This is a continuation of the Disguises series. If you like it, please let me know!
* * *
Josie leaned her head back against the seat of the limo and looked up at the starry sky through the sunroof. She slowly closed her eyes and savored the breeze that brushed against her face.
"Where are we going?" she inquired as the limousine turned onto Lake Shore Drive heading toward the city.
"Part two of our after prom celebration. It's a surprise."
Although, for a moment, something struck Josie as being not quite right, she couldn't put her finger on it. She was just so relaxed and the night air felt so incredible, almost sweeping away all her troubles.
"Oh�" she turned her head toward Guy with her eyes still closed and slowly opened them. "Okay." She smiled. "Will Rob be there?"
Guy was about to say no, and then he reconsidered. He didn't want anything to get in the way of what he had planned, including Josie's bizarre need to constantly be in the company of her former boyfriend. "Uh, yeah. I think so."
"Oh, good." Josie leaned her head back once again to gaze at the stars and didn't notice that Guy was now holding her hand.
* * *
Lara stood in front of the full-length mirror in her hotel room suite inspecting her reflection. She had to smile at the ridiculous costume that Sam had picked out for her to wear. Poor, ignorant, Sam, she thought. He was so unworldly, so simple. And now he thought he was in love with his student. A teenager, no less!
As she unzipped the back of her dress, still looking at her reflection, Lara's thoughts turned to Kevin. She wondered what he was doing right now, whether he missed her or regretted their break-up. If things had worked out with him, she wouldn't be here in Chicago trying to save her pathetic relationship with 'Simple Sam.' Instead, she would probably be in New York, out on the town, celebrating her law firm partnership with her perfect fianc�.
Lara had met Kevin a year and a half ago when he joined her law firm. He was a young, up and coming attorney who specialized in e-commerce and intellectual property law. The moment Lara laid eyes on him, she knew he was her equal in every way. With his chiseled good looks and his air of confidence, she had met her match. They had several opportunities to work together, and after a few weeks, their relationship turned into something more than just co-workers.
At first, Lara felt guilty about cheating on Sam, but decided that what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Initially, her relationship with Kevin was purely sexual. They both worked so many hours that they hardly had time for anything more. For this reason, Lara maintained her long-distance relationship with Sam, figuring that although he was a bit out of her class, he cold be molded into marriage material, while Kevin wasn't the type to be tied down. But she had misjudged him - over the months, things started to become much more serious than she thought possible. They started spending more time together, going on dates and even on a cruise to the Caribbean for two weeks. Then, when she thought it couldn't get any better, they went to Tiffany's to look at engagement rings. That's when she decided to break things off with Sam.
Out of courtesy, Lara had planned to end the relationship with Sam face to face. She owed that much to him, not to mention the fact that she wanted to pick up her things. She booked her ticket to Chicago and remembered thinking at the time it would be her last trip to the Midwest.
Everything seemed perfect with Kevin until he left the law firm to start his new position with an Internet start-up company. Over the last couple weeks, he'd started canceling their dates and didn't return her numerous phone calls. It was apparent that he had met someone else. She finally was able to reach him at work, and he ended their relationship over the phone. How ironic that instead of breaking up with Sam on this trip as she intended, Lara was trying to keep their relationship together.
Standing in her slip, Lara pulled the garment bag out of the closet and slipped it over the costume. After hanging it on the back of the door, she went to her suitcase and stood for a moment, trying to decide if she was ready to call it a night or go out. After making her decision, she put on a pair of black pants and a form-fitting red, sleeveless sweater top. As she sat on the bed to slip on her high- heel sandals, she decided to have a drink in the hotel bar. Why not?
* * *
Guy slipped the key card into the door and watched the green light flash twice. With Josie leaning heavily on his arm, disoriented, he opened the door slowly and led her into the darkened hotel room.
Josie's head felt heavy and sluggish as she clung to Guy for balance. She had never felt this way before and wondered if it had anything to do with the wine coolers she had at the beach. In the darkness of the room, Guy walked over to a lamp and turned it on the dim setting, causing Josie to squint while her eyes adjusted to the light. As she looked around the now barely illuminated hotel room, she noticed that they were the only ones there. Rob wasn't there. Kirsten, Gibby and Kristen weren't there. It was just the two of them.
"Surprise, Josie." Guy smiled. "I hope you like it."
