Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything from Joan of Arcadia. Just me having fun and passing the time.
Summary: Two jobs, summer vacation and a new boyfriend… How can one girl cope?
Author's Note: Joan's reaction to the phone call… and a little insight in NYC. Please Read and Review. You know I love it
Joan slammed her bedroom door then threw herself onto her bed to lay sprawled along its length. She couldn't believe what she just heard – Iris in Adam's hotel room at 9:00pm. 'Wasn't that kind of late for her to be paying a visit?' Joan didn't want to accept what her mind was telling her – Adam and Iris were hooking up while they were away. She wanted to give Adam the benefit of the doubt; to trust in him and his feelings for her. After all, they went to all this trouble to get together… Why would he throw it all away for Iris, the girl he dated only a few weeks prior?
She rolled over onto her back and clutched one of her pillows to her chest in a self-comforting gesture. He wouldn't do this to her, would he? She chewed on her bottom lip as doubts and insecurities plagued her. She jerked into a sitting position when the phone on her night table rang, echoing throughout the quiet room. Joan picked it up, her heart in her throat at the hope that it was Adam on the other line. Instead, she swallowed past the lump and answered her mother's greeting.
Meanwhile:
Adam sat down on one of the comfortable armchairs in the hotel lobby, waiting for Iris to return. He twirled a piece of thread that he had pulled from his shirt about his index finger, growing a little impatient and weary. He should have waited until the next day to buy Joan the music box, but he didn't want to take the chance that someone would buy it before he could.
He shoved to his feet intending on going up to meet Iris when he spotted Valerie and Anthony at the front desk retrieving their messages. Sleeping arrangements had been complicated in the beginning – two single rooms and two double rooms. Helen had put her foot down on one of the girls with their own room, so the girls paired up for the double rooms – Iris and Valerie, Courtney and Helen.
Adam decided to check on his own to kill some more time. He walked over to the teenage girl that was mumbling to herself in frustration. She pasted on a smile before greeting Adam. "Hello, sir. How may I help you?"
"Uh yeah… I was wondering if you had any messages for room 334?"
The girl paused with what she was doing to look up at Adam with worry on her face. She quickly typed something into the computer, her eyes widening at what she saw.
"I'm… I'm really sorry, Mr. Rove. I… uh… gave your messages to someone else. I'm really, really sorry. Tonight is my first official day, and I didn't verify rooms when I gave them to her…"
"Do you remember who you gave it to? Or what the notes said?"
"I'm afraid I don't. I didn't take the notes, but I do remember Steven Jacobs, the afternoon concierge, telling me you had an important note from… Oh, I can't remember the name. But the girl I gave them to was short, had dark, curly brown hair… Um, brown eyes. She was wearing a pink and black, vintage, button shirt; denim shorts and pink nylons or something. I remembered, because, well… who would wear such weird clothes? I mean, sure this is New York City, but they're weird and kind of ugly by our standards-"
"I – uh, thanks… I'll go see if she's still got the messages." Adam left the desk and went over to the elevators, his mind reeling. Why had Iris taken his messages? He could understand Iris getting Valerie's by mistake, but his room was down the hall. He stepped back as the doors opened to let the passengers off. He looked up to see Iris getting ready to exit, and he called out her name. She smiled over to him and walked over.
"Hey, sorry it took so long. I couldn't find my stuff, and the elevator seemed to take forever in getting to our floor. Anyways, here's your wallet."
"Uh, thanks. Listen… Did you get my messages from the front desk? The girl over at the desk said she gave them to you by mistake…"
"Did she?" Iris feigned surprise, reaching into her back pocket for the slips of paper. Her heart was pounding at an increased pace, wondering if she could get herself out of this mess without him finding out everything. "I guess she did… I never even checked them out. I just uh… grabbed them and put them in my pocket for later. Sorry about the mix-up."
He opened the notes that mentioned calls from his father. Nothing too important, just the standard checking-up phone call a nd a request for Adam to call back. When he got to the third note, he groaned softly to himself as he checked the time. It was 9:15pm.. Maybe there was still time.
"Uh, Iris… did I get a phone call while you were in my room?" He held his breathe hoping that there was no call. He exhaled as she shook her head.
"Nope. No one called while I was there. They might have called while I was at the elevator waiting, though. Wait, I have an idea… Why don't you go buy what you were planning on getting, then you can just call Joan when you get to your room? I mean, if she did call, it's too late to answer… And the shop closes at 9:30, so…"
Adam stood there and debated a moment on whether to go back to the gift shop for Joan's gift or to go on up to his room and wait in case she didn't get a chance to call at 9 like she said. He decided that Iris' plan was better, and he turned and walked towards the gift shop with Iris trailing behind him. He made it just in time to grab the music box before another tourist could put her hands on it. She glared at Adam, but he didn't care. He quickly went over to the register and paid for the item, not saying a word to the other customer or to Iris. When he had the bag in hand, he exited the gift shop and made for the elevators. An awkward silence descended on the pair as they waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor. They entered inside once the doors opened and rode up to the third floor without looking at each other or acknowledging the other's presence. Adam stepped out onto the third floor and stood there a moment, finally looking at the petite girl beside him.
"I better get going. I'm going to see if I can catch Jane before she goes to bed… so have a good night."
"You, too… Night, A-Adam." Iris gave him a half smile before turning around and walking down the hall in the direction of her double room. She wondered if he believed her when she lied to him, and hoped that he had. She had no idea why she did what she did, but she couldn't say she was feeling guilty over it at all… It was only what the other girl deserved, for what she did in breaking her and Adam up. Did Joan honestly think she was going to give up that easily? They obviously didn't know her very well…. Well, they soon would.