Authors: Andrew Hess
“Thank you.” Those were the only words she could mutter after suffering multiple indignities.
Before she slipped behind the wall, the man took the fifty from his pocket and handed it to her.
The door to the hotel room clicked shut, alerting Evan someone had been in the room. He pulled away from Audrey and jumped off the bed.
“Where are you going?”
“I thought I heard the door close.”
“You probably heard the room next door.”
Evan grabbed the robe from the bathroom and tied it around himself before exiting the bedroom. “Hello,” he asked as if he expected someone to answer. Seeing no one was there, he stuck his head into the hall and searched for anyone walking around. Hearing the sound of the elevator around the corner, Evan knew it was too late to catch it.
“Everything okay,” Audrey shouted.
Evan ducked back inside the room. “I don’t see anyone.”
Audrey sauntered out of the bedroom. The glowing light from the lamps in the bedroom hid behind her naked body. “Why don’t you forget about the doors, and come back to bed.” Evan took a step forward, but saw Audrey walking towards him. “I have a better idea. We haven’t christened that couch or the table yet.”
Evan pulled her closer and dropped the robe. He had maintained his hard-on, pressing it against Audrey’s stomach. “Where should we begin?”
Audrey sat down, bringing her right leg up over the arm of the couch. Her left arm rested behind her head, while she used the other to call Evan to her.
He dropped down and inserted himself into her. He grabbed her left ankle, holding it out to the side as he thrusted deeper. Each high pitched sigh made him want more from her, and she was willing to give Evan as much as he wanted.
The feeling of someone being in the room still bothered Evan. A look over the shoulder every few minutes confirmed where his mind was.
“What’s wrong,” Audrey asked as Evan slowed his pace.
“Nothing. I just can’t shake the feeling that someone was here watching us.” He stopped and pulled out ripping the condom off.
“There’s no one here.”
“I mean before. I swear I heard that door close.”
“You’re delusional. I think you’ve been working too much on set and need to take a break.”
“I know what I heard.”
“I really don’t want to argue with you over this. If you’re going to be like this all night, then I’m going to bed.”
He had no desire to start a fight with Audrey, nor did he feel comfortable staying in a room that may or may not have been broken into. Seeing her enter the bedroom and throw the covers over her body, Evan threw on some clothes and went down to the bar on the first floor.
It was a little more crowded than he was used to, but then again Friday nights were always busier bar nights. Maybe it was the group of guys huddled together that made it looked more packed than it usually did. It didn’t matter to Evan. After a couple of beers or a shot or two, he planned on going back to his room and sleeping off the odd night he was having.
Evan stood next to the group of guys as he attempted to flag down the bartender. They were joking about their female co-workers that came into town with them and which ones they wanted to “bang.” It was disgusting to hear them talk about women as if they were a piece of meat, and taking bets on who was going to get lucky.
“Yo, what about the chick in the elevator,” one of the men said. “I really wanted to see what she was hiding under that trench coat.”
“Yeah man, I wanted those sexy long legs wrapped around my neck while going down on her,” another replied.
“I mean she was gorgeous,” the third guy said. “I mean that chick could’ve been a supermodel with that banging body. Sucks for the shmuck on the fifth floor that sent her away.”
“Maybe we should find her. Buy her a couple of drinks and make her feel better,” the first man replied.
Evan wondered who they were talking about, but hearing the woman was on the fifth floor had him wondering if it was the same person who broke into his room.
“Sorry to interrupt guys,” Evan chimed in. “This girl sounded hot. What did she look like?”
The men leered at Evan, wondering if he were going to get in their way of getting laid. “Tall with long brown hair,” the second man said.
Fearing the worst, Evan rambled off questions. “What color were her eyes? How tall was she? What was she wearing?”
“Fuck if we know,” the first man spat. “All I know is she’s hot. She had legs for days, and I doubt she was wearing anything under that coat.”
The growing fear that the woman the men were talking about could have been Sara was increasing with every word they spoke. It made sense. The woman was on the fifth floor, his floor. She was a tall model type looking woman with long brown hair. She looked like she was trying to surprise her guy. It was possible she was there.
Needing confirmation, Evan grabbed his cell and called Sara. The phone rang several times before going to voicemail. “Fucking time zone difference,” that’s what he hoped it was. He tried her cell again only to get the same result. “She’s going to wake up in the morning and either call or text me.” He signaled the bartender for more drinks.
Hours later, Evan stumbled away from the bar and made his way to the front desk. If the group of men were right and the woman left in a hurry, the desk clerk may have seen her or known where she was going.
“Hey,” he mumbled. “Did you see a hot chick run outta here before.” His breath and body reeked of beer and shots of vodka.
“I don’t recall seeing anyone.”
Evan grabbed his phone and thumbed through the gallery until he found a clear picture of Sara. “Do you know if this woman stopped by looking for a Mr. Taylor?”
