Part I: Anticipation
Becca stepped out of the cab, her purse slung over one shoulder and her overnight bag on the other. She paid the driver through his open window, then bid him a good day. By the time he’d pulled away from the curb she was already at the lobby doors.
She wouldn’t have described the room as cavernous, exactly, but as she heard the echo of her heels clicking on the polished ceramic tiles she guessed that whoever first used that word to describe a large room was thinking of a place like this. Enormous marble columns seemed to hold up the ceiling like great stony arms reaching to the sky. Beautiful crystal chandeliers hanging twenty feet from the ceiling provided more elegance than illumination; each resembled a jeweled crown, but the real light came from a series of electric lamps that ringed the lobby.
The lobby bar looked warm and inviting as she passed. A dozen stools, five of them occupied, stood before a long wood-paneled counter. Four small tables with leather chairs surrounded the bar. A waiter in a classy black vest and tie carried a tray of cocktails to a couple sitting at one of the tables. She imagined taking a break from the evening’s fun just long enough to come down for a drink.
As she approached the front desk she passed the most peculiar piece of abstract art: A quartet of burnished stone rings, each placed at staggered intervals along a metal rail. Actually, “rings” wasn’t the right word. These were definitely hoops. They were big enough for the dolphins at Sea World to jump through. She looked at it for a moment, and it occurred to her that while it was an interesting piece, she couldn’t tell what the point might be. The meaning, if there was one, eluded her. Maybe it was just another expensive flourish, like the the columns and the chandeliers.
Speaking of expensive flourishes, a shiny black parlor grand piano sat near the front desk. There was no one playing it, but she imagined a tuxedo-clad pianist performing for guests during peak hours. Right now, the lobby was almost empty, and she walked right up to the desk. The clerk was a well-dressed, impeccably-coiffed young woman with a pleasant smile on her face.
“Good afternoon. Are you checking in today?”
“I’m actually supposed to be meeting a guest of the hotel. He said you’d have to call up to his room.
He’s in room…” She checked her phone for his text message. “Room 2704.”
The desk clerk indicated that she would need the name of the guest. Becca told her, and the clerk dialed his room. The conversation was short, then she replaced the telephone handset and withdrew a plastic card from behind the counter. “He asked that you be given a key to the room.” She placed the card into a small paper folder and wrote the room number on the outside. “As you said, room 2704.”
As the elevator ascended, Becca felt the anticipation stirring within her. Her panties were damp with arousal. She was wearing a maxi-dress that reached her ankles and it was all she could do to keep from hiking it up and taking off some of the pressure. She looked around the elevator for signs of a camera. She couldn’t see one, but in this kind of hotel it had to be there. That’s all she needed: To give some bored security guard the show of his life. She silently reminded herself that the years-long desire she’d felt for him would be culminating in mere minutes. Every fantasy that had ever passed through her mind was on the verge of coming true. She was closer to him than she had ever been before.
When he had suggested finally meeting, she was intrigued. She had enjoyed the casual back-and-forth that had exemplified their relationship: an email here, a text message there, and perhaps a Skype session when they wanted to actually speak to each other face-to-face. Meeting in person on a regular basis or even an occasional one had simply not been feasible until now; nearly two thousand miles separated their homes, and the stress of air travel wasn’t something he relished. The fact that she was a part-time student more or less ruled out the chances of her traveling recreationally.
He told her he was going to start a travel fund specifically for the purpose of flying out and meeting her. She found the idea and his enthusiasm cute, much like when a family puts money aside to take a vacation together, though this was hardly the same thing. Although she didn’t think he’d really do it, she enjoyed the occasional message he’d sent her whenever he added money to the fund. It took him almost a year after he first made the suggestion, but eventually he texted her the good news.
The doors opened onto the twenty-seventh floor and she stepped out. Her heels fell onto plush red carpeting and she followed signs to his room. As she neared room 2704 she realized that she was nervous, but it was a good feeling, not unlike when you’re at a surprise party and the unwitting guest of honor is about to walk through the door. She had been to many surprise parties, but none of them had ended up like she hoped this little party would end: With both of them naked, covered in sweat and tangled up in silk bedsheets as they lay intertwined.
She stood in front of the door to his room and brought the key card close to the lock, but she couldn’t make herself insert it. Was she supposed to just walk right in? She raised a fist to the door as if to knock, but then felt silly doing so. He’d asked that she be given a key, so obviously he wanted her to walk right in. She imagined him soaking in a jacuzzi tub and beckoning her in. Or maybe he was already lying in bed, atop the covers amidst velvety red rose petals. She imagined quickly stripping off her clothes and climbing on top of him, riding him energetically until they both climaxed.
She felt the anticipation building and quickly pushed the key card into the lock. A light beside the slot quickly turned green and she twisted the handle downward, to no avail. She tried the handle again, upward this time, then re-inserted the card. The green light came on once again, so she tried the handle. Both directions. No luck. She looked at the shiny brass plate beside the door and confirmed that she was in the right place. The engraved numerals corresponded to the room number in his text message. It occurred to her that maybe she was just going too fast for the lock to keep up; she was feeling impatient, after all.
She waited a few seconds to make sure that the green light had gone out, effectively giving the locking mechanism time to reset, and then she tried the key card again. When the light turned green, she took a deep breath. She slowly exhaled, then placed her hand on the handle but by that time the light had been extinguished. She let out a sigh of frustration, then tried again. This time the light flashed a disapproving red. The next attempt yielded the expected green, and she pulled the handle downward, then upward, all the while pressing her shoulder into the door.
“Oh, for – ” She gave up and balled her hand into a fist, rapping three times on the heavy wood. She expected him to come to the door in a bathrobe, dripping wet from the tub, and wondered what she might say to him by way of apology. She’d blame the stupid door, of course. Or the woman downstairs, who seemed so helpful but obviously didn’t have a clue about how to program a key card. Maybe it was her first day on the job.
She could feel her cheeks flushing, and tried to keep it together. No! There was no reason to apologize. He wouldn’t be upset that she couldn’t get the key to work. Even if he was mildly inconvenienced, he’d feel differently about it once he got a look at what was under her dress.
She heard a click from within, and the door slowly opened. The sight of him standing on the other side took her breath away. He wasn’t naked, or wrapped in a towel. He was completely dressed, in a pair of jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt. He still had his shoes on, even. But the sight of him there, right in front of her, close enough to touch! Becca was fairly certain she’d never swooned before, but she was sure that this is what it felt like.
“Hi.” His voice was soft and welcoming, and he motioned her into the room. “They didn’t give you a key?”
“No, they did,” she said as she stepped inside. “I tried it over and over again but it didn’t work.”
He nodded as she spoke, considering each of her words. “That happened to me a couple times. It’s tricky. I’m sorry about that.”
She didn’t answer. She was too busy admiring the king-size bed. A wide and luxurious mattress was topped with an impeccably-fitted white duvet and three soft pillows, and the entire thing butted up against an oak headboard. Two nighttables flanked the bed, each with a tall porcelain lamp. All she wanted to do was pull back the covers and climb in with him; she had waited far too long to be restrained any longer.