- Chapter 10
Liz woke up in the morning and could barely open her eyes. She held her hands over her eyes as she tried to look around and get her bearings.
She sat straight up in bed as she looked next to her and saw Ricardo lying in the bed with her. Liz looked around and realized she was in his room.
Oh no. How did she let this happen? Liz looked down and noticed she was still in her work clothes. That was promising, she thought. Perhaps nothing had happened between them?
Liz got up and looked around the room quietly to find her purse. She went into the bathroom and used the toilet real quick and looked in there. She couldn’t find it anywhere. Liz didn’t want Ricardo to wake up, but she really needed to call Harrison.
In the fog of daylight, she remembered that she was supposed to have met up with him last night. He had to be worried sick about her. Liz continued looking through the piles of things Ricardo had all over his hotel room.
She couldn’t find it anywhere.
Liz decided the best thing to do would be to just go over to Harrison’s hotel.
Liz quietly opened the hotel room door and snuck out before Ricardo could wake up. She went down to the lobby to get a key to her room so she could take a quick shower and grab some money for a cab to get over to Harrison’s hotel.
She wasn’t about to show up at his hotel looking like she had spent the night in some guys bed. Even though, that was exactly what had happened. Liz could feel the anxiety getting worse as it became hard for her to breath.
Hopefully, she had not slept with Ricardo. Liz really could not remember anything after she left the bar.
In her hotel room, Liz got together a fresh outfit and got into the shower. It felt so good to let the water run all over her body. She stood there for much longer than she had planned.
Her hotel room phone rang and Liz jumped out of the shower to answer it.
“Where did you go?” Ricardo said on the other end of the phone.
“Just had to take a shower. I’ll be in late today. Cover for me.” Liz still didn’t want to know if she and Ricardo had slept together.
She hung up the phone and dried off. Liz made a slight effort to comb her hair and make herself look more presentable. Her anxiety was still going crazy. Liz felt like it was hard to breathe.
Harrison would be so pissed off if he knew what had happened. He had probably been calling her and trying to reach her and she wasn’t answering. Liz tried to think of a way she could explain away what had happened. What would be a reasonable excuse for her not answering his calls or coming to his hotel room as they had scheduled?
Liz decided she would have to think while she made her way over to his hotel. It was now almost nine o’clock in the morning and Liz was sure Harrison had been worried sick about her.
She loaded herself into a cab and practiced her deep breathing techniques as the cab drove across town to his hotel. Her deep breathing wasn’t helping much though because she still felt like the world was spinning around her.
When she arrived at Harrison’s hotel, Liz got out and felt dizzy instantly. The bellboy grabbed her arm and helped her into the building.
Soon there was a man standing there with a glass of water.
This really was a five-star hotel.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry I just am not feeling well.” Liz tried to get the man to go away, but he just continued to stay there.
“Can I get you some crackers?” The man offered.
Liz thought it might be the best way to get him to go away.
“Sure.”
The man was back within a minute with an assortment of crackers. Liz thanked him and he finally went away. But not far, as he stayed watching her from the other side of the lobby.
Liz got her strength back and headed to the elevators. She didn’t want to waste another minute. She had to get upstairs and see Harrison. Liz knew he was going to be so worried about her.
As she made her way to the tenth floor, she had decided she would just tell Harrison the truth. She had gotten sick from drinking and had lost her purse. He didn’t need to know what bed she had slept in.
She knocked on the door for room 1009.
There was no answer, but she could hear people talking inside the room.
Liz knocked again.
The door opened and there stood Sarah. In her pajamas.
Harrison came up behind her quickly and opened the door further so he could see who was there.
“Liz! I’ve been worried sick. Where have you been?” Harrison said as he moved forward and reached out for Liz.
Liz stepped back as she took in the scene. Why was Harrison’s secretary standing in her pajamas in his room? What was going on here?
Liz couldn’t take it. She felt like she was going to throw up. She took off down the hallway running as fast as she could.