Page 33 of Between Now and Always

I don’t even want to know what really brought her here. I just want her gone.

“Well, what the hell are you waiting for?” Phil snaps when I don’t respond.

“I’ll send it to you. I’ve got…company.”

Understanding lights his eyes and he rolls his eyes, but grins. “Ah, I see…okay. Fine. But call me as soon as she’s gone, “

He’s got the wrong idea, but I let him think whatever he wants. I don’t know how to explain Giselle anyway.

“Yeah, I will. Get some rest. I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”

I disconnect and sit there trying to figure out the best way to deal with Giselle. I don’t understand how she keeps popping up. And I regret the stupidity on my part that made it possible for to invade my life the way she did again, tonight.

When I got back got back to my room after meeting with Jack in Los Angeles, she was still there.

Turns out, she was having the worst day of her life.

She’d been fired after a customer complained about her runny nose and red eyes. The day before, her roommate brought a cat home that she was allergic to. But she had nowhere else to stay. She had no family to speak of and she was burned out on LA and sick of rejection after rejection for the dance auditions she’d moved out there for.

So, I let her stay in my hotel room. That night, she climbed into the shower with me and was on her knees with my dick in her mouth before I could register was going on. I stopped her and she said, “I’m on my period, so I can’t fuck you. This is all I can give you for letting me stay.”

I pulled her up, told her she didn’t have to give me anything. I don’t know what happened to her, but I could tell something was off. She wasn’t the talkative type. And that was fine, because I wasn’t really in the mood to take on anyone else’s problem. Instead, we slept - her in my bed. Me, on the couch.

And that’s what we did for my last month in LA. But it’s not like we became friends. I hardly saw her and I didn’t even know her last name.

The day I left, she said she’d look me up if she was ever in NYC. I’d said, “fine” was out of politeness than anything else. I never expected to see her again. She didn’t have money for bus fare, let alone a redeye from LA to LaGuardia.

I did a double take when I found her waiting in the lobby of my building when I got in from the airport.

She said she was in town for an audition and needed a place to stay. Just for a few days, she said. I sit outside for a few more minutes and gather the will to go back inside and deal with her.

“Hey, I’m done,” I call as I walk back in.

It’s as quiet as a tomb. She’s not where I left her in my living room.

I walk to my bedroom and call her name.

A quick look in my bathroom confirms what the silence implied, she’s gone. Relieved, I lock my front door. Then, I call down to the front desk to tell them that she’s never allowed back up unless accompanied by me.

My mood is on an upswing and I head to my room to look from the files I promised Phil. I open my closet and find it completely wrecked. All the drawers of the built-ins are open and overflowing with clothes that have been roughly yanked out.

I step over the things she didn’t bother to put back and stare at the empty space where my suitcase, the one where I kept all of my important documents and my cash, used to sit.

It’s gone.

Anger flares. That little bitch stole from me.

My knees buckle when I remember what else was in that suitcase.

Shit.

What the fuck am I going to tell Phil? There’s no way I can deny his request about Susan Kendicott.

Fuck me.

I call down to security to let them know what happened and then wait while they call the police.

When they come I show them the picture I took of Giselle. Their questions make it clear they think is a lover’s spat and when they leave, I know they’re not going to look for her.

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