The Affair

Chapter 9.2

Friday, June 10, 2022, 6:11pm

"Thanks for the last minute headache, assholes...", William mutters to himself, signing out of his desktop.

He breathes a deep sigh of relief as he slips himself into his suit jacket. It was now a little past 6 o'clock, and he knew that Fallon must already be at the bar waiting for him. He grabs his briefcase satchel and leaves his office, walking towards the elevators as he texts Fallon that he was done with work. A surge of excitement strikes him as Fallon immediately responds with 'YAY', followed by a series of exclamation marks and silly emojis.

The elevator doors open to the P1 lobby and he makes his way to the escalators, riding one down to the entrance of the building. He steps outside and is met with summer's warm air and the afterglow of the sun as it falls behind the tall buildings that surround him. Flowing car traffic cuts off his path, and he uses the opportunity to light a cigarette. As he takes the first pull of smoke, he focuses on the pedestrian crossing signal on the other side of the crosswalk beaming a bright red display of a hand. An obvious signal to 'STOP'.

He takes a slow drag of his cigarette. Thoughts of his wife and daughter at home now enter is mind. Should he stop right here? Just five blocks ahead was Fallon, waiting for his arrival and eager to spend the weekend with him. But he was married, he had a family, and what he was doing was dishonest and immoral. And yet, even with all of these conflicting emotions, William's body moves with the crowd as the signal switches to green. In his mind, he was still deliberating his actions, but his body had seemingly made his choice for him.

After an easy 10-minute walk and a spent cigarette, William steps into the front lobby of the Magnolia Hotel and picks up his keycard from the front desk. On the 14th floor of the hotel was the bar, and he knew Fallon had been waiting for him, but he needed to stop by the room first. The elevator brings him up to the 10th floor, and he makes his way down the hall to room 1006. His keycard unlocks the door, and he enters into the dimly-lit room. It was a typical hotel room; fixed with a king-sized bed between two night tables and lamps, a mini-fridge tucked under a long desk, a dresser for clothes, a large TV mounted on the wall across from the bed, and a sizable bathroom with both a shower and a large jetted-tub. Most importantly, the room was clean and cozy, and William feels pleased with the accommodations.

Stepping further into the room, he places his satchel on the desk before removing his suit jacket and tossing it on the desk as well. On the edge of the bed, he sees both he and Fallon's weekend bags, and he opens his bag to pull a polo shirt that was much more suitable for the bar's ambiance. He then notices a curious wolf plushie that was set on the pillow of the left side of the bed and facing his direction.

"Interesting...", he thinks to himself as he looks upon the stuffed animal, "And a little creepy...".

He shakes off the strange vibes Fallon's plushie was giving him, and he decides it was time to call his wife. Switching the phone to speaker mode, he tosses it on the bed and starts unbuttoning his work shirt. The phone rings several times before June's cheerful voice projects from the speaker.

"Hey, darling, you're on speaker! I'm making dinner right now. Are you in Austin already?", June asks, none the wiser of his shameful ploy.

"Hey, hon. Ah, no not yet...", he starts, pulling his polo shirt over his body before continuing, "I'm actually just now leaving the office. I got a last-minute request from a client that I needed to take care of, and it took me longer than it should have...".

"Oh no... So you won't be in Austin until around 9?".

William sighs. "Yeah... it looks like it... I'll, uh, text you when I'm finally in my hotel of course.".