“No you’re not.”

“I’m going to be sick.”

She started making retching noises. The traffic was light. He guided the car across to the shoulder, slid to a stop and released the locks. She opened her door and hung her head out. A thin stream of champagne and half digested food spilled out onto the ground. He held her shoulders.

“Is that it?”

She sat back in her seat. He reached past her and pulled the door shut.

“There is some water and tissues in the glove compartment.”

He got the car moving again, back in the traffic. Susie opened the glove compartment and took out the water. It was warm and tasted of plastic. She swished it around her mouth. Her window wouldn’t lower so she could spit it out. She gestured.

“Mmmm!”

Genghis lowered it for her. She stuck her head out, spat and sat back. She wiped her chin with a tissue.

“I have some gum in my purse. Okay if I get it?“

“No,” he replied. He brought her window back up then reached down to his bag on the floor and pulled out a pack of gum.

“Have this.”

“I don’t like that flavour.”

“It’s mint. What is wrong with it?”

“I don’t like that kind of mint.”

He threw it on top of the dash.

“It is all I have. It is there if you want it.”

She took a piece of the gum and unwrapped it carefully and put it in her mouth. She stared out the passenger window, rolling the crushed wrapper between her hands like it was a piece of clay.

Genghis took off his sunglasses and put them in his bag. He threw the hat onto the back seat and checked his watch out of habit, not that time really mattered any more. After the countdown passes zero you suddenly have all the time in the world again.

He turned the radio on. All the stations were covering the explosion. Susie stared at the console, listening. Perhaps he could ask her to take her sunglasses off. Talking to her was difficult like this. But someone driving by might recognise her. Best he ensures she keeps them on until they are indoors.

It was still too early for there to be any coherent information. The coverage was mainly focussed on damage to the hotel and surrounding buildings. The bomb had blown a crater in the face of the Boulevarde spanning, from the tenth floor to the roof. His and Susie’s rooms were gone. A helicopter hovering over the scene reported that part of the roof had fallen into the street, but there were still many people huddling in the remains of the bar, waving for help through the smoke rising out of the ruined floors. The foundations of the rooftop pool had shattered and its contents had cascaded out into the street, adding to the mess of glass, iron and masonry. The building across from the Boulevarde had lost all of its windows to the blast and some occupants, bloodied by flying glass, were peering out at the carnage in the street. Only a few of the police and crime scene staff that had been working in the street were moving. Many lay buried under debris or in pools of blood. Innocent bystanders that had been watching the police from the barricades were also wounded or dead. Firetrucks, police and ambulances were converging on the Boulevarde, but the frozen traffic was slowing them down. In the absence of official services, citizens who had been outside the radius of the blast were rushing in to give aid to the wounded and search through the rubble for survivors.

People were crawling out over the rubble at the entrance of the hotel. There were survivors still inside the hotel. Some of them were in the livery of the hotel, others police, the rest civilians. No-one was sure how many people remained inside, or how many people there had been on the floors that had been destroyed. It is known that the current president of Ruzekhistan and his entourage were staying on the fifteenth floor of the hotel, which appeared to be the centre of the blast. The bombing is believed to have been an assassination or coup attempt. President Murzak is thought to have been moved out of the hotel after this morning’s shock riot, but they were still waiting for that fact to be confirmed. Several hundred Ruzekhistani’s, political refugees in this country from President Murzak’s government, had appeared unannounced in front of the Boulevarde this morning to protest against the alleged human rights violations by the current government of Ruzekhistan. They had caught the police completely by surprise and a confrontation with hotel security, assisted by government officers, had escalated into a riot. Before the police could arrive guests at the Boulevarde had bombarded the rioters with anything they could get their hands, mainly hotel furnishings, driving the rioters back until they gave up and fled just as quickly as they had appeared.

At the time of the blast a police investigation had been underway inside the hotel and we understand that very few of the guests had been allowed to leave. Are the riot and the explosion linked? We are sure they are. None of the rioters had been able to enter the hotel, so the bomb had to be planted by someone already inside. Given the centre of the blast is situated on the fifteenth floor, where President Murzak’s entourage was staying, we do believe this was an assassination attempt.

We have just got word that President Murzak was not in the hotel. At the time of the blast he was attending a secret meeting with officials of an unnamed government department, sources suggest the military or foreign trade. The president of Ruzekhistan and the remains of his entourage are being escorted to a military base for safety.

Genghis switched off the radio. Sadness filled him. He had failed. He lived when he should have died. Many innocent lives had been lost for nothing. Murzak would be unreachable now. He would dig deeper into the ground. There would be repercussions, rapid, brutal and arbitrary. He glanced at his watch. At home it would be the middle of the night. Word would be spreading. Some will pack and flee, others will risk staying, hoping that they have not yet come under suspicion.

“I guess you missed him.”

“Yes.”

“Did you kill enough people or do you have more bombs?”

He gave her a long look.

“It was our only opportunity. A hotel during the day is normally very empty.”

