The Loving Silence

Chapter 20

Luca paced the carpet for so long, his feet had made an imprint. Eventually his colleague Layla excused herself from the front desk and walked up to him. She put his hand on his shoulder and he jumped.

"What's wrong?" She asked as her eyes searched his face. "You're ruining the carpet with your nerves. And you're usually mr Confident. Nothing faces you."

Luca rolled his eyes. "I know this isn't like me." He shook his head. "I  can't help it. I only met him last night, but it feels like we've known each other forever."

She raised an eyebrow. "This is the result of a one night stand?"

He scoffed. "No. I never slept with him. We just... talked. We had so much in common and he understood me. We spoke the same language."

"English?"

He gently pushed her shoulder. "Stop it. You don't understand, so don't ruin this for me."

"Okay, okay, so you like him. That doesn't explain why you're so harrowed."

"It's not like that. I don't even think I am going to sleep with him. I don't want him to one day fade into someone I just met once. Someone whose face I can no longer recall. I care about him." He sighed deeply as he leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "I think I want a close friendship out of this. Something that will last."

She gave him a sad smile. "You do know that not all romantic or sexual relationships end up like that, right? They can last, when the timing and the person is right. You don't have to propose or anything, but promise me that you don't just dismiss this opportunity you have in front of you. People wait their whole lives wishing they got to experience a moment like that. Don't waste it just because you're scared."

Luca smiled slightly and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you. I... I promise I'll try."

She patted his back and fixed his tie as they pulled apart. "So is that it? Was that all that made you act like this?"

His mouth fell open as he was pulled back to reality. "No. We spent the night together - no, not like that!" He added as he saw her wiggle her eyebrows. "When he went to where he was going this morning, we promised to meet up here when after his meeting but before I started work."

"And?"

"He's not here and he's not picking up. When  I call his cellphone, it goes straight to voice mail. Or it would have if he'd had one, so his phone is definitely off."

"Maybe he just stood you up? I know it sounds awful, but you know that it does happened sometimes."

"No, not after the time we spent together. Not after we talked all night like that. Something isn't right here. He got into the taxi that we scheduled for him and he should have been back hours ago. He hasn't returned to his room and he's not scheduled to check out until noon tomorrow."

"We scheduled the taxi for him, you say? As in the hotel staff?"

"Yes?"

"Then why not just check the address that the taxi took him to? Perhaps something happened and he's still there?"

"Genius! You're a genius!"

"I'm really not. If you weren't so out of it, you'd have thought of that already." She chuckled as she followed him to the front desk.

It was a slow day. Those set to check in had all arrived and no one was checking out. There was very little to do at the front desk, but the hotel owner was adamant it remained manned.