Babysitting Mr. Powers' Daughter.

GRACE

“Good morning, baby.”

That strange yet soothing voice caused my eyes to snap open faster than Thanos’s fingers. For a second, I trained my sight on the familiar ceiling above me because I could already tell that I had once again brought home another stranger after a long night of drinking.

My head started to race, trying to figure out what and what happened the previous night.

Even though one thing was sure- I entered the clubhouse drunk and then got extra drunk- it was necessary I remember who I hooked up with.

Ugh...who am I kidding? I won’t remember sh*t. My nightlife is a shitty cycle.

A shitty, shitty cycle.

Once it was established that I am indeed stupid, I braced myself to face the man I had foolishly brought into my house with the intention of having crazy and drunk s*x with. It is the type of s*x I would never remember and that is the most perfect because I don’t exactly work well with feeling ashamed.

Gently, I sat up.

But my head hurt madly, I had to groan and grab both sides of my head. I tell you, the after-effect of intense drinking feels new every other day, it is almost as though I am yet to get used to the aftermath of my insane nightlife.

After sweeping my long black hair out of my face with a small shake of my head, my hands still grabbing my head, I finally noticed the stranger I brought home.

Sitting in front of me was an all-smiling, cute Asian dude, probably Indonesian. I would have returned his smile because it was that contagious, but a battle was still going on in my head.

“Good morning, Rose,” he greeted.

Sh*t. I must have taken up another identity again.

“Hiii...” I wished to pretend that I was happy to see him, but my mouth failed to cooperate. My mouth was too lazy.

“I made you a hangover relief juice. It is my Grandma’s special.”

I narrowed my eyes at the green juice pushed to my face.

“Your Grandma has hangovers too?”

He chuckled, his motion vibrating the weak bed in a way that caused me to feel a sharp tug in my head. “Ouch. Ouch.” My face squeezed to relay the pain I was feeling.

“Oh my, are you fine?” Continuously hearing the tenderness in his voice would have been enough to cure my pain, but it sadly wasn’t enough.

Neither was his cute face.

“Could you maybe not laugh? My head is...” He lifted one of his thick brows and I instantly began to eye the greenish liquid in his cup.

Then, seconds later, without bothering to ask what the exact content of the cup was, I snatched the object from his hand and downed half of the juice without pausing.

When I finally took a break from drinking, I sensed the bitter aftertaste. I masked the way I felt with a short smile and the man gave me a grand smile in return.

His attentiveness yet to disappear, he said, “You will feel better very soon.”

After a quick nod, I began to scan my room. It was necessary to know what damage we might have caused the room during our possibly heated romp.

But everything was looking neat. Even my drawer was well arranged. On a normal day, it never is. My eyes went to the floor again, and I noted that there was no sign of discarded clothing.

With a confused look, I faced Mr. Cute who was still smiling at me like I was his favourite video game.

“Uh...” I paused because I quickly realised that I still didn’t know his name. Honestly, I am not used to knowing the names of men I wake up to find on my bed the next day.

A simple thank you and goodbye always did the work.

As if he knew what was on my mind, the man answered, “David. My name is David.”

I dropped the half-filled cup onto the little stool beside my bed and dashed him a quick smile before asking, “David... Why is my room looking like an unused hotel room?”

“Oh, last night when we got back from the club, you kept wondering what it would be like if you had a genie who would wish your room tidy. It was fun to watch you pretend to be Aladdin.”

My eyes widened a bit as I processed what he had just said. “So, we didn’t...have s*x?”

He got up and said, “Nope.”

“Huh?” My shock failed to hide itself. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. You did say you wanted to have s*x but you thought I was gay because I was talking to the bartender in a way you found suspicious. So, you told me to take you home and here we are.” He put his hands on his waist and gave another grand smile.

“Wow.” I was still shocked. My vicious nightly pattern has been broken thanks to David and I am really shocked about that. Because David doesn’t seem gay in any way.

Or...

My eyes slightly narrowed, and I asked, “Are you gay?”

“Nope. Honestly, I wanted to sleep with you badly, but I just couldn’t do it for some reason.” He shrugged, a pretend nonchalant look on his face.

“Wow.” I think it’s a good thing that nothing happened. It is nice to know that I am making progress with the way I live my life.

True to David’s words, my headache had reduced and that meant it was time to go to work. I tried to rack my brain to remember which day it was; Monday? Tuesday?

Whichever it is, I need to prepare for work. Hopefully, I don’t see a zombie when I look in the mirror.

“I need to check what I am cooking,” David announced as he adjusted his t-shirt and made our eyes meet. “You would love to have breakfast, yeah?”

I nodded in affirmation and got off the bed.

Isn’t he so extra cute? He is making breakfast for me even though we didn’t get any action.

“Wait....” I stopped David whose averagely-built figure was already at the door. He turned, raised a brow, and I asked, “What time is it?”

“Uh... last time I checked it was ten-thirty or so.”

“Oh, okay... What?!” I screamed. “Are you sure your time is correct?”

“Yes. It should be eleven o’clock by now.”

My eyes widened more and I could feel my head dance in an unpleasant way.

“David... I am freaking late for work!”

Why am I f*ck*ng screaming at him as if he is the reason I got stupidly drunk?

Argh!

Hurriedly, I got rid of the gown I had on to expose my bra-covered boobs, and naked pubic area to David who I could have sworn let out a groan at some point.

But before he quickly excused himself, he urged me to try to hurry.

“Please, pack my breakfast! Thank you!”

I grabbed my folded towel from the end of the bed and rushed into the bathroom for a quick shower.

I could have opted to excessively spray my body with perfumes of different brands, but the smell I was getting from my body was discomforting, so sacrificing five minutes to bathe didn’t seem like a task.

In no time, I was putting on a pair of blue and silver check trousers and a blue T-shirt supported by my very comfortable black slip-on shoe. I grabbed my phone and office bag and rushed out of the room.

“David, is my breakfast ready?” I took a quick look around my little living room while I fiddled with the earring I was putting on.

David walked out of the kitchen on cue and stretched a brown bag in his hand toward me.

After a quick appreciation was thrown in his direction, I grabbed my car keys from my bag and rushed out of the apartment. It was when I got into the car that I remembered that I forgot to tell David to make sure he leaves before I get back.

It was already strange enough that a man I didn’t know just made me breakfast.

But, right now, David, is the least of my issues.

Grateful that my apartment was on the ground floor, I roughly backed my car out of the underground garage and soon, I joined the busy roads of Manhattan.

GRACE

With speed and roughness, I swerved toward the shortcut that led to my workplace. With the way I drove, it was surprising that no police car was on my tail.

But it is a good thing that did not happen. It would have been tedious to have another reason to be held down.

Soon, I arrived at my destination.

With reckless haste, I grabbed my bag and ran into the two-floor building.

I could feel eyes on me as I raced to my station while I hoped within me that my friend was able to cover for me and that my boss wasn’t around.

Many seconds later, I made it to my office but I was breathing so hard that I had to pause for a minute.

With my right hand reaching for the edge of my desk, I leaned against the wall and slid down until I reached the floor.

“Grace is that you?” I heard the voice of my partner, Samantha, calling from her seat.

Unable to speak as I was still trying to achieve normal breathing, I managed