Vamping the OC
The Roach Motel
Night Shift, part 1.
Seth made the turn into the driveway of The Chino Motel and drove slowly past the office. He saw several people through the windows watching a big screen television. A thin, non-descript woman with something piled on top of her head was seated behind a counter. She turned her attention away from the screen and followed the truck with her eyes as it entered the central court of the motel.
Glancing over at Ryan, Seth couldn't tell if his new friend had fallen back to sleep or was just being very still. The whole laconic Westerner thing that Ryan had going on completely confused Seth.
"Do I need to stop and give them my license plate number or anything?"
"Yeah, you'll need to give it to them eventually. Take a right here, around the pool." Ryan pointed with his hand.
Seth looked for the pool Ryan had mentioned as a landmark. All he saw in front of him was a shadowy area surrounded by a high chain link fence. A gate faced him with pool hours posted on it; but there was no sign of water only a gaping black hole. An ancient, rusted swing set devoid of swings and a picnic table sat in the middle of a dry, grassless yard outside the fence. Nothing resembling a swimming pool presented itself.
"Pool?"
"Just go to the right. My room's in the right, rear corner."
As he followed Ryan's directions Seth got a better view of the fenced off pool that The Chino Motel provided its guests. A small pool of black water at its deepest point where the diving board had once been reflected back the light from a mercury vapor lamp overhead. The bottom of the pool was littered with beer cans, broken bottles, and various other kinds of trash that had collected there.
"Man, it's not too late to change your mind. Newport, a pool house, a real pool with real water, a Jacuzzi, and an ocean view." Seth tried to entice Ryan into reconsidering his offer to take him home.
"Why? I've got a pool, Seth. See. I'm just steps away from it." Ryan rolled his head to look at Seth and his lips twitched as though he almost considered smiling. "I'm number 24. You can park in front." Ryan paused. "I keep my bike in the room."
Seth parked the Range Rover in the indicated space and turned off the engine. "How're you doing?" He asked remembering the effort it had taken to get Ryan to the car back at the restaurant.
"We'll know when I get out, right?" Ryan unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door. He swung his legs out slowly and paused.
Before Ryan could step down out of the truck Seth had already made it around to the passenger side and was holding the door steady for him. Seth tried not to hover but the eyeless stare Ryan sent him through his glasses made him think that he wasn't succeeding with the not hovering thing. He refused, however, to let himself be intimidated by a Ryan who was operating at less than 50of efficiency. I can handle a sick Ryan.
Seth hadn't yet offered him a hand out of the car. The sleep might, after all, have helped Ryan's condition, whatever it was. He waited patiently for Ryan to finish the step down out of the Range Rover. Ryan put his left hand on the armrest on the door and levered himself up and out of the truck. He swayed weakly holding onto the door with both hands.
"Ryan? You okay, man?"
"A little dizzy, that's all. Give me a minute."
Seth didn't give him a minute. He grabbed Ryan's right arm and draped it over his shoulder. He gave Ryan a surprised look as his bare arm touched the back of Seth's neck. Ryan's skin was hot to the touch as though he had a fever or severe sunburn. Seth put his other arm around his friend's waist. "Okay, enough with the self-reliance, I'm here to help. So let me!" Seth complained in irritation as Ryan tried to pull away from him. "You either let me help you to your room or I put you back into the truck and we find an Emergency Room, Mr. Atwood." Seth felt Ryan's body stiffen at his words but then felt the tension go out of him. Ryan stopped resisting and Seth kicked the truck's door shut.
"You'd better arm your security system, Seth."
The lights of the Range Rover flashed as Seth locked and set the security for the SUV. "Done. I'll come back for your backpack and bike later. You need to be in bed. So, where's your key?" Seth was grateful for the dark glasses Ryan still wore. It was, he thought, extremely unlikely that Ryan could see the blush that spread up Seth's neck as he mentioned Ryan's room key.
Ryan dug into his pants pocket and pulled out the key but held it just out of Seth's reach.
"What?"
"Seth, I let you help me in and then you leave. Go home to Newport before you get in trouble with your folks. Do we have an understanding?"
"Right, I get you inside first and then we negotiate terms."
Seth walked him the short distance to his room and flipped on the light switch next to the door after he got it open. A small table lamp on the desk came on and supplied all the light the room had.
"I thought you smoked."
"What?"
"I said, I thought you smoked. You were smoking in front of the Y when I first saw you. There's hardly any smell of cigarette smoke in here. I have allergies. I'm sensitive to that kind of thing. I can tell when people smoke."
"My boss doesn't smoke and she doesn't like the smell of smoke on her employees. So, I try not to smoke in the room and get the odor on my clothes."
Seth took in how neat the room was as he helped Ryan across to his bed. He assumed that the made bed was the work of the housekeeping staff; but there was none of the clutter on the floor or dirty clothes strewn around that Ryan would have found in Seth's room in Newport. The other thing that struck him was the books. There were books, lots of books, books neatly lined up on top of the bureau, books stacked on the desk, and even on the room's window ledge. But no comic books. This guy needs help. He's seriously illiterate in the graphic novel.
"I could use a good maid service." Seth commented as he lowered Ryan down onto his bed. The covers on Ryan's bed were already turned down. "My mom's always on my case about picking up after myself. She says that I shouldn't leave my stuff around and make more work for Rosa, that's our housekeeper. But I say, that's what a housekeeper's for, right? Maybe hotel living wouldn't be so bad."
