"Jennie?" Lisa called into the empty living room. Had she gone to the bathroom? Lisa glanced in that direction, but the door was ajar and the lights were off. She wasn't there. She was nowhere in the suite.
"Fuck," Lisa said out loud.
Lisa knew what must have happened. She was about to propose again, just before the phone rang, even though she'd promised she wouldn't bring it up this week. Jennie hadn't been happy about it. Lisa saw the way Jennie's face had shut down and all the sunshine had gone out of her eyes. It was like a window shade being drawn, the moment Lisa started speaking. Jennie had asked her for six months. That's all she asked. And Lisa couldn't even do that. Now Jennie was pissed at her. And she knew what Jennie did when she was pissed.
She ran.
She couldn't have gotten very far. Lisa had only been on the phone for a minute. Maybe she could still catch her. Maybe it wasn't too late. She hadn't actually said the words "marry me" out loud again. Lisa had still been building up to it when the phone had interrupted her. Maybe she could still backpedal if she could catch Jennie before she left.
Lisa raced to the open window and stuck her head out, craning to see down to the sidewalk in front of the hotel. There, just stepping out from beneath one of the palm trees, she caught a glimpse of the top of Jennie's head.
"Jennie!" she shouted.
She didn't respond. There was a doorman beside Jennie now, waving over a taxi that was pulling in from the street.
Lisa cupped her hands around her mouth and bellowed at the top of his lungs, "JEENNIEEEE!"
She turned her head, looking upwards.
"Jennie!" Lisa shouted again, waving her arms until Jennie's face seemed to be pointing in her direction. "Stay there! Don't go!"
Jennie's mouth was moving, but Lisa couldn't make out the words. Subtitles would have come in handy right about now.
"I'M COMING DOWN NOW!" Lisa bellowed.
Jennie lifted one hand and raised it towards her, but Lisa couldn't decipher the gesture. Was Jennie waving? Or was Jennie telling Lisa to stay where she was?
Didn't matter. No time to think. Lisa had to get down there before Jennie got in the cab.
Lisa bolted out the door of the suite, running past the elevators - too slow. Instead, she headed for the stairs, taking them three at a time as she raced down to the main floor.
She tripped somewhere around the second story, landing on one knee with a loud crack. There was no time to think about the burst of pain that shot up her leg as she hauled herself back to her feet again. Lisa had to get downstairs. She had to catch Jennie before she left for the airport.
At last, Lisa made it to the lobby. She sprinted for the main doors, oblivious to the hotel guests milling about who gaped at her as she passed. A few of them were pointing. Two or three turned to follow her out the door and onto the sidewalk.
What? They never saw a celebrity before? At the Beverly Hilton?
Didn't matter. No time to worry about fans. Lisa drew up to a standstill for a moment, placing her hands on her hips as she gasped for breath. She turned her head and looked towards the spot on the sidewalk where she had seen Jennie standing minutes before.
No Jennie - only the doorman who'd been flagging down the cab.
Lisa looked about wildly. A taxi was still standing at the corner of the hotel driveway, waiting to make a left turn out onto the street.
"Wait!" she shouted, rushing toward the cab. She leapt for the car door and grabbed the handle, tugging it open.
"Jennie! Hold on! Will you please just fucking..."
Lisa's gaze was met by a pair of Japanese tourists in shorts and floppy sun-hats, their eyes wide with amazement. The woman covered her mouth with her hand and let out a cry of alarm.
"Sorry," Lisa muttered. "Pardon my French." She slammed the door closed again and turned to look around.
No more cabs. A little crowd had gathered, talking excitedly and pointing at her. A few of them had cameras. A few looked like paparazzi. A woman screamed. Another photographer pulled up on a motorcycle next to the curb where Lisa was standing.
"Hey Lisa!" a man shouted. "Lisa!"
"Fuck..." Lisa said under her breath, ignoring the onlookers and scanning the sidewalk for any trace of Jennie. "Fuck fuck fuck."
Lisa must have missed her. Jennie was nowhere to be seen. With a groan of disappointment, she trudged back toward the entrance of the hotel and went over to the doorman who'd been helping Jennie.
"Where'd she go?" Lisa asked, still panting with exertion.
The doorman only stared back in amazement.
"Come on," Lisa said. "The woman. The cute little brown-haired one. Did she say where she was going?"
The doorman shook his head and gave an exaggerated shrug. He wanted a tip, Lisa thought. Disgusting. Truly disgusting. True love on the line here, and the man wanted a tip. Lisa reached behind for her wallet.
Her wallet wasn't there.
Her back pocket wasn't there.
Her pants weren't there.
Lisa looked down, the realisation slowly dawning on her that she hadn't gotten dressed yet this morning.
Her wallet was upstairs where she had left it, on the table next to the bed. Along with her car keys. Along with her room keys. Along with all three of her phones. Along with all of her other worldly possessions, aside from a white t-shirt and a pair of boxer briefs.
Snap, snap, snap, went the cameras. The crowd had swelled, forming a U around Lisa.
"Hey Lisa!" someone called. "Lisa over here!
Snap, snap, snap.
"Lisa, did you forget something?"
Snap, snap, snap.
Flash, flash, flash.
They may as well have been a firing squad. Lisa closed her eyes against the glare of the flashbulbs, and said it again - this time with feeling.
"FUCK."
