently.

He started walking away and was already switching off the lights on his way out.

"No! Wait…. Why am I here? What about the necklace?", she threw a series of questions at him but before she could hear him reply, she was falling unconscious again.