“So you killed too many innocent people. Is that what you’re saying? I ate too much, I drank too much, I killed too many innocent people. Is that it?”

“No, that is not it. Tomorrow, in my country, many more innocent people will die. They will join their families and friends and everyone else Murzak has killed. Enough to fill ten Boulevardes. These innocent people, they are all his victims.”

“Those people in the Boulevarde are your victims, not his!”

“They are his. And you, and I, we were supposed to be victims too.

She went silent.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you here? Why are you in this car? Why are you not back in the hotel, or laying in the street in the remains of your room? Why are you still alive? Have you thought about that yet?”

“Why did you save me?”

He sighed.

“I did not want you to die. I did not want to be the one that killed you. It is foolish, but now we are both alive and we are not meant to be.”

She took off her sunglasses and folded them in her lap.

“But that’s a good thing, being alive.”

The ringing in her ears spread down her spine and down her arms to her fingers and it set them shaking and the shaking spread back up her arms to the rest of her body. Her head seemed at once empty and racing with thoughts. The rioters had returned and they had bombed the hotel. She would have been safe. Up on the twentieth floor. A car bomb. The curtains were closed, they were heavy, she would not have been cut by the glass if the balcony door had shattered. Far away she heard Genghis murmuring to her about distance and danger and felt him trying to turn her away from the sight of the cloud rising on a column of dark smoke. He guided her to the open door of the car and into the passenger seat. Sitting down, looking up through the windscreen, she could see higher into the sky, but the top of the cloud was already out of view.

Genghis climbed in and started the car.

“They came back and they bombed us for throwing things at them. They tried to kill all of us.”

The man she had hit with the plant. Was this their revenge? She had killed him, she knew she did, and they had retaliated by bombing the hotel. The party on the rooftop. She could see the floors collapsing and all the happy people scared and scrabbling, trying to halt their slide across the roof and out into the air.

Genghis had the car in motion, gliding down the spiral exit ramp. She had to call her mother, let her know she was okay. That she wasn’t in the hotel. She dug her phone out of her back pocket. Her hands were still trembling as she tried to dial. The screen was black. The battery had slipped out again. She slapped at the base of the phone, but nothing happened. The car stopped at the boom gate. Genghis powered down his window and leant out to feed the card into the waiting machine. Susie started banging the phone against the palm of her hand. It just wouldn’t turn on. The gate lifted and Genghis pulled past it and stopped the car.

“Here, let me see it,” he said.

She held up the phone to explain.

“The battery slips out of place and it turns itself off. Normally you just hit it.”

He took the phone from her and threw it out the car window. It hit a wall and shattered.

“What was that for?”

Instead of answering he put the car into gear and pulled out into the street. They caught a green light at the corner and he turned right, away from the Boulevard. Traffic coming the other way had stopped and the sound of sirens was everywhere.

“I said what was that for? Why did you smash my phone?”

“I am sorry. It was necessary,” he replied without looking at her.

“Necessary? Everyone is going to be going crazy. I have to call them. They are all going to think I am dead!”

Genghis’ mouth was pressed into a thin line.

“You are dead.”

*****

The entrance to the freeway was now only a couple of blocks away. They had escaped getting stuck in the traffic. He had not planned to stand and watch the effect of the explosives detonating, but she had slowed him down more than he expected. He gave her a glance. Nothing leaked out from behind those sunglasses. Her mouth was open and she was looking at him, then looking at the road and then back. Again and again. The lights up ahead changed to yellow, then to red. He pressed the switch to lock all the doors. The thunk of the locking mechanisms roused Susie. She looked at the door panel like there was something alive inside it.

“Why did you do that? Why did you lock the doors?”

“It is just a precaution. A bomb has gone off. People in the city – who knows how they will be reacting. Maybe they want to get out, like we do. Maybe they want a fast car, like we have.”

Out the window there was no sign of panic or fleeing. Pedestrians were standing in groups, pointing up into the sky, talking, gesturing. Some people were walking rapidly in the direction away from the hotel, others were running towards it.

‘No-one is even looking at us.”

“Perhaps I am just paranoid.”

The lights changed to green. It was the final set before the freeway entrance. He steered them onto the entrance ramp and merged into the light traffic. They were speeding above the light industrial belt around the city, over squat warehouses and cluttered lots, heading out towards the satellite suburbs and the small towns beyond.

“Where are you taking me?”

He chose not to answer her question.

“Are you kidnapping me?”

“No, I am not kidnapping you.”

“Everyone thinks I am dead and you’re kidnapping me.”

“I am not kidnapping you.”

“Then let me out.”

“We’re on a freeway. I can’t let you out.”

She pointed out the windscreen at a sign.

“Then take this exit and let me out.”

“No.”

Susie started digging through her purse. For mace? He pulled the bag from her hands and deposited it on the floor behind his seat.

“Hey.”

“Please don’t try anything. We are going very fast and we could crash.”

“Let me go.”

“I will let you go.”

