for a very special woman named Kris
Sitting in her car outside the hotel, Kris was wondering what she was doing there. Her husband was away on maneuvers and somehow she had let Joe talk her into meeting him.
At first, she had rejected the suggestion as out of hand. But Joe had this knack of saying something sweet or sexy, and over a couple of weeks, she had weakened enough to agree to the meeting.
What was waiting for her inside, she wondered. Will he really be nice? Or will he turn out to be a jerk? Well, he seems nice, she thought. And he does make me tingle when we chat and play on-line. Who would have ever thought that he would make the trip to see me?
Kris was apprehensive, but she was also excited. The thought of meeting a strange man in a hotel was wreaking havoc with her hormones. She had taken great pains to look good for him, wearing a nice dress that showed her off to best advantage. A shiver of excitement shot through her body as she opened the car door and stepped out into the parking lot. As she walked to the lobby of the hotel, her heart was beating so hard that she thought she might have a heart attack. "That would be just great," she said to herself, "I'll collapse her in the parking lot and die, and then all my friends and family will wonder why I'm all dolled up and at hotel!" She stopped in her tracks, took a deep breath and then walked into the lobby, feeling sure that everyone was looking at her.
She took a slip of paper out of her purse and looked at the number written there. Room 314. Joe had called her and told her where to go. Breathing deeply again she pushed the "up" button on the elevator. The doors immediately opened and she quickly darted into the empty elevator, relieved to be out of sight of the prying eyes of the people lingering in the lobby.
Finding her way to the room, she stood before the door, too petrified to knock. Just as she was mustering the courage to do so, the door opened and Joe stood before her. "Kris," he said, and gave her a tight hug and a peck on the cheek. "Go on in and make yourself comfortable. I was just about to get some ice."
Joe moved aside and gestured her inside, and then he disappeared down the hallway and around the corner. Stepping inside, she thought to herself. So this is what it feels like to come into a strange man's hotel room. Looking around, she saw his open suitcase on a stand near the bureau, and then panned over to the bed.
The bed!
She was just about to turn around and run, when Joe came back, his bucket full of ice. "Come on, sweetie, make yourself comfortable," he said in a cheery voice that melted away Kris's anxiety. "Here, would you like a wine cooler?", he said as he plunked some ice into a glass, poured some cooler into it and offered it to her.
Kris took the glass and gulped a drink, a much larger one that she had intended but she was quite overwhelmed by the situation in which she found herself.
Although there wasn't much alcohol in the drink, Kris felt some more of her tension disappear and she sat on the edge of the bed. Joe continued to chat with her from near the bureau for a while.
Finally he moved over to her and sat down beside her on the bed. He looked into her eyes and leaned forward to kiss her sweetly on the lips. Kris closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. The kiss was just what she needed.
"I nearly forgot," Joe said as he broke away from the kiss. "I have a present for you", and he got up to go to his suitcase. After rummaging in it for a moment he pulled out a gift-wrapped package and handed it to her.
Blushing a little, Kris accepted the package and began to open it. "Joe, you shouldn't have!" she said.
Inside the package Kris discovered 5 long beautifully decorated silk scarves. "Oh, they are beautiful," she said, "but why do I need five scarves?"