Chris
“I am sorry, what?”
“We apologize for the interruption Sir, but there is a woman downstairs that is claiming to know you.”
I smiled to myself, still not all the way up. It had been a quiet night, so no one woman came to mind, though I had been to the island many times. It could have been a number of women that I had stayed the night with before.
“You are going to have to be more specific than that Tony. Who is it?”
“Says her name is Stacy I believe. She is rather upset and hard to understand Sir.”
“And she is downstairs?”
“Yes Sir. Do you know this woman? She claims that she is staying in the suite upstairs registered to another guest. She doesn’t look like a normal guest, so we stopped her at the door. This is why I am calling you. If this is all in error, I will make sure that she is out of here in no time.
My mind was fuzzy, but it wasn’t that fuzzy. “She is staying in Keenan’s suite for God’s sakes Tony. How long has she been down there?” I already knew that she was going to be pissed off for this. It wasn’t my fault of course, but I knew that it would feel that way. This day was not going the way it was supposed to be going.
“Let her up Tony. Damn she is going to be pissed. Why wouldn’t you let her up in the first place?” It hadn’t occurred to me yet that she was just getting in around six o’ clock in the morning. I was still too stumped to wonder what she had been doing and where she had been.
“Sir she is disheveled and a real sight. I thought she was one of the homeless that come up from the beach. She is covered in sand…”
“Okay, she is fine and who she says she is Tony. Thank you for taking the extra step, but I fear you have cost me a headache.”
He apologized, but I just hung up. Where had she been all night? I had tried to go see her last night, with a bottle of wine as an excuse, but she hadn’t answered. I just thought she was ignoring me. I never would have guessed that she was out all night in a strange place.
I waited for a few minutes and then moved to the hallway. I wanted to see her, but not let her see me. I had to know what Tony was talking about. How bad could she look?
When she finally came out of the elevator, I could barely even recognize her. She did have a messy knot on top of her head with sand in it. It looked like she had slept on the beach or maybe something more sinister had happened. Whatever it was, I knew that it was surely not expected. I wanted to go out and make sure she was okay, ask her what happened, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Instead I watched her go into her suite and I saw the state of her clothes. They were rumpled and covered in sand as well. I could see why Tony had denied her entry. If I wouldn’t have known that it was Stacy, I would have done the same thing.
Going back to my room, I got ready to go to the final conference and tried to pull my mind from Stacy. When I was ready and it wasn’t possible to pretend anymore, I went down the long hallway to her suite and knocked on the door. It was slightly ajar and after a few minutes, I just pushed the door open, calling her name out.
I still heard no answer and I started to get genuinely worried about her. The state she was in when I saw her last was not a good one. Maybe she had a medical problem that I didn’t know about, though why would I know? Why would I care?
Hearing the shower running, I relaxed a little. The room was still neat and tidy and the bed was unslept in. I really didn’t like that last bit of information, but I was trying not to let it get to me. It was not that I wanted to think about where she was last night it was the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was bothering me and I had to know what happened to her last night. The warning I had given her was ripe in my ear and I hoped that I had been wrong.
I ordered some room service breakfast for both of us and poured some orange juice from the pitcher. I waited for Stacy to come out, but I had expected her to be a little more dressed than she was. I thought like most she would cover up with a towel if she left the bathroom, but Stacy was apparently going to let herself drip dry. She had a towel on her head, wrapped up in her black hair, but there was nothing else covering the rest of her.
Since she didn’t immediately look my way and I was too frozen by the view to ignore what was in front of me. Stacy was turned to the side and I could see her round, heart-shaped ass just feet from me. There was water running over her, little droplets on her milky-white skin that I wanted to stop with my finger. Every inch of her was curved and delicate, dying to be kissed and touched.
What struck me the most was the rather large and whimsical tattoo that she had on her back. It wasn’t big and dense, but flowery and light. I would have never guessed that she had a tattoo of any sort, certainly not that. My eyes scanned for more bits of ink, finding something on her inner ankle that I hadn’t seen before. Did she cover it up when she was at work? How many more mysteries would she have that I would never understand?
“Oh! Chris! What are you doing here?!”