“Let me go right now.”

“I can’t.”

She hurled herself at him, trying to hit him, scratch his face and his eyes. She knocked his sunglasses askew before he could thread a hand through her flying arms. He caught her on her breastbone just below her throat and pushed her back into her seat and held her there, pressed in the corner the seat made with the door. She struggled for a moment then relaxed. He took his hand away and she made a grab for the gearstick. He deflected her arm and pushed her back in the corner.

“Susie, I did not save you so that you could kill us both.”

She tried wriggling free. He pressed harder.

“Let me go. You’re hurting me.”

“Put your seat belt on and promise you will behave and I will stop.”

She tried peeling back his fingers. He pressed them in under her collarbone until she yelped.

“Okay. Just stop it.”

He dropped his hand to the gearstick.

“Seatbelt.”

“I am, I am.”

She centred herself in the seatt and put on her seatbelt.

“You will be good now?”

“I won’t try anything. And, by the way, kidnapping me isn’t saving me from anything. We could have stayed in the car park, we were safe there. And how is smashing my phone saving me? Hey? Explain that.”

“I got you out of the hotel.”

Her voice lost its fire.

“You wanted to go for a walk with me.”

“I still do.”

“You knew there was a bomb, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell the hotel, the police? You could have saved everyone.”

“The bomb was in my suitcases.”

“Your suitcases?”

Her face lost its colour and she leant forward.

“Oh god I’m going to be sick.”

From The Sartorialist:

I was talking to a menswear buyer the other day, and he told me something that he had heard while in Italy during a Borrelli appoIntment. As we all know Borrelli is famous for the handwork on their shirts: hand sewn buttonholes, interior collar band, yoke, etc. Apparently this work really is done by little old Italian ladies at their homes in the nearby countryside surrounding the Borrelli factory. When the ladies send the shirts back to the factory, the shirts have to be vigorously washed because they are covered in cigarette ash, dirt from the natural oil in the women’s hands, tiny drops of blood, and the shirts smell like food.

[link]

“I do. I have keys to lots of doors. Let me show you,” he replied and started to pull her across the street.

She allowed herself to be directed, but she pulled back, slowing him down.

“How about you show me the key to the door back there. The hotel.”

He scoffed.

“We’ve been there. Why are you going so slow?”

“Because I am a little concerned that we are now locked out of the hotel and that when we are forced to walk in via the lobby we will be in big trouble.”

“And we won’t be in trouble if police walk around the corner and find us here behind the hotel?”

“Well if you told me where we were going I might be more co-operative.”

He pointed to a green door that he was obviously dragging her towards.

“To that door. Behind it is a corridor. It leads to another door which opens onto the next street. That will be a safer spot to linger. Now quickly, before we are seen.”

She stopped resisting. He pulled out a small ring of keys and flipped through them quickly and selected one. It unlocked the door and he pushed it open and swept Susie inside. There was an immediate urgency to his movements. He followed her in, his hand in the small of her back, pushing her forward. They were almost jogging down the corridor.

“Why are we running?”

“We must be quick. We are almost there.”

There was a staircase up ahead. Why the rush? No-one could see them in here. Perhaps this was trespassing. Most people don’t have keys to random buildings, unless this was part of another hotel that he works for.

They trotted up the stairs. Two flights took them to a door with a push bar, the stairs kept going up. Genghis reached around and pushed the door, and gave Susie a gentle shove. They stepped out onto the pavement and Genghis let the door shut behind them. People were walking by but no-one paid them any attention.

Susie was out of breath, bewildered and a little scared. The repercussions for this so-called walk could be devastating. And where were they going? How were they going to get back into the hotel? Genghis stood on the kerb looking left and right at the traffic and glancing at his watch. He turned and motioned for her to follow him. She was not moving from this spot. In fact, she will demand that Genghis take her back to the hotel. This was nothing like he said. He was playing games with her. It wasn’t his career at risk. It wasn’t his face that would be splashed across magazines. Her anger started to rise. Without another look back Genghis stepped off the kerb into the street and started crossing during a break in the traffic. Susie sprinted after him and caught up to him and took his arm.

“Where are you going? I want to go back to the hotel. Right now. We are going to get in so much trouble.”

“Susie, do not worry. I will keep you out of trouble. If, somehow, we do get in trouble, I will accept full responsibility. You have my permission to tell the police I tricked you, or forced you, or whatever your lawyer recommends. That is how confident I am.”

They reached the other side of the street and stood looking at each other.

“How does that sound?” he asked.

It did make her feel better. She was covered now. She would have told the police the same kind of thing anyway. Jason would know how to frame it so he didn’t get into too much trouble. She wouldn’t want him to sound like a kidnapper. Unless it was necessary.

“Okay. But where are we going?”

“”Right here. This car park. My car is in here and it closes at 10.00pm. I am afraid we will still be in the hotel at the time, so I want to move it.”

“Genghis, this is getting silly.”

