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.
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