Zac and Ginger checked into their hotel room quietly. Zac's mind was wandering somewhere else, and Ginger just felt weird because of Zac's sudden revelation that he wanted to get married. He said it was okay that she didn't feel the same way, but he was anything but okay with it. He tried not to think about it as they went into the elevator up to their room on the fifth floor.
"Where's Taylor staying?" Ginger asked once they were out of the elevator. "Do you know?"
"I think he's supposed to be in the room next to mine, I don't know which side, though," Zac explained. "Why?"
"Just wondering," Ginger said. "You know, just in case Kris is there later or something." Zac opened the door to their room, room 510, and allowed Ginger inside first. She looked around, a smile on her face. "I love hotel rooms. They're always so different." She wandered around the room while Zac put their suitcases on the floor next to the dresser. "Baby?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?" Ginger asked, hanging out of the bathroom door the way she was the first time he met her. It brought a smile to his face. "You're kind of quiet."
"Just thinking," he told her. "You know the first time I met you, you were doing that." She looked around.
"Doing what?"
"Hanging out of the door like that," Zac said. "I remember." She smiled and walked over to him. He slid his arms around her waist. "You're so beautiful."
"I know," she said, blushing. "I love you." She sighed, looking down. "Listen, Zac, I'm sorry about before�"
"Ginger, don't. Right now I just want to think that it didn't happen," Zac said, titling her chin up. "Come on, I didn't have Taylor throw a massive fit to get out of work for you to be uncomfortable around me. I did it so we could have a room to ourselves and have a lot of sex." Ginger laughed. "You laugh, but it's true."
"You're such a pervert, Zac," Ginger said, letting go and walking over to the bed. She sat down. "Kris told me about that fit Taylor had. Apparently he explained it to her in detail�it sounded really funny."
"It was hysterical if you knew what was happening," Zac said. "I mean I was trying my best to keep a straight face while Taylor was rocking back in forth with his hair in his hands saying he was so stressed out and stuff�but to everyone else in the room it was the scariest thing they'd ever seen. Taking a step back and viewing it from the outside, Taylor genuinely looked like he was having a panic attack. If I hadn't stepped in, they probably would have called for an ambulance and took him to the hospital or something."
"Wow. Well, if I ever happen to need a stressed out rock star in one of my movies, I'll know who to call."
"Have you decided whether or not you're going to write another movie?"
"Well," Ginger started, crossing her legs, "After I left your place I got an idea for a movie, but I don't know if I really want to pursue it or not."
"What's it about?" Ginger smiled and didn't explain. "Oh come on, Ginger, you never let me read any of your stuff, you never tell me about your plans�what is the benefit of being your boyfriend if I don't get any of the inside stuff?" Zac asked.
"The benefit of being my boyfriend is being able to be with me."
"Pfft," Zac said, rolling his eyes. "Whatever."
"Ugh! See if you get any tonight," Ginger said, huffing and turning away. She grabbed the remote off the nightstand and turned on the television. He crawled onto the bed on top of her. "Zac! Get off me!"
"No." She giggled.
"I love you," she said and kissed him. He wasted no time to take off her shirt, which made her giggle again. She pulled off his shirt and he'd just about gotten her pants off when his cell phone rang.
"Dammit!"
"Oh, honey, just answer the phone," Ginger said. "If you don't, they'll just keep calling until you do." Zac got off the bed and grabbed the phone. Ginger sat up in the bed, kicking her pants off, and waited.
"What?" Zac asked, impatiently.
"Geez, am I interrupting?" Kris asked.
"Very much so," Zac said. He looked back at Ginger and she gave him a smile. "What do you want?"
"Taylor and I would like to go to the hotel but you have the car."
"Well you're going to have to wait," Zac said. "I'll be there when I'm there." He hung up the phone and turned back to Ginger.
"What took you so long?" Taylor asked when Zac and Ginger finally walked in the front door of Kris's house about an hour later. Zac didn't say anything as Ginger walked into the living room.
"We'd just gotten there when you called," Ginger said. "We were getting settled." Taylor looked at Zac, who was running his hands through his hair.
"Sure," Taylor said, eyeing Zac. "If 'getting settled' means 'having sex.' " Both Kris and Ginger looked at Taylor and Zac continued his self-straightening, unaffected.
"Taylor!" Kris said.
"What?"
"Everybody knew what they were doing, you don't have to point it out like that. You're so blunt," Kris said. Zac rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, Kris. Taylor's as blunt as you get, especially when it comes to sex. He's been around the block so many times he's in a permanent circle." Kris gave Zac a look that matched Ginger's and he sighed. "Okay, where's your stuff? We should go." Kris got her suitcase from her room and the four of them left for the hotel.
