Chapter 5

After the shock of their previous conclusion, and the ulterior critical consequences, Laura began to get panicked. It wasn't her usual behavior in front of a crisis, but the dimension of the problem was enormous. The hours running with both of them tied to a bed in a hotel room without the chance to send a copy of their marriage license to Miss Becker would be the end for any hope. One thing was asking for resident status following the procedures in the correct time and form, and another one was arriving into a brief trial to present the required documents out of time, with the possibility of prison and deportation still hanging over them.

"Stay calm Laura. We'll find an exit."

"Stay calm…How do you think I will stay calm with the situation being more complicated every second? What exit are you talking about? We are in a hotel room where nobody knows we are, the clock is ticking, we are handcuffed to a bed's headboard, and you are asking me to stay calm? Who do you think you are? Houdini?" she asked him in a very frantic train of words.

"Houdini, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Paramount, 1953. You are getting even better anytime love!" He looked at her rolling eyes and kissed her. "Let's trash this lamp against the wall." He said. She looked at him without understanding his intentions. He put his arm near the artifact, and with a strong push, the lamp on the nightstand crashed right on the wall, pulling the wire from the plug. The wall wasn't far from them, so the pieces of the item remained near him besides the bed. In a swift movement, he put his foot on the floor, and caught the wire between his toes, bringing it to his free hand.

"What do you have in mind?" asked a still worried but now intrigued Laura.

"You know, Laura, sometimes having a little knowledge about magicians and his tricks behind the scenes can be very useful. There is a story about Houdini that tells that his contracts always specified that before he disappeared into a trunk or cell or behind a small curtain when performing on a stage, he could kiss his wife. After all, many of his feats were seriously dangerous, so who could refuse the couple what might turn out to be their last goodbye?"

"I didn't feel your kiss as a goodbye one. Was that your intention?"

He looked up from the wire in his hands to Laura's eyes. "There'll never be a goodbye kiss for us, Laura." He kissed her again, taking the time to show her that he was there to stay. She returned the kiss with equal fervor. Once it was over, he followed with his retelling. "The fact is that no one knew that he was getting more than a kiss from her wife. As their lips met, his wife would secretly pass a small piece of wire from her mouth to his. Then, once he was alone or hidden behind the curtain, he'd use the wire to pick the locks."

She smiled with understanding. "I'm glad you have those magician talents, Mr. Steele."

"I'm glad you are my brilliant wife, Laura; always having a wire for me to hold on."

"And I'm glad you are such a movie genius as well…Remembering that about the kiss… I have to admit that your movie knowledge always comes handy…"

"My lovely practical Laura… and I thought you were going to talk about the romantic meaning of the wife saving her husband with a kiss…"

"But I kissed you already, Mr. Steele. No need to be a movie genius to do it." She told him turning up her lips drawing a dazzling smile on her face.

"You certainly did, Laura. You certainly did.

Once he got the wire without any trace of plastic, he made the adequate tool to pick the lock of his handcuffs. After several fails he finally got the artifact opened. He massaged his wrist to help the blood to travel through his hand veins again and then sat on the bed staring at Laura.

"Ok, come on! Pick the lock! I need my hand free as well as you do."

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking…" he answered her wickedly.

"What's gotten into your mind? Mr. Steele…" she threatened him.

"I'm kidding Laura, just kidding. Now that we are husband and wife, I don't want to be tempted to start acting like a boring married couple. Should I pass over the chance about having my wife handcuffed to the headboard? I'm not sure the opportunity will present itself again..."

"With some luck, never again… Hurry up. We don't have any time to waste."

They opened the room door and made sure there was nobody in the hall. As they didn't know who the author of their supposed kidnapping was, and among of that, they were running through a hotel corridor barely covered by their nightgowns, the run towards their room was almost a race. Once in front of their room's door, looking at each other's face, they crashed into another unexpected situation. They didn't have the key to get into it.

"Housekeepers room," whispered Laura.

They ran along the corridor again, in search of the correct door. Once they found the supposed room, they put on some staff uniforms and walked through the corridor looking for a maid's chart. There was one at the end of the hall, waiting outside a room while the employee was still working inside. They pushed it, and once Laura found the master key stored in there, they ran towards their final destination. Finally opening their own room door, once inside, they leaned on the back of it while a relieved sigh abandoned each one of their bodies.

Their room was in order, just like it was supposed to be. Their belongings were still in their suitcases; Laura's briefcase was on the table, her gown hanging in the closet, the bed not too rumpled… But there was no trace about the champagne bucket or the glasses. That absence confirmed the origin of their problems seemed to be the sparkling beverage

"I'll call the front desk to ask about the champagne," said Mr. Steele.

In the meantime, Laura got rid of her uniform, and put on some of her own clothes, never stopping the search with her eyes through the whole room. Was then when she noticed...

"…So you don't have any register about some champagne sent to our room last night… Thank you very much." He finished the call and put the headphone in the cradle.

"Wasn't your tuxedo jacket over that chair?" she asked him.

He turned himself to look at the spot she had her eyes on. Noticing she was right, he stood up from the bed. "Yes. I put it there last night."

"Our marriage license is gone."