I stood in front of the mirror smoothing my light brown hair. It was parted in the middle and bunched into 2 ponytails falling either side of my face, each tip grazing the tops of my breasts.
It was a hairstyle for this room only. I would never walk down the street like this. It was schoolgirl style, no question about it and if my hair didn't give my intentions away, then my outfit would.
I stood back from the mirror and looked at my thin white cotton shirt, elbow length and knotted at my smooth abdomen. Several inches below my blue plaid skirt began, low slung and finishing mid thigh, all 6 inches of it. The skirt covered the cute boy leg kickers, cut high over my ass. I didn't bother with shoes. I looked pretty cute and although I was old enough to have my school days behind me, I looked young enough to get away with it.
I picked up my phone to let Marc know the room number. He'd be on his way, expecting my text.
We were together every couple of months for a few hours, maybe an evening depending what his annoying wife was up to. I hadn't met her, but had heard enough. I was no longer married and enjoyed the relationship we had. It was an uncomplicated friendship that benefitted us both. We enjoyed each other's company and some enjoyable sex every now and then where I felt free to explore. I didn't love him or yearn for him or even think much about him when I wasn't with him. He was just warm and easygoing and enjoyed time with me without needing to analyze why.
Today was our first role playing experience together and my little cotton kickers were already getting wet at the thought of what was to come.
There was a knock at the door as I was tapping out my text. I moved quickly to open it, realizing too late that it couldn't be him - he couldn't have found out the room number. I pulled the door open before this thought registered fully and standing there, a slight smile on his face wasn't Marc, but Dominick.
Oh god. Oh shit. How was this happening? My stomach dropped with a mixture of fear and surprise.
"Wha ...what are you doing here?" I stammered.
"I might ask you the same question" he asked coolly.
My focus started to re-emerge. He had no right. "Funnily enough I'm minding my own business."
"How very boring" he shot back and his stance changed imperceptibly. To the casual observer he was just standing outside my door, but I knew that stance. I knew the purpose in the angle of his body, the slight twitch of his fingers, the set of his jaw.
"What's his name?"
"What? You don't know him. Please leave now."
"What's his name." His voice had dropped slightly, question mark all gone.
"Can we please talk about this another time?" I asked, starting to close the door.
His hand shot out and stopped it. His eyes ran slowly from my hair down my body to my naked feet and then back to my eyes, pinning me in place. "We'll talk about it now."
I shook my head no.
"It's very simple. You either let me in or I will stand outside your door and take pictures of any man who arrives and then I'll interrogate him. I'm pretty sure a man who's visiting you in a hotel room at 2pm on a weekday has something to hide. No?"
We stood, glaring at each other for long drawn out seconds. He knew that he had me. He would carry out his threat.
"Fine!" I snapped and opened the door and strode back into the room.
I heard the door close behind me.
I refused to turn around.
I could see my afternoon of fun and exploration was gurgling down the drain and I wasn't sure I could stop it.
"Call him now and cancel."
"I will not!"
"Do it now. If he comes to the door, I will answer it. Is that what you want?" I could hear that he had moved closer behind me.
"Do it."
I scowled and picked up the phone. Dialing Marc I took a deep breath as it connected.
"Hey! I'm about 15 mins away, what's the room number?"
"Marc, I'm sorry. I have to postpone. Something's come up. I can't go into it now but we have to postpone. I'm sorry."
"What?" I could hear his disappointment. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry. I'll call you tomorrow." I hung up before I had to hear more of the confusion in his voice. I couldn't talk to him now. I couldn't apologize. Couldn't explain.
"Nicely done." drawled Dominick.
I clenched my fists, my jaw. I refused to turn around.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked quietly.
"Purely by chance. I left a meeting across the road and saw you come in, and wasn't that fortunate?" His question sounded almost playful.
"I want you to leave"
"I have no intention of leaving. I find myself very intrigued by this outfit you have on. The little skirt in particular."
My experiences with Dominick had been to date, hard to understand. We'd met at a work function after I'd changed companies. He was complex and compelling. He didn't chase me, but he always sought me out at the functions we found ourselves at. We would invariably end up talking quietly at one side of the room or bar, his manner and body language creating an oasis for the two of us. I'd observed how other women admired him. He was quite powerfully built and had brown hair and green eyes like me. Not conventionally good looking but compelling in a way that eclipsed most other men in a room. I'd heard he had a girlfriend but he'd never mentioned her.
He had a slightly dangerous edge to him, like something was simmering below the surface and any conversation seemed to be a chance for him to lead me further toward a precipice of his choice. It often felt like he was gently holding me over the edge so my stomach was permanently in a flip flop around him.
One weekend morning after a run I'd taken refuge at a cafe as a storm had set in and the rain was pounding down. He was there, alone, paper and coffee in hand. We shared some breakfast and sat talking for an hour as the rain poured down outside. It was one of those moments in time where it felt like there was nobody in the world but the two of us. He had a habit of focussing his attention on me so intensely whenever we were together, that the absence of it after would leave me feeling strangely empty.