When she woke up the following morning, the bed was empty. She felt for Sean next to her, but there was no one. Perhaps he had gone to the bathroom. She lay in bed for a while, savoring the fine cotton sheets and the oversize pillows. Jennifer had never been in such a big bed before either. She allowed her thoughts to go over the previous evening, the night they had spent together. It had been mind-blowing, truly amazing.
Jennifer never thought it was possible to feel such ecstasy and desire. Sean had awakened in her emotions she had not experienced before. She’d had sex before, of course, not many times, but she knew what it was about. Or at least, she thought she had. This was other-worldly though. They had spent hours playing with each other’s bodies, exploring every inch. For the first time, Jennifer was willing to believe that there really might be something between them; something real and meaningful.
She had no idea what this meant for the future. The feelings she had for Sean mattered, of this she was sure. He was meant to be in her life; she was certain of it. She didn't know what he thought about all of this, and as she waited for him to come back to bed, she wondered how the night had been for him. She remembered some of the things he had said to her in the night, blushing as she recalled how he had admired her body, the suppleness of her legs, kept slim by miles of walking to and from work each day.
After a while, Jennifer got up and walked through the hotel room, looking for Sean. It dawned on her that he was not in the suite at all. This made no sense to her. Where would he have gone? There was no note, not message for her. But his clothes were gone. It was as if he had never been there.
Slowly, Jennifer came to the realization that he had left her there, alone.
Perhaps, this was what he had been after all along. He wanted to get her into bed, have his way with her and nothing more. It was all part of a game, one he had played extremely well and in which she was a total amateur.
Tears streamed down her face when she realized how he had used her, how he had played her and she had fallen into his arms like a bimbo. How stupid she had been! She had never been much good at relationships or with men; had deliberately kept away from them, in fact, precisely for this reason. How many friends did she have who had big dreams for their future, only to have them derailed by pregnancy and a man?
Even her own sister, Joanne, had her life ruled by her heart. And what good did that bring her?
Jennifer thought bitterly of her last meeting with her sister, how selfish and ungrateful Joanne had been. Jennifer was going back home, empty-handed, her money gone and her heart broken.
After a good cry, she went to wash her face and got dressed. She went down to reception and found out that the rooms had been paid for. Mr. Perry had left very early that morning, she heard, leaving his key behind. She asked the hotel to call her a taxi to the airport. She wanted to get out of Texas as quickly as possible and go home.
She sat down in the lobby of the hotel, waiting, thinking about the last few days and everything that had happened to her. She couldn’t believe what had happened to her. She was devastated.
The taxi arrived, and she gathered her things and went out to meet it. As she opened the door to get in, she heard someone call out her name.
“Jennifer?”
It was Sean, looking at her in shock. “You’re leaving?”
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you’d gone.”
“I ….I went to get Joanne,” Sean said.
Jennifer saw that Joanne was standing behind Sean.
“I saw how distressed you were last night and thought you guys needed to sort this out before it tore your family apart.” Sean came forward and took Jennifer’s hands. “I would never leave you like that,” he whispered to her.
“Madam, do you want the taxi or not?” the taxi driver asked.
Jennifer was confused by everything that had happened and once again, Sean took over.
“No, she doesn’t. Thanks, man,” Sean said, paying the taxi driver for coming out.
Joanne stepped forward.
“Sean came to our place this morning, telling me of all the trouble you went through to find me. I’m sorry I made you and mom worry about me like that. I’ve really messed up. Can you forgive me?”
“I am just glad that you are okay,” Jennifer said, pulling her sister into a hug. It felt good to set things right between them.
“Sean has offered to pay for a divorce lawyer to sort out Ken’s problems with his first wife,” Joanne said. “They’ve been separated for years so it should be a formality.”
Jennifer turned to Sean. “You’d do that?”
Sean smiled, having eyes only for her. “For you? Are you kidding? I’d do anything to make you happy.”
Jennifer could not believe her ears. She thought he only wanted to get her into bed, but here he was, offering to sort out her sister's boyfriend troubles, the very woman who had caused him so much trouble.
Joanne seemed to be thinking the same thing. “This one’s a keeper!” she said, laughingly pointing at Sean. “How come you were never like this with me?”
Sean put his arm around Jennifer and pulled her close. “Turns out I wanted the other sister,” he said, kissing Jennifer’s cheek.
Joanne didn’t seem to mind, though. She said she was happy for them and told Jennifer she would call their mother right away to talk to her about what was going on in her life. Sean gave her some money to get a cab back home.
“You and I need to have a little talk first!” he said to Jennifer, pulling her back into the hotel lobby. Then he went to check that their room was still available and asked that a full breakfast be sent up.
“After a night like last night, a man is hungry!” he said, winking at Jennifer.
Then he picked her up and kissed her long and hard. Jennifer wanted to kiss him back, but it is hard to get over the feelings she'd had only a short while ago.
She wasn’t sure of him anymore.