Lost Toys
Chapter 17
Dawn Rhodes — Wednesday 24th, June 2015
I hated sleeping in that bed with Phoebe and Sara. It wasn’t a room thing. Phoebe and Sara were both skinnier and shorter than me. If I wanted to be untouched they’d cuddle up on the other side. If I wasn’t feeling my best, they wrapped me up and held me. It was the mess. Sara needed to get off usually twice a day. She couldn’t do it herself and Phoebe never thought twice about helping. I masturabted from the chair once. Not watching, just concerned Matthew had taken as much from me. I had never been much of a masturbator but I found myself quickly relieved and mortified. I liked going to work.
Phoebe grinded crotch to crotch with Sara. The redhead mewled, saying thank you with her hair matted against her forehead. Sara’s jaw was cocked tight and she had fistfuls of the bedsheets knotted up in either hand. I quickly jetted across the room. My hair still damp from the shower. We needed to pick up a dryer. I grabbed some work suitable clothes from the closet.
“Fuck me! Ha!” Sara bellowed between lungfuls of noise. I hooked my bra closed and spun it forward before slipping my arms through and settling it right on my chest. I just grabbed the first shirt on the hanger and almost had it on by the time I was at the front door stepping into my shoes. I’d tie them in the elevator.
Their groans followed me into the hall and I hurried the door shut. I was running, jogging in the spot while I waited for the elevator. There were a few people giving me looks for calling from the third floor but at least I hit the button for the parking levels. I had to be at work at 2. That was nearly five hours away.
I didn’t like wandering through this part of the city. Not alone. That was mostly paranoia. I cut through the parking structure over to Matthew’s tower. I think he slept at home last night. I hoped. I nearly tripped over my feet and remembered to tie my shoes. It was just a few minutes more before I was in front of his door. Did I knock? Did I just walk in? I hyperventilated a moment and then took out my phone and texted.
“Coming over?”
“Not planning on it. Do you want me to?”
“No, I’m coming over.”
“K”
I took a deep breath and opened his door. His roommate was in the kitchen. Craps, not the nice one. Not that Craps was mean. There was somewhere on the spectrum between mean and nice and that was Craps. Like Eden.
“Hi, Dawn,” He laughed, “You’re going to catch Matthew with his pants down.”
“Oh,” I said not following. Wait, Matthew had someone here. I guess I should have expected that. I shrugged, “Whatever, how are you?”
“I’m good,” He said as waffles popped out of the toaster, “How’s Phoebe?”
“Weird.”
He laughed and smiled. He had a nice smile. It didn’t fit him.
“Tell her I said hi,” He turned to the fridge after I nodded. I headed into the apartment. I went straight to Matthew’s room. His door was closed. I wondered about knocking again.
“Dawn, you here already?” The muffled voices through the door coalesced. I grabbed the handle and walked in. I swiftly closed the door behind me. The blond chick from the restaurant was on all fours over Matthew on the bed. The skinny blond chick. The skinny flat blond chick. Well flatter than the other waitresses. She was probably still bigger chested than Phoebe or me but... I looked back over her.
Her hair was mostly hanging down around Matthew’s cock. He smiled to me and swept the golden curtain up over her ear. I could see the way she attacked Matthew’s cock with her mouth. I felt embarrassed. I shouldn’t be seeing this. They should have privacy. I should be able to do it like that. I just put as much as I could in my mouth, about a third of Matthew and moved my head back and forth. I witnessed her tongue swirling out from her lips. She still had some of last night’s makeup on her eyes. She looked tired. Imagine how tired she’d have looked if Sara was here.
“So what’s up?” He had his fingers knitted behind his head leaning up against the wall. He seemed so full of himself.
“Our apartment was too crowded,” I caught the flash of blue eyes. I wondered what she felt. She wasn’t blushing. She didn’t seem angry to see me. Matthew’s rocked her whole head up and down his cock. Her lips running with ribbons of spit and strings of bubbles. I’d have been gagging and coughing but she was just messy. Her lips glistened with the deluge. Matthew took a large deliberate breath.