"I'm the maid service, Seth. I get a break on the rent if their housekeeper doesn't have to come into my room. They just give me clean linens once a week." Ryan leaned forward to untie his boots and Seth had to catch him by the shoulders as he lost his balance and started to topple forward.
"Whoa. I'll take care of the boots, old man. Lean back." Looking at the blue bedspread, he lifted Ryan's legs onto the bed. "Don't be such a pain. Lie still." he said as Ryan tried to get his feet back onto the floor. "From the looks of this bedspread you won't be the first person who ever put their shoes on it. You might, however, be the last," he guessed.
The coverlet contained small holes, one sizeable patch in a darker shade of blue than the bedspread itself, and numerous places where the fabric had worn so thin that the sheet beneath could be seen. It was clean but how many more washings it could take before it finally fell to pieces was an open question.
Seth pulled Ryan's boots off and his socks followed. He placed the boots under the bed. "You should really, like, get out of those clothes." Ryan began to unbutton his shirt. As he slowly struggled out of it, Seth stood to the side of the bed tying to ignore his obvious difficulty with this simple task. Ryan handed him the shirt. Now that he was shirtless Seth could see that Ryan's right arm and shoulder were a bright red.
"What is that? Does it itch?" Seth asked reaching out to touch his arm gingerly. Ryan's skin was really hot to the touch. He hadn't imagined it before when he helped him out of the car.
"Not really," Ryan said not very convincingly.
"Someone has been working out," Seth said staring down at him and thinking of all the work it must have taken Ryan to develop the arms and chest that he saw in front of him. God, did I say that out loud? That even sounded minty to me.
Ryan started to say something and then seemed to change his mind. "You've got to be a member of the Y to take their classes and I have a lot of free time during the day. My dirty clothes go in the bathroom." He nodded toward a closed door behind Seth.
"And the pants." Seth didn't move. He stood there holding Ryan's black silk shirt and his socks, waiting.
"No way. It's time for you to go." Ryan pushed himself higher in the bed using his left hand. "You said you'd leave after you got me in."
"Not exactly. I said we'd negotiate that. I'll leave when you're in bed and I'm sure that you're okay. So, I can either help you out of your jeans; or if you want to maintain your dignity, you can do it yourself."
Seth cocked his head and waited as Ryan undid his belt and the buttons of his fly but that was as far as he got. Ryan faced away from Seth and stared fixedly at the wheezing air-conditioning unit set into the window next to the bed. Seth took hold of the cuffs of his jeans. Ryan raised his hips and Seth slowly slipped them off. Lying on the bed in just his boxers, Ryan refused to look at Seth. His face was as red as the rash that covered his right side. He began to shiver. The air-conditioner in this room seemed to have only one setting - frigid. Seth frowned. I'll have to deal with that later. Seth lifted Ryan's legs again and slid them under the covers and then pulled the sheet and bedspread up over him.
"Satisfied?" Ryan growled. "You're leaving now, right?"
Seth ignored the question as he dropped Ryan's wallet on the desk alongside his room key. He opened the door to Ryan's bathroom and found an old duffel bag behind the door that doubled for a clothes basket. The bathroom was just as clean and neat as the ones Rosa maintained for the Cohen's.
"How's the head? Can you ditch the sunglasses now? There's only the one light on."
"Better," was Ryan's one-word, not very informative answer as he slipped off his glasses. He squinted at Seth.
Seth looked him over skeptically. "On a scale of 1-10, how's the pain, really?"
Ryan glared at him and then replied with a sigh, "Eight."
"An honest answer, I like that. Do you have anything around here for a migraine?
Ryan shook his head no. "But I'll be okay once I get some sleep. I'm in bed. You need to get out of here."
"Not 'til I get you something for that headache. Is there an all-night drugstore or supermarket around here? Besides the place across the street, I mean. I don't think that guy wants to see me again tonight." Seth pulled the desk chair out and straddled it. "And what about the front desk and my car? Are they going to come looking for me soon?"
"Yeah, you should take care of the office if you're going to be hanging around for a while."
Seth heard resignation in Ryan's voice and gave himself a little mental pat on the back. Wore him down, I did, I did. Knew I could do it. "Right, I'll take care of the office first and then go on a drug run for you." He gave Ryan a knowing look that caused Ryan to roll his eyes and stare up at the ceiling.
"Grab my wallet."
"What for?"
"You'll need to pay when you go to the front desk and for whatever you buy me."
"For parking my car?" Seth asked.
"No, for staying the night. People stop being a visitor after 10:00 pm and have to register as a guest. I'll need to pay for you as my guest."
Seth's eyebrows went up. "You know this from having a lot of late night guests?"
"I know this from working the late shift one night a week. It helps with the rent." Ryan's head was resting on his pillow. His eyes were shut.
"So, I'll register as your guest, pay, get directions to someplace where I can get you something for your head, and then be back." Seth headed for the door. "Do you need anything?"
Seth watched as Ryan thought it over. He wondered what could be so difficult about that question?
"Some juice. They have it in the vending machine in the lobby."
"Done. And I'll get you some ice too." Seth's hand was on the doorknob.
"Seth, my wallet!"
"Your money's no good, Ryan. I've got it covered." Seth opened the door and then paused. "This is Chino," he mused. "I wonder if I can score something better than Advil for your headache? I've got Mom's Amex card." As Seth closed the door behind him, he thought he could hear Ryan calling his name