I couldn't believe the audacity of that woman. She herself didn't do anything. She profited by telling my Katherine what she should do, instead of doing great things herself. She fell asleep too.
Katherine drove on. I was fighting to stay awake and I had gotten a good nights sleep. I drifted off to sleep again and again but I woke shortly after that. Katherine didn't look tired. She was humming along with the radio softly.
“You really rocked that song this evening.”
“Thank you. I'll think of something so I can pay you back in kind.” She sounded wide awake. Like she was planning my demise.
I couldn't do it anymore. I laid my head to the side and fell asleep.
It was bright out when I woke up. Katherine was singing softly and the car was still moving. I looked at my watch. We had left Berlin shortly after one in the morning and my watch said that it was just a little after eight.
Katherine was pulling through, like she always did. Her agent was babbling at her and she was explaining what she all expected Katherine to do.
“I expect her to go to bed and sleep. Thank you for safely getting us this far, Katherine.” I hoped that her agent would also think to thank her. She didn't, she went on like I hadn't said anything.
Katherine glanced at me in the rear view mirror for a second. She had looked a little scared of me again and sad too. She was just pretending to be doing well. The truth was that she had been better off with me.
I would do what I could to get her back.
Three hours later she parked in front of a hotel. She could hardly stand as she got out of the car. Her agent went in without a second glance at her. A bellboy was getting out our luggage. I told her to sit down in the lobby, that I would check her in. She yawned and sat down.
I told my manager to cancel all of my appointments for today. Hers should be canceled too. I looked over at Katherine. I checked us into a room together. Her agent had already gone up to freshen up. I collected Katherine and up we went. She leaned against the side of the wall in the elevator. I helped her to our room. I wondered what would happen when she realized that we were sharing.
I helped the bellboy with our bags and gave him a tip. He wanted to explain the room but she was just tired and she knew how to use a bed.
My mind drifted off for a second. I refocused. Getting her back was the most important thing to me.
“Thanks, Ryan.” She stood leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom. I bet she would have fallen if she would have had to stand on her own two feet.
“Oh, by the way all of your appointments for today have been canceled because of the weather. Just go to bed and sleep. Do you need help with anything?”
“Nope, I'm fine.”
I snorted. I didn't want to but it came out before I could hold it back. She had tears in her eyes but she was pretending that she didn't. “I didn't mean that. I meant that after what you all accomplished that you have to be beat.”
Her eyes widened at the double meaning of the last word.
“I know I would be dead tired if I would have had to drive all night when I was already so tired. Thank you for getting us all here safely. I feel guilty for sleeping while you had to stay awake.” I think that came out right.
“Well, your welcome.” She yawned again and grabbed her bag. “I'm just going to take a warm shower.”
“Sure, I'll let myself out.”
She nodded and went in and locked the door. I heard the water going on a second later. She must be desperate to get to bed. I moved my bags into their place so they were hid away. The plan was that we would be staying here three days. I unpacked as much as I felt I would need.
I stood off to the side. She came out still yawning. She went right to the bed and pulled the covers back and crawled in. I waited a few minutes and when I was sure that she was sleeping I went into the bathroom and got ready for my nap too.
I stared at her sleeping there before I got into bed with her. It was kind of cold and the sound of the wind outside made me feel even colder. I inched in closer to her. I missed sleeping with her but when we had slept together we had both been naked so we could get at each other easier. That was when things were still okay.
I drifted off faster to sleep that I thought possible.
I stretched and reached out to Katherine, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
She rolled into my arms and stretched too. Her eyes flew open and she tried to roll away from me.
I held her tight so she couldn't. “No, Katherine we are going to talk about this, now.”
“Let go of me.” She was hitting at me but she wasn't hurting me at all.
“Calm down, Darling. I just want to talk.”
“Right and if you don't like what you hear, you will hurt me.”
“I'm not going to hurt you, darling.”
“Lies, that's all lies. All you ever do is lie to me.”
“When did I lie? Tell me when I lied?” I was holding her tight, not letting her go. She was kicking at me and fussing around a lot.
“It would be faster if I listed the times you told the truth.”
“Tell me what I did wrong.”
“Everything.” She stopped kicking and looked me in the eyes. She was out for blood. That had really hurt because she seemed to believe just that.
“But I love you so much. I took care of you in every way a man can take care of a woman.”
“Stop it! Let me go! Get out of my room.”
I let her go and she ran to the door. She wanted out badly. I blocked the way. “This is our room, Darling. Because of the snowstorm we had to share. Look out the window.”
She went to the window and looked out. It was blinding white out there.
“All of our appointments have been canceled. We have time to talk.”
She turned on me and her hair flew around her. “I don't want to talk to you. I'll see to it that I find someplace else to stay. I'll call some friends.” She headed for the phone.
I blocked her. “No, this is something we need to talk about. This is a chance for us to speak about everything that happened and clear the air. At the very least I want to be friends with you.”
