Whiplash Hotel

by Christine Crean

  Changing for bed, Amy considered not taking off her make-up. She sat on the edge of the bath looking in the mirror. Studying her face, she looked deep into her own eyes staring across at her. This was a fine mess she had gotten herself into. 1. Her husband had left her for her best friend. 2. Her other best friend had just told her that he loved her. 3. She had met someone else. 4. That someone else had pissed off her nearly last remaining best friend and now her someone else would probably never again return because of said other best friend. 5. She could barely walk because of the pain in her leg. Taking a breath she snorted to herself ‘Adam is not just someone else’ she said aloud. He’s a thoughtful, caring human being. He loves family and likes working hard. He liked her for God’s sake and he was gorgeous. Making her way under the covers of her bed, she grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it tightly.

  Lying on her back, she stared at the ceiling and watched a spider dance its way around the lampshade. Spinning and weaving its little body working relentlessly creating his home and completely oblivious to the gigantic world around him, he was for all intents and purposes, an unintelligent creature. Yet, he functioned perfectly. He went about his life making his home and working. He probably ate and slept and not much else. Maybe Amy could take a leaf out her little roommate’s book. Seeing as she was unable to make her mind up one way or another on what just happened, she would let things run their course. Sean was upset now but he would come around as he always did. She was seeing Adam now. Sean would have to just put up with it. She was not able to help the fact that he loved her. Her stomach fluttering a little when she thought about it, she conceded that the best thing to do was ignore it. Go on with her life as it was now and plod along like her little spider friend.

  Rubbing her eyes and waking up to the same sadness in her heart, Amy eased herself out of bed, her leg still hurting. Looking forward to getting the cast off her leg the following week, she made her way slowly down the stairs. Finding the sitting room in the same manner it had been left, her cheeks felt red at the reminder of the night before. Throwing the cushions from the floor back onto their rightful home on the couch, she noticed one of Sean’s cufflinks stuffed in between the cracks of the couch. It stopped her in her tracks. Holding the shiny object in her hand, she studied it. Closing her hand around it and holding it close to her heart, she hobbled towards the kitchen. Upset that she had alienated Sean again, Amy put on the kettle and made some toast.

  Turning on the radio, she listened to some music in the background trying to eat her breakfast. Sean had really kept the place ship shape while he was here. Spotting some laundry folded and left in a basket beside the kitchen door, another reminder of just how good he had been to her. The kitchen itself was spotless. He had clearly been cleaning last night. Unable to get Sean out of her head she picked up the phone. Tapping it on her chin she put it back down again. Looking at it and willing it to ring, she grabbed it again. Talking to Sean now was probably a bad idea. Dialling Liz, her heart felt heavy. She wanted to talk to Sean. Before Liz could pick up Amy noticed the familiar black Audi outside. Her heart rate quickened as she made her way as fast as she could to the front door.

  ‘Hello’ came the voice at the other end of the phone. Amy didn’t answer back.

  ‘Ah, hello. Anyone there?’ Liz knew it was Amy. Thinking she had dialled by accident, Liz hung up the phone.

  ‘Hi!’

  ‘I’m so sorry Amy. I had no right whatsoever to do that to you’ Sean’s face pleaded.

  ‘It’s ok! I’m sorry too’

  ‘No, really’ Sean came close to Amy ‘I shouldn’t have said those words...’

  ‘Why did you?’ Amy interrupted, looking at him her eyes full of questions.

  ‘They just came out. I shouldn’t have, but I did. Can we please just forget about it?’

  ‘Well yeah, if that’s what you want. But I don’t understand to be honest’ Amy looked at him face to face.

  ‘Look there’s nothing to understand really. I was jealous. I’ve been looking after you for a while and I just got possessive. I’m sorry to have made you uncomfortable. I really, really am Amy’

  Sean was genuinely embarrassed for his outburst the night before ‘and as for Adam, I’m sure he’s a perfectly nice guy. I just worry for you’

  ‘Thank you, Sean’ Amy smiled at her friend thanking God that he had come back ‘You know there’s really no need at all to worry about me. Adam’s a great guy. He’s nothing but nice to me’

  Should she bring up the other thing he had said? Would he bring it up?

  ‘Yeah, I caught that’

  Sean moved uncomfortably from one foot to another.

  ‘Hey, that was not meant to be seen by you or anyone else’

  Amy was uncomfortable at the thought of him seeing her like that. Trying to ease both of their discomfort, Amy asked Sean inside. He made some excuse about having to get back saying he was meeting someone. She guessed that he wasn’t going to stay with her again. She was right.

  Sitting on the couch after he had gone, she knew she should have felt better now that the air had been cleared. Amy didn’t feel better, she felt worse if that was possible. She could not understand why he had said those words the night before. Desperately looking for another female perspective she called Liz back.

  ‘Thanks for leaving me hanging there! What happened to you? Don’t tell me...you fell down the stairs?’ Liz guessed.

