Chapter 10
Setting her cup of coffee on the table Kelly closed the newspaper a content smile on her face. She was so proud of him. "So what do you think?" She asked Donna who was seated across from her reading through the same story that she just finished.
"He has done a great job. No, an amazing job. I can see everything through his words although I was never there, not that I ever wanted to." Donna returned her smile folding the newspaper and laying it on the table.
Kelly nodded in agreement. "I miss him like crazy, but reading this...it's worth the wait and separation. I'm really proud of him." She enthused.
Donna raised her brows a cheeky smile on her lips.
"What?" Kelly questioned her, grabbing her cup again.
"Nothing. I'm just glad you finally admit it."
Kelly shrugged. "I guess it makes no sense to hide my feelings anymore, although admitting that I love him does not make things any easier."
"Well, at least you are clear about your feelings. That's already a good start in your case." Donna teased her.
Kelly shook her head playfully. "You're supposed to be my best friend."
"I am. That's why I'm happy I don't have to see you with another Jake or Matt or even Dylan."
"Yeah. Hopefully." Kelly averted her eyes, breathing in. Her feelings were clear, but she wished she knew where they really stood with Brandon. It was going to take months before she'd be able to find out.
Standing in front of the dirty mirror Brandon studied his face. The bags under his eyes a clear sign of the sleepless nights behind him. The five day stubble...that was how long they were out of Kabul. He ran his hand over it for a moment forgetting the reality. It reminded him of the beard he sported briefly back in college and how much Kelly hated it. She tried everything to convince him to get rid of it, a smile flashed through his lips. Till this day she had no idea that it was a bet that he won and was glad himself when he could finally get rid of it. He missed Kelly.
The loud banging on the door returned him back to reality. Before he could reach the door, it flew open and Hamid hurried inside. "Grab your bag Brandon. We have to leave." He let out as soon as he spotted him.
Without any questions Brandon did as he was told. He trusted Hamid fully no matter how long they knew each other, he had no other choice after all.
Grabbing the bag and throwing it over his shoulder he followed him through the hallway of the rundown hotel where they intended to spend the night previously. Just before they reached the door Hamid signaled to him to stop and stay by the wall. Both of them stood there in silence. There was nothing they could hear no movement, just deafening silence.
Satisfied with it Hamid signaled to him that they could continue outside. Brandon nodded and followed him out. The rest happened in hurry, they haven't made more than three steps out of the building when the shooting of the gun echoed through the darkness. Hamid launched himself on Brandon the weight of his body pushing him back inside through the open door.
Not expecting this Brandon lost his footing and landed on the dirty floor with Hamid on top of him, both shocked for a brief moment. Hamid recovered quickly and was on his feet within a second. "Damn it. Get up, we have to return back to the room." He ordered to Brandon.
"What the hell is going on?" Brandon asked pushing himself up from the floor.
"Later." Hamid mumbled with urgency leading him back into the room. Once inside he closed the door behind them and locked it. Grabbing the chair that had seen better times he pushed it under the handle and listened to the silence in the darkness of the room.
Brandon just slid down where he thought the bed was landing on the hard mattress, before the shooting cut through the silence of the night once again. It was still coming from outside and was soon followed by shooting from another gun.
"I thought we still had time to make it." Hamid sighed sitting down next to Brandon.
"What's going on Hamid?" Brandon asked. He was surprised by the calmness of his own voice, when all they could hear was a shooting coming from outside and all that he could feel was fear.
"The lovely guys of Taliban decided to pay this sleepy little town a visit. That's what happened. I got an echo minutes ago, but it turns out the information came too late." Hamid explained.
"So the shooting..."
"It was nothing personal." Hamid replied before Brandon could even finish the sentence. "Although if they knew they had an US citizen right under their noses it would be."
"That's reassuring." Brandon rolled his eyes hidden in the darkness.
"That's reality. You are here to write about reality and I'm not going to sugar coat it. I haven't done it with Sean either." Hamid said dryly pushing himself up from the bed and heading to the door. The shooting outside stopped and the hotel and town were in complete silence again.
Satisfied with it Hamid returned back and plopped himself down on the bed. "We will spend the night here. If we're lucky they'll leave the town during the night and we can leave early in the morning and continue south."
"Alright." Brandon rubbed his face. This was going to turn into a long night again.
Kelly woke up abruptly. For a moment she had no idea where she was. Looking outside the car window she recognized the familiar streets of New York, they were nearing her hotel.
"We will be right there." She could hear Abby's chipper voice and nodded her head in reply, her eyes hidden behind her shades. For a moment she contemplated how the hell could Abby be so fresh so early in the morning. They took a red eye flight from LAX the previous evening landing at JFK shortly before 8 am. The meeting with Ralph Lauren's team was planned for 1 pm. There was enough time for a bath and a short snooze in the hotel.
Stopping in front of the hotel the driver hurried outside opening the door for Kelly. She thanked him and gave him a soft smile on her way out of the car.
Looking at the entrance in front of her a smirk appeared on her face as she moved forward. Abby was going to take care of her luggage and everything else. Usually she would just walk past the reception knowing that her room was awaiting her, but not this time. She headed right to the reception desk, there were a few minor details that she wanted to take care of herself, without Abby's assistance.
"Welcome to the Mandarin Oriental Miss Taylor! How can I help you?" The receptionist, his tag reading Hugh, greeted her.
"Hello Hugh. I know my assistant already made the room reservations for us, but I'd like to change my room. I hope it won't be an issue." Kelly smiled at him, not for a second surprised that he knew who she was.
"No, not at all." Hugh returned her smile and looked into the computer. "Our suites on the 52nd and 53rd floor are still free for the length of your stay, unfortunately the one at 54th floor is already taken."
Kelly shook her head. "That's not really what I had in mind. I'd like to have room 623." She looked at him expectantly.
Hugh had a hard time hiding his surprise upon Kelly's request, but checked the room availability for her. "It's free." He said finally.
"Great." Kelly smiled watching as he chipped the hotel card for her.
"Here is your card." He said handing it to her.
"Thank you, Hugh. Have a nice day!" Kelly smiled at him before heading straight to the elevators.
The ride up was as short as she remembered it and in no time she stepped into her room the door closing behind her with a silent thud. Taking a deep breath she leaned her back against the closed door looking at the room in front of her. The same one that Brandon occupied during their unexpected meeting weeks back.
She knew that probably dozens of people walked through that room since that night, but yet, being in the same room, sleeping in the same bed where he made love to her, somehow she felt closer to him even though he was thousands miles away.
Kicking off her heals she laid back on the bed closing her eyes. It's been weeks since she had been to New York, probably her longest break from traveling in the past five years, but she had this on her mind ever since Brandon left for Afghanistan. She couldn't help but wonder if they were ever going to return to the hotel together.
Once he will be back in States and still willing to give them another chance, how were they going to make it work? His life was in Washington, she was mostly traveling between Los Angeles and New York. It would take a lot of compromises from both of them. What about their friends? She let out a barely audible sigh pushing all those thoughts away. She was too tired to think straight, with that thought she peacefully nodded off into the land of dreams.