. 05

Chapter 5: Cat Killer

Ellie's back was against the conference room wall. Her mother was inches from her face, yelling.

"Self-sabotage! That's all this is! Don't know a good thing when it's staring you right in the face. I'm not just gonna sit here while you throw away the best thing that ever happened to you."

Ellie winced at the yelling, but tried to keep a steady composure. She shouldn't cry. The best revenge is to fuck women... Wait, was that it?

She glanced out the floor-to-ceiling windows. Her dad sat at the cubicle nearest, hearing everything and pretending not to.

A knock on the conference room door. It was Marco, who let himself in. Mom whipped around. "What?"

"Sorry Lisa, didn't mean to interrupt, but we have the conference room from 12 to 12:30."

"What time is it now?" asked Lisa.

Marco rolled his eyes. "Twelve oh-three." He enunciated like Lisa was hard of hearing. "Can't you hear the alarm?"

Ellie heard it. An iPhone ringtone was blaring throughout the office. It was so loud it shook the floor. Ellie swayed on the spot.

Lisa turned back to Ellie. "I think that's Kathleen, will you get it?"

Ellie was confused. "... Get what?" Was nobody else concerned about the earthquake?

"Ellie," Lisa responded. "Ellie. Ellieee."

The earthquake was violent. The iPhone ringtone was screeching a warning, but everybody was ignoring it! The floor began to crack beneath Ellie, and then gave way completely.

Ellie plunged. Her heart leapt into her throat as she tumbled.

...

She awoke with a jolt.

"Hey! Ellie." Hannah's voice. "Damn, you sleep like the dead. Your phone just rang, I think it was Kathleen. Can you call her back?"

Ellie blinked the sleep away. As pieces of reality clicked into place, she gasped and pushed herself off of Hannah. "Mmmm, what time is it?"

"Just past midnight. I think Kathleen just tried to call you. You should call her back before she worries."

Geeze, it's that late? The side of Ellie's face that she'd hastily unglued from Hannah's sticky, milky boob stung a little. "Yes. Yeah... yep," she mumbled stupidly. She craned over Hannah to grab her phone on the nightstand. Hannah mischievously squeezed Ellie's boob dangling over her face. Ellie gave a sleepy giggle as she grabbed her phone. She dismounted Hannah and perched on the edge of the bed.

One missed call. Ellie hit the callback button.

Kathleen picked up in half a ring. "Okay... that was... scary for a second."

"Hey! Yeah, sorry," Ellie said. "I fell asleep and lost track of time."

"Are you still at the hotel?" asked Kathleen.

"Yeah actually, it's ... pretty crazy," said Ellie, massaging the back of her neck. The margaritas left a parting gift in the form of a slowly-escalating headache. At least I remembered to eat, she thought. Ellie bizarrely considered the sugar content of breast milk, and whether it might exacerbate a hangover. "But good," she finished.

"Kay," said Kathleen, "well, obviously I want EVERY single detail, but not right now because it's past my bedtime. And I'm so happy you're ... you know.... Gettin' some. Just next time you put me on murder lookout, please answer the phone."

"Yeah, I know, that sucked," Ellie offered.

"I seriously was gonna call the cops if you didn't call me back in the next five minutes."

Ellie knew she deserved this scolding and took her medicine. Hannah had gotten off the bed and was walking to the bathroom. Ellie heard the toilet seat clatter, and then Hannah peeing. The door was open. REALLY not into privacy, that one.

"Ellie?

"Yes! Yeah, I'm so sorry. I won't do that again... Thank you for staying up for me."

"You'd do the same. Okay, have so much fun and I love you. Kthanksbyeeeeeeeee"

"Kthanksbyeeeeeee" Ellie chorused with Kathleen in a hideous non-harmony. One of those weird little friend rituals.

Kathleen ended the call.

Ellie set her phone back on the nightstand and then collapsed onto her back. Her head landed on the duvet and gave a plaintive throb. She was laying in the damp spot from her own orgasm. She heard a flush, then the faucet, and Hannah re-emerged from the bathroom. Hannah had finally lost the panties and was now fully nude. She was led into the room by a prideful bush of the same flaming-red as her mane. "I probably need to just throw that underwear out at this point."

Ellie laughed, which made her head throb. "Owwww"

"Headache?" asked Hannah.

"Yeah."

Hannah sat on the bed next to where Ellie lay, her tits resting inches from her face. "I have some peppermint oil."

Ellie frowned incredulously. "I'm gonna need something a little stronger."

"Thought you might say that," said Hannah. "Why don't you take a little hair of the dog" -- she nodded toward the forgotten Chardonnay on the nightstand -- "and go check downstairs. I saw a gift shop with over-the-counter meds."

