'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 14

Roger, Shirley Sue, and Buck sat in the lobby of the Chester Inn. Roger watched the round analog wall clock tick away. It was seven minutes past eight and there was no sign of Sarah.

“I wonder what's taking her so long?” Shirley Sue asked. “Maybe one of us should check up on her? Would you mind, Roger?”

“Aw, come on, why do I have to?”

“Because we know you want to,” Buck pipped in, making kissing faces a Roger.

Roger's face melted into a scowl. “I'll go, but I'm only doing this to get away from you,” he said.

Roger trudged up the stairs to the second floor. He opened the door to the hallway and stared down the hall. A red carpet covered the floor in front of him. The walls on either side were beige with white trimming. Adjacent to the entrance of each room was a generic scenery portrait which hung from the wall. He walked down the hallway, looking at the numbers on each of the doors. As he passed one of the doors, he caught a glimpse of cart with sheets stacked on top of it wedged into a doorway. Inside a maid was tearing sheets off of the bed.

He read the door placards off in his mind as he traveled down the hall: 207, 205, ah 203. He called out for Sarah but heard no response. He knocked. The door had been ajar and creaked open when his fist connected with the wood. He heard a whirring sound, like a vacuum had been left on. He called out for Sarah again but he was only met with the strange noise. He crept in to the room. The sound was coming from the bathroom, filtering through the open door.

Roger turned the corner to the bathroom and saw Sarah sitting in a bathrobe, blow drying her hair. The robe hung open, revealing a pink bra with black spots, trimmed with black lace. Roger stood frozen, his mouth agape, and he felt the blood rush to his face.

Sarah turned off the device. “Oh hi,” she said.

Roger collected himself and turned around. “S-Sorry! It- it was open,” he stammered as he pointed toward the door.

Sarah giggled. “Oh, it must not have latched shut after my run this morning. There's a chair or the bed if you want to hang out. I'll be done in a sec.”

The hair dryer came back on as Roger closed the door. He wandered into the bedroom, being sure to avert his eyes from the bathroom as he walked past. The wrinkled sheets on the bed had been pulled back. A neat pile of clothes rested on the corner of the bed. He looked around the room and saw a padded chair positioned next to a television. He took a seat and twiddled his thumbs. He pushed the image of Sarah's robed figured from his mind, but it kept inching its way back. After a minute or two, the dryer clicked off and Sarah emerged from the bathroom. Roger averted his eyes again and looked toward the windows, which were covered by curtains.

“What, you don't like what you see?” she said, giggling.

The blood rushed to Rogers face once again and he cleared his throat. “No, it's-”

“No?”

“I mean yes, er-” Roger said turning his head toward her.

“Relax, I'm just screwing with you,” she said, smiling.

Roger watched as she crossed the room and stopped at the bed. She winked at him and scooped up the pile of clothes off the bed. His gaze returned to the curtains as she walked back to the bathroom. After a moment, she emerged dressed.

“You ready to go, Deputy?” she said, smiling at Roger.