He was displaying the same attitude he had with me yesterday. His torso was relaxed, leaned back, and his forearm was resting on top of the table while his thumb and index finger drummed rapidly the surface. He was talking and smiling nonstop, and the blonde woman had the cloth napkin pressed against her lips while she tried to control a chuckle. Of course he was being charming.
The waiter finally arrived with our food, and the presentation was so beautiful, I felt sorry I'd be destroying that culinary art. I picked up the cutlery and started rotating the fork with my finger, catching a glimpse of his table every couple of seconds. I was hoping that on one of those glances, I'd catch him looking, but that never happened.
I was being the worst company of all, and Luke was growing impatient. "Jennifer, let it go! That's not true love, that's Jared Leto. Now eat."
I bowed my head down and started eating, mentally thanking Luke for the reality check. Not true love, indeed! I restrained myself from looking again throughout the whole meal.
Once my plate was clear, I sipped the remainder of my wine, and as in a reflex, I again looked over to Jared's table. They were gone. The disappointment would've been visible if I hadn't tried so hard to disguise it. I was extremely rude to Luke tonight, and despite being my boss, he was always a good, friendly company. He didn't deserve it.
We crossed the hotel lobby making small talk, not paying attention to what was happening around us. When we saw the elevator door slowly closing, Luke quickened his step to stop it.
"Ah, Jared!" I heard Luke before I reached the elevator.
I took a deep breath and stepped into the cubicle. Jared was alone. "Did you guys enjoy yourselves?" Jared asked softly. Luke lied, and I just smiled, keeping quiet the whole ride. As we arrived at our level, Luke wished him a good night and stepped out. I followed him, but turned to Jared before the doors closed.
"Jared..." I began, but was cut off.
"Good night, Jennifer." He smiled, then the metal doors closed in my face. I couldn't tell from his attitude if he was angry, hurt or simply being apathetic. He cut me off, but was smiling at the same time. I knew he was upset, but he didn't know Luke had found out about us, so he could just be trying to stay discreet. All those thoughts flooding into my head were deafening.
I switched on the TV in my room, not caring the channel it was on; I just needed the noise to distract me from my thoughts. I went in the bathroom to brush my teeth, and get out of that dress, but as I looked in the mirror I reflected for a moment. He was alone.
I zipped my dress back up and left my room. My heart raced and my breathing was uneven all the way to the elevator. And when I got to his floor, I started to think more clearly. What am I doing here? Just because he was alone in the elevator doesn't mean he was alone for the night
Turn around now, I thought. Stop! Go back. The more the voice of reason tried to talk me out of it, the faster my stupid feet took me to his door.
I stopped in front of his door, gave it a gentle knock and waited a few seconds. When he didn't answer, I knocked again. Nothing.
I tried to listen for any movement, but being such a high profile hotel, I guess the doors were sound proof at some level. Not caring if I'd seem crazy, I pressed my ear against the door, and stopped inhaling for a moment, so the sounds of my breathing wouldn't interfere with what was coming from the other side of the room.
The first thing I could identify was the sound of a TV. I listened intensively for a few more seconds. Then I heard a deep masculine voice, I couldn't understand what he was saying, the sound was muffled and indistinct. But next thing, there's a high pitched giggle. Was it the blonde? Had his PA arrived? But if that was her, why wasn't he answering the door? I didn't want to find out, so I gave up knocking and left.
I went back to my room and changed into some more comfortable clothes. I was feeling an adrenaline rush and wanted to get myself occupied before I went crazy, so I rang Luke's room. He picked up after just one ring. "I need that contract. Have you signed it? I'm going to see if I can use the hotel's scanner to email it over to your lawyer."
"It's eleven pm. Can't this wait until the morning?"
"That's ok." I heaved out a soft breath. "I have nothing better to do. Might as well do some work. One less thing for me to do tomorrow."
"When I saw Jared tonight, I thought you two would be, you know... busy." He chuckled softly. "You obviously have a crush."
"Luke!" I tried to interrupt him.
"I mean, I saw the blonde. Beautiful woman! But he was alone, so that's got to mean something..."
"Luke, stop it right there. He's busy, I'm not." I sounded more hurt than I intended. "There's nothing else to add to it."
"I'm sorry." He sounded offended. "The contract is here in my hands. Are you coming now?" He said monotonically, but I could hear the pity in his voice. I knew what he was thinking, another girl Jared had fucked and tossed aside.
I knocked on Luke's door and he handed me the papers. Looking at me with the same pity he had in his voice over the phone, he asked. "You ok?"
"I'm fine! I'm sorry for how I spoke to you on the phone."
He smirked and shook his head. "You do this, then go to bed. You need to rest. Good night, Jen."
After I finished my task, I closed my computer and slipped into my pajamas. I started to take deep breaths, to try and force my breathing to be even, and the next sound I heard was my alarm going off.
