The Beginning (11 page)

“Thank you,” I reply but I try not to look at him, as I am sure my face is a mess. Jonathan whisks me into a beautiful small elevator, and presses the 20 button. I keep my eyes on the tile floor and huddle into the crook of his arm. We ride up in silence. The doors open on the twentieth floor and there is a security guard and concierge at a large walnut desk to the left of the doors. 

“Mr. Ellis, how are you this evening? Anything I can take care of for you?” The clean cut older woman’s voice is so even keel and smooth you would think that she always see’s barefoot half naked make-up smeared young girls at her desk.

“Yes Barbara, can you please set my friend here up with what she needs?”

“Of course Mr. Ellis, everything will be up in less than an hour,” then she looks at me and says, “medium-ish?” I nod my head.

“Anything to eat for you?” she inquires.

“I’ll call room service in a bit. Thanks Barbara.”

“Goodnight Mr. Ellis.”

Jonathan grabs my hand and we head down the hall and turn right until it ends.

We arrive at two dark mahogany doors with gold handles. Jonathan pulls out a card key from his pocket and slides it in.

Once the door closes, we take a few steps into his suite, and Jonathan pulls me close into him and envelopes me in a big hug. I curl my fists into balls and rest my arms against his chest and huddle in close. I start to cry a little again, and he kisses the top of my head. I think that I am half crying out of relief and half for the immense caring that he is showing me. This tender moment makes me feel safe. Lifting my head with his hand, Jonathan looks into my eyes and asks if I am ok, really ok? I assure him that I am. “How did you know to show up?”

“Later ok, lets get you settled, and I will tell you all you want to know.”

“Ok” I agree.

“Stay here for a sec,” he asks and I sit on a upholstered bench in the entry.

Jonathan goes into the bathroom, and comes out a two minutes later.

“Ok, all ready for you, go in there, and relax. I am going to order some room service, are you hungry?”

I realize that I am famished. “Yes, I am. Order whatever for me,” and I walk into the bathroom.

The bathroom is stunning; it is all silver, mirror, and white marble. The lighting is soft and flattering. Jonathan has a bubble bath ready for me with a stack of towels on a metallic silver stool. I hang up his coat on the small metal valet, take off my panties, and throw them in the trash; I never want to see those again. Climbing up the two marble steps, I ease into the bath drawn for me. It feels heavenly and smells amazing. The tub is sunken with a little built in seat and arm rests as well as a pillow for my head. I let the water surround me and I try to relax.

Shortly, there is a knock on the door. “Come in.”

Jonathan walks in with two glasses of white wine. There is my hero. His dark hair is mussed up on top, he has changed into black nylon running pants, and a matching black nylon t-shirt with white running socks. “Are you going running?” I ask him.

“Ha no, not tonight, I just changed to be comfortable.”

“Do you normally run at night?” I ask.

Jonathan has sauntered casually across the bathroom and is sitting on the bottom marble step talking to me. I have a feeling he has no idea how he looks, it is effortless and without forethought. I feel something stir inside me under the warm water.

“I do. I love to run through the city at night here, it’s exhilarating and beautiful.”

“Are you a big runner?” I sip my wine and am grateful it helps me to forget.

“Yes, I run 10k’s and half marathons on weekends when I can. I run everyday, I prefer outside but I will run on a treadmill when I have to. I also love to trail run.”

I love hearing about his running, when he talks about it his whole face lights up, and his eyes are bright and he is animated. It is very different from the cool, calm, and collected Jonathan I usually get.

“Have you ever run anywhere dangerous?”

“Well, trails along the edges of cliffs with a deep drop, an active volcano in Hawaii, and the running of the bulls, that was probably the most dangerous.”

“That sounds exciting.” The kind of thing you only read about and he has done it.

“Yes, I didn’t make the entire run though, those bulls are fast! I had to get inside in a doorway.” He laughs. I have never heard him laugh before; it’s a nice deep sound.

