He stood slowing, the booze from earlier hitting him hard and fast. His first step out of the tub was uneasy as he fell a bit forward. He caught his fall with his hands but still managing to find the pieces of glass that had scattered on the bathroom floor. He cursed to himself as he watched the red pools of blood rise to the surface. He took a white towel from the vanity and wrapped it up.
“Leo?” She called to him again, unaware of his cuts. He stumbled towards her voice once more. He used his arm to hit open the white French door that led to the master suite. Sunlight suddenly and unexpectedly hit him and he instantly lifted his other, injured arm to cover his eyes.
And then came the sound of a click. And another. And another. He turned to face the girl. She was staring into her phone as it was pointed at him, naked, drunk, and injured. One by one, she was collecting photographs worthy of any magazine cover. Money signs danced in her head with each click.
“What the fuck are you doing, Laura?!” He shouted angrily at her, unsure of what he could do. He reached over to a chair and grabbed a black piece of clothing to cover himself.
“Making sure that I get paid.” She said it without hesitation as she finally put down the phone. “I expect you know how much you owe me for the night.”
“Jonathan will pay you for your services.” He had no idea what to think. Panic ran through his head.
“Oh, I’m sure he will. Wouldn’t want to see his prize fighter caught with his dick in his hands. Even if it’s… ah, not in the same league as the big boys.” She winked at him, realizing that she had the upper hand. She spun on her sky high black heels and walked towards the door. As she reached for the silver doorknob, she turned back to where he stood fuming and said, “And by the way, Lionheart… the name’s not Laura. It’s Ellie.”
Ellie carefully shut the door behind her, leaving Leo alone and confused with his own thoughts. The situation settled in his mind as anger boiled up to the top. He grabbed the first thing he could find, a white lamp, and tossed it with all of his might at the wall across from him. His leg pushed over the red upholstered desk chair. His hands ripped into the bed, tossing the linens from their place.
He circled the room with his hands running through his long brown hair. He pulled his hands away to see the blood still gushing from the open cuts from the glass. The pain shot up, surprising him. He let out a long, blood curdling roar of anger and despair as his fist balled up and then slammed into the white wall nearest the television.
Leo stood back, looking at what he'd done. The room was trashed. Every inch of it had seen some damage. He picked up a floor lamp that had fallen in the shuffle and set it back up again. Next to it, he found a pillow and a room phone that he set upon the black wood desk.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He ignored it, not wanting to face whomever was there. If it was Ellie, it could only mean trouble. If it was his manager Jonathan, it was even worse. Avoiding it would be his best solution. He instead walked over to the half drunk bottle of champagne that somehow managed to survive his chaos. He poured the golden liquid into the tumbler that Ellie had left behind and sat on the floor next to the bed.
The knock came again. Over the sound of his unsteady mind, he could hear the muffled voice of a woman call out once and then twice. But the alcohol made it hard for him to decipher what she wanted or who she was. He took another sip as he continued to stare blankly at the dresser before him.
And then came the click and the turn of the handle. He did not even bother to stand. Only one person had his room key, and that was Jonathan. He couldn’t care less if Jonathan found him like this, with a mess on the floor of his hotel room suite.
There was a bang and then a crash as Leo could hear a rumble coming from the opened door. A metal cart was pushed through the opening as a woman in a blue maid’s dress followed. Her back remained turned on him as she attempted to push the cart further inside, but it was stuck on the carpeting from the hallway.
When she had managed to pull it inside, she turned around to see the scene before her. She sighed heavily, as if she had dealt with this many times and then walked over to where Leo had just placed down the telephone and throw pillow. She untangled the cord gently and the set it back on the nightstand where it originally was. She then took the pillow and fluffed it up before placing it back onto the floor with the rest of the thrown about blankets and sheets.
As she turned the corner of the bed, she noticed the figure of the man leaning against the black post, his hand and hair covered in a bright red blood. The girl dropped to her knees before him, Leo not even moving or acknowledging her presence. The blood loss had caught up to him as he struggled to remain conscious.
“Sir! Sir! Are you alright? Should I call? Oh God, I don’t know what to do... “She slapped his face hard and then shook his shoulders so his limp body moved violently from her force.
Leo watched helplessly as her steel blue eyes welled up in tears. A springy curl of mousey brown hair flew into her face. He lifted his blood soaked hand to pull the hair back from her eyes and placed it gently behind her ear. His own eyes never pulled away from her own.
Bailey remained still as Leo’s arm sunk from her head to her shoulder and then back onto the floor lifelessly. The rest of his body tumbled to the side as he fell into a deep, dark sleep.