Ellie worked this over. "It's getting late. It's Wednesday, I have a meeting tomorrow at 8am." And that reality landed like a stone. She still had to drive 30 minutes home, shower, change clothes, get maybe five hours of sleep, and then drive all the way back in the morning. That's a lot to process right now.

"Technically now it's Thursday."

Ellie shot Hannah an annoyed look. "Oh, you're one of those?"

Hannah smirked. Then, seriously: "Well, do you want to leave? Do you need to leave?"

Ellie thought.

I haven't taken a single sick day this year. And after yesterday's bullshit I think I deserve a spontaneous little break.

Choosing firmly to tamp down the guilt of feigning sick, Ellie smiled and traced affectionate little circles on Hannah's knee. "No... I think I can use a sick day."

Hannah broke into a smile that showed all of her teeth. "Are you sure?"

Ellie nodded against the duvet.

Hannah leaned down and kissed her. "I'm very happy to hear that. Now go take care of that headache."

Ellie sat up, the glee nearly canceling out the throbbing in her skull (but not quite), and grabbed her barely-touched Chardonnay. She grimaced as she gulped down the room-temperature white wine. "Eulgh."

Hannah let Ellie borrow one of her grey T shirts and a pair of panties-- Ellie's still being wet. Hannah's shorts were far too big on her, but Ellie figured the T shirt was long enough to be a dress anyway -- a short dress, but her pubic mound was covered, and at the moment that was good enough for her. She therefore went downstairs bottomless.

Ellie forgot her purse, so she charged an exorbitantly-priced travel bottle of Tylenol to Hannah's room and made a mental note to pay her back. The overnight desk clerk gave Ellie a distasteful glance, presumably because of her level of undress, but it didn't embarrass her in the slightest. Eyes on your own work, pal.

When she got back to room 217, Hannah was still naked, but was on her laptop at the desk near the window. She was pumping again. Ellie was amused to notice that the room smelled like pussy.

"Find it?" asked Hannah, not looking up.

"Yep." The medicinal Chardonnay was already at work, but Ellie broke the tamper seal and popped two Tylenol for safe measure. "I owe you ten bucks, don't let me forget."

"I almost certainly will," said Hannah, her concentration elsewhere. "Sorry, I'll be done in a second."

Ellie realized how desperately she needed to pee, and it was a sudden emergency. She bounded to the bathroom, shut the door, pulled off the panties as fast as she could, and sat.

While she enjoyed the release, Ellie looked around the bathroom she was seeing for the first time. A light snoop? Done't mind if I do.

The hotel shampoo and conditioner sat neatly on the edge of the tub, exactly where the housekeeper left them. They looked untouched. But the towels on the floor next to Hannah's discarded clothes suggested Hannah had showered at least once since she got here. Ellie pushed the curtain aside and spotted nothing more than a single, well-used bar of soap. Hannah had definitely brought it with her.

Looks homemade, she thought. You crunchy hippie queen.

Ellie scanned left toward the counter. The hotel soaps and lotions there all remained untouched as well. The only normal-looking personal affect was a tube of lipstick, but otherwise Ellie spotted a fanciful array of potions in hand-labeled glass bottles: Peppermint extract, witch hazel, aloe vera, 'toothpaste' (though it was in a jar rather than a tube), and avocado oil. Ellie smiled and thought privately that they might as well be labeled Granola, Granola, Granola, and Granola.

Completing the set of cottage-core toiletries was a toothbrush that looked like it was made of bamboo.

Finally, Ellie's eyes caught her own in the mirror. "HA HA!"

"What?" Hannah said from far away.

"I'm a fucking mess!"

"A beautiful fucking mess," said Hannah, still distracted.

The hair on the right side of Ellie's face was totally crusted through with dried milk, and her cheeks were smudged badly with the eyeliner she'd cried off. Hannah's crimson lipstick was smeared across her mouth like a bad Joker cosplay. She enjoyed another good laugh when she realized the reason behind the night clerk's stink eye.

Ellie wiped and flushed, went to the sink to wash her hands, and then reconsidered:

"Do you mind if I shower?" Ellie called.

"Go for it, babe," said Hannah.

The water pressure was fantastic, thank God, and Ellie sank deeply into her shower. She let the water run through her hair for a long while. Her cried-out sinuses cleared in the steam.

Ellie turned around to wash her face. She reached for Hannah's bar soap and paused: If that's some kind of boutique designer soap, it could be really expensive.

She decided to take a risk, rubbed off some soap in her hands, and used it to scrub her face. Yep. Definitely really expensive.