“Well three’s always company here,” He smiled and I started. He urged me to the bed with the motion of his head. I was sheepishly crossed over, one step and I realized my sneakers were still on. I knelt down to untie them. Matthew’s eyes closed and he moved his face towards the blonde. I slowly undid my laces.
“Ah, Mel!” He whispered, he talked like this when he was close. Nothing loud. Just breaths with the shapes of sounds riding out of them. Sometimes he said names but mostly he just breathed out ah’s and oh’s and such. His fingers were gliding through Mel... Melody! Melody’s hair and he rose a bit up on the bed as her fingers rolled his balls. I edged closer in my sock feet.
Melody said something between glugs and around the meat of his cock. He knotted up her hair, I was at the side of the bed now. I reached over and brushed Matthew’s limp hair over his ear. He turned up to me with a panting smile. Both of his elbows cocked in and dragged Melody in further. She snorted and her whole back oscillated in a waveform before his seed jetted into her mouth. I felt my own throat flex in sympathy. Matthew let go of her mussy hair and slip a sweaty arm around my hips. I smiled down at both of them.
“I love you girls,” He announced lazily. I clenched my toes in the carpet as Melody just wiped the drool off of her chin. She smiled at him and I felt like I had to as well. I still didn’t love him; I wasn’t sure I wanted to anymore. I was scared of him, maybe.
“Can you pass me a towel or something?” Melody was up on her knees now, still straddling Matthew’s feet. Her tits jiggled. Her left hand was as much of a mess as her face had been.
“Uh, OK,” I said as Matthew let me go. There were a stack of towels on the dresser. Next to the weird looking anime statues. I brought Melody back a black one.
“Thanks,” She started to wipe herself down.
“Ah, I could just go back to sleep,” Matthew grinned lazily.
“Yeah,” I smiled, “I kind of wish I had a bed to myself for when I needed a nap.”
“We’ll work something out.” Matthew yawned and then his eyes opened. “Shit. I didn’t pack.”
“Yeah, I know,” Melody rolled her eyes, “I got a text from Gwen. There’s two changes of clothes in the backpack over there.”
“You are the best,” He grinned and sat up and kissed her. The sex just made me uncomfortable and awkward, but watching him kiss her made me clench my teeth and narrow my eyes. I turned away trying not to feel so stupid.
“The best until Gwen shows up with breakfast,” Melody grumbled as they parted.
“Packed? What’s going on?”
“Matthew’s going on a trip,” Melody told me. She knee walked off of Matthew and then stepped off the back of the bed. She carried herself better than I could during this stuff, “Ms Flynn said he needed to visit his sister for some stuff.”
“Oh, shit, that too!” Matthew laughed and swung his legs off the bed. He had a bunch of energy for wanting to go right back to bed.
“Where are you going then?” Melody picked her purse off the floor near the closet. She only had eyes for her phone.
“I’m going to Ottawa to correct a big fuck-up,” He told me messing up my hair, “You going to be OK without me for a few days.”
“How many’s a few?”
“Ha,” Getting hugged by a slightly damp 240 pound naked man isn’t really what I’d thought I needed. I was wrong and I pulled him tight on me, “Let me get dressed and we can go get a cup of coffee?”
“Like hobos?” I smiled.
“Yeah,” He smiled.
“Hobos?” Melody scowled. Not at us, at her phone. She was going to town on that thing. My phone had been used for fourteen text messages and one pizza order.
“Not important,” He told her, “You’re training Courtney today?”
“Don’t remind me,” Melody chuckled, “That’s just going to be a barrel of laughs.”
“Alright,” He replied, impervious to sarcasm, “You can get a shower if you want. Dawn and I will probably be back in twenty or less.”
“Have fun,” She stretched. I felt so out of place among the girls Matthew had taken. The waitresses and the old slaves. That telephone girl and the suit chick too. I was almost angry. I slipped into my sneakers again. We headed out.
“Hey man, how come I didn’t hear bloodshed?” Craps’ voice echoed out from around the corner.
“Dawn strikes like a ninja,” Matthew nudged me and I tried to smile at that.
“I hate you lately,” Craps announced in the friendliest tone I had ever heard.
