Chapter 6
Sam
I started to get worried about my charge after an hour. The water had stopped running long ago, but the woman never reemerged. Dinner was here and it was one of those times when I ordered one of everything on the menu. I didn’t know what it was that she liked to eat and it just seemed like the safe way to go about it. It was all getting cold though, so I finally moved to the bathroom and knocked gently on the door.
There was no answer and I knocked a little louder, sure that she had heard me. I called out her name a couple of times. Finally I tried to the knob and it didn’t turn. I knocked louder and got even more anxious for a minute. I am not sure why, but I was really bothered by the idea that something had happened to her.
Finally I heard her call out. Her voice sounded sleepy and I felt relief flush over me. Why did I care so much? I don’t know why, but I knew that I had this strong sense of protection that I felt for her. I didn’t want anything to happen to her, no matter how far out of the way I had to go to make sure that happened.
“Sorry Sam. I can’t believe I went to sleep in there. I was just so tired and the water was so warm.”
She was casually talking to me as she moved to the bed where I had put her bags. She was rummaging through them, one hand holding up the towel while she dripped water on the plush carpet under her bare feet. She was a sight, a natural beauty and I had to kick myself for not seeing it before. Under all of that stress and dirt, Meri was absolutely breathtaking and my eyes took in the new woman in front of me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yea, I um, you look different.”
The woman giggled and I felt my face getting hot. Was it that clear that she had me all bound up and tongue-tied? I certainly didn’t like the idea of that.
“Well I feel like a human being again. I can only imagine what I looked like in jail. They don’t have any mirrors to worry about that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, I guess not.”
Her hair was already lighter as it dried. It was a strawberry blonde color now, when at first I had thought it as more brown. Her skin was light and freckled, her eyes lit up with the smile that came easy to her face. It was like she was a whole other person and I can’t say that this version was any easier to not stare at.
I stumbled over my words as her green eyes met mine. She wouldn’t let them go and the more I tried to get myself together, the worse off I was. She was beautiful, magical and I was afraid that I had lost it. It was like I had hit my head and now I was not even myself anymore.
“So are you hungry?”
“Yeah, let me just get some clothes on.”
She was still in her towel, a fact that I knew rather well since I was the one that couldn’t take my eyes off of her. The longer I stood there looking at her, the clearer it all was to me. I was here for a reason.
“Of course.”
I moved away and felt like a bumbling idiot. I was really off of my game at the moment and I tried to recover by taking the lids off of the plates I had covered the rest of the bed with. I didn’t know how to do anything half measured, so I wanted her to see that she had everything her heart could desire. It wasn’t part of the favor for Ashlyn, this was for Meri. The poor woman had a rough couple of weeks and I wanted to help her feel a little bit better. There was no telling how long we were going to be stuck here together, so the best way to assure that it wasn’t a total disaster was to make nice. Meri was the kind of woman that made it rather easy.
She came back out in a thin dress that I saw a lot of the locals in. The bright pinks and purples matched her hair somehow and made her look even more vibrant.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you Sam. Is that your professional opinion?”
I shrugged. “I have been off the clock for a while, so that was just a man’s opinion. Come eat before it gets cold.” And I put my on foot in my mouth again.
“Wow, I am not that hungry, but everything does look good.”
“I ordered everything they had. I didn’t know what it was that you liked.”
“You are very thoughtful Sam, thank you. I hope I can pay you back in some way.”
“No need. Really. I never get to do anything worthwhile anymore. I make a lot of money and I help rich people get richer, but this, helping you makes me feel like I did when I first started law school.”
“Well you should let me do your taxes, for free if you like.”
I chuckled and smile at the young woman. She was sitting in the middle of the bed with a fork, trying a little bit off of each plate. She had no idea that I had a full staff of accountants to do my books. She had no idea how big I was back home and I liked the feeling of that. I wasn’t some big shot lawyer in her eyes. I was just a man that had saved her. I really liked being that man for her ad the simplicity of it all.
“I will think about it. You have a big job waiting for you when you get back.”
“I doubt it will still be there. It doesn’t look good to be away like this and not show up. I couldn’t even call. I don’t think I will ever show my face there again. I just won’t be able to.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I am still going to New York. I have always wanted to live there. I will just have to figure something else when I get there. I am sure that there will be plenty of work.”
She was optimistic and in my line of life, it was too rare. No one looked at the bright side and Meri had every reason not to, but here she was talking about the silver lining of her arrest in Thailand.