Josie didn't know what to say. As she continued glancing around the room, she tried her best to focus on something red and pink that was sprinkled on the floor and bed. As she looked closer, her head began to pulsate in steady throbs. Even in her intoxicated state, she knew the implications of what she saw.
Rose petals. On the bed.
Guy had set up a romantic, seduction scene for Josie. She had to get out of there.
"Guy," she exhaled slowly, "I think there's been a mistake�"
"There's no mistake Josie," he said as he walked toward her, a little wobbly. He took her hand and caressed the top of it. "From the moment I met you, I knew you were�special. There's a connection between us. I know you feel it. I've been counting the days until we could be together, and tonight� well, this is all for you. For us. So we can be together."
Josie was mortified. How did she get into this predicament? As much as she was hoping she was having a bad dream, she knew she was really there, in a hotel room, with someone eight years younger than her who had the wrong idea. Waves of nausea rolled through her body and she cursed herself for drinking alcohol at the beach. Wine cooler or not, her judgment was definitely impaired. This was the last place she should be.
As Josie's mind raced over how to escape this situation, Guy's face suddenly turned ashen and he released her hand.
"Guy, are you all right?" Without saying a word, Guy turned and ran out of the room. A moment later, Josie heard him retching in the bathroom. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who'd had too much to drink.
After a few minutes, she heard his muffled voice say through the door, "I'll be out in a few minutes, Josie� this happens all the time, I'm fine. We'll pick it up where we left off in just a second, okay?"
Trying her best to keep her balance, Josie walked over to the desk and wrote a note to Guy on the hotel stationary, and quietly slipped out of the room.
* * *
"Can you please tell me what room you have a Guy Perkins registered in?" Sam was standing before the front desk clerk at the Four Seasons Hotel.
The clerk stared for a long moment at Sam's costume; then he replied disdainfully, "I'm sorry�Sir. I can't give out that information."
Sam didn't have time to worry about what the man thought of him. He had to find Josie before it was too late. "You don't understand. I have to talk to someone who is staying with him. It's extremely important."
"Sir," he continued flatly, "if you need to speak with someone who is staying here, I suggest you go to the hotel courtesy phone and ask the operator to connect you. But I cannot give you his room number."
Sam stood for a moment looking off in the distance while considering what to do. If he called their room, what would he say? How would he explain being there? None of this made sense, but he had to find her. He had to make sure she was okay.
"Sir, if you could please step aside," the clerk pointed to the woman standing in line behind Sam.
Sam turned to walk away from the desk and wandered into the lobby. He sat down on a plush, oversized chair and lowered his head into his hands, sighing heavily. What was he going to do? He had never felt so incredibly helpless.
As Sam stared at the floor trying to consider his options, he sensed someone sit on the seat next to him. He looked up and saw Lara smiling triumphantly at him.
"Trying to muster up the courage to come see me?" she asked, obviously gloating. "I knew you would come." She flashed Sam a look that said 'I've won'.
Sam could not believe his incredibly bad luck. He didn't have time to argue with Lara right now. He had to find Josie.
Just as Sam opened his mouth to speak, his attention focused on the elevator doors opening behind Lara. Sam held his breath as he watched Josie slowly stumble out of the car and into the lobby atrium. She was alone and appeared to be in a daze. As she exited the elevator, she leaned against the wall for balance and slowly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"Excuse me," Sam said dismissively to Lara, as he stood up and walked past her to Josie.
The room was spinning and Josie didn't know how she was going to make it out the door to the curb, let alone how she would make it home. 'I can do this,' she kept saying to herself. Taking one more deep breath, she decided to continue on her journey to get through the lobby and outside so she could catch a cab to get home. She closed her eyes and felt along the wall for a moment, but soon she felt a presence in front of her. As she opened her eyes, she saw Sam standing there, still dressed in his prom costume. 'Oh, God�I must be really drunk because now I'm hallucinating�' she mumbled, not knowing she was even speaking her thoughts aloud.
Sam smiled grimly for a moment at Josie's comment, then he said softly, "Josie�" and put his hand on her arm and squeezed it lightly to let her know his presence was indeed real. "�Josie, are you okay?" God, he hoped he wasn't too late.
Before Josie could respond, she noticed a movement from the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw a wobbly image of an angry Lara approaching them. If she was hallucinating, she thought, it was only getting worse. "I'm never drinking again," she muttered to herself.
