“Steph, are you awake?” Theresa called out in the darkness of the room, stumbling forward until her knee hit the nightstand. She groaned and switched on the lamp, finding nothing but an empty room. The bed had been remade by house keeping and any trace of a recent occupant erased. “Shit!”
Theresa hurried from the room, shoving someone out of her way as she headed for the elevator. “Hey Theresa, wait up!”
As she stepped inside the empty elevator, she turned to see who was calling for her. Leighanne rushed forward with Brian at her side and tried to catch the elevator before the doors shut.
“Can’t talk now Leigh, I gotta find Steph!” Theresa stated pressing the lobby button as hard and as fast as she could, not wanting to have to explain anything at the moment. But Leighanne caught the door and jumped in, Brian following hurriedly behind her.
“What’s the matter? Where’s Stephanie?” Leighanne asked in one breath, staring at the shorter blond.
“Do you think I’d go looking for her if I knew where she was!” Theresa suddenly shouted, her own frustration seeping out in her voice.
“Trease, chill out, Leigh didn’t do anything…”
“Shut the fuck up Brian, her missing is partly your fault as well as the other guys!”
“What do you mean Theresa?” Leighanne questioned, looking between Brian and Theresa confused.
“You wanna tell her or should I, Brian?” Theresa hissed venomously, glaring in his sapphire eyes.
“Theresa!” Leighanne stepped between her and Brian, looking down at Theresa. “Tell me what?”
“Ask your little boyfriend why Stephanie wasn’t working tonight… Or why she might just quit and leave the tour for good…” Theresa stated, walking around her and Brian both to exit the elevator.
She hurried towards the front desk and stood impatiently as the woman standing behind the desk continued to chat easily on the phone. She tapped her foot in an attempt to get the elderly woman’s attention but failed. Finally she gave up on being polite.
“Excuse me, Ma’am but I need information on a guest in this hotel. Did Stephanie Lindsey check out of room 3775?”
The woman looked annoyed by the interruption but put the phone to her shoulder and typed in something into the computer. “Yes, it appears she has. She checked out earlier this evening.”
“Did she say anything about leaving?”
“Miss, I don’t know, I just started my shift.” The woman stated, looking at her with cool blue eyes.
“Thank you so very much. You’ve been a great help!” Theresa muttered bitterly at the woman and headed for the front door, but then ran back to the front desk as the woman began talking on the phone again.
“Are there any messages for me?”
The woman glared at her and scanned through the computer again. “Last name?”
“Bischoff.”
“Yes there are two messages for you.” The woman handed over the two slips of paper and went back to her phone call.
‘Thanks for nothing mean old hag!’ Theresa thought venomously as she headed for the bar to read her messages. She sat up on one of the stools and tore open the first.
Miss Bischoff,
We have gotten your latest tests back and are still not completely satisfied with the results. We request that you come back in for another physical exam and another series of tests. According to Dr. McNeil surgery may be needed for a complete recovery. She would still like a full statement of the events that caused the damage to your ovaries.
We have a scheduled your next appointment for the 27th of this month. Hope you find the time get here with your busy schedule, but Dr. McNeil really would like to start the operation as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
McNeil & Cross M.D.
New York City, New York
Theresa stiffened, rereading the note. She frowned miserably and felt tears forming in her eyes. She carefully refolded it and jammed it into her back pocket. She wiped her eyes and stared at the other folded sheet of paper.
“What can I get for you, Beautiful?” The handsome young bartender asked, walking up to her. He noticed her melancholy face and fixed her a sex on the beach quickly. “Here, this is on the house.”
“Hmm? Oh, thank you.” She took a sip of the sweet but tangy drink, enjoying the burning sensation as it inflamed her throat. “Mmm, it’s good.”
“So, what’s a pretty lady like you doing here by yourself?” He asked, watching her continue to sip the liquor.
“Being miserable if you couldn’t tell…”
“Well, why not tell me why you’re so down…”
“Oh, just a whole lotta shit going on.” Theresa sighed, finishing off her drink as the bartender placed another before her.
“Well, I’m off in 15 minutes, why don’t we go grab some coffee or something and maybe you can tell me why you’re so distressed.”
Theresa stared at him a little for a while. He was pretty cute, dark brown hair highlighted with golden streaks, trimmed conservatively short but spiked upward at his forehead. His eyes were dark hazel, green dominating the brown. He had a small goatee and mustache, and a hoop ring in his eyebrow. Under the sleeve of his black tee-shirt a large panther was tattooed on his arm.
“Could I at least have your name first?” She smiled at him, feeling her mood lighten a little.
“Oh, yeah how silly of me, the name’s Brendan. And what name goes with your pretty face?” He smiled at her, his full lips looking even more kissable to her.
“Theresa.”
“Pretty, just like you. Let me grab my jacket and I’ll close up early tonight since business is dead tonight anyway.” Brendan said, clearing her finished glasses, and hurried to the back. Theresa smiled and shoved the paper in her hand into her back pocket. As Brendan slid over the counter, he walked up to her. She stood to meet him and followed him as he headed out of the bar. He shut and locked the doors and turned to her. “So, where would you like to go, Theresa?”