“No, no. There is a 24 hour car park on the next block over. It will take five minutes. Drive out, drive in. Then we can walk.”

A mischievous grin crossed his face.

“Or we could go for a drive. Down near the water. Have a drink waiting for the night to fall and the lights on the boats to come on, then return to the hotel. It may be cutting things a little close, but you like?”

“You’re insane and I’m not going to jail because of your insanity. Let’s take care of the car, have a stroll and get back to the hotel.”

He chuckled and saluted. The car park was automated. He took a printed card out of his wallet and slid it into a vending machine at the entrance of the car park, then fed a note into another slot and the machine returned his card. They walked over to the elevator.

“The Boulevard is a lovely hotel, but I would like it more if it had a car park,” he said.

The elevator arrived. They rode it to the third floor where Genghis led her to a black BMW, a sporty model rather than a luxury sedan, parked alone at the edge above the street they just crossed, facing in the direction of the hotel. The car’s lights flashed and its horn pipped as they approached it. Instead of getting into the car Genghis stood at the low concrete retaining wall, looking down at the people in the street, absentmindedly twisting his ring of keys between his two hands. Susie came up behind him and tried to follow his gaze, wondering what he was looking at. Maybe he’s just thinking. Having second thoughts about leaving the hotel? Getting caught would have to be bad for business. And what would his partner say? Perhaps he was going through all this effort to impress her and now, in the fresh air, he was sobering up, having second thoughts.

Out of the clear blue sky came the loudest clap of thunder Susie had ever heard. It moved the air and squeezed the breath out of her and made her ears ring. In the street some pedestrians had frozen, others ran in random directions. Behind the building they were facing, in the direction of the hotel, a dark cloud rose into the sky, billowing and growing, fed from below.

“Shit. You’re hotel security aren’t you! Aren’t you!” She took a swing at his arm, slapping him.

“This has all been a big game hasn’t it? A big game with Susie Bordelle. You private security are worse than the police. You’re like fucking sicko stalkers. Star fucker! Star fucker wannabe!”

Genghis held her at bay with one hand and pressed the emergency stop button with the other. The car halted with a lurch. Susie was too angry to cry. She wondered if she was being taped when she asked him for his furniture. He had plenty of time to arrange it. They better let her call Damien.

“Susie, Susie, Susie. Believe me, I don’t work for the hotel or the chain. I’m not hotel security. Really.”

“You look like security.”

“Did I look like security in the bar?”

“You would have if you were wearing black.”

“Would I have been drinking champagne in the bar with you if I was security.”

“If you were undercover you might have. Did you volunteer? Did they need a big tough guy to drink champagne with Susie Bordelle?”

“If I recall you approached me.”

“You waved me over.”

“Susie, I am not security.”

“Then how did you get that card?”

“This? This is nothing! My business partner and I, we do human resources for hotels. We supply cleaning staff. Not very glamorous. And we oversee them. So the hotel gives us these cards. Cheap white ones so we can go downstairs. If we stay in the hotel the same card opens our rooms. I thought I would give you a little behind the scenes tour. Not quite a movie set but better than sitting in our rooms.”

“You’re hurting my wrist.”

She was backed into a corner and he was towering over her, her right wrist clenched in his left hand. He was holding the white card overhead like he would swat her with it. He let her go.

“I’m sorry. Your panic, your anger, it scared me. Imagine if the doors had opened and people saw us. We would be visiting the police right away.”

Susie felt stupid and paranoid. Genghis hadn’t done anything but be nice to her. It must be the champagne. She would have to keep her imagination in check. Maybe they could laugh it off.

“You didn’t have to hurt my wrist.”

“I apologise for that. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He cupped her shoulder in his hand and stroked her collarbone with his thumb. It was a gentle act, meant to be soothing. He seemed genuinely contrite.

“Are you okay now? Calm? Shall we keep going?”

“Let’s keep going.”

He pressed the floor button and the elevator started moving. Susie continued speaking.

“I’m sorry. It’s been a trying day. And I don’t really know you. You could be anyone.”

Genghis smiled.

“The advantages of not being famous.”

The doors opened before Susie could continue. They stepped out into a non-descript corridor. The hotel carpet was gone, replaced by concrete, and it was lit by fluorescent lights.

“This is going to be some tour.”

He took her hand.

“You will see.”

His hand was large, smooth and warm. It made hers feel tiny, squishy and clammy. She pulled her hand free and rubbed it on the hip of her tracksuit pants and returned it to his.

“This way,” he said and led her down the corridor to a drab steel door. It opened onto a stairwell. They went down three flights to another door. This door opened onto a small metal landing at the top of a huge room. Stairs followed the wall down to the right, turning in the corner and continuing down to the floor along the far wall. It was lit by weak incandescent bulbs hanging from long chains. Their soft glow was directed at the collected detritus of the Boulevard Hotel that was grouped and piled in some sort of order on the floor below.

“A giant junk room. That’s really nice, Genghis.”

“This is not what I am showing you. Quickly now.”