Jonathan picks up a bottle of shampoo and looks at me, “Can I wash your hair?” He asks so sweetly and so tender. I nod my head. “Here,” and points to the marble next to him, and I slide over. Using his hands as a cup, he wets my hair down; once he has some shampoo in his hand, he runs it through my locks to lather it. Using those nimble fingers, he proceeds to rub my scalp and give me an amazing massage. It is so comforting, getting my hair washed, sitting in a scented bubble bath and enjoying a glass of wine. I feel so far removed from tonight’s events. I push it out of my mind.

Jonathan rinses the shampoo with his hands, puts in some conditioner and runs his fingers through my hair like a comb, and rinses it out. He then picks up a washcloth, and holds it up, “Can I bath you?” I nod my head again. Picking up the scented French soap he lathers up the washcloth and gently starts with my face. I saw it in the mirror when I was undressing, and I had blotchy makeup and raccoon eyes. I was a mess, but he wipes it all away softly. I have my eyes closed and I am leaning into his reach. When he is done we hear the doorbell, he kisses my nose and tells me he’ll be right back.

In a moment, there is another light knock on the door, and a soft voice says “Lenox?” very tentatively.

“Come in?” I have no idea who it is. Then I see Barbara with a big bag on her shoulder.

“Hello dear, I have some things for you. There are basic toiletries for you, hair gel, hairspray, leave in conditioner, mousse, brush, comb, a scrunchie, mini curling iron, mini flat iron, deodorant, razor, shave gel, nail file, mini perfume samples, lip balm, lip gloss, mascara, facial moisturizer, hand and foot lotion, socks, underwear 3 different types, thong, boy short and bikini. In addition, a set of pajamas, yoga pants, two camisoles, two sports bras, and two t-shirts and a pair of nike flip flops. Now, do you need some tampons or pads?” She puts down a large canvas Ritz Carlton bag filled to the top. Wow. I am impressed.

“No thanks I am good on that front. Where did you get all this so quickly?” Even though she has made me feel completely at ease, I am still leaning into the side of the tub, with my arms resting on the lip at the top step so my breasts are hidden.

“We here at the Ritz never want our guests to need for anything, we have a large room for anyone that has their luggage lost, or unexpected guests.” She smiles. I wonder if she thinks I am a hooker or some stray. I have no idea what I would think if I saw me the way I came in, but she has been lovely to me and I welcome it.

“Thank you Barbara, I greatly appreciate you bringing all this to me.” I give her a big smile, confident now that my make up has been washed off.

“Your welcome dear, just call me if you need anything else during your stay with us.”

She leaves the bag and walks out, closing the door behind her.

A minute later Jonathan comes back in, and sits down on the step.

“Did she get you squared away? Is there anything else you need that she didn’t bring you?”

“No, she got it pretty well covered. Good service here.”

“Oh yes, that’s why I stay here. They go out of their way to take care of all your needs. Especially Barbara, she is the greatest.”

I wrinkle my nose and my mouth up in mock jealousy.

“Oh I see, so she takes care of all of your girls here?” I am looking at him waiting for a response, my stomach is tight, I am being cheeky, but I regret what I said and I do not want to know the answer. Jonathan scoops his left hand behind my neck and pulls me in close to his beautiful face and gives me a nice, long wet kiss, when we part I look up him and he says, “No other girls have been here smartass.” My stomach unclenches and I can breathe again.

Jonathan goes back to washing me with the washcloth, gently pulling out each limb to lather it up, then putting it back into the water. When he pulls out my left leg, I wince a little and scrunch up my face. “Are you hurt? Should I call a doctor?”

“I don’t know.” It does hurt when he touches it, but it looks ok on the outside.

“No, I am ok, it probably just twisted a bit when he pulled me off.”

Jonathan makes a very irritated face, his mouth goes slack line, and his eyebrows furrow. I can tell he is seething. “When I think about what could have happened to you tonight, I want to find those guys and beat the shit out of them. Thank god I peeked into the party when I got a bad vibe from those guys. I overheard them at the bar, and I knew you might be in trouble with them.”