“We’re going to get coffee, back in a few,” Matthew said.
“K.”
We were out and onto the elevator in a few moments. He looked at me and then up and down. I could see my reflection in the walls turning redder.
“Your shoes are untied,” He said lazily.
“Oh, yeah,” I sunk down to tie them. I was just pulling the second laces tight when we opened up onto the ground floor. The cleaning team was in the front lobby. Matthew almost didn’t see them. Just saying an autopilot hello to the first older woman who was sweeping to our left. I didn’t expect him to stop and I walked right into his back.
“Hey, Dawn,” He said as I meandered around him, “Remember the first day we went for coffee?”
“Yeah, I haven’t even known you a week yet,” I pointed out. He laughed at that. It just made me feel small.
“I didn’t know her name,” he was looking at the one cleaning girl I remembered. She was a black woman, maybe my age, maybe a half dozen years older. She was shorter than me and not as curvy as black women are often known for. Her hair was threaded into countless braids and those were tied up in bun out of the way of her cleaning gear. She was dressed in a bleach pocked t-shirt and shorts. Her sneakers looked pristine and new.
“No, you didn’t,” I recalled as Matthew showed that he had a couple slap bands in the jeans he had slipped into. He also palmed his lighter. I was really scared of that thing. He had made most of the Chinese food disappear by just flicking that on between Eden and I, “C’mon. Let’s solve a mystery.”
He walked over towards the windowed doors where the girl was washing the glass.
“Good morning,” Matthew beamed.
“Good morning,” She smiled back. She had a gorgeous smile and perfect teeth.
“I was um wondering, uh,” He got so nervous even with his powers. It was going to bother me if he didn’t show more backbone soon. I felt the butterflies, but I felt like I was being forced to be complicit in this. That I was abetting a dangerous criminal. I wasn’t stopping him. I probably wasn’t off the mark.
“Oh, really?” Her smile twisted into a different but equally genuine form. Her eyes flicked over to the older women but they weren’t interested. She just cocked the corner of her mouth, “$10.00 a gram.”
“What, oh!” Matthew laughed, “Absolutely,” He patted himself down and picked out two fives from his wallet.
“May I ask who referred you?” She asked picking the bills quickly out and stuffing them into an apron. She had a bunch of small baggies in the opposite pocket and was much more discreet in handing it back. Matthew laughed and flicked open his lighter with his off hand.
I felt like I blinked and disappeared. I was brought back by the crack of the slap band around her extended wrist, “What the fuck?”
“Shh,” Matthew smiled and pocketed his lighter and weed. She looked frightened as she quieted down, “First no one referred me. I was surprised, I had been going across town to get high. More importantly, we,” Matthew gestured between him and myself. I did my best to look apologetic, “said hello last time. Dawn here asked but I didn’t know your name.”
“I don’t know yours either,” She whispered aggressively. Matthew grinned, it should have been disarming but came off as triumphant.
“I’m Matthew,” He wrapped my shoulders, “This is Dawn.”
“I’m Aspen,” She flexed her throat as she responded. She didn’t have a grasp on the situation.
“It’s nice to meet you Aspen,” He smiled and we all shook hands awkwardly, “I’m going to need your phone number.”
He snapped a selfie with Aspen between me and him. He then handed her his phone to put in her information.
“You can’t even get a cup of coffee without grabbing a new girl,” I said morosely. He kissed my hair, still elated and bubbly for his latest conquest. It was hard to get him down when he took another girl.
“There you go, white boy,” She thrust the phone back. She was shaking a little.
“Calm down, Aspen, it’s all good,” He gave her a smile and she did warm up a little. He pushed me forward, “We’ll see you soon.”
“Yeah, soon,” She said, getting out of the way for us to leave the tower. He was practically floating. I had a good view of my sneakers.
“Hey you ready?” We stepped outside and nearly right into Gwen. Her clunky Cadillac was sitting in the visitor parking spot.
We never did go for coffee.
