Secret Desires

40: Leave It At That

        After Jake walked all of us to our rooms and handed us our keys with their spares, we all took our time to get settled. We weren't to meet by the elevators down the hallway until noon. We still had some time until then.

       "Ugh." Jill groaned. I looked down the small hallway to the open door of the bedroom. Jill was lying on one of the two full-sized beds, face buried in the pillows. She turned her face to look at me. "I can't believe this is our room."

       Neither could I. I looked around the room that wasn't even a room. It was a small suite. There was a kitchenette by the front door that was home to a full-sized fridge. There was also an island that separated the kitchenette from the living room. I was seated at one of the two wooden stools placed on the outer part of the island. I'd taken a seat here when we first entered. I'd needed to sit to take everything in. I was still taking everything in. Jill had run straight to the bedroom and flopped down on a bed.

       "I'm assuming that's the bed you're taking?" Jill hummed her answer as she turned her face back to the pillow. I rolled my eyes, looking away from the bedroom's open door. A bedroom. We had a bedroom with a door in our suite. Not only that, we had a pretty big living room with a big flat-screen television. It was mounted above an electric fireplace within the wall, a simple mantle between the two. The black L-shaped sofa across from the fireplace was big enough for at least ten people.

       A suite. We were given a suite.

       My phone buzzed on the counter. I picked it up to see a message from Jake.

       Jake: You'll be getting a call soon. Keep your phone on you!

       Before I could text him back, my phone started ringing. I didn't recognize the number as I answered. "Hello?"

       "Hello, dear. I heard you made it into your room. How are you liking everything so far?" I was too stunned to say anything. I pulled my phone away from my face to look at the screen. I looked over the phone number as if that were answer enough.

       "Gloria?" A muffled laugh came from the other side of the line.

       "Were you expecting anyone else?"

       "I don't know who I was expecting." Another laugh. My jaw had to be on the floor. Was I really on the phone with Gloria Hoover right now?

       "I won't keep you. I just wanted to tell you that I hope you have a wonderful trip. The suite is on me. Well, the whole trip is but-"

       "What?" Had I heard her right? "What do you mean the whole trip?" I was standing now, making my way to the sofa. My legs felt like jelly.

       "Oh. I was told you all knew who paid for your trip. It was in an email?" An email? What- Oh. The email that was sent out to everyone informing juniors that the trip was back on. The email I hadn't cared to read because I hadn't planned on going until the last minute. That email.

       "I um... I never opened the email. I... I wasn't planning on coming." I would leave it at that. Gloria gave a thoughtful hum. I was hoping that I didn't offend her.

       "I'm so glad you decided on going. After our little talk at that diner, it hadn't sat well with me that your school was blaming you for the cancellation of the junior's trip. I called Mr. Morris right away and demanded he sit and talk with me. He saw me the next day and we must've spoken for over an hour in his office. By the end of our little meeting, the trip was all planned out and I was signing a check over to him to fund the juniors trip."