I left Axel's apartment in last night's clothes. Great. I was doing the walk of shame, without the actual benefit of the shame.

Your lack of trying was shameful, Miss Priss howled at me.

I hauled a taxi out of there, calling Bex to wait outside with some money. I lost my money to cheap booze last night and then continued to lose my dignity to cheap thrills.

Bex stood outside in her large bunny slippers and Snoopy pyjamas, again no decency. "You dirty girl, you left with that blonde hottie last night," Bex yelled the moment I opened the door.

The driver threw me another glance, finally understanding why I was dressed like a 'street official' this early in the morning.

This early bird ho ain't catching your worm buddy, Miss Priss said in disgust.

I snatched the money from Bex and shoved it into his creepy Tom face. Desperate for him to detach his eyes from me, and drive away.

There ain't any sugar for you in this shaker of mine. Miss Priss silently insulted him, again.

"Okay spill," Bex danced around on the spot, in a rather odd way.

I eyed her weirdly. "What are you doing?" I asked her truly concerned by her bizarre behaviour.

"Damnit! I need to pee so bad," she yelled desperately. She turned and made a beeline back to the apartment.

"Wacko," I said, slowly following after her.

Our neighbor, an exceptionally conservative old lady, was outside tending to her roses. She took one look at my outfit before her face morphed into disapproval, unjustly judging me with her beady eyes.

"Deja vu much, hey grandma?" I said, nodding at her as I passed. Let her make of that what she wants. Who is she to judge me so quickly when she is such an expert at recognizing the grand finale of a walk of shame, she must have learned somewhere.

Scandalous, Miss Priss said sticking out her tongue at the old bat. I am not a rude person but this woman just really got on my nerves, constantly.

The old woman gave a loud huff before she narrowed her eyes and stalked back into her apartment, slamming the door close. Probably in a hurry to write the incident down before she forgot, that way she can revisit her petty hate for us daily.

The moment I plopped down on my bed Bex came skipping in making me groan. "Okay, tell me," she said beaming at me.

"No, Bex. You can't make me," I mumble from behind the pillow I stuffed in my face.

"Stop hiding your debauchery, I need details," she said grabbing the pillow, exposing my flushed face.

"I didn't go home with the blond guy," I said sitting up with a sigh.

"Shame, he was hot... Wait, where were you then?" she asked tilting her head with suspicion.

"I spent the night at your brother's place," I said looking at my feet dangling from the bed.

Bex sat frozen as she stared at me. "Axel, allowed you to stay at his place?" she asked shocked.

"Yeah, Bex, what's with the face?" I asked concerned by her theatrics.

"Oh," she blinked a few times, "It's just weird, I have never known him to let a girl stay over at his place. I mean, I know he has a girlfriend now, but I didn't even know who she was before you told me. Axel is very closed off and private, ya know?" she mumbled on while my gut twisted at the mention of his girlfriend.

"Uh, yeah his girlfriend actually showed up this morning. Her ambush didn't end so well, I don't even know if they are still together," I shrugged then swallowed. I am so dead on Monday.

"Oooh, ouch. Monday is going to suck on another level for you," she said biting down on her fist.

"The sad thing is that wasn't even the highlight of it all, that hot blond guy you were talking about—"

"Yes," she clapped her hands excitedly interrupting me, "You did bang him, but he didn't perform?" she leapt to conclusions.

"What? No, you perverted loon. That blonde guy was Gabriel Aims, as in—"

"Heartbreaking asshole from your past, destroyer of women and an egotistical jackass!" Bex yelled out finishing my sentence with sparks of fiery hate dancing in her eyes.

We need to do a background check on this one. Miss Priss mentally noted, staring at Bex.

"Yes, that one," I said deflated, she stole my thunder there.

"I can understand why you were so torn up about it, he is really hot. I mean how do you upgrade from that?" she said tapping her chin with her finger.

I threw her a savage look. "Unbelievable," I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in surrender.

Jimmy Choo walked in at that moment like he was summoned. I greedily snatched him up and placed him on my lap. He meowed in protest but I ignored him. I needed to stroke something fluffy to calm my nerves. I sat there with a scowl, petting my kitty like some cliché villain.

"How Doctor Evil of you," Bex giggled at my unhappy face and equally annoyed cat. His fur stuck up in awkward angles since I was rubbing him the same way Bex was rubbing me—the wrong way.

"Was my baby brother at least nice to you? You guys had sex, right?" she asked bored, texting on her phone, and snapping a selfie every now and then.

I let out a sigh, releasing Jimmy Choo to go re-groom. "No. We. Did. Not. Have. Sex," I turned to look at her, emphasizing every word, "I highly doubt your brother would even touch me, he seems very uncomfortable with the mere idea of physical contact," I said remembering this morning's incident.

"I wish he would just move past his childhood, he is such a great guy if he would just ease up," she sighed, speaking of him fondly. We sat in silence for less than two seconds when a sly smile crept onto her face.

"What?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh, nothing to concern your pretty little head with," she said with a coyness that only made me fear the direction those evil little wheels in her head were turning. Sometimes, I swear she is hamster wheel propelled. She sashayed out of my room with some new found determination. She is scheming, and her schemes are usually radioactive with severe mutated consequences.

My phone pinged, signalling a new text message. Still staring after Bex I blindly reached for my phone.

'Good Morning Beautiful

It blew me away seeing you again. I do hope we can talk?

7 pm @ The Grand Hotel lobby.

Yours anew

- Aims'

I had to read it about five times before it sunk in. Did he call me beautiful? A giddy sensation trickled down my spine before it settled into an uneasy flutter in the pit of my stomach.

Mine anew, do I want that?