Gwendolyn Ashcroft — Wednesday 24th, June 2015
“But ordinary’s just not good enough today!” Matthew was grinning and scream-singing to the radio. I joined in for the “Ow-a-woo-hoo’s”. Sara roused from her third nap of the journey. I rolled my shoulders and was feeling cramped. The longest I had driven my baby was a over the Prince Edward Island when I had just got her. We were minutes into Quebec and still hours away from making it to Ottawa.
“Doesn’t anybody ever know that the world’s a subway, subway?” He continued oblivious.
“Can we stop soon?” Our backseat lump asked, “I need to pee.”
Sara had been as luggage for this journey so far. Matthew and I had chatted, debated, traded seats, sang and fought. He was actually a great road trip partner. I had never gotten to take a vacation with a boy before and until now I had only Sara as an awkward lump in the corner of my rearview mirror.
“Well, she’s not the only one,” I admitted. We had got on the road at 11, two hours after Matthew had insisted we’d be leaving the day before. It was nearly 7 pm now.
“Find a gas station where we can grab some food too,” Matthew directed and now I was on task. Courtney would chip in with her way of doing things, try to bend Matthew’s course to hers but I couldn’t even make a suggestion. Not that his was bad. I hadn’t eaten since Halifax and the coffee in my cupholder was undrinkably cool hours ago. I looked up in the mirror and saw the black Toyota again. He seemed happy enough doing a little over the speed limit like when I was driving and keeping up with Matthew’s pedal to the metal glee when he had taken that first shift. Weird, “Do you want me to drive the next leg?”
“Yeah, that might be for the best,” I agreed. Matthew was the third person to drive my car. I barely talked to my dad for four months after he borrowed it to run down the street for dessert last Thanksgiving. At least Sara didn’t have a license. The radio rolled through its commercials and into Sex and Candy by Marcy Playground. I felt so old hearing my junior high school music on the classic rock station. Matthew just jumped on board and started belting it out again. I smiled at him as Sara pulled her feet up onto the backseat and wrapped her legs with her arms.
It was another half an hour before I found and exit to pull off onto. I breathed a sigh I didn’t know I was holding in when the black Toyota drove past.
“Looks like a Tim’s/Wendy’s, a greasy spoon and a Circle K,” Matthew commented as I pulled into the square little pit stop. There was a gas station connected to the Circle K and I went there first.
“We need coffee, so Tim’s right?” I almost yawned as I stopped at the pump. I still had about 40% a tank of gas. The caddy wasn’t as bad a guzzler as he looked.
“Nah, let’s sit down and get something a bit more solid,” Matthew looked over to the diner. He then looked over his shoulder to Sara, “Alright, last vote, where are we going?”
Vote? He just told us. Besides, if it was a democracy, Sara would be a sycophant anyways.
“Let’s do the diner,” She said to no one’s surprise.
“Cool beans,” He rubbed my thigh, “You want us to get a table while you get the gas?”
“Sure,” I shook my head a little frustrated.
“K,” He leaned over and kissed my cheek, I smiled at him but he reached up and turned my jaw so this time when he leaned in, we kissed for a long moment, “C’mon Sara.”
We all got out. I pumped the gas while I watched them walk across the parking lot. Matthew was stretching eagerly. I understand why we took my car for this. Not that there were many vehicles at our disposal. Deborah’s truck would be fine to weather the journey but Matthew planned to bring more people home and that would have been cramped. Carmen’s BMW was a bit too tiny for Matthew’s long legs on a 17 hour drive. So I was stuck, forfeiting shifts I kind of needed to Courtney for as many days as this was going to take. I was almost shocked when the gas pump stopped. I sighed. Matthew had Deborah’s money but this gas was coming out of my diminishing credit card breadth.
“Hey Gwen!” Matthew waved to me when I walked in. The place was weatherbeaten and had a very family run feel. One bored waitress was filling the coffee mugs of a couple of older men but it was otherwise empty. I crossed the restaurant and sat down next to Matthew. He leaned his head warmly on his shoulder. I hugged him a little. God, he wanted everything from me. Sara slurped a 7-up through a straw.
“The coffee here is like a punch to brain stem,” He assured me as he took a sip from his cup. One was waiting for me.
