"Delivery for Henry Roland." The slim, dark-haired girl wrapped in a black trench coat batted her eyes. The stout man at the door looked over his clipboard at her, and then at the curly-haired blonde beside her, who was beaming a thousand-watt smile.
He flipped through a couple pages on the clipboard, looking doubtful. The blonde sashayed up to him, her wobbling ankles barely noticeable, and tipped down the clipboard with one manicured nail. "Special delivery." She shrugged back her coat, revealing a tight red mini-dress, calf-length black boots with spiky heels, and plenty of bare skin in between.
"You're expected," he said, utterly unsurprised, though he still took his time looking her up and down. "Room 169. Third floor."
"Thank you." The blonde smiled sweetly, closed her coat, and strode on. Just out of sight of the lobby, her ankle turned and she nearly fell flat on her face.
"Bryn!" The first girl swiftly caught her arm and righted her just as they reached the elevator doors.
"Whoops. Thanks Alessa." Bryn giggled. "In all our training they never taught us how to walk in these, did they?"
Alessa jabbed her with her elbow, reminding her partner where they were. "Careful now." Bryn was caught up in the excitement of being out in the real world. Even Alessa felt a stirring at the strangeness of it all. Life outside was so noisy-so messy. That struck her most. It lacked the quiet, intense order of the Institute.
The elevator doors slid open with a chime. A young man in a uniform stood by the buttons.
"Good evening. Which floor?" he asked politely. To his credit, he kept his eyes off them, but then, no doubt he'd seen women come and go all the time.
"Third." Alessa and Bryn sauntered in and turned around to face the doors. They stood in silence while the doors closed.
Bryn began to get a mischievous look in her eye, and she leaned toward the young man. Alessa caught her eye and shook her head. She hung out with Bryn for many reasons, but mainly because her friend was so full of life. It was made her almost feel balanced. But other times it could be exasperating.
They arrived at their floor and stepped out into the hallway. The doors closed behind them, and they were alone.
The lushly carpeted and furnished hallway was not silent, however. Music pounded behind doors, and occasionally laughter could be heard from within the walls. Alessa took a deep breath and slid her phone out of her pocket.
"All right," she said, calling up the blueprint of the hotel. "This is where we are. We need to get down to basement level. We'll take the stairs down-there're no cameras there." She studied the blueprint a moment longer, memorizing the route they would take.
"First things first," Bryn said, linking arms with Alessa for stability. They strode together down the hall and came to room 169.
Bryn went in first, slipping her coat off as she entered the dimly lit room. Light from a TV flickered in the suite. The figure sprawled out on the bed looked up when the girls entered.
"There you are," he rumbled, eagerness making his voice rough.
Deep down inside, Alessa felt calm, tranquil. She dropped her coat beside Bryn's as she came up beside her. She felt quite a bit more exposed without the coat. Her tight leather miniskirt was extremely short, though her boots were thigh high. It was slightly difficult to breathe in her leather corset top, and it squeezed her chest out alarmingly. She wasn't used to seeing so much of her own flesh.
As if to reassure herself, she touched the studded leather armband on her right arm. It hadn't slipped.
Bryn hesitated. The man on the bed was looking them over greedily, sitting upright now on the edge of the bed. The thrill of the hunt overpowered Alessa, surprising herself, and she walked up to him without hesitation, putting on a smile.
