As he looked up the reservations I resisted the urge to squirm. There were quite a few people behind us and I felt eyes boring into my back. I wanted to turn around and ask them what their problem was, but that type of behavior is frowned upon by my Mrs. Pincher, my principal and nemesis. Could you imagine the headline? “Crazy kindergarten teacher goes postal in the Waldorf Astoria while waiting for her rock star boy toy.” Oh yeah it would be classic and I’d be out of a job.
I was beginning to think he couldn’t find the reservations or he’d pushed the panic button. Security was probably on the way to haul our asses out of there. Finally he looked up with one of those fake million dollar smiles plastered on his face.
“Ah, here we go. May I see your ID’s?”
We pulled out our driver’s licenses—lucky for us we had them. A lot of New Yorkers don’t bother to get them since there’s so much mass transit. He entered something into the computer and handed them back. I hoped it meant we were getting the room key now.
“Thank you, Ms. DeAngelo and Ms. Duncan. Pete will show you to your rooms.”
No sooner did the words leave his mouth when a uniformed man appeared next to me. He was already holding our bags and took the keys from the desk clerk. “Enjoy your stay. If you need anything at all just call the front desk.”
Wondering at his three hundred and sixty degree change in attitude, I glanced at Teresa and she just shrugged. Really, who cared right? We were going to see our men soon. Not soon enough but soon. Four months was definitely too long to go without visits. I really hoped they weren’t going to tour again for a while.
Following Pete into the elevator, I was surprised when he pushed the button for The Towers. What the hell were The Towers? I didn’t have long to wait, after the quickelevator ride—no idea how many floors—he led us to our rooms or I should say suites. Damn. I wondered how much this was going to cost and I cringed just thinking about it.
When Pete opened the door to my suite I’m sure my jaw dropped. I’d stepped off the elevator and into a movie for sure. Real people didn’t stay in hotel rooms like this. Teresa and I followed him while he gave us a quick tour of the sitting area, the bedroom, and marble bathroom with a separate tub and shower. Holy crap. He put my bag on the luggage stand in the bedroom and then waited by the door. Duh. Tip time again. Why didn’t I stop at the ATM? My wallet was almost empty. Sorry dude. All I had left were a few five dollar bills and a couple of ones. I handed one of the fives to Pete.
“Ms. Duncan, your room is just down the hall. If you’ll follow me.”
Teresa turned away so he couldn’t see her face and mouthed the words ‘holy shit’ before following him. “I’ll text you in a few.”
“Okay.”
Alone in a suite in the Waldorf Astoria. Oh. My. God. Now I knew exactly how JuliaRoberts felt inPretty Woman, wellexcept I wasn’t a prostitute and Flame wasn’t a billionaire corporate raider. Holy shit. At least thirty floors up, the view of Manhattan took my breath away. There was a decent view from Cynda’s apartment but nothing like this. I was going to kill Flame for spending so much money, it was just stupid and unnecessary. I would’ve been fine anyplace, well anyplace clean. I was kind of a hotel snob. Don’t judge until you’ve spent a night in a room wreaking of cigarette smoke and creepy crawlies. No thank you.
While I waited to hear from Teresa, I unpacked. As soon as I stepped into the bathroom, which might have been featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, I realized I didn’t need any of the toiletries in my bag. It was already stocked with high end brands, better than I’d brought. The huge marble tub called my name and would be just what I needed to ease the leftover stress from earlier. The whole thing in the park still freaked me out, and Bob Williams gave me the creeps.
Flame would be coming through the door in about four hours, and the last thing I wanted to be doing was biting my nails overBob Williams. I wanted to still be pissed at Flame for last night, but after missing him like crazy I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. It would just be stupid to be on TV with another girl when he knew I could be watching, right?
While contemplating a soak in the tub of dreams I explored the rest of the suite. Finding the mini-bar was like finding a treasure chest, and it was stocked to capacity with about any liquor imaginable and an insane price to go with it. Still maybe one would be okay? In the middle of deciding between scotch or vodka, there was a knock on the door.
I should have asked who it was. I tried to look through the peep hole but I was too damn short. So instead I pulled open the door expecting it to be Teresa. No one else knew we were there except Flame and Wrath and they were still somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. But surprise, surprise. It was Pete the bellboy carrying a vase filled with red roses.
“Delivery for you, Ms. DeAngelo.”
“Oh wow, thank you.” While he put them on the table I went to get my purse andhoped I still had some cash money. A dollar, shit. Oh well. I made a mental note to go to the ATM as soon as I could. Handing him the bill, I hoped he wouldn’t think I was cheap, even if I kinda was. I wasn’t the ‘rolling in rock music money’ half of the couple.
Closing and locking the door behind him, and yay for me that I remembered this time. Twelve perfect red roses in a crystal vase and the scent permeated the room almost as soon as I put them on the table. No note was odd, but Flame must have forgotten to give them a message not surprising since he’d probably been rushing to the airport. The flowers definitely lightened my mood and I was still smiling when my phone beeped with a text.
Teresa: “I’ll be right over. I’m hungry. Think about what you want to eat.”
Me: “See you in a couple.”
This time I remembered to ask who it was and of course it was Teresa. She walked in shaking her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. The room phone kept ringing but when I’d pick up no one was there.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I even called down to the front desk, and they said it was a direct dialed call. Who the hell even knows we’re here?”
Good question. No one but the guys I thought. “Maybe it was Wrath? They have phones on planes, maybe he was trying to call and kept getting cut off.”
“Maybe. I guess I’ll ask him when he gets here.” She looked troubled and I didn’t blame her, it was the second weird thing today. I wasn’t looking forward to the third, everything happens in threes right? “You got flowers?”
“Aren’t they gorgeous?”