He did not let go of her hand, using it to pull her down the stairs. Between the low lighting and her sunglasses she could barely make out the steps. He was going to kill her. What was his rush? Well, someone might find them, but he was allowed down here. He said he was. Maybe he wasn’t allowed in this bit. It wasn’t a staff room, and it didn’t look like housekeeping has been down here for a while.

The stairs ended and they followed the wall to the corner where there was another drab steel door. Above it was a backlit green and white exit sign. Genghis presented the door with a flourish.

“Here we are.”

Susie was nonplussed.

“Here we are where?”

He pulled open the door and daylight shone in. Through the door she could see the small backstreet that ran behind the Boulevard, dividing the block in two and giving rear access to all the buildings. Across the street was the back of a building that fronted the opposite side of the block to the hotel.

He let go of her hand and stepped outside. She was not sure if she was freaked out or excited about getting out of the hotel. If they were caught they would be in so much trouble. Even just standing at this open door…They weren’t running away. All their stuff was still in their rooms and why would Genghis sabotage his business with the hotel? So stepping out wasn’t a crime. Fleeing would be a crime. Getting some fresh air is never a crime. But her good behaviour bond…

“Look at you,” Genghis said and stepped back into the doorway. He sagged and poked out his bottom lip. Then he stepped out into the street.

“Look at me!”

He stood upright, shoulders back and walked jauntily back and forth in front of the door, elbows out, whistling. She laughed. He stepped back in the doorway, slouching again, pouting and took her hand and watching her with his pouting face still on he stepped backwards out of the doorway, drawing her with him. She let herself be dragged into the street.

The door slammed shut behind her. Susie turned and stared at it. Another unpleasant sensation hit her stomach. There was no knob on the outside, just an armoured keyhole. Don’t panic. This is one of Genghis’ games. He is not trying to get us arrested. He doesn’t like the police either. She kept her voice steady and light.

“Please tell me you have a key to the door, Genghis.”

“Good, because I have found your ‘anything’.”

He let go of her arm and went to the closet and wheeled out a large, charcoal colored hard shell suitcase and parked it in front of her. This was not a kiss. He reached back into the closet and pulled out another and parked it next to the first. He smiled at her confusion.

“What is this? Are you going to try and checkout? They’re not going to let you.”

“No, I’m not checking out. These belong to one of my colleagues who is supposed to be staying in the Boulevard with me. Somehow, in a reversal of the way these things normally work, his luggage made it on the flight, but he didn’t. I had to wrestle these along with my own bags from the airport.”

“And where is he now?”

Genghis scratched the back of his head and gestured at the curtains.

“He is out there, with everyone else. Which is good. Business can still move forward. Now, your ‘anything’ is to assist me in putting these bags in his room. I take one, you take one. It’s like walking a dog. Then we go for our walk.”

Susie was a little disappointed. Maybe he was too straight. But his hand on her arm…tension was definitely building. She grabbed the tow strap of the nearest bag and started dragging it towards the door.

“It’s fine with me. I think I’m getting the better side of the deal, but if that’s the way you want to play it…”

“Wait for me.”

Genghis grabbed the bag off the bed and stuffed the gloves in it. He pulled its strap over his head and across his shoulder. He opened a drawer in the dresser and took out a black baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses and held them up for Susie to see.

The wall beside the door held a full length mirror. Genghis came and stood next to her and put on the hat and glasses. The glasses were dark and large, but not as large as Susie’s, and masculine in design. He looked so big standing next to her in the mirror. They made a good looking couple, what you could see of them. Him big and in black, her little and in pink. He started speaking in a strong American TV accent.

“Who was the mysterious stranger spotted with actress Susie Bordelle during her stay at the Boulevarde Hotel? Insiders say they were seen inside the hotel with matching luggage. Could this mystery man be her new love interest or her new valet?”

She laughed and continued it, her hand holding an imaginary microphone.

“Sources close to Susie say that due to a long dry spell she has been force to take work as a hotel porter while she waits for her next role to materialise. Back to you, Mary.”

They grinned at each other’s reflection.

“Let us go,’ he said, breaking the spell. They opened the door and manoeuvred the suitcases into the hallway and to the elevators, Genghis leading the way.

“Have you got a key to his room?” she asked from behind.

He waved a white swipe card over his shoulder.

The elevator arrived empty. They drew the suitcases inside and Genghis pressed the button for the sixteenth floor. Susie was sure the elevator was swaying. She brushed against Genghis a couple of times while they were staring up at the panel of floor numbers, watching as they counted down to sixteen. They were silent, but it was not awkward.

When they arrived at their floor Genghis stood to one side and held his arm across the open door. Susie trundled her suitcase out of the car and down the hall, mincing, her free arm straight down and her wrist bent at a dainty angle.

“Thank you, valet. You have earned a handsome gratuity.”

Behind her Genghis coughed.

“Excuse me, porter, I believe the room is this way.”

Susie wheeled her suitcase around and caught up with Genghis.