Normally, Ellie couldn't find a face wash that didn't completely dry out her skin. She usually had to compensate with a 5-step skin care routine after she bathed. Hannah's soap frothed lightly, but not nearly as much as she was used to. It didn't sting as she worked it over her eyelids and along her lash lines to remove the makeup, and it left her skin feeling firm and protected -- as though it had been waxed. After only one gentle wash, Ellie peeked at the mirror through the shower curtain and was pleased to see the makeup was totally gone.

She reached between her legs and felt that her pubic hair had crusted over from hers and Hannah's earlier exertions. She pooled water in her cupped palms and splashed it on her pussy, feeling the water run slick at first, and then just wet. She washed her labia, which didn't give Ellie the same urge to masturbate that it usually did. Amazing what a good lay will do, she mused.

Ellie soaped down the rest of her body, and as she washed her boobs, she took a moment to squeeze one of her nipples. She imagined jets of milk spraying out of it. She giggled to herself in a steamy echo.

After squeezing a towel through her hair and drying off, Ellie wrapped the towel around herself and returned to the bed. She thought twice about laying with the damp towel on the duvet, then looked over at Hannah. Still nude. The pump bottles were full and sitting passively on the desk. Ellie decided to just let the towel drop to the floor.

"I used some of your bar soap, is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course!" Hannah whipped her head around, smiling. The curls danced. "Nice, right?"

Ellie nodded and returned the smile. "Do you mind if I turn on the TV?"

Hannah was fixated again on the laptop. "Uuuh, yeah, that's fine."

Ellie surfed channels. Slim pickings at this hour. She found an old movie she liked on HBO, Benny and Joon. Then she took it upon herself to pull back the duvet and slid under.

The cool, high-thread-count linen felt lovely on her naked body, and she squirmed a little to savor it. "God, I love hotels."

"Yeah, they're nice," said Hannah, still working on her email.

Ellie half-watched the movie. She grew anxious that Hannah would be working for hours and ignoring her. Why did you even ask me to stay? But just as this resentment started to bubble, Hannah snapped the laptop shut with satisfaction and slapped her knees as she got up to join Ellie.

"Are you just gonna leave that milk there?" asked Ellie.

"Nah, I'll pour it out before I go to sleep," Hannah said as she slid under the covers. "Oh yeah, Benny and Joon! I love this movie."

"So that one made it under your rock, huh?"

Hannah laughed and rolled to her side, throwing an arm across Ellie. Ellie snuggled closer, into her warmth, so that Hannah was spooning her. She felt Hannah's Brillo pad bush pressed against her ass, and squirmed to savor it. She was so impossibly soft and smelled like milk and sweat. "The rock I live under is only ten years old, remember? This movie came out in the early '90s."

Ellie turned her eyes away from the movie, which was difficult: Young Johnny Depp was making dinner rolls tap dance like Buster Keeton across a diner breakfast bar. "Is 'the rock' your job?" she asked..

"Uuuh, it's a side effect of my job, yeah," said Hannah.

Ellie scooched slightly away from Hannah and fixed her with a stare that said, I'd really like for you to tell me more.

Hannah smiled. "I'm not TOTALLY under a rock. I still get out and about. But it's enough of a rock that it does kind of feel like most of pop culture has passed me by. I know a lot about Bruno Mars, but not... Leon..."

"Bridges," said Ellie.

"Bridges," said Hannah. "And I see and hear some newer stuff every now and then. Like, I saw Encanto."

"Martians have seen Encanto," said Ellie.

That got a good laugh from Hannah. Ellie didn't reciprocate. She fully rolled over to face Hannah. Hannah's eyes greeted her, open and friendly.

But not THAT open, thought Ellie. Clearly.

"What did you mean at the bar when you said there was a lot of paperwork before you could tell people about your job?"

"Not 'people'", said Hannah. "You."

Ellie's heart somersaulted. "Okay... Me."

Hannah took a deep breath. "I'm starving. I've probably pumped 1000 calories since Luann's. Do you want to go get a late-night breakfast somewhere?" She made to get out of bed.

Ellie grabbed her arm. "No. NO. Stop being weird! We'll get breakfast after you tell me SOMETHING. You're being... I don't know... all... weird and mysterious and I don't like it." She hated how juvenile that last part sounded.

Hannah bit her lip, considering. Her eyes darted back and forth between Ellie's eyes for a few seconds. Then, stoically, she turned over to get out of bed. Ellie allowed it this time. It seemed she was getting somewhere.

