Two hours later...
I climbed up the stairs slowly. I was all but dragging myself down the hall to our room. Satine's words had cut deep and I'd spent the last few hours nursing my wounds in the bar. But now it was time to face her, to figure out what we were going to do. I had to do it SOMETIME.
As I reached the door to our room, I slipped my key into the lock and turned. I opened the door to find Satine sitting on the bed, not moving. Her back was to me, but she turned to see who had just entered. Her eyes were red and she sniffled and gave me a half-hearted smile. "Hello," she said quietly.
I closed the door quietly and leaned against it. "Hi," I replied, just as quietly. "Is it okay to come in? You're not going to throw daggers at me or anything?"
She smiled and shook her head. "No." She paused and dabbed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Christian. I didn't mean to yell at you. It was just... I was... I don't know. I was angry and scared. I didn't mean what I said. Really. Forgive me?"
Crossing the room, I sat down on the bed next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "You're forgiven," I said as I pulled her close. She rested her head on my shoulder and dabbed at her eyes again. "I shouldn't have listened to Peter in the first place, it was a stupid thing to do. We should've left the second we realized the Duke had found us. Peter just sounded so convincing..."
"It's okay," she took one of my hands in hers and squeezed reassuringly. "Life is full of mistakes, and we all make them. We've still got time to fix everything, so let's just forget it, okay?"
I nodded, trying to keep my own tears from spilling down my face. "Okay. Where's Maddy?"
"She's still at school. I was thinking we should pack up here, check out, and then pick her up on our way out of here."
"That's a good plan." I said, glad somebody had already considered all of this. "So... I suppose we should get started."
She smiled. "Yes, we probably should." Neither of us moved, however.
"Christian," Satine said after a moment. "I'm scared."
"So am I, Satine," I said as I pulled her into a hug. "So am I. But where would we be if we let that stop us? I was scared to talk to you the night we met, but I did anyway. And I was deathly afraid of going to see you on opening night, but it's good I did, right?"
She smiled and laughed a little. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." She kissed me on the cheek and pulled away and sighed. "Well. Let's get started, then."
*****
Ninety minutes later, I was all but skipping down the stairs of Mountain View to the lobby. All's well that ends well, right? Everything between Satine and myself was back to normal. We were almost ready to leave; I was going to check out and Satine was upstairs packing the last of our things. We would pick Maddy up when she got out of school and leave. The Duke wouldn't know where we'd gone; as far as he'd be concerned, we will have vanished into thin air. And that was exactly what we wanted.
"Hello," I said cheerily as I walked up to the front desk.
"Hello, Christian." The man at the front desk greeted me. "How are you today?"
"I'm good. Better than I've been in awhile." I smiled warmly. "I'd be interested in checking out today. And could we do this as quickly as possible? Satine and I are in a hurry."
The clerk stared at me blankly for a moment. "Pardon?" He asked. "I don't seem to understand..."
I sighed and repeated myself. The man seemed to get a little worried, but finally managed to answer me. "Uhm... okay... This may take me awhile, Christian. You... you've been with us so long that it may take awhile to... ah... calculate your bill. Will you excuse me for a moment?" He didn't wait for me to answer. Instead he disappeared to a back room and closed the door behind him.
After I had waited several minutes, I wondered if something had gone wrong. Checking out of a hotel shouldn't be this complicated, should it? Something wasn't right...
I turned to see Satine enter the lobby. She was carrying a small satchel, and she waved with her free hand. She smiled broadly and started walking towards me.
A flicker of movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned to see three men from hotel security enter the lobby from the front door. They glanced briefly at me and then fanned out. I wondered what was going on and turned back to Satine.
A gasp caught in my throat. The Duke had entered the lobby the way Satine had come in, and was now glaring possessively at Satine. A glimmer of something under his jacket caught my eye, and I belatedly recognized it as a gun.
The Duke caught me looking at him, and he started to reach towards the gun. I screamed to get Satine's attention and started running towards her, hoping to get to her before the Duke pulled out the gun.
I never made it, though. I was suddenly tackled and thrown to the ground. I landed hard, and with an "Oof!" the air was knocked out of me. I wheezed and coughed, and tried to see who had jumped me.
"Christian!" Satine's scream ripped through the air. I looked up to see her staring at me in panic, the satchel dropped and forgotten on the floor. The Duke was walking up fast behind her, but she started to move towards me.
"Satine!!!" I screamed. "The Duke! He's right-"
"Shut up, you," the person who'd tackled me said. I turned to see it was one of the security guards who had me pinned to the ground. I struggled to get free.
"No, you don't understand!" I yelled. "You've got the wrong person! You need to help Satine! Get the Duke! Not me!" I managed to throw the man off of me and scramble up. I ran to Satine and the Duke.
One of the other security guards threw himself at me, but I didn't fall so easy this time. I was dragged to my knees, but I refused to give up. The Duke now had Satine in an armlock, and he was pointing the gun to her head. He was laughing cruelly as he watched my struggle.
Another security guard stepped in my way, obscuring my view. Together, he and the man that had thrown himself at me dragged me to my feet. My hands were being held behind my back, and I kicked, screamed, and generally caused as much trouble as I possibly could.
As I was being dragged off, I caught a glimpse of Satine. She was causing about as much trouble as I was. The Duke was still holding the gun to her head, and with one arm around her waist he was dragging her off. She screamed my name and tried to resist, but he was apparently quite strong for a puny man. She reached out to me with one hand, even though we were too far apart to reach.
"Satine!" I screamed and managed to get one arm free. We reached to grab hold of each other, but neither of us could break free.