“We know who won that round.”

He swiped the card at suite 1605 and the door clicked open. He entered with Susie close behind. In the room he wheeled his suitcase across the room and laid it on its side on the floor, then he pulled the curtains shut. He took Susie’s suitcase and laid it down in the same fashion a few feet past the entranceway.

“What are you doing?”

He stood up and brushed his hands together. She watched his mouth, his eyes were completely hidden behind his sunglasses. Like talking to a mirror.

“What am I doing?. He asked me to throw his bags in his room so I am making it look like I threw them. A little joke, yes?”

She shrugged. The lengths men go through to be boys. Or is it the other way around?

He walked up to her and offered her his arm.

“Shall we go for our walk?”

“What about my tip, mister?”

She threaded her hand under his arm and rested it in the crook of his elbow. He swung the door open and followed her through it.

“A tip? How about do not talk to strangers?”

“Cheapskate.”

The elevator door opened, revealing a couple pressed into the corner of the car, her hands down the back of his jeans, thumbs locked over the waistband, their heads moving slowly in unison, lost in a kiss. Susie and Genghis hesitated, his hand across the door, they exchanged mirrored glances. The couple returned to reality and stopped kissing. Their faces were ruddy with alcohol and the sun on the rooftop. The girl had freed one hand from the guy’s pants and covered her mouth as she giggled apologetically. The guy was having trouble focussing and was swaying.

“Sorry,” the girl said. And in explanation: “We’ve finally been called for our interview and we were kind of celebrating.”

“What floor are you on?” Susie asked.

“The tenth. What floor are you on.”

“Twentieth,” Susie replied.

The guy swore and waved an arm in their direction.

“People, by the time they get you, you will be wasted. Like me, but more…more…yeah.”

The girl giggled again and the guy joined in. Genghis dropped his arm and the doors closed.

“Let’s get the next one,” he said, pressing the down button again.

Another car arrived empty. They got in and Susie reached out to hit the button for the lobby and Genghis grabbed her arm.

“Allow me.”
He slid the white card into the slot provided and pressed the bottom most button. It was one of the anonymous group below the button labelled “lobby”. She had seen the staff use them a couple of times.

“I get it. You work for the Boulevard, or, or, what’s the name of the chain they’re in…umm, I know it’s owned by Arabs….”

She looked around trying to jog her memory and she caught his profile in the mirror inset into the side of the car. The black cap, the cropped hair, the muscles under that t-shirt and that quiet, studied confidence. Something fell into the pit of her stomach and she thought she might be sick. She pushed him away.

“I do not know about you,” Genghis started, “but I am tired of sitting in this hotel room.”

“Do you want to go back to the bar?”

“I am also tired of the bar.”

“Sounds like you are tired of the hotel.”

“Yes, I think I am.”

He was sitting back in his chair, watching her again, rolling the stem of his champagne glass back and forth between his fingers.

“Me too. And we have hours to go. It’s insane. They are probably not even half way through yet.”

“We could go downstairs.”

“To that other bar?”

“To the police. We could demand to be interviewed right now, on the spot. That would get us out of here.”

There was not even a hint of a smirk on his face. He was seriously considering this idea.

“No way. For one thing, my lawyers haven’t arrived and that’s a big thing. Second thing, I don’t want to go and talk to the police. Let them come and get me.”

She drank her champagne in what she hoped was a defiant manner.

“I understand how you feel. But it would end all this waiting and I have got this urge to go for a walk. To see a movie.”

He leaned back in.

“I would really like to go for a walk with you, outside, in a park somewhere. And see a movie.”

“With me?”

“Yes, with you. I want to do something normal. This, the two of us hanging out in a hotel room, waiting for the police, is not normal.”

“No, but it has been interesting.”

“Yes it has been very interesting.”

“Are you getting bored with me?”

“No, Susie, if I was tired of your company I would ask you to leave. I would make a plausible excuse, of course. Phone calls, business, that kind of thing.”

His hands slid halfway across the table towards her.

“Shall we go for a walk?”

“We can’t go for a walk. If we try and leave the building they will catch us and then we will be in real trouble.”

“We won’t leave the building. We’ll just wander around the hotel. We’ll go downstairs, do a tour of the lobby, the function rooms, the conference rooms. Maybe see if that other bar is more civilized than the rooftop.”

“What about the police?”

“We’ll wave to them. I would like to get out of this room for a while. Wouldn’t you?”

“I want to get out of the hotel,” she paused. “I don’t mind this room so much, but okay, let’s do it. Can I go to my room and check my messages first?”

“Of course. Do you think I would stop you?”

She shrugged and uncurled herself from her chair. Either her legs had fallen asleep or the champagne had numbed them. This walking around the building didn’t sound like a good idea, despite that it was a poor substitute for a walk around a park. With her. She grabbed her hat and sunglasses off the nightstand. Genghis was stacking the empty plates.

“I think room service takes care of that”

He looked up and grinned at her, but didn’t stop.