“Friends, us? No. I'm leaving.” She tried for the phone again.
“No, Katherine. We are going to talk about this now.”
“Cause you said so,” she said in a smart ass way.
“Damn right, darling.” I stared her down.
She turned away from me and went into the bathroom. She gave the door a good slam. The door locked.
I went to it and knocked. I had doctored it so it wouldn't actually lock. I heard the shower go on and wondered what she was up to. There wasn't a window in there or a phone. No means of escape.
Okay, that sounded bad, even to me. Now I sounded like a kidnapper to myself too.
I waited and waited. Then I wondered if she had a cell phone in there. I knew she wasn't a fan of those but people change. She had, dramatically.
The door opened and she came out with her hair wrapped in a towel and wearing the same pajamas as before. She was playing with the door and looking at the lock. “What did you do with the door?”
“I was afraid that you would childishly lock yourself in and not come back out.”
Katherine mumbled something under her breath. She gave up on the door and went to her luggage. She fished out a warm sweater. Then she went over to the heater. She did something with it and it started to get warmer. She sat down next to it and yawned.
“Do you want to sleep some more, darling?”
“No, I don't trust you.”
“Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?”
“Yep.” She looked away from me.
“Katherine, could it be that someone came to you and told you something about me?”
“Nope.”
“Do you really think that I cheated on you? Do you think I would be that foolish as to do that to you? I wouldn't. I would never do anything to risk wh
at we have.” I sat down on the bed across from her and tried to make her understand.
She didn't answer. She sat there very still and sad looking.
“Why did you tell your agent that I had cheated on you?”
“Because it's the truth.”
“No it isn't. You can't believe a lie like that.”
“It isn't a lie.”
“Yes it is. Who told you something like that?”
She didn't answer at all and I was so desperate to hear what she had to say. “I'm hungry.”
I stood and went to the phone. “What do you want to have, darling.”
“Could I have a menu? Oh, and I'm not your darling.”
I decided to ignore that last part. “I don't see a menu but I could call for one,” I suggested and looked over at her.
She nodded. I read how to use the phone quick. I called down to the front desk and asked for the menus, one in English and one in German. I slipped into regular clothes, as I waited. I figured that she would fuss when the guy came.
I jumped up at his knock and took the menus. “Thank you. We'll call when we have decided.” I slipped him a tip and he hurried away.
I took the menus and handed the one I couldn't understand to Katherine. She started to look it over like she was starving. It had probably been lunch yesterday when she had eaten last. Ages ago.
“I know what I want,” she declared.
“So do I.” I looked at her pointedly.
She rolled her eyes at me. “I want the number six and thirty-two.”
I looked to see what they were. Some sort of soup and Schnitzel with french fries and a small salad. “I'll have the same.” I picked up the phone and ordered.
After I was finished and went over to her and stared at her. She was being quiet again.
“Are you warm enough?” I asked her.
That got me a confused look. “What do you care?” She meant it. She was honestly surprised that I would.
“Katherine, there is nothing on this earth that I care about more.”
She smirked and snorted. She didn't believe me.
“It's true Katherine. It really is.”
“Sure.”
“Katherine you are making me mad. You know that I love you. I feel that I have been being very patient but this is just going too far. I'm sorry that you lost the baby, but that doesn't give you the right to go at me like you do,” I scolded her.
She turned her head to the side and shook it. I was back to staring at her. She was just leaning against the heater with her knees pulled into her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her head was turned facing the wall. I had to wonder what she was really seeing because it wasn't the wall.
There was a knock at the door. She stood, but I was faster. I was at the door taking the cart with our food, tipping the bellboy and closing the door before she got there. She could have screamed out, but she didn't. She was standing right behind me when I turned around.
Katherine took a bowl, that was covered up with a saucer and a spoon and went back to the heater to eat.
“There is a perfectly good table with chairs right here.”
“I'm fine.”
“I have to insist.” She was getting on my nerves. If I didn't love her so much then I would have just left long ago. But I loved her more than my own life so I would stay until I was sure there was no hope for us.
“I have to decline.” She started eating.
“Listen, I'm tired of your smarting off to me. The faster you start explaining why we aren't together anymore the faster I can decide if your explanation holds water.”
“What are you saying? That you have the power to make me be with you even if I don't want to be?” She spit those words out like I was some sheikh who had kidnapped her and she hated me with all of her heart.
“You have been through so much lately and I fear that your sadness about the baby has lead you to push me away. I won't leave you alone when you so obviously need me.”
She went back to eating. She ate quickly and then she brought her bowl to the cart and took one of the plates and went back to the heater. Katherine gobbled up her food, and then went back for the salad. She certainly wasn't trying to impress me with her table manners.
When she was finished with everything she went into the bathroom again. She came back out and staggered a little. I jumped up to steady her.
“I'm tired.” I could feel the breeze of her breath in my face. She had brushed her teeth.
