Chapter 7

Aurora

I'd just finished dressing and had finally poured that glass of water—sans ice—when there was a light knock on my door. Relief surged through me. Brendon had returned. I knew I shouldn't be longing for the guy who'd only just left my room in a hurry after he found out I was not the prostitute he'd paid for, but he was so freaking sweet. So sweet I was already addicted. I wanted to know more about him, about what happened tonight. Even if I ended up changing my mind about him in the end, I at least wanted the chance.

My hopes died when I opened the door and Calypso was standing there, a somber expression making her look much older than she normally did.

"Hey, you," she said quietly. "Erika told me what happened. Can I come in?"

I nodded and stepped aside to allow her to enter. I was embarrassed by the state of disarray the bed was in, but I supposed that was pretty much par for the course in her line of work so she probably didn't care.

She walked over to the love seat in the corner and sat down, patting the spot next to her. I was worried about her sudden change in demeanor from a sort of upbeat, cool aunt to a straight-backed mother with worry in her eyes.

I took the seat next to her. "So what exactly is it that happened? I'm still a little fuzzy on the details."

She winced. "I told Shereen to put aside a key for you when you arrived earlier, the one that I said you should pick up tomorrow. After the shift change, the hotel's new receptionists got confused about the key and thought it was meant as the next in the lineup. That gentleman you, err, met, received that key."

I opened my mouth and silently mouthed, Oh.

That made sense why he suddenly threw himself at me the second he found out what room I was from.

Calypso reached out to stroke my hair. "Are you okay? I am so sorry, honey. I never meant for that to happen."

Did she know that I'd slept with him too or did she just think we'd had some sort of, Whoops, wrong room, mix up? Either way, she was looking at me like I'd been through the ringer, and I didn't know how to tell her that I was fine.

Better than fine, really.

A guy thinking I was a high class hooker was hardly the worst thing that had ever happened to me. In fact, it was probably the most exciting. And that orgasm! Wow-ee that was something extra.

"I can't tell what you're thinking," Calypso said. "You're being very quiet."

I mentally shook myself back to the present. "Sorry," I said. "I'm okay, really. It was a bit, uh, confusing, but I'm not upset."

"You're not?" Her forehead wrinkled. "You don't have to pretend to be okay just because you think I'll kick you out or something. I won't. I know things are a little different where you're from, and I can imagine this would be a scary experience."

"No," I said wistfully, thinking back. A smile wormed its way onto my lips. "He would've stopped if I wanted him too. I got a little lost in the moment I guess."

The worry eased from Calypso's face, and was replaced by her usual half-smirk and twinkling eyes.

"I'm glad to hear it," she said. "I was so worried when I first found out. Apparently he ran out of here like the place was on fire, so I thought the worst."

"No, it's all good," I said.

I just wish it had been real.

I started work the next morning. It was just like I imagined any housekeeping job would be like in a hotel, except the rooms had exceptionally tousled beds and occasionally I had to pick up a sex toy and pop it into a bag to be cleaned and sanitized downstairs. Not a big deal.

I got to listen to music while I worked too, so the time flew by. After I'd had a quick shower and changed into my one set of clean clothes, I left the hotel in pursuit of a job. I aimed to start apartment hunting too, but it was going to be difficult to find one without a source of income. I didn't even have more than two outfits and one pair of pajamas. Calypso told me I could use their laundry for free whenever I wanted, and that she'd lend me some clothes anytime.

I realized unless I got a job today, I was probably going to have to take her up on her offer unless I wanted to play like the Mystery Inc. gang and wear the same clothes every day.

My phone vibrated intermittently all afternoon, but I ignored it. Nolan and my mother could wait. I was in the pulsing heart of New York, which felt a bit like the pulsing heart of America from where I was standing. I'd never seen anything so grand as the massive skyscrapers that seemed to touch the clouds, and the way life milled beneath them like we were ants on the floor of an ancient forest.

I was dumbstruck by the beauty of it all. Captivated. I wanted to dive in to this life, even if it meant blubbering until I learned how to swim. I knew it from the moment I met Brendon. This was where I was meant to be.

I applied at a few places, including a giant children's store on Fifth Avenue and a beauty boutique in the west village. I knew I probably wouldn't have any luck getting either of those jobs, so I made sure to spread my resume as far and wide as I could. I just needed a job, any job. It didn't matter if it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life or not.

I arrived back at the Fox in the early evening, exhausted. Calypso told me to charge anything I ate at the bar downstairs to my room and she'd take care of it, but I couldn't even gather enough strength to go down there for a bite.