“Too many years clearing tables. I can’t leave it like this.”

“I’ll be just a minute.”

He made those scooting motions again.

“I’m not going to go anywhere. Take your time, but not as much time as last time, yes?”

“Si.”

In her room Susie contemplated her luggage and the idea of getting changed again. She fished her pill box out of her pocket. It had been trapped between her phone and her butt the entire time she had been sitting. She threw it in her purse and checked her phone. It was off again. Piece of crap. You had to keep smacking the battery back into place. Any pressure on it and it would turn off. She watched it light up and find the network. It started buzzing as missed calls and voice mails were registered. She put it down on the bed and went into the bathroom. Her face was a bit shiny and she still hadn’t put any real makeup on yet. It was too much effort. She pulled back her hair and put her hat and sunglasses on. Fixed. Maybe a bit of lipstick. She walked back out to her purse and fished around it to find her current favourite colour. The phone had stopped buzzing. The screen said eighteen messages. She scrolled through the numbers. Agent. Producer’s people. Agent. Stupid Shoshona. Agent. Hairdresser. Whoops. Day spa. Mother. Agent, etc. No sign of Damien’s people. No surprise there. Jason will probably have a nice dinner somewhere then stroll in just as the police got to her. He probably knows some of the police downstairs.

She wandered back into the bathroom and put the lipstick on. Genghis was right, she thought as leaned into the mirror. It does look a bit like an astronaut. Space girl. Xanax always made her a bit sweaty and the drinking today would add to that., so she performed the cautionary shoulder sniff. It was all good. She returned to her purse and dropped the lipstick in.

Her phone was still displaying the list of missed calls. It was too much effort. They all knew where she was staying. Damien had seen all about it on the news, so the whole world probably knows about the riot and the lock-in. They probably know more about it than she does. Deal with them all later, when she got back from this walk thing. She might be in the mood then to sit down and go through the situation over and over again, but not right now. They were going to keep calling until they spoke to her. Take it? Leave it? Interruptions weren’t welcome at the moment. Leave it? She turned it off and put it back in her pocket and picked up her purse. Did she want to be carrying that when they were going downstairs where there were sure to be loads of police? Stupid police. They wouldn’t stop and search her. They had no reason. It’s not like she was getting on an airplane. She pulled it over her shoulder and surveyed the room. Still a mess. Maybe she should call Shoshona back and tell her to come in. Wait, the street was cordoned off. They wouldn’t let her past.

The potted palm on the balcony caught her eye. She had completely forgotten about it. That was so generous of him. It was mystifying. If someone had asked her to tangle with the police she would have turned them down flat. He had turned her down, but then he did it anyway. Her charm was still unstoppable. And he was very sweet. A little on the broody side, but those tall, dark and cliche types tend towards that. Moody but under control. Mature. Maybe he was trying to impress her with his devil-may-care attitude. Maybe he used to be a bad boy.

She went out on the balcony and pushed and pulled and ended up tipping the pot on its edge and rolling it into position over the pale circle where the original had sat. He had made it look so effortless. How had she managed to get hers over the railing this morning? It had taken steps. Onto the chair, onto the table, onto the rail, over the side. Let’s not think any further forward. She left the balcony and slid the door shut and closed the curtains, just like Genghis’. Her room was in twilight now and the mess was not so apparent. Shoshona could finish the packing tomorrow. The hotel would be back to normal by then.

Genghis answered the door after the first knock. He had changed and was now wearing a tight black t-shirt and black jeans. Maybe she should have gotten changed.

“I didn’t know we were getting dressed up,” she commented as walked past him and into the room. He let the door swing shut.

“We’re not. It turns out that today I am, ashamedly, a messy eater. Thus the change in clothes.”

“I hadn’t noticed. You look good in black. It matches your five o’clock shadow.”

He laughed and bobbed his head. “Compliment excepted.”

They had arranged themselves facing each other, standing quite close. Genghis’ voice shifted to a deeper, more serious tone.

“Remember when you said you would do anything for me?”

He gently grasped her left arm. Her pulse sped up of its own accord. Maybe he was going to ignore the no kissing rule.

“Yessss.”

“Does that still stand?”

His brown eyes were mesmerizing. Neither of them were blinking.

“Yessss.”

“How did this happen?” Susie asked. “I was only gone a minute and you got room service?”

“A minute? Try three quarters of an hour. I figured you had gone off to find someone else to swap furniture with.”

“I’m sorry. I just closed my eyes for a second. I swear it felt like a second. That’s never happened before. It’s like I lost time. Maybe I was abducted. By aliens.”

Her mouth was running, charged by her relief.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you came back. I know you’re not hungry, but do you mind if I finish eating?” He gestured towards his plate.

“No, go ahead. I like watching people eat. That sounds stupid. I mean it is fine. Maybe I will nibble on something.”

Genghis took his seat and waved her to the seat opposite him.