She pulled the laptop bag out of her suitcase and produced a packet of papers on a clipboard. She grabbed one of the hotel pens and then began filling out sections of the packet. A few scribbles, then a page flip; A few more scribbles, another page flip. After five minutes of this, which Ellie allowed to proceed in silence (save for Benny and Joon, running forgotten in the background), Hannah perched on the edge of the bed with the clipboard. Ellie sat up.

"Do you know what an NDA is?" Hannah asked.

"Non-disclosure agreement," said Ellie, chilled.

"Yes," said Hannah. She was now precise in her tone. Business-like. The irony of this prim demeanor paired with her bombastic nudity would've been comical if the hairs on Ellie's back weren't standing on end. "If I'm going to tell you anything, you have to sign this."

Ellie's shoulders tightened, remembering Hannah's speech about having less time than they thought. Her stomach churned with nerves. "Is this some kind of weird red-pill, blue-pill moment?"

Hannah smiled. "No. But it is a serious moment. You know what an NDA is so you understand that it exposes you to certain liabilities, correct?"

"Yeah," said Ellie. "But that seems like a lot. I can keep secrets, nothing has to leave this hotel..."

Hannah shook her head firmly. Her red curls twirled. "This isn't pillow talk. I like you a lot and I want to be able to share more with you, but there are stakes. I cannot give you any more information without your legal obligation to secrecy. I am under the same obligation."

Ellie sat frozen, her arms crossed in front of her nakedness. The fuck kind of game is this? She thought about calling it. She could put on the dress and underwear she came in, pick up her purse, say that she's so sorry but this has gotten too intense, and go home... right?

"Are... are you gonna make me sign it?" she asked.

Ellie saw Hannah's brow and chin flinch. Not of malice, but of hurt. "Of course not. I'm not gonna make you do anything, Ellie. You can do whatever you want whether or not you sign this. Besides blab."

Ellie fidgeted with the duvet and stared at the clipboard. "This is really fucking weird, Hannah."

Hannah smirked apologetically. "I know." She watched Ellie work things over for another moment, and then seemed to have an idea. "Okay, let me lay it out for you." She stuck out a palm. "Door number one: You do not sign this paper. We spend the rest of the night together and have fun, but then I go back to where I came from tomorrow and you likely never see me again."

She stuck out the other palm. "Door number two: You do sign this paper, and then we go out for pancakes because I'm fucking starving and I fill you in on all the stuff I've been keeping from you tonight. And then you're still free to never see me again."

Ellie nodded, still wary, observing Hannah's two outstretched palms. "You're missing the pills."

Hannah snorted. But she continued: "Basically, regardless of what you do right now, you're committed to nothing besides secrecy. Nothing would change for you besides having information that you can never, EVER share."

"Under threat of...?" Ellie asked

Hannah smirked again. "The full might of the federal government and several others. Just read it." She handed over the clipboard.

It wasn't Baby's First NDA. Clients at work required they be signed all the time. Ellie recognized most of the boilerplate NDA language; however, she skipped to the "NON-COMPLIANCE" section.

"In the event that Party violates their obligations to non-disclosure and confidentiality enumerated herein, Party shall be subject to any or all of the following punitive measures:

Forfeiture of due process in United States federal, state, and district courts, including rights to an attorney, rulings by jury, subsequent pleas, and/or appeals.

Execution or incarceration for the remainder of Party's natural life

Ellie's heart pounded. "JESUS, Hannah!"

Hannah shrugged. "Those are the rules. Now you understand why I'm so tight-lipped."

"Do you just give these out to everyone you meet??"

Hannah scoffed. "No, of course not." She added, "There is a reason I'm having this conversation with you. That reason is hidden behind this." She reached forward and tapped the clipboard.

Ellie stared at the signature line of the document. What are you, fucking nuts? Girl, bail. This woman is not normal.

No, she really isn't.

Ellie looked at Hannah. She was close to tears. The lump in her throat had returned. She wanted to get closer to this woman so badly, and resented the fuck out of the fact that it came with such high stakes. "I don't have to do anything if I sign this... besides keep my mouth shut? You're not gonna throw a bag over my head and toss me in a van downstairs?"

Hannah shook her head again. "I don't make people do things they don't want to do, Ellie," she repeated. "And neither will... you know... they. My employers. That's not part of it."

Ellie heaved a deep breath.

Curiosity killed the cat.

She let the breath out in a stream that wooshed in a long, whispered note. Then she signed.

Hannah beamed. "Can I hug you?"

Ellie hesitated, heart drumming with the thrill of what she had just done. Her vision blurred for a moment as she processed the magnitude of it, then cleared. She nodded and set the clipboard aside, smiling uneasily.