“Maybe I should hold off and take a little nap in the car so I’m good if you need me to drive again?” I offered. My stomach gurgled though.
“You sure?” He rubbed the back of my hand until I let him lace his fingers between mine.
“Not sure, but—”
“Ok, I’ll just have your cup as well,” He smiled.
“Hey there,” The waitress came up. She was a young black woman, attractive but not really enough for Deborah to hire her, “You ready to order?”
“Haven’t even looked at the menu,” I admitted picking up the double sided laminate.
“Just a few more minutes,” Matthew spoke up before Sara could get out whatever she wanted.
“Sure thing, sugar,” She smiled, “Something to drink besides the coffee?”
“Just water, thanks,” I replied and she headed off. Matthew squirmed next to me, cracking joints from his ankles to his neck. I stretched out a little myself, until I caught Sara’s feet under the table and she played footsie back. I sat up straight.
“All this looks unremarkable,” Matthew laughed, “What’re you two getting?”
“Probably just a wrap,” I said looking over the menu for something that was deep fried or battered.
“Double bacon burger,” Sara declared.
“Great minds think alike Sara,” Matthew beamed.
“Yeah, but fools seldom differ,” I finished a bit more snarkily than I could. I went red. Almost apologized but Matthew was laughing and then he kissed my cheek again.
“You are incredible, Gwen,” he grinned.
“Gwendolyn,” I roboted still a bit shell shocked with myself to let it go.
“Of course, I’m sorry,” He smirked.
The waitress came back and I looked her over again with a bit more harpyish eyes. Matthew didn’t seem to notice her. I couldn’t believe it. He had seemed giddier and more eager with every mile of road we left behind. He had his eye on something and I was scared to meet her. The waitress left with our orders.
We were there for about forty five minutes. Matthew ate a huge meal. The burgers they ordered were big anyways but pair that with the large poutine Matthew wanted because we were in Quebec, he needed and authentic one, and the sundaes he insisted on afterwards. I wasn’t surprised Matthew ate it all, I was slightly horrified Sara kept up. I was badgered into the sundae and it was so good. Could I really afford that kind of indulgence though? I didn’t have a quarter of Sara’s apparent metabolism and I was notorious for only pledging to exercise not burning the calories. What would Matthew do with one of us if we got fat? It was so good though.
“That was spectacular,” Matthew grinned and slumped in the booth at my side. I rubbed his hair. It was easy to imagine that Matthew would want either one of us or that waitress to kick himself awake. I worried about being thrown on the table and stripped of my jeans and thong. Matthew was capable of it but sometimes he forgot himself and acted with a bit of decorum. I hoped he’d at least wait until we weren’t in public. I looked around the restaurant. Those old guys were gone, there was just a middle aged man with slightly unsightly hair sitting at the counter sipping on a cup of coffee and hovering over a half eaten muffin. He looked past me, and I turned to see Sara breaking eye contact with him.
“Can we go now?” She asked.
“Yeah,” Matthew belched, “I should probably hit the head.”
“Who’s head?” Sara questioned and I rolled my eyes. I looked back but the man was chatting with the waitress and he had passed us on. That was fine by me.
“The washroom,” Matthew explained to Sara.
“C’mon, we should go too,” I stood up and Sara got up with me. Matthew left a fan of too many twenties on the table. The women’s room was just two stalls and a sink. The door closed behind Sara. I was about to ask her about the guy at the counter but she just ignored me and disappeared into a stall. We all met up at the door and left for the car where I tossed Matthew the keys.
“Next stop, Ottawa!” I hoped my bladder would last. As we pulled out of the parking lot I caught sight of a black Toyota parked opposite the Wendy’s. I shut my eyes and didn’t sleep for the next four hours.
Ida Whitetree — Thursday, June 25th 2015
“Bon Matin, Gigi,” Five thirty AM was a hell of a time to begin my shift. The night crew girl was looking fresh and beautiful. I couldn’t tell you how she did it. Gigi had all but hired me five years ago, just passing me up to the boss for paperwork. Now my Art History degree was gathering dust while I worked full time at the Delta. The front desk wasn’t a bad job. Standing all day alerted me to the wonders of New Balance sneakers. I’ve seen Gigi handle whole shifts in heels. She was a terminator.
