Chapter Three
"Aleca! Great. Come on in," he stepped out of the door frame to let her in. Closing the door behind her, he continued. "I ordered 'The Bucket List'. I hope you don't mind," he followed her to the bed and climbed in to the right side while she made herself comfortable on the left. Propping up pillows behind her, she settled in.
"Sounds perfect," she told him smiling.
"Awesome. I also room serviced some munchies. A bowl of extra buttery popcorn, a big plate of nachos and a couple bags of M & M's. Still good?"
"Definitely nailed it."
"Great." He picked up the remote and started the previews and credits, then paused it when the first scene of the movie flashed on the screen. She knew he was waiting for the room service. She saw Taylor look at her out of the corner of her eye, then he looked down at his hands, then looked up at her again and inhaled, like he wanted to say something.
"Taylor, spit it out."
"Fine," he said quietly, tossing the remote to the headboard. "Who was that guy, and where'd you meet him?"
Aleca laughed. "Like I said before. His band, Tinted Windows, has a couple songs on the soundtrack, and he wanted to talk a little more about having other songs in other projects," she lied to him, feeling a little bad. She didn't want to tell him the truth, just so he could turn around and report to Rob, which she knew he'd do. She watched him pick up a corner of the sheet and twist it in his fingers. "He was at the premier, and he approached me first, wanting to talk about his music, and I told him to meet me at my hotel so we could come up with a couple suggestions for future use."
"Oh," he said, then looked up at her. "Okay, then," he smiled, relieved.
Good, he bought it, she thought. Poor, innocent guy. "So what's up with Rob?" Like she didn't know, but she wanted to see if Taylor had talked to Rob and gotten another point of view.
It was Taylor's turn to laugh. "Oh, I don't know," he sighed with a smile. "In the car on the way back, he was really quiet, and didn't want to talk. He was all moody and brooding, with that expression he always gets- you know the one," he smiled up at her, then returned his gaze back to the blanket after Aleca had nodded in agreement. "All I know is that something is seriously bothering him today. He didn't even want to watch a movie tonight. He just wanted his guitar, cigaretts and a bottle of Jack. That's what he said before we parted ways in front of our rooms," he shrugged his shoulders, then dropped the rumpled corner of the sheet when there was a knock on the door to spring up off of the bed with the energy only the young possessed, and bounded to the door. "Room service!" he called, pulling the door open. "Rob," he exclaimed quietly. Aleca's head snapped up and looked to the door. She saw Rob stretch up to see her sitting on the bed over Taylor's shoulder. Then he said something to Taylor she couldn't hear.
"We're renting a movie and got some munchies. Feel like socializing now?" Taylor asked brightly. "Oh, you want to talk to Aleca?" he asked, after Rob had said something else she couldn't hear. "Yeah, I invited her when you didn't want to," he continued. "Okay, just a second," he turned from the door, holding it wide open. "Aleca," he threw his head towards Rob. She nodded. Duh duh duh, she thought. "He wants to borrow you for a second." She nodded, then slowly rose and crossed the room, with both guys watching. As soon as Aleca crossed the threshold into the hall, Rob reached for the door handle and pulled the door closed. She noticed he was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt as she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, her back against the wall.
"And now your in his bed?" he asked fiercely, placing his palms on the wall on either side of her head, leaning in closely.
"Oh please, you know damn well I won't cross that line," she whispered angrilly. "He wanted company, and his first choice bailed on him, because from what he told me, they wanted to be alone with their guitar, cigaretts and bottle of Jack to be emo."
He had no response for that, so he just searched her eyes intensely. "So why aren't you in your room with your guitar? What made you change your mind and come over here?" She asked, quietly, softening.
"I needed to vent and my guitar wasn't cooperating," he said, calming down. He closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose, like he was inhaling her scent. And then he did just that, obviously. He leaned in. Aleca reached up and took his shadowed face in her hands, brought it down as she stood up on her toes, and placed a soft kiss on his lips. It surprised him, so he opened his eyes.
"Come on. Take Taylor up on his offer and watch the movie with us and relax," she dropped her hands to his shoulders and massaged.
"I'm still angry with you," he said quietly.
"Well, you don't have to stress over it anymore. I was going to talk to you about it tomorrow, but I'm ready for you now," she told him. "I'm ready to be with you, one hundred percent, so everyone knows," she told him, bringing her hands back up to hold his face, eyes searching his. She watched his eyes soften as her words sank in.
"You're serious?"
"Yes. I realized, when I saw how hurt you were this evening, that I love you, and seeing you hurt makes me hurt. So I'm ready to committ to you," she smiled.
"You're serious?" he repeatd.
"Yes," she laughed, then drew him in for another kiss just as the elevator dinged. Frozen, they watched the doors slide open and the room service cart pushed out by a young man in the traditional red bellhop uniform. Robert pushed away from her.
"Your food?" Rob asked her.
"I'm guessing," she said, then knocked on the door for the bellhop. He nodded in greeting to the two in the hallway, trying to keep his eyes on the door and not the two celebrities. They waited for Taylor to open the door. It swung open widely again.
"It's a party now," Taylor said with a grin. The bellhop pushed the cart into the room, followed by Aleca and Rob. They didn't touch each other. They didn't want to make it awkward for Taylor, being a third wheel and all. "So are you staying, Rob? If you're done being grumpy, now, that is," he said with a lopsided smile.
"Yeah, I'm good for a while," he said, and made his way to the bed and jumped onto it. Taylor thanked the bell hop and excused him, closing the door behind him with a grin on his face.
"Now this is what I like to see. Everyone getting along," he said, uncovering the nachos and grabbed the bags of M&Ms.