“Coffee sounds good to me…”
**~~**~~**
“What do you mean she left?” Kevin nearly shouted, leaping from his seat on the bed. Brian flinched a little when Kevin raised his voice.
“I don’t know for sure, but Theresa implied it very forcefully. She was searching for her just a while ago.” He explained, watching the jade flames rise in his cousin’s eyes. Kevin began to pace the room like a huge panther stalking in its cage, plotting an escape.
“Well, we have to find her. She couldn’t possible be gone already. Would she have gone to the airport you think?”
Brian shrugged, wondering why Kevin was so dead set on finding the missing girl. Then lightening struck his brain.
“Kevin, you’re falling for her aren’t you?”
Kevin paused mid pace and gazed at his cousin. Brian did not expect what he saw in his eyes. Brian had expected anger, fury, or just rage, but instead he found pure worry and heartache. Kevin wiped one eye quickly, and Brian knew why.
“I hate her. I hate that every waking second my thoughts are of her, and I can’t even escape her at night, she has to be in my dreams. I love her like I’ve never loved anyone, and I screwed everything I had for one night of pure torture for the both of us.”
Brian’s jaw dropped, as he stood there dumbfounded by Kevin’s confessions. Kevin’s eyes dropped and he grabbed his coat and headed straight for the door. Brian followed, still trying to understand the words.
“Go get Nick, Aj, and Howie. I’ll try Theresa’s room and her room again. And Bri, don’t tell anyone what I just said. I just want to find Stephanie and choke every last breath out of her.”
Brian nodded, handing Kevin his room key and headed for the door. His head was swimming with thoughts he never imagined possible. Train softened by a chick. It would have been laughable, but not at this place and time. He silently followed Kevin down the hallway and passed him when he stopped at Theresa’s door.
Kevin watched Brian proceed to round up the rest of the guys, leaving him to interrogate Theresa. He knocked lightly at first, and waited. No response. He knocked at little louder this time, hearing muffled voices and hurrying around the room. ‘Found her’. Finally the door opened. Theresa gazed up at Kevin with her cerulean eyes and tried to tame her mussed hair. Kevin raised an eyebrow and pushed open the door, noticing a younger man pulling on his jeans and zipping them up.
“Whoa, Trease, do you let just anyone strut into your room?” Brendan asked, staring at the curious man standing in the doorway.
“Don’t have much of a choice when it comes to him? What do you want Kevin?” Theresa tried to remain calm, even though she knew Kevin could tell what had been going on before he knocked. Kevin looked down at her then over to the guy taking a seat on the ruffled bed.
“Where is Stephanie?” he asked in a very stern, but calm tone.
“I don’t know, and even if I did, what in the hell makes you think I’d ever tell you?”
“Because you know I’ll find out anyway, so you might as well let me know now and I won’t tell Bone about your little pretty boy.” Kevin smirked, nodding his head towards Brendan.
“Okay, Theresa, who the hell is Bone and why is this macho dip-shit calling me a ‘pretty boy.’ Have you looked in the mirror lately, Buddy?” Brendan countered, trapping Theresa between two fuming men.
“Brendan it would probably be best if you left. Bone is a close acquaintance of mine. Kevin’s just saying this to make me tell him where Stephanie is. Remember the chick I told you about. He’s looking for her.”
“After all the shit he did to her, and you want me to leave you alone with this jerk-off?” Brendan rose from the bed to join Theresa’s side. She turned to him and gazed up into his eyes.
“Brendan, I’ll be fine, he won’t hurt me. But it really is time you left. I enjoyed spending time with you though, you’re a really sweet guy…”
“God you bitch, just using me for a roll in the hay?” Brendan’s face grew scarlet with anger and distrust.
“Don’t worry buddy, at least you got out of it now. Poor Bone’s being dragged alone by her for a long while now.” Kevin inputted, watching Brendan’s glares at himself and Theresa as he pulled on his shirt and headed out the door with his shoes in hand. As soon as the door slammed shut, Theresa whipped around to slap Kevin. He caught her wrist mid-air.
“You fucking prick, why are you such a…” Theresa had to stop mid-sentence for lack of a good name to call him and he took advantage of her silence.
“Where is Stephanie? Tell me and, first off, I won’t tell Aj of anything I saw in here, and two I won’t crush your wrist with my bare hand.”
“Like I said I don’t know where she is, all I know is she checked out and no one knows where she went.” Theresa paused, realizing she hadn’t opened the second message she had received. She noticed her jeans laying by the TV and saw two slips of paper poking out of the back pocket. “Um, let me get changed and I’ll help you look for her.”
Kevin saw where her eyes went and release her arms and tugged the two slips of paper from the jeans. He tossed the first one aside after seeing how it was addressed. The second note he unfolded and read aloud in a mumbled voice.
“Dear Trease, sorry I left without a goodbye but I had to get away from the hotel. I’m not leaving the tour but I won’t meet up with you until Louisville, and hopefully I won’t be fire by Donna but if that’s the way it must be. Look I’m gonna stay at the Motel 6 down on Weston Street. I hope you forgive me for leaving, blah, blah, blah…” Kevin crumpled the note and headed out of the room.
“Kev, why can’t you just leave her alone?” Theresa asked, scrambling to retrieve the note and read it for herself.
“Because she’s mine.” Kevin mumbled before retreating from the room.
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