Page 11 of Souvenir

Having a dead phone meant that I had to ask the hotel receptionist to call me a taxi. It didn’t take long for me to wait and within half hour, I was opening my front door and kicking off my shoes.

Before heading up the stairs to take a needed shower, I put the phone to charge. I’d check the messages afterwards. I must admit that I was more relaxed that I’d been in the last couple of years, especially the last few months. I couldn’t get the thought of Mr. Christmas off my mind.

As the warm water sprayed on my skin, I recalled each kiss from his lips. Whenever I closed my eyes I could hear his deep murmur, that guttural sound he made as he entered my awaiting pudenda. Gosh, those feelings that erupted in me was new, unexpected. I never thought it would be that electrifying.

But the reality was, he was an escort. A once in a lifetime moment that could never happen again. I told myself that I should never say never. That it wouldn’t hurt to do this once in a while and now that I knew what he looked like, we could take this to another level and do the video session.

“No Savvy,” I scolded myself. “Forget this. Concentrate on work and forget this.”

I was done with my shower and fantasizing about Mr. Christmas when I realized my pendant was missing. I would have to go back to the hotel to retrieve it or ask my escort to find it for me. He was the one who booked the room, and he might still be there. With this in mind I went to retrieve my phone in order to send him a message via the secure chat app.

As soon as I switched on the phone, I saw I missed many calls, a number of them from the escort service. I decided to return this call immediately because they might have found my jewelry and wanted to return it. I was about to dial the phone when it rang. Barbara.

Reluctantly I answered. “Hello?”

“Merry Christmas Savannah, I came over last night to check on you but you weren’t there.”

“I told you I had plans.”

“But we’ve been calling all evening and this morning. Carl and I were worried.”

I sighed, grateful that she cared, but annoyed because she was so annoying. “I’m fine, really. Thanks for caring.”

“That’s what friends are for,” she replied. “Just come by whenever you can. I’ll save some cider and cookies for you.”

“I will, I promise.”

She was a great cook and I did love her cookies. Perhaps later I would stop by and hang out just for a little while. After hanging up with Barbara, I called the escort service.

After three rings, someone answered. “Miss McKenna, Miss Knowles here.”

“Hi, Miss Knowles, I saw you have been trying to reach me.”

“That is correct. We have been trying to reach you all day yesterday and throughout the night,” she said. “Your escort waited for you until midnight, after which time he had to return to our headquarters. Please know that you will still be billed for the night.”

“What?” That can’t have been right. “What do you mean he waited for me?”

“Miss McKenna, did you forget your date in room 214?”

“Room 214?” The phone almost slipped from my hand as I recalled the room number, 314. I swallowed hard. “You mean 314, right?”

“Miss McKenna we don’t book penthouse suites unless it’s one you specifically ordered and paid for.”

The blood was quickly draining from my head and I knew I was going to pass out at any moment. What the woman on the phone was telling me was that the man I had amazing sex with was not my assigned escort.

My breath was coming in short gasps as my throat constricted and my chest tightened. I knew a panic attack when I saw it. The only trouble was that I was unable to control it right about then.

“Miss McKenna?” the woman on the phone called. “Are you there?”

Without thinking I hung up the phone. My mind was in a tailspin as I tried to figure out what was going on. I opened the chat app and changed the setting for my connection. I then sent him a message, hoping he would answer before I passed out.

As I waited for him to respond, I paced the living room floor. The memory of my night in hotel room 314 bombarded my mind and body. I could not help that my nipples hardened at the memory of his lovemaking while at the same time I began to get angry at the man who took advantage of the situation.

When the phone beeped, I jumped, my heart racing out of control. I opened the message and read his response.

“I waited for you,” the message read. “Is everything okay? We can reschedule if you want. I will make an exception and do this outside of work. No charge since I was already paid my commission.”

“Can I get a photo? I know I said no photos, but I need to see you first.”

---