“Ah, oui,” Her mellifluous accent chimed, “Bon matin, Ida.”
“Slow night?” I couldn’t hold this job without being bilingual but I preferred English and Gigi always seemed to need a bit more practice with my language than I needed with hers.
“Yes, she was quiet,” She smiled giving night a feminine gender. I think she did it to vex me but maybe she did have trouble with neutral pronouns.
“Well, hopefully so will today,” I smiled, the first of many for the day.
“Mais non,” She complained, “Something exciting would make the day go faster.”
“That’s true,” I grinned. The elevator dinged and I looked up to see one man and two beautiful women step out into the lobby, “Let me handle this, you’re probably due your break.”
“Merci,” She smiled and finally it seemed like the night caught up to her. She was nearing thirty eight. Not old and she clearly chose the late night shifts but it wasn’t always the easiest on her. She touched my shoulder, a reach for her, and headed into the back. I looked up as the three approached the desk. They all looked sleepy. He had bags under his eyes and had a wide eyed look that was tinged with bloodshot. The shorter blonde girl had a stubbly blond hair. I wondered if I could get away with it. I didn’t have the slew of tattoos that she did over her arms but sometimes, most weeks, I was fed up with my mid back length brown hair. I probably wouldn’t cut it back so extreme though. The other girl was more of the classic beauty. She was about as tall as his nose and wavy blonde hair that framed a symmetric face with high cheek bones. She had those early Hollywood curves. She was blinking and dragging a small red wheelie bag.
“Hello, welcome to Delta Ottawa, are you looking for a room? Do you have a reservation?” I asked right into a lion’s roar yawn from the man. The little blonde was struck by its contagious effects. I had to tighten my smile to be certain I didn’t risk that faux pas.
“Ah, yes,” The taller blonde answered swiftly, “Is it under your name, Matthew or Ms Flynn’s?”
“It’s probably under Reid,” He said wiping his eyes. He was blinking hard while I typed his name into the computer. I typed Reed first and then tried Reid actually.
“Ah, yes, your room is ready, suite 406. Two queens?”
“They certainly are,” He chuckled slipping his arms around both of them. I laughed politely. I think the taller blonde caught it. Likely, worked in customer service too. I started printing the swipe cards to get them in. I caught the man looking me over a few times. It wasn’t uncommon and they looked beat, probably just a little too tired to be discreet about it. It wasn’t great. I felt self conscious for my too fair skin and my tallish bonish figure. I mostly felt impatience for him though. He started patting himself down.
“There’s some in your bag,” The little blonde declared.
“Ah, Matthew, no,” Complained the taller one. I picked the cards out of the machine and looked up as the man knelt and unzipped his backpack. I turned to the tall one.
“Alright, we already have the credit card information on file, so we can get you up and to bed as quickly as possible,” I offered her the cards in a folded paper but she gestured to the man who was standing up with a straight blue stick in his hand.
“You know just what I want,” She seemed a bit melancholy.
“Hi,” He looked down over my breasts to my nametag, “Ida. I’m Matthew.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Matthew,” I said as he stepped forward.
“These contain the key cards, one for each of you,” I smiled, “Would you like me to call you a bellhop to take up your luggage? And if you’re hungry our restaurant is just opened for breakfast.”
“No, we each only have the one bag,” He said slipping the sleeve into his pocket, “But there is one thing you could do for us?”
“Anything,” I said brightly.
“Just what I wanted to hear,” He chuckled while the tall blonde went red. Oh well, I’ve turned down clients over the years. I was almost good at it now. I hoped he was here for just a short stay. He laid out the blue stick on the counter. The words Forefront Foundation were written across it in white, “I work with this charity and they gave me a bunch of these and I have to hand them out. Raise awareness so I can charge these expenses as work related.”
“Ok... What’s the Forefront Foundation?” I raised an eyebrow.
“It’s a charity. Raises money to support women’s education. They provide scholarships and grants and stuff.”
