Dallas fumbled with the cardkey she held in her hand, grasping the doorknob in her other hand.  She'd been attempting to open the blasted door for over five minutes now, and the slot just seemed to spin more and more with every try.  Again, she jammed the card down into the slot, waited for what she thought was the green light, at the time everything just seemed to blur together, and yanked at the doorknob.  With a shove, the door creaked open, and Dallas stumbled inside.

            But the stumbling didn't last long, because she went flying backwards and ended up banging up against the door, which in turn caused the door to slam shut.  As she stood there, Dallas was washed over in a fit of laughing, one that was so loud that the people in the rooms on either side of her own could've been woken up.  Maybe wearing three-inch heels and getting hammered hadn't been such a bright idea.

            Trying again, she began walking, mostly tripping over nothing at all, not even her own two feet.  She made her way into the kitchenette, and somehow managed to pour herself a glass of water without breaking anything or falling over in the process.  Dallas was very proud of herself for that accomplishment.  But she just couldn't figure out what that horrid ringing noise was.

            Then it hit her, "Duh Dallas" she said, hitting her forehead with her palm.  It took her a minute or two, but she finally managed to flip open her cell phone and pressed it to her ear.  "Carlene, I don't need no babysitter."

            "This isn't Carlene" the voice on the other end of the phone had startled her, to say the very least.  Had she given him her number? Dallas really couldn't be sure, and her head hurt when she thought about it for too long.  But that wasn't the point.  Why was he calling her? That definitely hadn't been in the plan.

            After a second or two of standing in the kitchenette silently, Dallas finally found it in her to reply, "Oh."  But not with much of an answer.  At least she had been able to choke something out without dropping the glass she had yet to put down on the counter where it would be safe.  "Why you callin'?"

            "I wanted to make sure you got back to your room.  And I can tell that you did.  You okay?" he asked.  Why did he sound concerned? He wasn't supposed be feeling anything toward her.  Nothing.  This was not going the way Dallas had planned.

            Nodding, but then noticing that would do her no good, as he was not standing in the room with her at the moment, she answered, "Fine.  I'm fine."  Oh this was not helping her head at all.  There would definitely not be anymore alcoholic drinks in her future.  Whether or not they were on the house didn't matter.

            Maybe if he didn't reply, she could just hang the phone up.  He'd never notice.  Or care.  Maybe he had already hung up himself.  But, all hope faded as Dallas started to pull the phone away from her ear.  "You're going have one hell of a hangover tomorrow morning.  So, instead of asking you to go out to breakfast with me, how about dinner tomorrow?" That was the one question she had not been expecting.

            "I can't..." Dallas started to explain her answer, but he cut her off before she even got a word of it out.

            "If you're traveling with Carlene, you don't have to be out of here until the day after tomorrow.  Don't use that excuse on me" he said, and Dallas knew he was smiling slightly to himself as his eyes lit up with a sparkle.

            And, without thinking, Dallas shot out an answer, "Sure."  That definitely had not been the answer she thought she'd hear herself saying.  But, before she could mend her mistake, he was telling her when to be ready by.  Then all she heard was the stupid dial tone.  He hadn't just... she hadn't just.  Oh, but she had.

            With one fierce movement, she threw the glass she was still holding at the wall.  The water that still remained in it flew everywhere, and the glass shattered into hundreds of pieces as soon as it made contact with the wall.  Dallas fell to the floor and leaned her head against the cabinets. 

This was not happening.  Not to her.  None of this was supposed to be happening.  How could she possibly dodge these fucking people when she was going on a dinner-date with one of them? She couldn't do this, especially with Nora somewhere out there just lurking around, looking for her.  And she certainly couldn't do anything about this new relationship, if you could even call it that, she had going on.  What was she going to do?

Everything was crumbling out from under her.  Her life, her job, her reputation.  No, she couldn't just let that happen.  Dallas had a reputation to protect, and that was exactly what she planned on doing.  Whatever it took, she'd do.  Even if it meant tearing herself away from everything that she knew.  Hell, even if it meant stomping out the flame of the one relationship that just could've happened.  It could've, only if she hadn't taken up the field of work that she had.  It could've, only if she let it.

It didn't seem like she'd be moving for the night, as her legs just didn't feel like moving.  The floor wasn't that bad, anyway.  And the kitchenette was closer to the bathroom than the bedroom was, and Dallas was sure she'd spend most of the early morning hours in there anyway.  With a sigh, she forced her eyes to close.  Maybe in her dreams things wouldn't seem so bad.  And maybe when she woke up, everything would just go away.  Only in her dreams.