I decided to lay on my bed, which still smelled faintly of Brendon's musky, intoxicating cologne. I smiled, then frowned when I remembered that I'd never see the man who wore such delicious cologne ever again. I badly wanted to talk to somebody about it, but I didn't feel all that comfortable with Calypso yet and there was definitely nobody from home I could chat to.

Amy! I grabbed my phone from my pocket and lay back against the pillows, waiting for her to pick up.

"Tatiana Ivanov speaking," came a sultry voice.

I laughed. "Hi Tatiana, I'm looking for Amy."

"Aurora! Hey girl! I heard from Calypso that you're all settled in at the Fox. How are things?"

"Well—"

"Oh, hang on one second." There was a shuffling sound from the other end of the line, and a couple seconds later Amy returned to the phone. "Sorry. I was out by the pool and the reception isn't that great. The price you pay in paradise, am I right? Now go on, you were telling me all about your fabulous New York adventure."

"It's been an adventure, that's for sure." I chuckled. "Did Calypso tell you anything else about my first night here?"

"No, not a peep. That woman is forged from iron, I tell you. She's the place secrets go to die. So what tawdry tales do you have for me?"

I laughed. "Tawdry tale, singular."

"Ooh la la! Put the small-town girl in the big city and it's like dropping a bath bomb into the tub. I bet you're just an explosion of color and drama right now! I am listening at the edge of my hammock."

I paused. "You're in a hammock?"

I didn't mean to sound so suddenly jealous but I would kill to be on a hammock in the sun right now. Well, maybe not. I wouldn't start selling myself to get there, so I probably wouldn't kill either.

"You bet your sweet betty I'm in a hammock," she replied. "Spent half the night in here. Have you ever had sex in a hammock, babe? It's not as fun as you'd think..."

I laughed and decided to change the topic back to my own sexcapades.

"You're not gonna believe this," I said. "But last night there was this big SNAFU in reception and a client got sent to my room."

"No!" she gasped.

"Yes."

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine," I assured her, twirling a piece of hair idly around my finger. "I ran into him outside the room and we talked for a while. I guess he must've assumed I was, you know, so he made the first move and... well... he was really sexy. And funny, too. So I went along with it, had the best sex of my life, and then found out he thought I was a prostitute just in time to watch him race out of the room never to be seen again."

Amy was silent for a moment, clearly absorbing the news. It was one of the craziest things I'd ever done, and certainly the craziest thing I’d done since before Amy left for college. Back in our day, we were Bridgefield's two resident bad girls. We had a penchant for underage drinking and pulling pranks, and it had landed us in trouble on more than one occasion.

So far it seemed like moving to New York on a whim had started a domino effect. It was a little early to say if it was going to continue from here, but I was looking forward to finding out.

"That sounds kind of exciting, truth be told," Amy said finally. "Did you enjoy it?"

I grinned. "Girl, you have no idea. My toes curled so hard I nearly broke them off."

"Charming imagery," she said dryly. "But what a great way to kick off your New York experience!"

"Yeah, only problem is that now I can't stop thinking about him." I pulled the blanket up to my nose and held it there, reveling in his scent. "It's like I got a hit of some fantastic new drug and then the dealer up and disappeared."

"If it's meant to be, it will be. That's the only advice I can give, I'm afraid."

That reminded me.

"I wanted to thank you for your advice, too," I said. "It was a little hard to adjust to for the first few hours, but I'm certain now that New York is where I want to be. I'll probably miss home from time to time, but I think I've found something here, or at least I'm on the cusp of finding something."

I could hear here smiling as she spoke, and her tone was softer. "You're welcome, babe. I'm glad it worked out. And I'm so excited to get home and see you! We're going to have such wonderful stories to share."

"Totally."

The line beeped and I looked at the phone, brow furrowed. There was someone calling me on the other line.

"I gotta go," I said hastily. "I think Nolan might be trying to call me or something. I'm in a pretty good mood to tell him to fuck off."

“That a girl. Talk to you later."

I switched the lines and answered, and I was glad I chose to answer with a cordial "hello" instead of an irritated "what do you want".

"Hello, I'm looking to speak to Aurora Frayser?" a female voice said.

"That's me."

"Hi, Aurora. This is Jessie, the floor manager over at Lock Knock's Children's Boutique on Fifth Avenue. I received your application and it looks like you'd make a great fit for the team. Can I get you in for an interview sometime this week?"

We arranged a time for the following morning, and ended the call. I collapsed back onto the bed, my smile brimming with hope and happiness.