I touch his face with my palm, and feel his soft velvet stubble, and he leans into my hand. “You know you’re my hero right? I was so afraid, I didn’t know what to do, and like a miracle you showed up and rescued me. It was astonishing.” He puts his hand over mine that is holding his face, turns his lips into my palm, and gives me three quick kisses. “What were you even doing there? Here in New York, I didn’t think I would see you for at least two weeks.”

Jonathan looks down at the step he is sitting on, and then up at me. “I wanted to see you, so I moved things around, and I couldn’t call you since I don’t have your number. I wanted to surprise you anyways, at least I was hoping I would be a surprise, a good surprise.”

“Your were! You are. By the way, I don’t have a phone, so you couldn’t have called me.”

“How do you not have a phone? Who doesn’t have a phone?”

“I dropped it, it fell into the subway tracks my second week here and was smashed by the train. It didn’t have insurance on it, and I couldn’t afford to replace it. The place I stay has a land line phone, so I can keep in touch with my parents back home.”

Then I realized, “Oh shit, I gotta go feed the cat.”

Jonathan pulls out his cell phone from his pocket, “I got that covered.” He pulls up some pictures of Marcus playing with the cat. I am astounded.

“What the hell?”

“After Marcus dropped us off here I sent him to your place to feed your cat. I remembered you mention the cat you cared for, so I sent Marcus to make sure he was ok. I took your keys from your bag. I hope you don’t mind.”

So sweet. “Isn’t Marcus your driver? Now he feeds cats?”

“Well, he works for an executive service that supplies more than just drivers. He runs errands, acts as security if needed, keeps an eye out when I am in public. Marcus does anything you ask of him, and in return I pay him well.”

“What does he do when you are in California?”

“He works for a few select clients.”

“Oh, well he’s a keeper.” I realize I am shivering as the water has cooled down.

Jonathan notices as well, “Come, let’s get you out of the bath.” He gets up, pulls a large white fluffy robe from the back of the door, and brings it to me.

“Do you want me to leave?” He asks.

“No” I tell him softly. I like being naked in front of him. He puts out his hand to help me step out of the tub. Once I am out, he wraps the robe around me, and a big white towel around my wet hair.

“Slippers?” he asks.

I shake my head no.

“Ok, let’s eat.” He takes my hand and leads me out of the bathroom to the dining room table. It is covered with food.

“I didn’t know what you wanted so I ordered a bit of everything.”

On the large walnut table I see steaks, roasted chicken, salmon, and fried shrimp. Two large salads, a huge fruit plate, mozzarella ala capprese salad, french fries, bruschetta, rolls with butter, asparagus, steamed broccoli, tiramisu, cheesecake with fresh strawberries, macaroons, and crème Brule. Yum. The table is set with two beautiful china settings, crystal stemware, silverware, and silk placements. There is also a big vase of flowers in the middle on the table. Jonathan pulls out my chair, and then sits across from me. With two open bottles of wine on the table, one white one red, he pours us both some of each and we tuck in and eat.

As we eat, we talk very little. We are both very hungry but watch each other intently. I am observing him select his food to eat, and watching his delicious looking mouth. I am jealous of everything he puts in it, I want my tongue in there, and I intend to put in there soon. While I watch him, he is eating but looking at me with a hungry glare. His eyes are burning into my mine with an anticipatory stare of what he is going to do to me. I know this is what he is thinking, I can feel it, I am tuned into his desire. It makes me anxious to find out what he has in mind for me. I intend on spending the night, even though he didn’t offer. I wonder if tonight he will finally fuck me tonight. I hope he does, I have never wanted anyone or anything more in my life.

After we eat, I go back into the bathroom and put on some of the clothes Barbara brought me. I put on the black thong, black yoga pants, and a black camisole. Everything fits perfectly.