"What is this, Sam!? What�!? Now you're meeting your little girlfriend in hotels? This is really sick!"
With his hand still firmly on Josie's arm, Sam turned to glare at Lara. He was more furious with Lara than he'd been in a very long time. He was not going to allow Lara to hurt or attack Josie any more. He was so livid, in fact, that he had no concern for the consequences of what he was saying to her. "Lara, there's nothing more for you and I to talk about. I've made my decision, and you know damn well what it is. I wouldn't come back to you if we were the last two people on Earth and the human race depended on it, so do me a favor and go to hell!"
Lara stood with her mouth open, speechless for once, as she watched Sam gently put his arm around Josie and helped her out the door.
* * *
As they slowly crossed the parking lot to the car, Sam supported Josie as she clung to him like he was a life preserver. Every once in a while he would stop so that Josie could catch her breath and regain her bearings.
It was all his fault. He knew without a doubt that if he had just been able to explain to her about his feelings for her and what Lara was really doing at the prom, he knew she would never have drunk so much. Josie was too responsible for that. But instead, he'd hurt her, and he knew it was his fault that she was in this state. He swore to himself as he visualized every bad scenario that may have taken place between Josie and Guy in that hotel room.
Sam unlocked the passenger side door, opened it, and then, with his arm still around Josie, he helped lower her into the car and closed the door after her. Then he went around to his side of the car and got in. Before starting the ignition, he turned to look at Josie, who was now leaning to the side with her head tilted against the seat, looking at Sam with her big, blue eyes. It made his heart ache.
"Hi." she said simply, with a dreamy smile on her face.
"Hi." Sam responded back. She was so beautiful, even when she was intoxicated. There was so much Sam needed to tell her, so many questions he wanted to ask, but now wasn't the time. "Are you okay, Josie?" Sam asked, looking deep into her eyes. Of all the things he wanted to say, that was the most important thing he needed to know.
"I'm okay now that you're here," she sighed. She closed her eyes for a long moment and Sam thought that maybe she had fallen asleep, but then she opened them again to stare at him. "You're my knight in shining armor. My Lancelot." Still looking at Sam, her gaze shifted once again to Sam's open shirt collar, just as it had when they were at Prom. But instead of being embarrassed or looking away, this time she reached over and placed her small hand on the bottom of Sam's bare neck and ran her fingers over his chest reverently, as if she were exploring some forbidden territory.
Sam's heart skipped a beat as he inhaled deeply from the incredibly erotic sensation of Josie's touch. He couldn't believe this was happening. After taking a moment to savor the exquisite sensations, Sam realized that Josie was too drunk to realize what she was doing and he had to stop her before it went any further. He gently placed his hand over hers to still it, and then slowly removed it from the inside of his shirt, feeling guilty about being sorry for the loss of contact.
"Josie," Sam looked deep into her eyes, while he continued to hold her hand, trying to get her to respond to him, "did Guy hurt you?"
"Guy?" Josie looked confused for a moment and then seemed to remember what happened. "No. He didn't hurt me. He got sick. I left."
Sam breathed a long sigh of relief as he felt the weight of the world being removed from his shoulders.
"I could never be with Guy," she murmured. "I don't like him like that."
Sam was feeling more relieved by the second.
"Besides, I'm saving myself for someone else." Josie smiled at Sam and her eyes sparkled, leaving no doubt in Sam's mind exactly whom she was saving herself for.
'Oh, God�' Sam thought as he swallowed hard. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and wondered if he might be hyperventilating.
Although these were words that Sam did indeed want to hear someday from this woman that he loved, he didn't want to hear them like this. Not when she was drunk. Not when she would regret saying them at a later point in time. Not when she was seventeen and his student, and nothing could happen between them. Not now.
Clearing his throat self-consciously, he left her statement hanging in the dense air of his car as he turned his key in the ignition and brought the engine to life. He had no idea what to say, anyway.
After a long moment, Sam finally spoke. "Josie," he said hoarsely, trying to bring the subject back to something a lot safer, "why don't you tell me where you live so I can take you home? You need to get some sleep." Sam turned and glanced at the clock on the dashboard, which read 2:38 am. As he looked over his shoulder while backing out of the parking spot, he added, "I'm sure your parents are starting to get worried. It's pretty late."
After getting no response, Sam took his eyes off the road for a moment and glanced over at Josie. She was sound asleep.
* * *