Chapter
thirty five:
Christy
was standing in the small bathroom in her hotel room. She had been lucky enough
to get a private room, but it was almost as small as a closet, with barely
enough room for a double bed, and a tiny seating area separated by sliding
French doors.
She
put down the last of the bobby pins in her hand and examined her masterpiece
from all angles. She had selected a brand new dress, shoes and a purse for her
first big date with Isaac.
She
had spent hours on her hair, nails and make up, making sure everything was
perfect.
She
slipped on her heels and drew in a deep breath, wringing her hands.
Christy
couldn’t believe she was so nervous.
She heard a knock come from the front door and she ran to pull it open.
Isaac
was standing in the hallway, wearing a tie and a white dress shirt, with a
jacket draped over his arm.
He
smiled broadly. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
Christy returned the smile.
“You
look… amazing…” He breathed.
She
blushed slightly. “You look great too.”
He
grinned. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah
of course… you never told me where we were going though…”
“Well,
I thought a nice dinner… then a moonlit walk… and then maybe a movie, or we could come back here…”
Christy
smiled. “That sounds perfect… but…”
He
looked alarmed. “But?”
“But
you’ve been standing in my doorway for like five minutes and you haven’t kissed
me yet.”
His
face changed into a grin, “That can change…”
“It’d
better.” She teased.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Jenna
returned to the hotel and picked up her messages from the front desk, hoping
there would be something from Luke, although she knew that was a little
desperate.
She
stood in the elevator and stuffed the single envelope in her purse, shifting it
up onto her shoulder while she removed her security pass from the front pocket
of her jeans.
When
the elevator stopped on her floor, she stepped out and showed her pass to two
security guards who approached her.
She
opened the door to the room she was sharing with Becky and found Taylor and Zac
lounging on the sofa, a giant bowl of popcorn between them.
Becky
looked up at Jenna from her magazine, put it aside and followed Jen into the
bedroom.
“Are
you ok?” Becky asked.
“Yeah,
fine.” Jenna shrugged. “It’s okay. I’m not upset, I knew he was leaving and I
knew not to get too attached.”
“What
do you mean by that? You guys were great together!” Becky sat across from her
on her bed.
“I
know… I just don’t like the idea of having such a great time with him, and then
him leaving and me being upset again…” Jenna sighed heavily. “I just don’t know
if I can take that…”
Becky
moved across the narrow space between the beds and sat next to Jenna on her
bed. “It’ll be okay.” She hugged her tightly.
“Everything will work out.”
“I
know. He said he’d call… I just… I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to like him
at all let alone this much, and now…” Jenna sighed heavily. “I don’t know.”
”Okay, well, maybe we can do something to get your mind off things before he calls…”
Jenna
nodded. “Okay.”
“We
could all hang out. Ike and Christy are
gone, so we could order some movies and eat junk food with
Jenna
nodded and stood to put her purse away. She finally remembered the message
someone had left at the front desk for her.
”What’s that?” Becky asked curiously.
”I don’t know… it was at the front desk. I kind of hoped it would be from
Luke.” She opened the envelope with their room number typed on the front in
bold letters.
She unfolded the thin piece of paper, and read the disturbing giant red
letters, sighed and lowered the note.
”What is it?”
“It’s
from those nutcases! Those stupid HH people! Like I really
need this right now!”
“Let
me see.” Becky reached out and took the letter from Jenna then declared, “I’ve
had enough of this shit.”
She stormed out into the main room where Taylor and Zac were sitting on the
sofa watching a movie, with Jenna at her heels.
“Guys,
look!” Becky said, making her way to stand in front of the guys.
“No,
Becky, don’t-“ Jenna began.
Zac
took the letter in his hands and read it quickly. “What is this?”
“Jen
and I have been getting these letters… and emails.” Becky explained as
“It’s
probably someone who’s joking around.” Jenna proclaimed.
”This is very serious. Why didn’t you tell us before?”
“It’s
nothing.” Jenna said.
”It is something.”
”That sucks!” Jenna protested. “Just
because some whack-job is out there sending us a few letters and emails you’re
going to treat us like fucking prisoners?”
Becky
sighed heavily and sat down next to Zac, knowing this was going to be a long
argument.