I climbed up the stairs slowly. I was all but dragging myself down the hall to our room. Satine's words had cut deep and I'd spent the last few hours nursing my wounds in the bar. But now it was time to face her, to figure out what we were going to do. I had to do it SOMETIME.
As I reached the door to our room, I slipped my key into the lock and turned. I opened the door to find Satine sitting on the bed, not moving. Her back was to me, but she turned to see who had just entered. Her eyes were red and she sniffled and gave me a half-hearted smile. "Hello," she said quietly.
I closed the door quietly and leaned against it. "Hi," I replied, just as quietly. "Is it okay to come in? You're not going to throw daggers at me or anything?"
She smiled and shook her head. "No." She paused and dabbed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Christian. I didn't mean to yell at you. It was just... I was... I don't know. I was angry and scared. I didn't mean what I said. Really. Forgive me?"
Crossing the room, I sat down on the bed next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "You're forgiven," I said as I pulled her close. She rested her head on my shoulder and dabbed at her eyes again. "I shouldn't have listened to Peter in the first place, it was a stupid thing to do. We should've left the second we realized the Duke had found us. Peter just sounded so convincing..."
"It's okay," she took one of my hands in hers and squeezed reassuringly. "Life is full of mistakes, and we all make them. We've still got time to fix everything, so let's just forget it, okay?"
I nodded, trying to keep my own tears from spilling down my face. "Okay. Where's Maddy?"
"She's still at school. I was thinking we should pack up here, check out, and then pick her up on our way out of here."
"That's a good plan." I said, glad somebody had already considered all of this. "So... I suppose we should get started."
She smiled. "Yes, we probably should." Neither of us moved, however.
"Christian," Satine said after a moment. "I'm scared."
"So am I, Satine," I said as I pulled her into a hug. "So am I. But where would we be if we let that stop us? I was scared to talk to you the night we met, but I did anyway. And I was deathly afraid of going to see you on opening night, but it's good I did, right?"
She smiled and laughed a little. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." She kissed me on the cheek and pulled away and sighed. "Well. Let's get started, then."
*****
Ninety minutes later, I was all but skipping down the stairs of Mountain View to the lobby. All's well that ends well, right? Everything between Satine and myself was back to normal. We were almost ready to leave; I was going to check out and Satine was upstairs packing the last of our things. We would pick Maddy up when she got out of school and leave. The Duke wouldn't know where we'd gone; as far as he'd be concerned, we will have vanished into thin air. And that was exactly what we wanted.
"Hello," I said cheerily as I walked up to the front desk.
"Hello, Christian." The man at the front desk greeted me. "How are you today?"
"I'm good. Better than I've been in awhile." I smiled warmly. "I'd be interested in checking out today. And could we do this as quickly as possible? Satine and I are in a hurry."
The clerk stared at me blankly for a moment. "Pardon?" He asked. "I don't seem to understand..."
I sighed and repeated myself. The man seemed to get a little worried, but finally managed to answer me. "Uhm... okay... This may take me awhile, Christian. You... you've been with us so long that it may take awhile to... ah... calculate your bill. Will you excuse me for a moment?" He didn't wait for me to answer. Instead he disappeared to a back room and closed the door behind him.
After I had waited several minutes, I wondered if something had gone wrong. Checking out of a hotel shouldn't be this complicated, should it? Something wasn't right...
I turned to see Satine enter the lobby. She was carrying a small satchel, and she waved with her free hand. She smiled broadly and started walking towards me.
A flicker of movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned to see three men from hotel security enter the lobby from the front door. They glanced briefly at me and then fanned out. I wondered what was going on and turned back to Satine.
A gasp caught in my throat. The Duke had entered the lobby the way Satine had come in, and was now glaring possessively at Satine. A glimmer of something under his jacket caught my eye, and I belatedly recognized it as a gun.
The Duke caught me looking at him, and he started to reach towards the gun. I screamed to get Satine's attention and started running towards her, hoping to get to her before the Duke pulled out the gun.
I never made it, though. I was suddenly tackled and thrown to the ground. I landed hard, and with an "Oof!" the air was knocked out of me. I wheezed and coughed, and tried to see who had jumped me.
"Christian!" Satine's scream ripped through the air. I looked up to see her staring at me in panic, the satchel dropped and forgotten on the floor. The Duke was walking up fast behind her, but she started to move towards me.
"Satine!!!" I screamed. "The Duke! He's right-"
"Shut up, you," the person who'd tackled me said. I turned to see it was one of the security guards who had me pinned to the ground. I struggled to get free.
"No, you don't understand!" I yelled. "You've got the wrong person! You need to help Satine! Get the Duke! Not me!" I managed to throw the man off of me and scramble up. I ran to Satine and the Duke.
One of the other security guards threw himself at me, but I didn't fall so easy this time. I was dragged to my knees, but I refused to give up. The Duke now had Satine in an armlock, and he was pointing the gun to her head. He was laughing cruelly as he watched my struggle.
Another security guard stepped in my way, obscuring my view. Together, he and the man that had thrown himself at me dragged me to my feet. My hands were being held behind my back, and I kicked, screamed, and generally caused as much trouble as I possibly could.
As I was being dragged off, I caught a glimpse of Satine. She was causing about as much trouble as I was. The Duke was still holding the gun to her head, and with one arm around her waist he was dragging her off. She screamed my name and tried to resist, but he was apparently quite strong for a puny man. She reached out to me with one hand, even though we were too far apart to reach.
"Satine!" I screamed and managed to get one arm free. We reached to grab hold of each other, but neither of us could break free.