  ‘Funny woman....worse...Sean told me he loved me’

  Nearly choking at the other end of the phone, Liz spilled her coffee in shock.

  ‘He WHAT?’

  ‘You heard me’

  ‘How...I mean....how?’ Liz was definitely shocked.

  ‘Well, he caught me with Adam last night on the couch after the party and tore up the stairs. Adam left and he gave out holy hell to me telling me that Adam was no good for me and that he loved me’

  ‘Just like that?’

  ‘Well not exactly like that but pretty much’ Amy nodded.

  ‘Screw me sideways’.

  ‘I know’ Amy agreed with her friend ‘so he just came back, told me he was sorry and now he’s gone again’

  ‘...and the love thing?’ Liz asked hopefully.

  ‘Nothing, apart from him wanting to forget about it’

  ‘Right’ Liz answered not convinced ‘so what now?’

  ‘I’ve no idea!’

  Amy didn’t know what she was going to do. She was with Adam now. She liked him and he liked her too. She thought of Sean’s face. He looked so upset last night. Amy was glad that he had come around. She couldn’t stand it if they were not talking. Telling her friend that she would just leave things as they were, even though she liked Sean and if she wasn’t with Adam then maybe...just maybe they could have been something else. It wasn’t as if she was not attracted to him. She was. Putting the thought of Sean out of her head, she asked Liz if she had any news. Feeling bad that all conversations had revolved around her these past few months, Amy vowed to herself that she would make it up to her good friend.

  Going back to work was a welcome change for Amy. Although, the thought of Tom was not on her list of can’t waits, she knew that she had no choice. It was now the end of November and she had been off for weeks. She would most positively be on the most hated list. Not that she even cared. He was, to her amusement, still wrapped up in woman drama so she could go about her business in relative peace. Apparently, number one had found out about number two. Amy had no idea how he was able to cope with more than one relationship at a time. Women at the best of times were difficult to cope with. He must have a death wish.

  Over the course of the following week, Sean kept a relatively low profile. It was a quiet time of year and they happened to be on different projects only seeing each other every now and then. Amy was glad that they had work as a distraction. That didn’t mean she didn’t miss him. She missed him more than she cared to own up to.

  The next week, Amy had her cast taken
off. Delighted that she could finally walk around minus the look of a penguin, she thought a shopping trip was in order. Adam had mentioned that he wanted her to come to his family’s house for dinner at the weekend. Apparently, both his sisters would be home. She needed to get a new outfit to impress. Since her drama with Sean, Adam had been over to her house most evenings. She was really beginning to see Adam as her boyfriend and things were really beginning to heat up between them. She had been holding him off in the bedroom department but she knew that sooner or later she would give in. She wanted to make sure that the time was right.

  Making her way around the shops on her lunch hour, she ended up in Brown Thomas. She would have to take out a second mortgage to pay for an outfit but she didn’t care, she had to look fabulous. Browsing the rails over and back Amy was in her own little world. Music played in the background and other women, probably a lot richer than Amy, tried on five hundred euro shoes and one thousand euro coats. One day, she thought to herself. One day.

  Picking up the most beautiful Diane von Furstenburg dress she looked at the price tag. Putting it down again, she sighed heading towards the sale section. Scanning the clothing in front of her, she caught a glimpse of a man ahead of her. He was with the most beautiful woman. Turning his head, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t realised who it was. She had seen Sean in that shirt this morning. What was he doing here? WHO was THAT? Throwing the dress she had picked up from the sale rack back down and in the process missing the rail, she bent down so that he would not see her. Stealthily hiding herself along a wall, she eyed the elevator and the escalators wondering which one was closest and which one were they closest to. She would use the opposite.

  Still unable to run because of her leg, she slowly walked towards the lift. Without been seen she smacked the down button four times in a row desperately waiting for the doors to open so she could make her escape. She had no idea who this woman was and she had no desire to find out. Whom Sean went out with was his own business. The goddamn lift was as slow as Christmas and that was coming faster. Turning around she spun back to her position facing the lift. They were coming towards her. Acting casual and looking at her watch she looked in the opposite direction. If she were lucky, they wouldn’t notice her at all.

  ‘Amy, Amy I knew that was you’ Sean spoke from behind. She groaned internally.

  Turning to face him, her face red as a beetroot ‘HI’ she almost shouted a little too enthusiastically ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Same as everyone else here! Shopping’

  He was genuinely pleased to see her. They had avoided each other a lot lately. Since the incident at Amy’s house, both of them didn’t really know how to repair their friendship. Things had been progressively getting worse since their trip to Dublin, which seemed like years ago and now they were in limbo. She missed him a lot and she was acutely aware that they were finding it difficult to get back to where they were. She guessed they would never again be the same.