“What do you want to do tomorrow? Are we going to look for Carol?”
As soon as I said the words, I regretted them. Her face crumpled and she was no longer looking so positive. It was as if I had reminded her of something that her mind had finally pushed away enough that she wasn’t constantly thinking of it. I took that away and I felt that the biggest doof for doing so. I knew that it was because of me that she was now sad. I wanted to change that for her. I wanted to make her smile again, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that.
“Sorry Meri. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
The words were out, but they felt so incomplete. I had made her cry. Not thinking again, something that was becoming a trend with being around her, I leaned in and lifted up her chin with my fingers. I made her look at me and I told her that everything was going to be okay. I didn’t know if that was true, but I sure hoped that it was, for her sake. For my sake as well. I never wanted to see this woman cry again.
“What if it isn’t?”
“It will be.” I moved the last few inches to bring me to her lips and I kissed her on the mouth. Her lips were surprised and unyielding at first, but it didn’t take longer before I heard the soft moan of submission. I wanted to make her feel better, balm the pain that I could so clearly see in her eyes. I wanted to take it away and this was the only way I knew how to do it. I would have done anything to make her smile once again.
Her sweetness spoke to me in strange ways and before long I forgot what it was I had set out to do. She was no longer sad, but kissing me back and her fingers were playing with the hairs on my arms. She was putty in my hands, malleable as all get out and I pulled her closer to me. There were more things that I could do to make her feel better and I wanted to show her all of them. I wanted to make her forget about the horrible encounter she had here, her missing friend, what came next. I wanted her to only be in the moment with me, knowing that was the best way to help her right now.
I wanted more though. All thoughts of help were out the window when she moaned against me and I pulled her onto my lap. The bed shifted for us, letting me have all of her in the way that I wanted and needed. There was nothing that I could do to stop myself. It was only her tiny hands on my chest that made me realize that I had to stop.
Meri was breathing hard and her eyes were shocked and full of questions. I didn’t have any answers for her. There was no real sense to how I was feeling and I leaned in for another kiss that she allowed. Before I was attracted to her, now with a little taste and hearing her sounds, I had fallen for her. It wasn’t right, I knew that, but it didn’t matter. I had to have her, make it all better and the one thing that I knew would help, seemed to be the one thing she refused.
Again I felt her hands on my chest, pushing me away ever so slightly. I growled at her and she made a sound before she got off of my lap.
“Sorry Meri. I don’t know what came over me.”
She didn’t respond, but Meri did get up to put some distance between us. It wasn’t at all what I had pictured in my head and now I felt even worse. For a man that was so confident and always seemed to know what a woman wanted, I was unsure how to move further with her. I was confused about it all and what I did know was that I was getting blown off, something I don’t ever remember happening before.
“It’s okay Sam. You have done a lot for me and I appreciate it, but I am not looking to do that.”
It was the way she said it, not even able to say the words that had me wondering how far off I was. Was her innocence that deep? I was even more intrigued, which helped the need inside of me just a little bit more. The idea that Meri was untouched flitted into my brain and took root.
“I was trying to help you forget. It usually helps.”
“I am sure it does, but no thank you.”
She was so polite that it was impossible to be mad. Meri mentioned having to go to bed and I didn’t blame her. So I helped her move the food trays off of the bed and went downstairs after she laid down. I needed a few minutes to myself to think it all through.
I went downstairs and I was still turned on by Meri. The same woman I had seen before was there, smiling in a way that told me she would be what I wanted. All I had to do was ask. I was tempted, I really was, but at the end of the day, as I made my way back up to the room alone. I wasn’t ready to settle. I never was a man that settled in anything that I did and the woman I was with was not something I was really willing to do.
When I got back, Meri was sleeping on the bed, tucked underneath the sheets. Her shoulders were bare and I had to wonder if she was wearing anything underneath it. I liked to think that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it, but that did nothing for my mental state and I decided that thinking about it in general was going to drive me absolutely mad.
I had to take a cold shower before I was able to go lay down on the couch. I had thought of so many things that would be a challenge, but I hadn’t for a moment considered what it was going to do to me to be around her. I wasn’t able to touch her and for that alone, I felt like I was being punished in some way.
What was the saying? No good deed goes unpunished. I was certainly feeling that way today and Meri was my punishment. She was so close, yet there was nothing that I could do about it. She was untouchable, while my fingers ached to do just that.