3. Stop-Over

Maybe because I was tired that I didn�t really find the escape plan as appealing as I should.

It wasn’t long until it was too dark and too late to drive.  So, he stopped at a decent looking hotel. 

I wasn’t too keen at the idea at first, but then, he didn’t want to turn over the wheel to me, saying that I would drive back, which I really would’ve done, and he certainly couldn’t drive without sleep.  I gave in, eventually.

“But we’re getting separate rooms!” I demanded just before he got out of the car.  It annoyed me how he ignored what I said.  Well, either way, I couldn’t imagine how he could get me to agree sleeping in the same room.  It wasn’t going to happen.

“Hurry up, will you?” he called after me, his hand raised towards the car, locking it using its ‘keyless entry’ feature.

I half ran towards him.  He waited for me before entering the hotel.

He smiled at the girl behind the desk when we approached.  She was stammering when she asked as how she could help.  Stanley was obviously using his charm, if he did have that, on her.

“A room with twin beds please.”

I shot him a warning glare.  “Twin beds?”  I tried my best to make it sound as threatening as possible.  “I thought we’re getting two rooms?”

He turned to me and grinned.  “We don’t have enough money to pay for two rooms.”  It was a single-sentence explanation.

“Um, excuse me.  You two are?” the girl’s eyes were looking back and forth at the two of us.  “We, uh, don’t allow unrelated people sleep in one room.  Hotel policy.”

I wasn’t sure if such a hotel policy really existed.  It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of it.  There’s also the possibility that she was making it up, not bearing the thought of Stanley sleeping in a room with another girl. 

Some huge crush she developed, really pathetic.  Who would want to sleep with this guy?

“Oh, we’re cousins.”  Stanley flashed his pearly white teeth at her.

“Very well.”  The girl started to type something in her computer while I kept my glare on Stanley.  He was so going to get it later.

“We don’t have a room with twin beds available, but we do have one with a double bed.”

“We’ll take – ”  I was about to tell her we’d take two separate rooms instead when the unreasonably thrifty guy beside me cut me of.  Really, I thought he was supposed to be stinking rich?

“We’ll take it.  Thank you.”  He grinned at me.

I glared, still.

“We won’t fit, you’re too big.”  I tried to argue my way out of it.

“We’ll work something out, ‘cuz.  That is, if you want to eat breakfast tomorrow.”

He managed to get his way again.  I swore that someday I was going to get back at him, somehow.

The girl handed over the key to Stanley, her perfect teeth showing.  “Have a peaceful night.”  She bowed.

We walked towards the elevator quietly.  I pressed on the elevator button hard and stepped inside when its brass doors slid aside.  I turned to him once it closed and the lift started to move.

“Cousins?”  I arched an eyebrow.  “What made you think I wanted to be related to you?”  I was fuming.  I hated how I seem to lose at every argument we get into.

He pressed the button for the third floor, his grin wider than ever.  “Well, it’s either that or I tell her you’re my fiancé.  Oh, and everybody wants to be related to me.  I just assumed you do too.”

How egocentric he could get still shocks me.

By this time, both my eyebrows shot up.  “If you don’t mind, I don’t want to be killed by the front desk girl in my sleep.  It’s not really an ideal way to die.”  Of course, I was exaggerating.  “And I’m not everybody.”

A loud ‘ding’ echoed within the elevator and the doors slid open.  He stepped out ahead of me.

“How do you propose we sleep now?  I’m not sharing a bed with you.”  I made my statement sound as final as possible.  I really should watch out for this guy from now on.  He seemed to have a really smooth tongue, trained to get him out of trouble whenever necessary.

I was trotting to keep up with his pace.  I hadn’t noticed how long his legs were before.  For every stride, I had to take two quick steps just to keep up.

“Then, you sleep on the floor.  I have no problem with that.”  He stopped in front of room 305 and inserted the key.  “If you’re lucky, they might have a couch.  You can sleep there.”

“What?”  I stood by the door.  “You’re quite the gentleman aren’t you?”  The sarcasm was overflowing in my voice.  I suddenly remembered how I hated him and how big of a prick he could be.  I couldn’t believe I actually forgot.

He chuckled, pushing the curtains aside and opening a window.  “Kidding.  Man, you’re irritable.”  He pulled the curtains back.

I stared at him for a few seconds before I managed to compose myself.  Slowly, I entered the room and closed the door behind me.

“Of course you get the bed.”  He turned his face from the window and grinned at me.  “Even though I’m paying the room.”

He was kidding?  I get the bed?  I didn’t know which shocked me more.  I had never seen this side of him.

I let the thought of making him pay for his little stunt earlier go.  I thought it was the least I could do to repay his peculiar kindness.

I walked towards the bed and sat down.  I took a deep breath.  “Thanks,” I muttered.  It was the only thing I could think of saying.

He walked away from the window and patted my head when he passed me on his way to the bathroom.  “You just sleep well, Cam.”

