Five More Minutes

10 | bangable things

AAHANA chose to be silent for the next few hours and it seemed like Everett didn't have a problem with that. Her mind was still hovering over the conversation she had with him. It was hard for her to believe that he didn't feel lonely. She didn't know his story, his history. She didn't know why he wanted to end his trip in India. She knew nothing about him. And Everett was a guarded person. She had already guessed that he wasn't planning to give her any answers.

And Aahana can't sit still without having all the answers she wants.

As her trail of thoughts knitted in her mind, she slumped back and sat down. She played with her hair, thinking, wondering, guessing. When she was deep in her thoughts, unaware of the present, she felt a slight jab on her head. She furrowed her eyebrows, a frown shaping on her face. She stood on her knees.

"Did you just smack me?" As soon as she said it--she burst into laughter.

Everett gave her a serious look through the rearview mirror and chose to ignore her joke. "You weren't listening to me. I said that we should stop by at a motel and freshen up. We stink, we haven't brushed our teeths and we need food."

Her stomach grumbled at the mention of food. "Yes, please."

Everett found a small motel just a few minutes after they established that they needed to stop by. He tossed her the key to her room and told her to meet him in the canteen in thirty minutes since the breakfast time ends in an hour. She rolled her eyes in response, mentioning that she was the most punctual person in her friend group.

Their rooms were right beside each other. As she opened the door of her trashy room, a strong smell of rotten cigarette and after smell of a shaving cream flared her nose. She closed the door behind her and opened the curtains of the gloomy depressing room. The sunlight filtered in quickly and she took a moment to scan her room-a bed with a lumpy mattress settled in one corner, above it was a rusty wall clock. There was a wobbly desk in the corner with a lamp that didn't work. The only thing she liked in the room was the cupboard that had a small locker and decent hangers. She threw her bag on the bed and pulled some clothes out. They were likely going to be travelling today so she didn't need a flowy sundress for pretty pictures. She chose black shorts and a red tank top that she planned to pair with white shoes and funky accessories.

She twisted the doorknob of the bathroom, half expecting to find a dead body but instead she found cockroaches, lizards and a dead mouse. Her heart stopped as she quickly shut the door and sprinted out of her room. She banged on Everett's door, calling his name out.

It took him more than two minutes to open the door. She opened her mouth to voice her concern when she noticed that Everett was half-naked. A white towel was wrapped just above his belly button and his golden tan skin glowed in the light of the day. Droplets of water trickled down his body and his messy brown hair hung below his forehead.

"Holy shit, you're hot." The words escaped her mouth before she could process her own thoughts.

"You staring hungrily made that pretty clear." He smirked and ran a hand through his hair. Did he just acquire a whole new level of hotness? "Don't tell me you banged my door just to see if I am bang-able." Everett cracking a joke? Who is this man?

"You wish," she snickered. "I want to use your bathroom."

"Aahana," he shook his head. "There's a reason we got two different rooms."

"I know but mine is filled with nasty insects. You seem well showered now, let me freshen up."

Everett shook his head that felt a low like this girl spelled out in disappointment. She walked inside the warm bathroom that smelled a lot better and a lot like Everett's creamy perfume. "I still need to brush my teeth," she heard him say but she was already inside the shower with cheap ivory curtains hiding her from the basin and toilet.