Shots Fired in the Melting Pot

by T. C. Clover

her last interaction.

  When the elevator doors opened at the seventh floor, Litz evacuated the unit as if she had ridden in it with her friend’s parents. Several of the passengers were also relieved by her departure. The young woman made her way back to the hotel suite in a brisk effort to freshen up before Jason arrived.

  Litz spent the next ten minutes getting ready for a romantic adventure. She went to the luxury bathroom and used a bar of soap to clean all the parts of her body where heat could have produced odor. After that, she teased her hair in the mirror several times, attempting to find a look that was acceptable. The thoughtful vixen then changed her panties from the pink nightmare that she had worn all day to something smaller, black and silky. As a final touch, she sprayed her neck twice with some alluring perfume and changed into a pair of black high heels.

  The television star felt like a full diva as she let her heels click on the marble tiles throughout the suite. When she was about to adjust the lighting in the room for a better mood, there was a knock at the door.

  Litz checked her body one last time as if she were a race car that had pulled in to get some work done by a pit crew.

  “Everything is fresh, the hair is fine, and the attitude is ready for action,” Litz said to herself in a whisper before pulling the door open.

  As the door swung inward, she was surprised to see Jason standing in the hallway wearing a black tuxedo and matching bowtie. The middle-aged astronaut had an enormous black hiking backpack slung over his shoulders and smiled like a tour guide when he saw Litz.

  “Come on in,” the mysterious woman invited with a puzzled expression. “Are we…going hiking tonight?”

  “Actually, I have a surprise for you,” the astronaut said with a wink and smirked as he trod across the threshold into the entryway of the suite.

  Litz admired Jason’s black designer shoes as he made his way into the hotel room. Some part of her didn’t like the idea of a surprise, which caused the reluctant woman to regard the backpack with a degree of mistrust.

  “So what’s the surprise?” She asked without much thought, wanting to get past this unknown factor.

  “Come with me,” Jason replied with a mysterious smile, taking her by the hand and leading her toward the sliding glass doors. “I think you’ll like this.”

  He slid the door open in a bold fashion and led his younger date out onto the balcony. Jason then removed the backpack, unzipped its zipper in a hurry and pulled out two black leather and vinyl harnesses.

  “What…are we doing?” The television star demanded in a soft manner, indicating that his actions seemed bizarre.

  “Oh, well our surprise is seventy feet below us,” he answered with a wry smile and began to prepare a harness for Litz.

  “Can’t we just take the elevator?” Litz suggested with a cute blinking gesture from her attractive eyes.

  “I thought you were adventurous?” Jason challenged with another playful look of banter. “Astronauts are not as boring as you make us out to be,” he added and slid the harness over her dress, fastening it to a snug fit around her shapely body.

  Litz glanced over the railing and saw a glowing blue swimming pool seventy feet below the balcony. There were three flags in the pool area, and the wind was whipping them back and forth. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, leaning away from the railing for a moment to regain perspective. Jason was oblivious to her plight and brought out two lengths of black rope, which he set on the concrete near their feet.

  “See, if the police were chasing after us, we’d be arrested by now,” he joked with a wink and delicately ran a length of rope through her harness. “We’ll tie this off really snug, and it should hold you just fine.” He secured the shorter end of the rope to the railing in a square knot and gave it a tug to test the hold.

  After checking the knot for strength, he put a harness around himself and secured it over his tuxedo. Jason repeated the process of weaving a rope through his harness and tied another square knot to the steel railing. He then double-checked the harnesses for a secure fit and pulled the knots again to verify their stability. To the diva’s delight, Jason tossed the lengths of rope over the railing in a reckless display of his intent to have fun. As a final precaution, he removed two pairs of leather gloves from the backpack. The couple then smiled at one another as they pulled their gloves on for the fun to begin.

  “Are you ready?” Jason prompted with a forced schoolboy smile.

  “Whatever is down there had better be worth it,” Litz declared as she got in a position to climb over the railing.