I followed him with my eyes, shocked for the nth time today.  It was the first time I ever heard him call me by my name.  Usually he calls me by my last name – Krow (not exactly like the bird – ‘crow’) – or in exceptionally worse days by ‘birdie’, the hideous nickname he gave me in elementary.

The curtains covering the window he opened fluttered.  I walked towards it and pushed it aside.  I shivered when wind made contact with my skin.  It was damp and cold, probably because of the rain earlier.  I stared at the view in awe.  I could only see the top of full grown trees stretching for miles.  I suddenly realized I had no idea where we are anymore, the reality of him keeping me against my will hitting me square in the face.

It was yet another thing that I almost forgot.  Maybe I did have short-term memory loss.

Looking around, I saw his car keys lying on top of the table by the door.  It was like an opportunity shouting at me to grab on to.  I couldn’t say I wasn’t the bit tempted.  I was.

I could hear the shower turning on from the bathroom.  I supposed it would take him about fifteen minutes, tops, to finish fixing himself.  If I snatched the keys now and ran for the elevators I could make it out of here in ten. By the time he would realize I was gone, I’d already be in his car, listening to the radio while I backed it away from the parking lot.  It was easy enough.

I sighed.  Something was holding me back.

Maybe because I was tired that I didn’t really find the plan as appealing as I should.  If I needed anything right now, it’s a shower and a peaceful sleep.

Discarding the thought, I pulled the curtains over the window and sat back on the bed.  I guess I could think of this as a vacation of some kind.  It’d been a long time since I had one, anyway.  And so far, Stanley had treated me surprisingly well.  I didn’t really have anything to complain about.

 

“Took you long enough,” I remarked bitterly when he opened the bathroom door, his hair wet and his face cleaned. 

My ‘fifteen-minute shower’ guess couldn’t be any more wrong.  It took him almost an hour to finish.  If I went ahead with my escape plan, I would be miles away from this place by the time he realizes his car’s gone.  I couldn’t say I regret anything, though. 

“You hog the bathroom longer than my mom.”

“So?”  He smirked.  “At least I smell nice.”

I stood up from the bed and started for the bathroom.  He’s right.  He smelled nice.  I took a wisp of his soothing fragrance when I passed him, drying his hair.

“There’s another towel by the sink.  I didn’t touch it,” he told me before I opened the door.

“Thanks.”  I didn’t know what he got out of telling me, though.  I could’ve just found out on my own.  A towel could be obviously wet.

I locked the door and entered the shower.  I took off my clothes, folded them neatly on the toilet’s seat cover and turned on the water.  The warmth felt refreshing.  I scrubbed the dirt off my body and my hair, used the shampoo and soap the hotel provided, and quickly dried myself.  It only took me half the time it took Stanley to clean himself.  Right now, I needed sleep more than I needed a hot shower.

I stepped out of the bathroom and was surprised to see Stanley standing by the window again.  He turned to me and smiled.  “That was fast.”  He closed the window and walked towards the chair by the table on one of the corners of the room.

“I was getting sleepy in the shower.”  I tossed the towel over the headboard and sat down the bed with a loud flop.  “W-Where are you going to sleep?” I hesitated.

My eyes searched the room for a couch.  Besides the two chairs by the table on the corner where he was sitting, there was only one other chair in the room, the one by the dresser.  Beneath my bare feet, the carpet wasn’t soft enough to serve as a bed either.

“On the floor.”  It didn’t seem to bother him.  “Would you mind if I get one of the pillows?”

My gaze fell upon the two pillows lying neatly on the bed.  “Sure.”  I nodded.

He reached across the bed and grabbed one, then threw in on the floor.  “There’s only one blanket so you can have it.”  He walked towards the light switch.  “Can you sleep if I turn it off?”

Again, I nodded.

He flicked the switch and everything went dark.

At first I wasn’t able to see anything.  I only heard him fumble through the dark and into the floor beside the bed.

“Night.”  It was almost a whisper.

I lay down the bed and let my eyes get use to the dark.  I turned to where he was lying and could barely make out his back facing me.  His right arm was under the pillow.  He looked cold.

“Hey.”  I hesitated for a moment.  I didn’t know if what I was about to do was right, only that it would help me sleep better.  “I think this bed is big enough for the both of us.”  At that moment, even I couldn’t believe I said such a thing.

His outline turned.  He was facing me now.

“You sure?”  He didn’t sound surprised like I thought he would.

I moved over to the other side of the bed to show him that there’s still enough space for him to fit.  That is, if he could see in the darkness of the room.  “We can just sleep with our backs facing each other.  Besides, I bet it’s cold down there.”

It took him a few more seconds before he stood up.  He grabbed his pillow and replaced it beside mine.

I turned my back to him and cuddled on the blanket.  I could feel his warmth radiating behind me as he went under the covers.  He shuffled for a few more seconds, trying to get comfortable.

“Hey,” he called out from behind me.  “Thanks.”

My lips slowly curved into a smile as I closed my eyes.  I was glad that he couldn’t see me.  “You’re welcome.”