After closing the blinds, the somber little room was dim. It wasn't as much about anonymity as it was about barring the obtrusive mid-day light piercing the minuscule space. I looked around at what I had paid for. What HAD I paid for?
One thing's for sure, I had gotten my money's worth. Two beds, a bathroom with a shower, a tv, a dresser and a mini-fridge was all that comprised the tiny box that I stood in. It wasn't a "by-the-hour" type of establishment, but it was certainly built like one. Priced like one, as well.
There were permanent residents here, past and present. Four doors down, there was a dilapidated man sitting outside the opened door of his room. From inside radiated the musings of a game show that went on unwatched while he and his forty ounce best friend pondered the universe. Across the way, a diminutive housekeeper made her way through her rounds, taking care of her charges and skipping those with tagged doors. My room held the scent of ghosts who had checked in for private rendezvous ending with nervous exchanges. This place was filthy even when it was spotless.
It was perfect.
I looked down at my watch. No idea why, we hadn't agreed on anything but a most generalized time. I stood there making myself not look at my watch and not look out the window and not ask myself why I wasn't nervous. Trying to brush away the last fifteen years worth of anger and self-loathing. Had she taken that away? No. Not by a long shot, but even a bandage can keep a body from bleeding to death.
She had her pain, too. Way too many heartbreaks. Too many lies. Too many men that used her and walked. Hell, she was angrier than I was. I was wallowing more in sadness than in anger. She was on the verge of an all-out rage. We both had out limits. It was time to stop with the instant messages and the phone calls. There were questions that needed to be answered, and I had a feeling that words weren't gonna cut it.
I must have gotten lost in my thoughts because I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the knock at the door. I could have sworn my knees almost knocked together as I turned to grab the knob.
There she was. Blue eyes. Short, blonde hair. Buxom. A genuine, light smile. She was doing her best to hide her anxiousness. My heart began beating too hard and fast. I stepped back and motioned for her to make her way in, attempting to be as suave as my faltering nerves would allow. As I shut the door, she turned and faced me, her eyes, swimming tearfully.
"I'm sorry about the shitty room", I tried to deflect. "I didn't know it would be this bad". I laughed lightly, trying to ease her tension. She began to sob, covering her mouth. I moved to her, placing my hands on her shoulders.
"Hey", I soothed, "come on, what's going on?"
She leaned in and pressed her face against my chest and cried, letting out the hurt. I gently put my arms around her and let her do it. After a few moments, she gathered herself and let me in on why.
"I caught him", she said through her sniffs and heaves. "I caught him with HER!"
The 'him' she referred to was her husband, if you can call him that. The 'her' was a woman she had suspected him of running around with for some time. Over the next ten minutes, we sat on the bed and she told me how he had been home less and less, making excuses, becoming more of a stereotype. She tracked him down to his mistress's place the next town over.
"Did you confront them?" I asked.
"No, I called you".
"Did you actually SEE them in the act?"
The tears came again. That was enough of an answer. I let them come. She had to let them out. This was her time. She had to go at her pace and be who she was, feel what she needed to feel.
"DAMN HIM! I HATE HIM! I gave him EVERYTHING and he does THIS!" She was on her feet. Her hands were balled into fists by her sides. The beast within her was beginning to swim upward from its sleep. Soon it would be awake and God help whoever got in it's way.
I wasn't about to start with some lame bullshit, like, "you deserve better", or, "just leave his ass", or anything as stupid as that. As I mentioned, this was her time. She needed to drive for a little while.
"What are you gonna do?", I posed of her, calmly.
"I don't know", she almost whispered. "I just....don't know. All I know is that I want him to hurt. The way I hurt. The way I've ALWAYS hurt."
Slowly, I stood and walked to her. I placed my hands on her shoulders gently and moved them up to the back of her head and pulled her softly, once again, to my chest to embrace her. I could feel the warmth of her against me, her heart beating, her breath coming in hard, steady wisps.
I reflected on my own path of pain. The abuse. Being made to feel like I was less than nothing. The divorce. Being cast away like a dirty rag. The rejection. The loss. And, oh dear God, the loneliness.
As if being taken over by some foreign spirit, I felt myself push her body up against the wall. I covered her mouth with my own and invaded it with my tongue. She tensed beneath me in shock, squeaking a moan objection, then relaxing as she threw her arms around my neck and reciprocated my intense kiss. She grabbed a handful of my hair on the back of my head and pulled me closer. Her other hand drug it's nails down my spine trying to mark it's territory.