  Jason helped the novice to maneuver her body for the descent, coaching her on how to drop lower in a safe way. The dashing astronaut then climbed over the railing to join her as they began to move downward a few feet at a time.

  Litz could feel her heartbeat increasing to new levels of terror when she realized that her body was dangling in the air. She closed her eyes and recalled being fifteen years old the last time her body was up this high. The wind was not making anything easier as it tugged at the folds of her dress and tossed her hair about at random.

  “Hey, hey, look at me,” Jason spoke in a soft voice, placing his right hand on her shoulder.

  Litz opened a pair of fearful eyes to see the kindness of his face staring at her, and made an effort to show bravery.

  “Put your feet against the cement and use them to stabilize yourself,” he instructed in a calm manner, returning his hands to the sections of rope above and below him. “Now kick off from the wall and let yourself drop a few feet, then tighten your grip again.”

  The stubborn woman worked on her form in a clumsy way, and had a few scares, but was finally able to control her speed. After dropping the first ten feet, she had confidence that the rope would hold, and the chaotic experience became more natural. Litz enjoyed the freedom of their rebellious path to the pool, knowing that they were probably the first guests to venture down this way. When the couple got past the halfway point, she was able to relax and laugh with her date. The inspired star wondered why she considered passing up this experience. It took them less than fifteen minutes to reach the pool area, and Litz felt the exhilaration of accomplishment when her shoes touched the concrete.

  “Go ahead and drop your harness right there: I have someone who will take care of it for us,” Jason conveyed with a hungry gaze of admiration and began to remove his harness.

  “That was awesome!” Litz exclaimed as she stepped out of the harness and looked back up to the balcony from whence they came. “I can’t believe we just did that! Did you get permission from the hotel? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

  “Well, my dear, our table is ready,” he announced and gestured with his right hand to a table with a white linen topper.

  The energetic woman felt new warmth in her face as she spotted a table with a pair of long white candles, and a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket. There was a middle-aged hotel waiter with white gloves standing next to the table, and his smile added to the ambiance.

  “Oh my God, this is so cool!” She responded with unbridled desire and made her way to a solitary table next to the illuminated swimming pool.

  “This is Jack,” the astronaut stated as he joined her at the table, “he’s a friend of mine that I just met tonight. It’s thanks to him that we were able to pull this off.” He shook the waiter’s hand before taking a seat opposite his date and paused to savor her expression of enjoyment.

  “Wait!” Litz interrupted as though there were something urgent on her mind. “Before we start with dinner, I want to dance. Let’s dance next to the pool.” The enchanted woman waited for a moment, unaware that she was holding her breath.

  “Okay, let’s dance,” Jason agreed after a short pause, standing up tall to escort his date to the concrete near the pool.

  Litz was swept up in a second round of exhilaration as the astronaut began
to lead her in an improvised classical dance. She admired his moves, and he smelled great, which allowed her to become lost in the moment.

  Richard watched Litz dancing with the astronaut from within the hotel and clenched his right hand into a fist. He felt the cold, dry bite of rejection combined with having to observe how happy she was making Jason. His insides started to tremble as he envisioned what the two might wind up doing later that evening, and decided it was futile to pout. The adventurous bombshell had chosen someone else. Richard heard the wail of police sirens broadcast over the wall near the pool and saw the couple stop dancing. Jason took Litz by the hand, and they laughed like escaped convicts, sprinting away from the authorities towards the hotel. Richard continued to observe until flashes from red and blue lights were visible from the parking lot, and he prayed that the police could capture them in time.

  Fassim returned to the bar with a desire to learn what had happened to the rest of their party. She had led Jazzy through the hotel for the better part of twenty minutes before the security desk told her to stop running. At that point, she realized that her pursuer had given up with less of a battle than expected.

  When she reached the familiar wooden rectangle table, Fassim was amazed to find Jazzy sitting back in her original spot. However, the comedian was no longer full of strength and