“I'll bring you back to bed.”
“No, not until you leave.”
“I'm not going anywhere.”
“Then let go of me. Because I'm not staying.”
“Yes, you are.” I wasn't about to start negotiating with her.
Her head fell against my chest and she pounded it against me a couple of times while I held her. I tried to hug her but she stomped on my foot and went back to the heater.
“Katherine, that hurt,” I said.
She smirked a little.
I went back and sat down to finish eating. I cleaned up the plates and pushed the cart to the side, as much as possible. Katherine was fighting to stay awake.
“Just go to bed.”
“I only want to sleep if I can sleep alone.”
“Well, there is just one bed and I am getting pretty tired too.” I stretched my arms high over my head to make my point. She said nothing. I went to the bathroom leaving the door wide open so I could watch her. She looked like she was asleep already. I came back out and climbed into bed.
I made a big deal about how comfortable the bed was. She just frowned at me. She looked so sad, lost and alone, that it was breaking my heart.
I laid in bed just watching her. She would nod off for a second and her head would bob up again. She looked close to tears. I was being very cruel to her, but a chance like this didn't come along very often.
I felt myself drifting but when she started to speak I was at full alert.
“I saw you with her myself. I flew to your hotel to tell you that I was – Never mind. The point is that I was there and saw you. At first you were at the bar with her and I heard you two talking.
“I had tried to call you all day but your cell was turned off. At the hotel they wouldn't let me into your room and they couldn't get hold of you either. I was so tired because I was – pregnant and it was late. They didn't have any other rooms so I had to wait for you to come back.
“Then I heard you and her at the bar. I followed you two up to your room and watched you go in. Across from your room was a seating area. I was in shock. I saw it and still I didn't believe it. I didn't want to throw away what we had for a mistake. I waited right there in case you were just bringing her to bed because she had had too much to drink or something. But you didn't come out of your room until breakfast was served. I left then. Will you please leave now?”
Understanding hit me. This was all a huge mistake. “Katherine, I swear nothing happened. She was an old girlfriend of mine. I met her in the bar. She had just broken up with her boyfriend and she didn't know where to spend the night. We didn't. You have to believe me.”
“No, I don't have to, and I just plain don't. I'm tired beyond words and one would think that you would show a little thankfulness for me bringing you here safely. Leave!”
“No, you can't punish me for something that I didn't do. I didn't sleep with her. It was an American hotel room with two double beds. I slept in one and she in the other. I stayed in my bed and she stayed in hers. I swear to God that that is the whole truth.”
“Why was your cell turned off all day?”
“I must have forgotten to turn it back on after filming.”
“A relationship is built on trust. I don't trust you anymore. Thus we have no relationship. Don't worry, you will find someone new.”
“But you wouldn't because you don't trust men anymore.” No, this couldn't be happening. I had to get her to believe me but she didn't at all. She was so hurt that she l
ost the baby. What had I done? This was like a Greek tragedy. “Katherine, if we called her and talk to her about it. She could explain the truth. I didn't cheat on you. I love you.”
“I need to sleep now. I'll just sleep on the floor if you don't have the integrity to admit it when you have been caught.” I'd bet each of those words had hurt her.
“But I didn't cheat. I just offered an old friend a place to sleep for the night. I would never do anything to endanger us. I'm so sorry that that happened.” And because of it she had lost the baby. The injustice of it was killing me.
“Whatever you need me to do to prove that nothing happened I will do it.” I started doing the math. I grabbed my cell, called information in the US and tried to track her down. Katherine was asleep on the floor in the meantime.
I got connected and Bailey answered. “Bailey, thank goodness. I have a huge problem and I need your help. Katherine was at the hotel the night you slept in my room. I need you to tell her that nothing happened.” I hit the loudspeaker so Katherine could hear that I wasn't trying to get her to lie.
“Who is this?”
“It's me Ryan. How many men have you spent a night with in their hotel room?”
I heard Katherine snickering. Great she was awake.
“Oh, Ryan. You and Katherine are having problems?”
“Yes, we are, thanks to you. I am going to hand her the phone and I want you to tell her the truth.” I walked over to Katherine and held the phone out to her. “Please Katherine. You said you didn't want to ruin our relationship over a little mistake. It wasn't what you thought it was.”
Katherine reached up for the phone. “Hello,” she practically barked.
“Hi, umm – I'm sorry about – everything. I'll even admit I tried to get him into bed but all him did was, tell me about his plans for you and him. Big house, kids and happiness. My latest boyfriend had just thrown me out and I was remembering what I had had with him. I dumped him back then thinking I was better off without him. I wasn't.
“Now he is with someone like you, and he is a star. He has everything I ever wanted. Listening to him go on with talk of you and him made me want to order a few too many. He just brought me to his room and tucked me into bed. He slept in his own bed. Nothing happened. I swear on a stack of Bibles.”
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