Blair sighed as she waited for Todd to finish with his shower. She wanted to freshen up, and she wasn't in the mood to wait. But she had no choice- either she bust in on him, and see a little more than she cared to, or she sit rather impatiently while the heat affected her in ways almost worse than he did. It was very hot, it must have been over 100 degrees and the poor air conditioning in the room wasn't helping. All she wanted to do was to get in the shower herself and cool off, and waiting was not her strong suit.
She started pacing the floor, tugging nervously at her earrings. It was only then that she discovered one was missing. Great, she thought. Probably happened during "it"- whatever it was that happened with Todd. Yet another reason not to fool around with your ex- you might mysteriously lose precious artifacts or pieces of clothing. Just as she was silently cussing out Todd in her mind yet again, out he came, beads of water glistening against the hard, warm muscles of his chest. After a fleeting glance (and a mental snapshot) Blair yelled at him.
"Todd, put your clothes on."
As he dried his hair with the white complimentary hotel towel, Todd feigned confusion. "What do you mean? I just got out of the shower for heaven's sake. Can't you give a guy a chance to dress? What have you got against me doing something that millions of men do every day?"
"Here's another rule: there will be no nudity or partial nudity around here. You think you can manage that?" Blair harshly responded as she tossed his shirt to him.
As he put it on, he started mumbling to himself.
"What was that, Todd?"
"All these rules… it's like when we were married," he complained as he tucked the shirt in into his pants.
"Well you set yourself up for them with that 'clever' ploy of yours. I didn't ask you to come along. I didn't want you here to begin with, or are you forgetting that?"
"No, I think that would be impossible as you like to remind me of that every five minutes."
Blair grabbed her clothes and then slammed the door behind her, ignoring his not so subtle sarcasm. As she began her shower and the water poured down her soft skin, she closed her eyes, remembering the feel of his hands just hours before. She would never admit it, but she enjoyed it more than she would ever let him know. But it would never happen again.
As the steam rose in the shower, she kept adjusting the temperature of the water. It was official; she had now set it on the coolest setting possible and she was still hot. What was she doing here anyways? Her kids needed her. Her family needed her. Maybe this was a giant mistake. As she began the lathering process she was shocked when the door turned and of course, Todd walked in to the bathroom, unannounced and most definitely unappreciated.
"Hey.." he said casually as if he had done nothing wrong.
"Todd! What are you doing? Get out of here!" she looked for the towel before suddenly remembering it was across the room. Perfect. Todd had quite the view.
"I'm sorry to bother you. I just thought you'd like to know that your friend called. She wanted to make sure you got here all right. I told her you'd call her back."
"Give me my robe. Now!" she ordered, and he obliged.
"What, it's not like I haven't seen you.. you know…"
She stepped out of the shower , grabbing the towel and stared at him. "How dare you come in here while I'm showering? What gives you the right? And who told you to answer my phone anyways?"
"I thought I was being helpful. You know me- I'm always looking for ways to make people's lives easier."
"Todd… you are impossible. I guess I have to lock doors around you. I can't even have a moment's peace around you can I?"
"What…I was just being helpful. Don't shoot the messenger."
"Oh I'd shoot you all right, if I had half the chance."
"Careful Blair. Something might happen to me and those words might come back to haunt you."
"Oh Todd don't be morbid. Nothing's going to happen to you. I'm not that lucky." With that she firmly pushed him out of the bathroom.
"You know, with an attitude like that, you're not going to go very far in life." Todd commented as he tugged on the leg of his pants that was caught on the door.
"You're impossible, do you know that? I don't know why I even brought you with me." With that Blair locked the door and turned on the hair dryer, making sure she couldn't hear any more of Todd's comebacks.
He sat on the bed and turned on the television. Finally finding an English speaking channel, he settled on it and thought about the events of the trip so far. Yes, it had been a bumpy ride but the forecast was most definitely looking up.