I wake up to a woman screaming. Fuck, where am I? How do I stop that screaming? I look around. That's right, I am in Ana's hotel room. Why am I asleep? Is that Ana screaming? Oh my God! Ana is screaming! Who is hurting my girl? I jump out of the bed and run towards the noise. Ana is screaming from behind the locked bathroom door. Is someone in there hurting her?
I pound on the door. "Ana, Ana, are you ok?"
The screaming stops. "Christian, is that you?" she sniffles. Why is my girl crying?
"Yes, it's me. What's wrong? Why are you yelling?"
"There is a man in my room."
A man in Ana's room? Oh shit, maybe I should have told Elliott to call Taylor. I pat my pockets, searching for my phone. Wait, if there was a man in Ana's room, he might still be here. Fuck, where is my phone? My eyes dart around the area.
"Stay in the bathroom," I tell Ana. I check the closet and behind the curtains. I look under the bed and behind the chair in the corner. I find no evidence of an intruder. The room door is still bolted from the inside. I return to the bathroom door.
"Are you sure that you saw someone in your room? What did he look like?"
A tiny and terrified voice chokes back tears. "I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back, there was a man in my bed," she whispers.
"Impossible, Ana. I was in your bed. I would know if there was a man in it." I try to Jedi-mind-trick Ana into unlocking the door so that I can comfort her.
"You were in my bed? Um…I think that you might be the man in my room," she says through the locked door.
I bellow with laughter. Oh, sweet girl! She woke up and mistook me for an intruder.
"Christian," she says. "Why were you in my bed? We didn't, um…you know...did we?"
"No, no. There was no funny business, I promise. You were drunk and sick last night. I helped you to your room and you passed out. I was worried that you might vomit again so I stayed to make sure that you were safe."
I see no reason to admit that I passed out, too. I'll let her think my actions were strictly altruistic.
"Oh," she says. Her crying seems to be slowing down.
"Ana, can you unlock the door? I want to make sure that you are ok before I go." Who am I kidding? I just want to see her one more time before I am banished to my own room several floors away.
"I can't," she sighs.
"Yes you can. Let me see that you are safe and then I will go."
"It's alright. I'm ok. You can go now," she whimpers. She doesn't sound ok. I have visions of a masked intruder holding her at gunpoint behind the locked door.
"I can't go until I see that you are alright."
"Well, um, this is awkward," she replies. "It's just that, erh, well I don't have any clothes on so, um…"
"Why don't you have any clothes on? You passed out in your dress."
"Well, funny story," she gives a nervous giggle. "When I woke up, I thought I was alone. My dress smelled like barf, so I kind of took it off. Only, I had to pee so badly that I didn't bother to put anything on before I came in here. When I came back out of the bathroom, I saw you in the bed and thought that you were an intruder and I ran back in here as fast as I could."
Ana was naked in the same room where I was sleeping. I give my brain fifteen seconds to enjoy that visual. I look around her room. I find a robe in her closet and convince her to open the door a crack. I promise my eyes are closed and hand the robe through.
I sit on the side of the bed. I hear her brushing her teeth. How cute. She doesn't want me to smell her barf breath. Too late for that, Miss Steele. Again, information she does not need to know. Eventually, the bathroom door opens and she appears, clutching the hotel's over-sized robe closed at her collar bone. She looks beautiful with her freshly washed face and hair piled on top of her head. I stand to greet her. Neither of us knows what to say.
She looks up at me through those impossibly long lashes and gives me an embarrassed smile. I grab my cell phone from the floor beside the bed and go to leave. Just before I go, she stands on her tiptoes and gives me a peck on the cheek.
"Thank you for taking care of me last night."
"It was my pleasure." I walk out of her room and down the corridor. Best. Night. Ever!
I don't see Miss Steele again until it is time for us to leave for the airport later that day. I have worked out, eaten breakfast and lunch, and spent several hours reviewing the data for our meeting with the Germans. When Miss Steele arrives in the lobby, she looks like she spent the day avoiding bright light and loud noises.
"Sunglasses indoors?" I tease her. She shushes me.
"Not so loud, Mr. Grey."
She is dressed head to toe in black. She wears a black shirt over a black cami, black leggings, and black ankle boots. Even her oversized, Katherine Hepburn sunglasses are black. She is the Grim Reaper's cuter, little sister. Her hair is down in loose, natural curls. She seems to be using it as a curtain to block out offending stimuli.
I grab the handle to her suitcase and roll it along with mine to the curb out front. Taylor takes our bags to load. I help Ana into the back seat. The entire ride to the airport she leans her head against the window.
"What can I bring you to drink?" Our flight attendant queries
"Bitters and soda, if you have it," Ana croaks.
I raise an eyebrow at her odd request. I can feel her laser eyes burning holes through me from behind her shades, daring me to judge her for her beverage choice.
"It's my fail-safe hangover cure. I tried to order it at the hotel but I don't know Mandarin for bitters."
What the hell is bitters? It sounds terrible. I guess the GEH jet stocks it, because Ana is soon gulping down the concoction. I watch as she begins to return to life like a wilted plant, watered, and revived. She should patent this hangover cure.
Off come the sunglasses. Rosiness returns to her cheeks. She digs through her bag for a hair tie and piles it all into a messy top knot. From the ashes, the Phoenix does rise.
I swear I hear her growling as she massacres the filet mignon that is served for dinner. Apparently, the pains of her hangover are long gone as she gladly accepts a glass of red wine. She is all winks and giggles. My girl likes to eat.
I tell Ana to stop when she begins to pull out her MacBook. Thanks to the quick shipyard negotiations, we will have plenty of time to go over our notes once we are wheels down in Germany.
Normally, I would retire to the plane's well appointed stateroom to sleep. Unfortunately, I can't think of a non-creepy way to invite Ana to join me. Instead, I opt to spend the evening in side-by-side recliners with Ana in the main cabin. A gentleman would offer the stateroom for the lady to use by herself. Alas, I am anything but a gentleman. Selfishly, I let the bed go unused so that I can keep ma'lady within arms reach.