Chapter 6
"Wow, that was exhilarating," Stephanie said. Her face was flushed, and she was still gripping the side of the seat in the Mustang. Her leg was shaking, but the adrenaline was pumping through her like crazy.
"I'm addicted to speed. It's exciting. It gives me a rush," Chris said with a shrug. He ran his fingers through his messed up hair and smiled. "I see it has the same effect on you, too."
"Do you always drive that fast?" she asked, looking over at him.
"When I can get away with it," he said. "And when it's safe."
"When is it ever safe?" she wanted to know.
"Whenever there are no cliffs around," he replied in a totally serious voice. He ran his fingers through his hair again and felt a knot. "My hair is so messed up."
His hair was everywhere. As he had sped through the deserted streets of the city in the Mustang, the windows had been down, and the wind had whipped through his hair and hers as well. He looked like hell, and it was funny to her, because she knew she probably looked like she personified everything that was hell. She bit her lip in an attempt to hold back her laughter, but it didn't work.
"What is so funny?" he asked when she suddenly burst out laughing.
"You look like hell," she said, laughing so hard that her sides were hurting.
"What's so funny about that?" he asked, sticking his lip out and pouting.
"It's funny because I know that I look like hell, too," she laughed.
He looked at her cracking up and couldn't help but laugh, too. She wasn't exactly his favorite person in the world, but she was definitely moving up on his list. She wasn't a bitch like he had previously thought she was. She was just...a person. And her laughter was infectious.
"You're right," he laughed. "You do look like hell!"
He wasn't exactly sure when her laughter turned into sobs, but at some point after he told her that she looked like hell, she laughed so hard that she started to cry, and the next thing he knew, she was fully crying. She turned her head away from him and looked out the window as tears cascaded down her face.
His laughter died on his lips as soon as he noticed that she wasn't laughing anymore. She was sniffling instead. When had that happened, and more importantly, how had it happened?
"Steph? What's wrong?" he asked cautiously, looking over at her.
"Do you ever blame yourself for Trish cheating on you?" she asked quietly, still looking out the window.
Oh, that was what this was about. "I used to," he said, looking out the other window. "Back when it first happened. Why?"
"Do you ever feel like maybe if you had done something differently then it never would've happened? That you were the blame for everything that happened?" she asked, ignoring his question.
"Is that how you feel?" he asked, turning to look at her. "Like everything that happened with Hunter and Trish is your fault?"
"Yeah," she admitted. "And I keep wondering what I could've done differently. Like, maybe I wasn't experienced enough in bed for him or something, or maybe I didn't treat him well enough..."
"Listen to me," he said, putting his hand under her chin and gently turning her face to make her look at him. "None of what happened is your fault. Hunter and Trish are both adults. You are not responsible for their bad decisions, and neither am I."
More tears came from her eyes. "I try to do things perfectly for him, I try to please him in every way, and somehow I still feel like if the opportunity came up again he would cheat on me all over again."
"What makes you think that?" he asked, removing his hand from her chin and staring into her eyes.
"He... He hasn't touched me in weeks now," she said, sounding even more ashamed than she had sounded back in her office when he had came to see her before. She looked away. "The other night, I came out and told him that I needed him, and he just... He just turned his back on me and went to sleep."
"Your husband ought to be more careful," he said, reaching over to wipe the tears from her face with his hand.
"Why?" she asked, surprised that his hand was on her face.
"Because," he said, gently caressing her face. "Because your needs are going to get out of hand someday, and if he won't take care of you, some other man will..." He continued softly touching her face, smiling when he noticed that her tears had finally stopped. But his hand never moved from her face.
"No matter how crazy or out of hand my needs get, I would never cheat on Hunter," she said softly. She shivered as he tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I'm completely devoted to him."
"But if he's not giving you what you need, some other guy is going to come along and realize what a great catch you are," he said. He wanted to clap his hand over his mouth or punch himself, anything to make himself shut the hell up. He didn't know where these stupid words were coming from or why they were coming from his mouth.
"Great catch? Ha!" she scoffed. "I'm repulsive. No man would touch me."
"I'm touching you," he pointed out, cupping her cheek with his hand. "And despite what you're thinking in that pretty little head of yours, Stephanie, you really are a beautiful woman."
She blushed, looking away. She didn't even really like Chris, barely even knew him that well. Yet, his hand caressing her face was awakening desires inside her that it shouldn't have been awakening. She had to get away from him before she did something stupid that she would regret...like kiss him.
"So, um, thanks for the ride," she said, biting her lip.
"Yeah, no problem," he said, quickly moving his hand away from her face. "So, I'm going to pop the trunk and get our stuff out, and then I'll walk you up to your room."
A few minutes later, they were in the elevator on the way to the fifth floor of the hotel. They hadn't spoken since they were in the car. The silence was comforting in a weird sort of way. Stephanie leaned into a corner of the elevator thinking about what Chris had said. Chris leaned against a wall in the elevator discreetly looking at Stephanie and wondering just how they had started to get to know each other so well already. He had worked in the same company as her for years, had been in storylines with her too, but he was only just really getting to know her. It surprised him that she wasn't as brave and invincible as she made herself seem.
"It's funny how our rooms are on the same floor," Stephanie said when the silence got to be too much for her.
"Yeah, funny and convenient," Chris replied.
"Convenient?"
"Yeah. I mean, in case you needed to talk to me or something...about something," he said. He thought about what he had just said, then shook his head. "I think I just confused myself."
"I understood what you were trying to say perfectly," she assured him as the elevator opened. They stepped out of the elevator and walked out into the hall, trying to find her room. They found it right away and stood in front of it. "And I really do appreciate everything you've done for me."
"No problem. We're friends, right?" he said without thinking.
"Not yet," she said truthfully. "But I think we've made considerable progress towards getting there."
"That works for me," he said, nodding his head in approval. "So then this is goodnight?"
"Yeah... So goodnight," she said. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost one o'clock in the morning. "Or really, good morning."
He smiled and leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek, once again, totally innocent. "Don't forget what I told you," he said. "Some guy is going to come along and snatch you up if Hunter doesn't start doing his job."
She smiled a genuine smile. "I'll see you later, Chris." She used her card key and opened the door to the hotel room.
"Later, Steph," he said. He watched her walk into the room. He didn't walk away until the door closed and she was safely inside. He smiled to himself for no apparent reason as he walked down the hall, but his smile turned upside down when he heard the scream. He turned around just in time to see Stephanie stomping out of her room with a pissed look on her face, dragging her luggage behind.
"Good, Chris, you're still out here," she said when she saw him. "Can I stay in your room with you tonight?"
"Uh, sure," he said, surprised. "Why'd you scream back there?" She didn't have to answer him. Someone else answered the question for her.
"Steph, we were just talking!" Hunter said, rushing out into the hallway from in the room with no shirt on.
"Yeah, Stephanie, we were just discussing the script!" Trish said, following him out. She stopped walking when she saw Chris standing there.
"Discussing the script at one in the morning?" Chris asked with a look of disbelief on his face. He shook his head angrily. "Come on, Steph, let's go." Both he and Stephanie turned their backs on their two cheating loved ones and headed down the hall to Chris's room...
