Page 33 of Hesi-Dating
"I'm stuck…locked in, and she left me this way."
"Should I call 9-1-1?" She paused but then added, "You have your phone so you could call. That means you don't want to. Are you worried a friend of yours might show up?"
"I'm in Del Mar, which is our jurisdiction. High chance I'll know whoever gets called out. This sucks. I'm at Hotel Blue. I didn’t want to be her but she twisted my arm with political leverage." I lowered my voice to a whisper, hoping she'd miss some of the details. "I'm handcuffed naked to a bed and can't get free."
I expected laughter.
What I got was silence.
"Oh…wow. I'm sorry. You jumped into the deep end of hookups, didn't you?" Muffled noise from the other end that I couldn't make out as either laughter or movement. "Are you asking me to drive to Del Mar to free you?"
"Fuck…this is…" I banged my head against the headboard again. "Can you think of anything to avoid that?"
"I assume the cuff keys are?—"
"Out of reach," I interrupted.
"Can you ask the front desk to come up? No, that would be weird. Do you think the keys are still in the room or did she take them?"
"I'm pretty sure they're still here. I don't know how to get to them. I can't reach. Can't break the headboard. I really don't want to break my hand."
"We could continue bullshitting on the phone but the only way you're getting free is if someone helps you. I'm getting in my car. Should take me about 20 minutes to get there. I'll call when I arrive."
"I have to warn you, Henry puked before we… It's why she took off."
Silence.
"You still the Joley?"
She asked softly, "Did she hurt you or Henry? Are you both okay?"
"The puke was my fault. I gave Henry a donut, which didn't mix well with his elevator ride.”
"You hang on. I'm heading your way. Hotel Blue, right? What room are you in?"
"I don't know."
"You got yourself cuffed to a bed, your dog puked on your hookup, and you don't know the room number. You don't do anything half-ass, do you?"
"Not usually. It's on the third floor somewhere in the middle of the hallway. The DO NOT DISTURB sign is on the door."
"On my way."
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."
"I got you. Don't worry."
A shaky laugh erupted from me after she hung up. The unexpected release of tension made me feel lightheaded. She'd show up. I had no doubt.
"You okay, Henry?" The dog didn't approach me nor make a noise. I craned as far as I could to lean over the bed, finding him curled tight near the curtained window. "Joley'll get us out of here."
An eternity later she phoned. "I'm going to knock on the doors down the hall on the third floor. You'd be surprised how many have a DO NOT DISTURB up. Let me know if you hear a knock."
Minutes later I heard it. My chest jolted. "That's it. In here. Wait, you don't have a key."
The door opened. She moseyed in wearing skintight purple leggings with a sports bra barely covered by a strappy exercise top. The outfit left little of her curves to the imagination.
"How did you get a keycard to my room?"
