Lost in a Reverie 18+ Only (Book 1 of Lastor Series) ['23/'24 EDIT]

Chapter 13: Frederick

I woke up in a cold empty bed, alone.

I wasn't sure where she slept. I didn't know if she even slept at all. When we had retreated to her room earlier, she merely told me to sleep. I'd tried to stay awake, silently watching her as she sat by the window, taking large swigs from a bottle of scotch while smoking like a chimney.

I didn't know if she was aware that I was watching her, I couldn't find it in me to care if she did. I couldn't help it. I couldn't look away. She was like the moon. Exactly like the moon.

After a while, I didn't know when, I fell asleep with thoughts of her wandering in my mind but I could have sworn I heard her crying. I was in too deep in my sleep to know if it was a dream or not. Either way, her sobs haunted me.

I shifted, the soft fabric of the bed sheets feeling like clouds underneath me. I looked around, seeing the entirety of my surroundings for the first time. Everything in the room was white and the room itself was large, probably larger than my entire apartment. But still, it felt... empty.

There was a fireplace across the room with a set of white Victorian couches surrounding it and a flat screen TV was perched above it while a sheer canopy sheltered the King sized bed. I turned to my side and a long, thick white velvet curtain hung over the floor to ceiling windows, shrouding the room from natural light apart from the balcony. The ceiling was painted with lifelike images of cherubs sitting atop clouds and as if that wasn't enough, there was a crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling. It was almost like a small chapel instead of a bedroom.

I had always known that the esteemed Lastors were rich. It was hard to miss what with Jude driving a different car nearly every time I saw him. Back in college, he had offered to share an apartment together with another friend of ours and I was all too willing to split rent. I didn't realize the guy got us a penthouse until the day we moved in, and it wasn't much later that I found out he owned the damned building. I didn't necessarily come from the slums but I had a good bet that my parents' house could fit into this extravagant mansion six times. And a half.

There was a knock on the door and I flinched.

What if it was her Mother? Or Father? God forbid it was her brother.

"Miss Lastor? I've brought your meal."

I didn't know what to do so I just stared at the door in complete horror but when the girl knocked again, I had no other choice but to open it.

She didn't bat an eye and offered a cordial smile. She was looking at me and I looked back at her. For a moment, we just stared at each other.

What the hell do I do?

As if hearing my thoughts, she cleared her throat, her smile still intact as she purposely glanced inside the room.

"Oh. Yeah, come in," I stammered out when I caught myself.

Bless the girl for not making me feel like more of an idiot than I already was when she simply shuffled inside the room, rolling in the trolley filled with food.

"Where would you prefer them, Sir?"

I scratched my head, looking around. "Um... the table, I guess."

She wordlessly did the task, setting each dish on the center table and placing my clothes from last night by the edge of the bed, all neatly folded and quite possibly washed.

"Do you still need anything else, Sir?" she asked when she'd finished.

"Uh... no. Thank you." She nodded and headed for the door. "Wait." I caught her arm and she practically jumped, gasping. I immediately drew my hand back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I... I was just going to ask. Do you... know where Angel is?"