“So I just have to take this?” I reached for it. This was turning out better than I had first expected.
“Well you should wear it,” He smiled a smug smile. I could see him lick his lips like a nervous tic.
“It’s a stick,” I was not versed in the means of wearing sticks.
“No, it’s a slap bracelet,” He grinned.
“OK,” I laughed and reached out my fist towards him. I looked to the blonde, the tall pretty one and almost saw her shake her head “No” before I heard the crack and the bracelet coiled around my forearm. The other girl just split her face in a huge smile as the bracelet closed. Well, I’d only be wearing it so long as he was in the lobby.
“Excellent!” He announced.
“Matthew,” The tall blonde tutted.
“Just while we’re up here.” He said as a promise.
“OK,” She sighed. She looked up to me, “I’m Gwendolyn and that’s Sara.”
“Alright,” I was confused.
“Oh, is your co-worker gone home? The one who was here at the desk when we came in.”
“No, she’s just on making sure her duties are completed so she can have her break,” I had no idea why I would share that information. I smiled harder to hide my confusion.
“Oh, perfect,” He grinned and Gwendolyn turned away. She almost took a step but then seemed to remember that he had the keycards, “Bring her out so I can take care of this one too.”
Another slap bracelet was laid out on the counter. Sara was vibrating in her heels. She couldn’t help but smile. She reminded me of a little boy pulling the wings off a housefly.
“Sure, I’ll be right back with her,” I promised. I told myself I’d just get Gigi and then we’d throw away the bracelets when they went up to their room. It was a weird morning. I wonder if weird counted as exciting to Gigi?
I ducked my head in the room behind the desk and Gigi was sitting there with a pair of headphones in and was sorting through a spreadsheet on the buckety computer. We had windows 8 and flat screen monitors at the counter and Windows ME with an overweight box monitor in the back. She looked up as I came in.
“Ida? Did she get busy?”
“No, it’s just those first customers,” I replied and she looked up, “C’mon they’re doing this charity thing,” I showed off the bracelet, “It’s kind of cool.”
It was only a little lie. Little but total.
“I’m just about done here,” She resisted.
“Please, it’ll be quick,” I promised.
“You sound like my husband,” She laughed, “OK. What Charity?”
She asked as she put her headphones down next to the keyboard.
“It’s called The Forefront Foundation, it’s for girl’s education.” I explained the totality of what I knew. I hoped there was no follow up.
“Oh, I like that,” She told me and we walked out to find Matthew and Gwendolyn having a hushed conversation. She seemed disappointed. He seemed excited. His sleep deprived look made him a little scary.
“Bonjour,” Gigi walked ahead of me and Matthew lit up to see her approach, “Mon amie,” She saw Matthew react to her language and she stopped with a her broad smile, “Ida has asked me to help with your charity.”
“Oh, it’ll just take a moment,” He promised, “I just want to get a picture of the two of you wearing the bracelets.”
“C’est facile,” She smiled and reached out her arm for Matthew to bring down the bracelet on Gigi’s arm. She looked posed to show it off, “She could be a little bit prettier, but she’ll do.”
“She?” He asked and caught my slight head shake, “Nevermind. Thank you ladies. We’ll be sure to see you soon.”
“The photo?” Gigi asked confused.
“Of course,” He smiled and pulled his phone out. He took a moment to look at the black domed security cam over our heads and I felt a weird tingle running along my spine. “Smile.”
We leaned shoulder to shoulder with our left arms out ahead of us as he clicked his picture. “But right now I need to get to bed.”
“Sleep well,” I agreed.
“Bon soir,” Gigi said.
“At least tell me Sara’s taking the second bed?” Gwendolyn asked as Matthew waved to us.
“Of course, she’s not as cuddly to sleep with,” He laughed. I watched those two girls leave with him in utter disbelief. I wondered how rich he was. Not enough, I concluded.
“Ida, cherie?” Gigi called my attention.
“Yes?” I turned to her and saw her standing awkwardly with her fingers circling the slap bracelet on her wrist.
“I cannot take her off.” She explained.
“What?” I asked reaching down to mine, “Oh, merde.”