“I ordered some more champagne. It is not as fancy as the stuff in the bar because it seems that we must still pay for room service. Or perhaps the hotel’s largesse has been exhausted.”

She sat down, tucking her legs under herself.

“That’s fine. I really like all champagne. As long as it has bubbles I will drink it. How is your steak? I’m told they do great food here.”

“It’s very good. The dolmades are also very good. You should try them. They are not very authentic, but still quite good. And those little samosa like things are also very nice.”

“I have no appetite at the moment. This situation sucks. I’m surprised my hair hasn’t started to fall out. I couldn’t eat a thing. I may have room for some champagne. Let us see.”

She poured herself a fresh glass and had a sip. After a moment’s consideration she poured herself a cup of coffee, then reached for one of the dolmades and took a bite out of it.

Speaking around a mouthful she said “Things don’t look nearly so grim when you have a table covered with food. I guess that bit of you that worries about starving has to shut up. That would lower your overall level of concern. Like how guns make some people feel safe no matter where they are because they know they can shoot anyone they feel like.”

Chewing slowly, Genghis studied her while she picked at the food and alternated between sips of coffee and champagne. He swallowed and spoke.

“Like having a lawyer with you makes the police less scary.”

She gave him her perky head tilt, like she had to think hard.

“Yeah. Just like having a balcony full of furniture and plants.”

The words leaving her mouth soured the good mood the table of food had created within her. She dropped the half eaten ball of whatever it was, some kind of meat thing, onto the saucer next to her coffee cup and had a drink of champagne. Her moods were all over the place. Out of the corner of her eye Genghis was watching her. She couldn’t meet his eyes in this state so she looked around the room. His curtains were still drawn. There was a tiny bit of light leaking in around their edges, but the yellow light of the incandescent bulbs was colouring everything. It could be night time outside, instead of lunch time. They had so many hours to go.

“Have you heard from your lawyer?”

She shook her head and had a sip of champagne.

“They’re very good. They’ll arrive right on time, not a moment earlier. And they know I won’t say anything until they show up. They have trained me well.”

Genghis pushed his plate aside and poured a cup of coffee. He stirred in two sugars, took a drink and held it with both hands under his chin.

“Do you think your lawyers would be willing to take on another client?”

“Have you been bad?”

“I was just thinking. Having a lawyer along might speed up my interview. Maybe the police will not try and hold me longer than necessary.”

“Why would they hold you? You still have your pot plant. And everything else.”

He didn’t say anything. He appeared to be pre-occupied with the reflection of the ceiling light in his coffee. Secrets? Susie teased him.

“You said you weren’t fond of the police, didn’t you?” she asked him.

He shrugged and replied. “Is anyone?”

Secrets were coming out. A little more digging.

“Genghis, might the police also have your fingerprints on file? Hmm? Is that why you wouldn’t help me? Are you in the same situation as me? Been smuggling guns on planes?”

There was no reply. He drained his cup and put it neatly on its saucer and crossed his hands on the table in front of himself, then he looked at Susie for a long moment before speaking.

“Do you really want my balcony furniture?”

She was taken aback. Even though she had asked she did not really believe or expect anyone would put themselves in the middle of police trouble for her. Her guts gave a little twist. His pot plant would so save her life.

“Well, I think, just your plant would be enough. Yeah. I would love it.”

Genghis stood up from the table, strode to the curtains and pushed them back. He slid the door open. Sounds from the rooftop party filled the room. The music was harder and faster now, the voices were louder. He stepped onto the balcony and stared down at the pot plant before turning and walking back inside to the closet, where he took out a small bag and pulled from it a pair of black leather gloves. He left the bag on the bed and strode to the balcony, pulling the gloves on. With a quick movement he lifted the pot onto the railing then leaned over and lowered it onto her balcony, letting it drop the last inch or so. He came back in, closing the door and curtains again. He took off the gloves and dropped them on the bag and returned to his seat.

Susie was confused. She was sure she had just witnessed a tantrum, but he had done something nice, really nice for her. But why the gloves?

“Why the gloves? They’re going to fingerprint both of us now anyway.”

“Yes they are. And if they find my fingerprints on the pot on your balcony, and no plant on mine, well, there would have been no point in moving the plot.”

“Thank you. Thank you, Genghis, I really appreciate it.” She reached across the table and squeezed his arm. “If I knew you better I could kiss you.”

“A kiss is not necessary. I will find something else for you to do in return. You are still holding to your promise of doing anything for me if I helped you, yes?”

His smile was back. The tension in the room was gone.

“Of course. Anything, except the kissing. I don’t mean that like, you know, everything else. Practical stuff. Lifting, carrying, buying drinks. Speaking of which, champagne?”

Earlier she would have done anything, now not even kissing. She has taken it off the table right at the time that she was beginning to consider it. The pot plant had taken a while, but he had come around. Surely she could swing things her way again for something as simple as a kiss.

He held out his glass and she filled it up.

“A toast, “ she said. “Sticking it to the man.”

They chimed glasses and drank.