The man at the desk turned his head, refusing to look at the picture. “Nope, can’t say that I have.”
“You didn’t even look. Look at the picture,” he shouted.
“Sir, I must ask you to calm down or I will have to call security and have you removed from the building.”
Some reasoning still remained, as Evan lowered his voice. “I only want to know if she was here tonight.”
The clerk looked at Evan with distain. “Nope, never seen her before in my life. She’s pretty though. I’d kick myself in the ass if I was the one to screw up that relationship.” It was a dig to Evan, which made him think Sara was there. He pulled up his text messages, found Sara’s name, and sent her one asking him to call him when she got the message.
The next morning, Evan woke on the couch in the living room of his suite. The top half dangled just above the floor, while his lower half was sprawled out over the top and arm of the couch.
“Evan,” Audrey said soothingly. “Evan, wake up.” He could barely hear her utter his name, and didn’t want to move from the couch. She called his name again, this time shaking his body. No longer able to maintain his position on the couch, Evan fell to the floor at Audrey’s feet. “What the hell happened to you last night?”
“I went down to the bar.”
“I know you reek of booze. Come on; let’s get you in the shower and sober.”
He felt Audrey grab his hand and help him to his feet. Stumbling to the bathroom, Evan pieced together the final moments of the night before.
“I think I know who was in our room last night.”
“You’re still going on about this? I thought we were done talking about it last night.”
“We were until I talked to some guys down at the bar.” He proceeded to tell Audrey everything the group of men said about the girl in the elevator, and then about the desk clerk’s reaction when he showed him Sara’s picture.
“That woman could’ve been anyone. The fact that she was on my floor doesn’t mean anything.”
“And the clerk?”
“He was probably grimacing after smelling your breath. Go brush your teeth, maybe do it twice.”
There was a good chance he was overreacting, but Evan was sure the woman in the trench coat was his wife.
********************************************************
Sara
The tear stains on the pillow cases remained as Sara lay with her eyes sealed shut. The images of her husband having sex with his publicist haunted her throughout the night. Her phone rang repeatedly, but she was in no mood to speak to anyone. Her life, her world was completely shattered. Why would she want to get up? She had nothing to go home to, no life and nothing to look forward to.
The phone rang again, waking Sara. Reluctant to answer, she picked up her cell and saw Julie’s name lit up on the screen.
“Hello,” she answered with a groggy tone.
“You sound like shit. You okay?”
“I’m not feeling well.”
“I guess last night didn’t go so well?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” The sadness in her voice overpowered the grogginess.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Oh hell no. You don’t get to use that I’m fine crap with me. Tell me what’s wrong or I’m jumping on the first plane to California and dragging it out of you.”
“He cheated.”
“Who?”
“Evan. He’s been cheating on me.”
“Sara, that’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking. I went to his hotel and got the guy at the front desk to give me a key. When I go up there, he was fucking his publicist.”
“He’s messing around with that bitch? I hope you ripped them both a new one.”
“I-I couldn’t. I don’t know why. I just couldn’t say or do anything. I just watched and left before either of them saw me.”
“That little snake. I can’t believe he’d do this to you.” Julie was silent for a minute, which made Sara nervous.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking up flights. I’m coming down there to kick both their asses. I’ll beat the hell out of his little whore first and they we can turns kicking him in the balls.”
“You’re not coming down here, and you’re not kicking either of their asses. And I definitely don’t want to go near his balls.”
“You deserve revenge. He needs to pay for what he did.”
“I just wanna go home.”
“I can pick you up from the airport. We’ll go back to the apartment and burn all his shit.”
“No, I just want to go home, my home. I just want to go back to how things were a year ago and forget I ever met him.”
“How about you call me when you get home and I’ll help you move all your stuff into my place. You can stay here until you’re ready to get out on your own again.”
“Yeah, maybe. I’ll let you know when I’m flying back.” Sara hung up the phone and found a text message from Evan waiting for her.
E
: Hey, is everything okay? Where are you?
Sara tried to fight the urge to reply. If she did, she wouldn’t know what would come spewing out. If she didn’t send anything, he would know something was wrong and would make more of an attempt to talk to her.
S
: I’m home. Everything’s fine.
E:
Okay. You had me worried. I tried calling a few times and you didn’t pick up.
S:
I was out. Must not have heard the phone.
E:
Go anywhere fun?
S:
Nope, not really. Talk to you later.
She needed the messages to stop. She needed to stop trying to be nice to him. Fuck him; he didn’t even deserve her fakeness. He was the one running around the country screwing another woman. He was supposed to be different from all the other men she dated. Placing the pillow over her face, catching the tears, she didn’t know who she was madder at, Evan or herself for falling in love. Pulling the covers over her head, Sara’s only desire was to end her misery.