Sunday, November 24th
BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I awoke with a start. I pulled myself out of bed and made my way to my hotel room door. Rubbing my eyes as I undid the locks I opened the door to find out what all the pounding was about.
"What are you doing? We are going to be late and then we will both be in trouble." The normally calm and reserved young lady I had begun to refer to as The Asian Princess was really berating me and I could not figure out what was going on.
"It's a quarter past eight," she hollered, as she pushed her way into the room. "You were supposed to be waiting for me downstairs fifteen minutes ago."
"I'm so sorry," I stammered, "I must have turned off the alarm in my sleep." In reality, I had missed setting it altogether. I was so exhausted when I got back to the room I barely managed to pull the covers over me before falling asleep.
"We don't have time for that," she shot back. "You need to get cleaned up and ready to go in the next twenty minutes or there is no way I will have you back by nine." Then she handed me the clothes she pulled from the dresser drawer and pushed me into the bathroom.
I hardly had time to realize what was going on before she was turning on the shower and barking for me to "get going". Finally I snapped out of it and jumped in and cleaned up. I did a quick once over to be sure my body was shaved and ready like Jess would expect then I hurried back out of the shower, brushed my teeth and hair, and got dressed. As I pulled on my last shoe my chauffeur did a quick check around the room to make sure I did not leave anything.
I assured her that she would find nothing since I brought nothing. In fact the hygiene products I had been using even belonged to the hotel for all I knew. The only things in that room that were actually mine were the clothes on my back. For that matter all of the ones I had been given to wear throughout the week had mysteriously appeared every morning and disappeared the next day when the new ones arrived.
She did not realize everything was that planned out, but really did not seem all that surprised. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Let's go then," and ran out the door just ahead of me.
We did not bother waiting for the elevator. Instead we shot down the stairs as quickly as we could, hustled through the lobby and out to the car. Seconds later we were on the road and the strange realization that I was going home finally hit me.
Suddenly I had butterflies. I had not felt this way since opening night of a play I held the lead in during my senior year of high school. So many thoughts filled my mind. I wondered what I would be going home to. Would she be happy to see me? Would she act like nothing happened and resume her role as my owner? Did she know everything that happened this week? Would she be angry? What had she been doing all those days I had not seen her? My head was spinning out of control.
"Pull over," I hollered.
She hesitated for just a second, looking back at me in the rearview mirror. Then she quickly pulled the car over to the curb. I do not even think it had come to a complete stop before I pushed open the door and held my head out. I had not eaten much in the last twenty-four hours, but everything I had left in me I left right there on the pavement in that moment.
"You all right?" she asked, with concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," I answered. "Just give me a second."
"Take your time," she responded. "While you were in the shower I called your wife and left a message that I got caught by a couple trains and was running a bit late to pick you up. She may not be happy, but it should buy us a little time. Besides nothing your wife could do to me even compares to what would happen if I bring this car back with vomit all over the back seat."
I thanked her for her understanding, took a deep breath of fresh air, pulled the door shut, and then let her know I was ready to go. She verified that I was sure and then we headed on our way.
A few minutes later we pulled in front of my house. As I climbed out the passenger side I thanked her for everything, hesitated just a brief second longer not knowing quite what to say, smiled and shrugged.
She smiled back as if understanding the mental torment I had been going through and then told me to get inside. I nodded back and headed towards the door.
Upon reaching the front door I hesitated a brief moment and thought to myself, 'Should I ring the door bell or just walk in? It is my house after all, but I am her slave. How would Jess want me to handle this?'
Playing it safe, I rang the doorbell and waited for her to come answer. After what felt like a good minute and plenty of time for her to answer, I opened the door and let myself in. Once inside it was impossible not to notice the cardboard boxes strewn around the family room, kitchen and dining room. Most of them were taped shut and appeared as if we were moving.
Bewilderment and irritation were feelings I had grown accustomed to over the last couple weeks, but what I felt now went well beyond that. 'What was going on?' I thought to myself. 'After all this was she leaving me?'
In a huff I charged towards the bedroom assuming that since she was not in plain sight that was the only logical destination. Upon reaching the room I threw open the door and headed towards the master bath where I could now hear the shower running. In a matter of seconds every bit of submission I had tapped into and every morsel of apprehension had turned to rage. She had gone too far.
I do not know if she had bothered to lock the door or not, but I doubt that it would have mattered. I pushed through the bathroom door and in an instant found myself standing just beyond reach of the shower curtain. I caught myself for I second as I realized two steam-veiled figures stood before me behind the shower curtain. One was obviously my wife and the other was a man.
My blood began to boil. I was out of my mind. It mattered not that this man had a good six inches and thirty-five pounds on me. Nor did it matter that I had been with numerous women over the last several days. The only thing that mattered to me was that I had done everything I had been asked to do and in exchange she cheats on me and has already packed.
I tore open the shower curtain so hard and fast that I actually broke a few of the rings that held the curtain to the pole. With my left arm reaching out to grab him by the neck I pulled my right arm back in preparation to give him the beating of his life.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught the look of terror, shock, and confusion on Jess's face and heard her shriek in surprise. That was when I stopped and turned before delivering the adrenaline-induced blow I was about to give.
Somehow I managed to stop myself just in time. More importantly, he held himself back from responding to my intrusion. Standing before me were two perfect strangers.
I dropped to the floor catching my breath and trying to get my bearings. The woman before me snatched a towel off the nearby rack and wrapped herself up in it as the man turned off the shower and did the same. My head was spinning. 'This is my house, isn't it?' I thought to myself as I looked around the room perplexed beyond description.
In a matter of seconds the nauseous feeling I thought I had lost came racing back to me. I started retracing my steps in my head trying to assure myself that I was in the right place.
"Hey! Hey!" I heard the woman calling to me, as she reached out and grabbed me and shook me by the shoulder. As I snapped to, I realized I must have drifted away in my confusion, as it was obvious she had been trying to get my attention for a while.
Finally I was able to focus and she convinced me to get up off the floor and follow her out into the bedroom. From there she excused herself to wish her friend farewell. I could hear her apologizing to him the whole time as he dressed before leaving. Then she pecked him on the cheek and told him to call her tomorrow.
"Sorry," she said, as she stepped back in the room. "I must have gotten my days mixed up. Jess told me you would be coming, but for some reason I had in my mind that it was tomorrow I would be seeing you."
"Jess?" I responded in confusion. Now I was reassured that I was in the right place, but now unsure as to what was going on.
"Yes, your wife," she followed. "She told me she would have you dropped off to me this morning to help out with a couple things. Then I was to send you on a little scavenger hunt."
"A couple things?" I questioned. I was still very lost.