Paper Heart Goodbyes

Ch. 20

Tess woke up earlier than her alarm and saw that the sun was about to rise. She quietly got up, hoping to not wake Becky who was in the other queen bed in the room and opened the french doors that led to the balcony. She was met with the pleasantly warm air as soon as she opened the doors and she watched in awe as the orange glow illuminated the sky just over the palm trees.

Today was a new day and she needed to be on her A game to gather as much information as she could at the yoga studio and then from Samantha's roommate tomorrow. Journalists always suffered setbacks, whether professional or personal or both, and things would undoubtedly happen throughout her career to rattle her like getting personally called out by a criminal. But, she had to keep moving forward. Closing her eyes, with her face towards the sun, she basked in that California morning light and gathered all her energy to put in the work. She was not going to let the Paper Heart Killer get into her head.

"Morning," Becky's voice came from behind and made Tess jump. Her heart hammered in her chest at the fright.

"Oh my god, you scared me," Tess turned to face Becky and had her hand on her chest. She could feel her heart beating a mile a minute.

"Sorry!" Becky apologized and walked over to stand beside Tess, who went back to leaning on the balcony railing.

"Gorgeous sunrise, isn't it?" Becky asked.

"It is. So peaceful too." Tess listened as the birds chirped and she could hear some sprinklers spitting out water on lawns nearby. Soon it would be rush hour and the peaceful sounds would no doubt be replaced by car engines and horns honking.

The girls stayed there, appreciating the quiet, and the vibrant sky of oranges mixed with blues, for a few minutes longer when there was a knock on their door. Both girls looked at each other quizzically before Tess went to go open the door. A hotel employee wearing a yellow polo style shirt tucked into khaki pants rolled in a room service cart.

"Good morning," he said with a friendly smile.

"Morning...." she watched as he rolled the cart in and stopped next to the round table in the room.

"Uh, we didn't order room service. At least, I didn't." Tess leaned towards the balcony, "Did you order room service?" she loudly asked Becky.

"No," Becky walked back in. "We got room service?"

The man smiled, "This was called in for you ahead of time."

"Do you know by who?" Tess asked, intrigued by the surprise breakfast.

"I'm sorry, I don't, but there's a card on the table. Enjoy!"

"Oh...thank you," Tess said, still confused. Right before the man closed the door she remembered she forgot to tip him. "Oh wait!" she hustled to get some singles out of her purse.

With his head peeked into the room he saw her getting her wallet out, "Oh, that's not necessary. Your generous breakfast benefactor already took care of the tip."

Tess stared at him with the cash in her hand, "Oh. Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's all taken care of. Enjoy your breakfast." With that he smiled one more time and left.

"Who would order us breakfast?" Tess headed over to the table. Maybe it was Chris to make up for hardly talking to her yesterday. Or maybe it was Brian stepping up in the romance department.

Becky picked up the card and read aloud, "I always say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I hope you enjoy the spread. Make sure to eat up, you've got a busy day ahead of you! Yours, PHK."