“Well, you don't look so bad yourself,” she teases, sending me a flirtatious wink. “I do love a man in a tuxedo.”
“Well, unfortunately for you, you’re going to be surrounded by them tonight!” I tell her, thinking of the endless boring people she’s going to be faced with tonight. She might like the look of a man in a suit, but she isn’t going to like being surrounded by them – they can be so damn boring. “Hey, is your uncle coming?” I ask, trying to sound innocent. “He’s in the CIA, right?”
A blush fills her cheeks, one that has a red flag flying in my mind, but she also looks so sweet and adorable that I feel bad for even bringing it up. She has me weirdly gaga and I can’t even begin to keep my mind straight around her.
“No, he’s... he’s’ not going to be there.” She decides to bypass any shitty excuses, and go for the straightforward lie, which has me wondering and wanting to delve deeper, but then she jumps in with yet another question to distract my mind. “So what is this hotel like? Is it super fancy?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “These sorts of men only do things in the best places.”
“These sorts of men?” She asks, turning to face me. “Aren't you one of them?”
I have never fully felt like I fitted in with any of these rich, pretentious types, but I’ve tried my best to act like I do – just to make things easier for everyone. “I suppose,” I admit.
“Nah, you do seem different,” she muses. “You have more about you, more depth. You don't seem like the sort of person who was born into money.”
“I wasn't,” I tell her. “I wasn't born poor exactly, I was pretty middle class, but I didn’t get rich until I was a lot older. I don't even know what to do with my money half the time,” I laugh honestly. “It seems a little much to me.”
With that statement, her face hardens, and I suddenly feel awful. In my moment of brutal honesty, I forgot that Michaela was born into a bad family, and I suddenly feel bad for flashing my wealth in front of her face – I probably made myself sound like a right asshole, just like all the rich douchebags that I don't normally categorize myself with.
The rest of the journey is silent, which makes me a little uncomfortable, but when we arrive at the hotel, she seems to lighten up somewhat, which pleases me. She links her arm through mine and we stalk through the doors looking like the smoothest, most together couple ever.
As we make our way over to the bar, all the heads in the place turn to look at us, which although it makes me a little anxious, I can also see as a good thing. I need these people to notice me, to know exactly who I am to give me the advantage over my competition. It’s a well-known fact that in business it’s a lot about who you know, and who knows your name. That’s why companies spend so much on advertising.
If it takes a beautiful girl with legs to die for and long red hair that just aches to be mussed up in a secret sexual encounter, then so be it. I’m happy to get some of the remnants from Michaela... she’s just so magnificent.
We quickly order our drinks and take a second to have a glance around the room, but before either of us can suss the crowd out, that sleazebag Zach is by our sides, almost as if he’s fawning all over us like a damn rash, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable.
“Well, hello there,” he smirks. “It’s nice to see you again, Sean.” He glances towards Michaela, reminding me that I can’t act the way I normally would in front of her. I need to remain polite in her company, however much I hate the scumbag. I can’t force myself to say anything though, I simply nod in the way that guys do when they want to keep all of their emotions inside. “And who is this lovely lady?”
“Michaela,” I stand slightly in front of her, sensing unease emanating from her. “Her name is Michaela.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” he grins, leaning across me to shake her hand. “I don't think that I’ve ever seen you before.”
She nods awkwardly and shoots me a look that suggests that she wants to get the hell away from him. I can’t help but feel pleased that she seems acutely aware of what a dickhead Zach is already, almost as if she can read it without me even having to tell her. She must be the only other person in this damn universe that isn’t instantly drawn in by him, and that makes me feel a great affinity with her.
“Right, well, we have to go and mingle,” I say quickly. “But maybe we’ll see you later.”
As we walk through the crowds, and talk to other people, I can feel Michaela holding tighter onto my hand, as if she can’t bear to be apart from me for a second. Even as we sit down to eat, she moves her chair closer to me, wanting to be as close to me as possible, which stirs something deep within me. In the end, after we’ve finished our food, I turn to her with a grin and ask if she wants to take a time out. I need some air too, a break from all the stuffy suits, so I’m really glad when she says yes.
Instead of wandering on the outside grounds like I thought we would, Michaela wants to take a better look at the hotel, having never been somewhere quite so fancy before. I take her up the winding stairs as she grows increasingly giddy with excitement, remembering once feeling the same way.
“I’ve just never been anywhere like this before,” she gasps, twirling and dancing down the hallway. “I’ve never eaten such a posh meal, never mind spent the night.”
“It isn’t as amazing as you expect it to be,” I admit to her. “I think the excitement of it is much better than the reality.”
“Really?” She looks at me with shock in her eyes. “I couldn't imagine anything better.”
“Well, I suppose the luxury suites are okay because they have hot tubs in them, but you damn well pay through the nose for that kind of joy.” I suppose my less than affluent roots always shine through when it comes to stuff like this, I can’t stand spending money on pointless things. “I can never fully enjoy it, because it seems like a waste.”
She half shrugs at this statement, as if she gets it a little bit, which I genuinely think that she does, and continues to walk down, unbothered by my admission, then turns to face me with a shining excitement in her eyes. “Oh my God, the door to this room is open, it looks like housekeeping started the job and got distracted.” She leans forward, peeking in slightly. “It’s empty,” she nods. “Let’s go in and take a look... come on, it’ll be fun.”
There’s no way I can argue with that statement, so I grab her hand and lead her in, throwing caution to the wind. Michaela is far too excited and I can tell that she needs this, and the way that she’s looking at me right now would have me doing absolutely everything for her.
We slip in and as Michaela skips around the room looking at everything in amazement, I turn and cheekily lock the door. I have been fiercely attracted to Michaela ever since I first saw her, and this is the first chance we’ve had alone together that feels really right. I could tell that she didn’t want to invite me into her apartment – probably because she was a little embarrassed about how polarized our lives are – whereas this is something different. A neutral ground that belongs to no one.