She was yelling and when I met her gaze, I know I had a stupid look on my face, how could I not? She was bare and beautiful, right in front of me. Her eyes moved down to the hard length that was not well hidden in my slacks. I turned towards the table and told her rather clumsily that I had gotten her some breakfast. I even offered her some juice while she just stared at me. Her hands covered all the necessary parts, but it didn’t matter. I had seen it all and there was no way I was going to forget every inch of her.
“Why are you still staring at me?”
I didn’t even realize I was, but how could I not?
“Sorry, you are just still naked. Do you not have any towels in here?”
My voice was surprisingly calm, but I was not feeling that way inside. I trembled, something I would never admit to. Stacy had a way about her that made me feel different.
“You are blaming me for this?” While she complained that it was my fault, she went back into the bathroom and got a towel. I could breathe better when she was out of sight from me. I could still see her if I wanted to, but it was easier to pull the images out of my head this way without the constant reminder.
“Not blaming you. Sorry Stacy. I got a call from the doorman this morning and I was worried about you. I came in because the door was still open and not even latched. You were in there, so I ordered some breakfast and tried to help make your day a little better. I really was just trying to help, even though I seemed to have failed miserably with it.”
It didn’t matter what the scene of her had done to me. My first instinct was to look, I couldn’t help it. “You are beautiful Stacy. I can’t not look.”
The sound of my voice grated on my own nerves and I tried to snap out of it. Turning away, I opened some of the metal covers and asked what she would like for breakfast.
“Let me get dressed first. I can’t have breakfast like this, not with you here.”
It may have been a jab for me to leave, a not so hard to read sign, but I ignored it. This was our last day together and I wanted it to go smoothly. At first I thought she would be mine by now, whimpering my name out. I would get my fill and move on. But that hadn’t happened, so I was more obsessed than ever before. I needed to know what was going on and how I was going to change any of it with her. I couldn’t do that if I just went away.
“Thank you for breakfast Chris. It was very thoughtful of you. I have had a horrible morning and I appreciate the gesture.”
She made a small plate with a little of everything and opened the patio door. “How long do we have until the last meeting?”
I looked at my clock. We were already late, but I was more interested to be here with her, then to hear about how to make more money. I think it was a first if I was honest with myself.
“We have time. Don’t worry about that.”
“Thanks. I am sorry about this. If you could not tell Keenan, I would appreciate it.”
I waved her off and told her that her secret was safe with me. “We all have one of those bender nights here. It is sort of a tradition. Where were you?” I didn’t want to sound too eager, but it was still something pecking at the back of my head that I just needed to know.
“It wasn’t like that. It was just so peaceful after a swim that I must have fallen asleep. I looked a wreck this morning because of the sand everywhere and they thought I was homeless.” She stopped and looked away, embarrassed.
“What about your date with Ali?”
Her lips tightened and something bothered her. What had her out swimming in the middle of the night alone? Was she alone? I was still assuming she was, but with my question, other ones arose that had to do with the smiling man from before.
“I canceled. I just didn’t feel like going out to dinner, so I stayed around town and shopped, had dinner and went swimming.”
“By yourself?”
“Well of course by myself. Who else would I go with?”
“I would have taken you.”
“Being around you is complicated Chris. Besides, I figure you didn’t want to be burden having to watch me, but I do thank you for the rescue this morning. I have never been so embarrassed in all of my life.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s fine.” I was more than a little relieved that it wasn’t what I thought. My fears included her going to stay the night with Ali and that being the reason she was gone all night. It was a horrible feeling to have and now my mind could rest knowing that it wasn’t the case. After that, nothing really mattered and if I would have stopped to really think about it, that thought would have bothered me more than it did to be so interested in her and her whereabouts. I had never cared before.
“Well the meeting is almost over and we have a couple of hours before we have to leave. Is there anything that you want to do?”
“With you?”
“Yes with me, don’t sound so damn enthused.”
“I just want to get into the water. Do you know how to swim?”
“Of course. I can rent us a boat if you like, sail around and find the perfect spot.”
She shook her head like that wouldn’t do. “No, I was thinking just right out back. The beach is beautiful down there.”
I couldn’t argue. I didn’t want to if it meant a little time with Stacy. What the hell was this woman doing to me?