They got into the car and the girls were quiet. "What's the matter?" Zac asked. He was driving, which Kris had initially protested. Now she didn't seem concerned with anything besides the window. Neither of them responded to Zac's question and he sighed. "Listen, Taylor and I are just open about that sort of thing. I just figured you and Kris were too. I'm sorry if either of us offended you."
"No, no Zac, it's not that," Ginger said. "Kris and I aren't like that. Just�just knowing Taylor's reputation and yours�"
"My reputation?" Zac asked. "What are you talking about? Yeah, Taylor's a whore; he's slept with so many girls I don't think anybody knows the exact number�"
"Thirty-one," Taylor said. Everyone looked at Taylor and his eyes flicked between the three other people in the car. "Oh, no, thirty-two. I forgot one."
"Are you serious?" Kris asked. Taylor nodded. "Oh�oh my God! That's insane! How the hell can you do that many girls?" Taylor shrugged. Kris turned away in disgust and looked up at Zac in the driver's seat. "What about you, Zac? What's your magic number?"
"Like I was saying before Taylor interrupted me," Zac said, shooting Taylor a look via the rearview mirror, "I'm not a whore. I've had two, including Ginger."
"Just two?" Ginger asked. Zac nodded. "Let me guess, Gwendolyn?"
"She knows about Gwen?" Taylor asked.
"Yes," Ginger said. "I had the pleasure of meeting her at Vinnie's party." Taylor made a face. "That was quite an experience."
"Geez. I'm sorry." The emotion in the car died down and Zac looked up in time to see Taylor give a knowing glance of sorts to Ginger. Zac's eyes widened and he let out a loud "fuck!" of realization. He pulled over to the side of the road and looked over at his girlfriend. She was looking at him, confusion written all over her face. She looked so beautiful then, her hair done and perfect, her eyes creased ever-so-slightly in question. The violet orbs exhibited respect and love for Zac, but looking past that, Zac could see it. Buried deep in the caverns of her beautiful eyes, he could see it�her guilt. It'd been there for weeks, for months, even if it hadn't been much more than two months since he'd met her. She was dying inside and he could see it now.
"Zac, what's wrong?" Kris asked from the back seat. Zac looked back at Kris and Taylor. Taylor was the same way. His respect and love for Zac wasn't as clear as Ginger's, but it was still there, as was his guilt. Looking between Ginger and Taylor, Zac could feel his heart begin to race and he turned back to the front.
"I�I�I can't drive anymore," he suddenly said.
"That's okay, honey, I'll drive," Ginger said. Zac got out of the car and moved over to the passenger's side, letting Ginger climb behind the wheel and pull the car back out on the road. Zac put his head in his hands, closing his eyes. They got to the hotel quickly now that Ginger was driving. Kris and Taylor went off on their own to check into their hotel room while Zac and Ginger went back up to their room.
"Are you okay?" Ginger asked, as soon as they were alone in their room.
"I�I'm just tired. I think I'm going to go to sleep."
"It's only seven o'clock!" Ginger said.
"I'm tired!" Zac yelled and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Once inside, he locked the door and slid down to the floor into a crumpled mess. Tears filled his eyes and he shut them quickly to lock it away. This was insane. The nagging feeling that had been haunting him for a while now had always been just that; a feeling. An inkling. It was never anything definite. But in the car, that feeling elevated from just an implication to something definite; something that made sense. For a moment the week before, he'd just thought that Ginger was cheating on him, but now he knew she was, and he knew who it was with. She was sleeping with Taylor. She was number thirty-two.
"Zac?" It was Ginger at the door. He didn't want to deal with her.
"What?" he snapped.
"Geez, what's eating you?"
"No, I think it's the other way around, Ginger," Zac spat.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He got up and opened the door to yell at her, to kick her out of the room and out of his life, to tell her off and curse himself for ever loving her, but as soon as the door opened he saw her eyes. Even though he'd snapped at her, she looked up at him with love, and his mouth shut. He put his arms around her.
"I love you, Ginger. I love you so much."
"Honey, what happened?" He couldn't tell her. He wanted to. He still wanted to scream at her and push her into the hallway, shutting and locking the door, but he couldn't. He still loved her.
"I just�I just got wind of something I don't care for."
"Are you okay?" She looked up at him.
"Not entirely. I'm going to go to bed."
"I'll join you." He peeled off his shirt and took off his shoes and got into the bed. She stripped down to her underwear and joined him in the bed. The sun was setting outside and the two of them faced away from the window so they wouldn't be blinded. Zac put his arm around Ginger's waist. He closed his eyes and all he could see was Taylor and Ginger, Taylor and Ginger