  Looking at the woman behind him, trying on shoes which were not on sale she noted, she knew the jealously that Sean had felt. This woman was stunning. She had long hair half way down her back. Her nails, perfectly manicured as they tied up the Christian Louboutin sandles on her also perfectly pedicured toes. Probably about six foot two and barely even nine stone she guessed. The bitch.

  ‘Sean, I’m so sorry I’ve to get back to the office, Tom will have my neck if I’m not back in ten minutes’

  ‘Cool, look we should have a coffee some time? Work’s been so busy and we haven’t had a chance to talk in ages!’

  ‘I’m not sure your girlfriend would appreciate that!’ She nodded towards Mrs next top model behind him.

  ‘Yeah, I suppose’ turning in the direction of his female companion, he smiled at her ‘I suppose you’re right’ he sighed.

  ‘So, I’ll see you back at the office then’ the lift door finally opened as she got in.

  ‘Yeah, see you back there’ he waived at her as the doors closed separating them. It seemed to Amy that it hadn’t taken Sean too long to get over his jealousy. Swinging her bag on her shoulder and tapping her foot.

  ‘JESUS H CHRIST...STUPID LIFT. Could it GO any SLOWER’ she shouted. Unsure if the lift had even moved, the door opened to Sean obviously holding in his laughter.

  ‘Sorry, same floor. You must have pressed the button a few times’

  ‘Thanks’ she gave him a fake smile.

  Finally, the door closed again and she arrived on the ground floor. Nearly knocking some crystal off a shelf on the way out of the department store she walked as fast as her legs could take her.

  15

  Unable to continue shopping for a new outfit, Amy decided that she would recycle something old for the dinner at Adam’s parents. She had plenty of dresses some of which she had never worn. Besides, she wasn’t about to go bumping into Sean and his new girlfriend by looking around any of the other shops. Who was she anyway Amy wondered and why hadn’t she heard of her before. She must have been the one he was talking to on the phone a while back. Pushing her way through the crowd back towards the office, Amy frowned at the thought of Sean with someone else. With all the drama that had gone on between her and Sean over the past month or so, she had no right to be feeling jealous. She wanted him to be happy. She really did.

  Wandering back into the office, her head sore and tired, she tried to put the events of earlier behind her. Sean had been on her mind since she had left Brown Thomas and she wasn’t able to think about anything else. She couldn’t understand how he had done this to her. She really liked Adam but Sean had infiltrated part of her that she didn’t even know existed. She was a loyal friend. She always stayed faithful to Frank but now with Adam, her mind was tormented. Sean had told her that he loved her and even though she knew it was wrong, she had liked it. She couldn’t help but visualise his dark half naked body next to her that night as she sat on her bed panicking about what to wear. She had never thought of him like that before. She was, against her better instincts thinking of him now. What would he feel like she wondered? Would he feel as good as he did when he kissed her? Would he feel smooth like velvet against her skin? She guessed that he would. Thinking of his muscular body in those tight shirts he wore made her shiver a little. It was definitely not like her to abandon all sense like this even if it was just with her thoughts. Maybe she felt more for him than she even realised as she sat behind her desk her head in the clouds.

  Swiveling in her chair and twirling her hair around her little finger she visualised Adam. She did feel a little guilty for thinking of someone else when she was clearly with him. She didn’t have to apologise to anyone. She had been through the wars and deserved a bit of excitement. After all, she hadn’t felt like this in the ten years she had been with Frank. What did that say about their relationship? It was probably doomed from the start she reckoned as she got up from her desk and headed for the coffee dock. Amy had been back at her desk an hour and had still not done ten minutes work. Thinking of Tom, she relinquished the guilt she had been feeling. He had been in his office all day probably checking his personal email and looking up dirty websites. Shivers ran down the back of her spine as she thought of him in bed with one of his women. She didn’t mean to think of him like that but for some reason she couldn’t help it. It was like being at mass, when you knew you were supposed to be listening to the priest, all you wanted to do was burst out laughing. Immediately shunning her dirty boss from her mind, she thought again of the two men in her life. Sean and Adam!

  It was time to put Sean out of her mind. He was her friend and that was that. Adam was the man she was seeing. God, he was gorgeous too. The dinner tonight would be a stressful endeavor but she had no choice but to attend. She needed to do her best to impress for the first meeting with his sisters. Who knew what they would be like? For all Amy knew, they were as miserable as their mother.

  Deciding to wear a slimming black halter neck dress, probably a little too short for some, sh
e wondered what she should bring to their house as a peace offering. She could bring wine but for all she knew, she could buy a twenty-euro bottle of Shiraz and it might taste like vinegar. Even so, she would chance it. A chocolate cake from her local bakery might go down well too. Everyone liked chocolate!

  Getting ready, she felt her heart thump nervously in her chest. Amy was, to her demise, having a bad hair and make-up day. All she needed was Adams sisters to think she was a frizzy haired, buffoon faced imbecile. Nothing was going right for her. Her ghd was refusing to work and her foundation went on like cement. Putting on the dress, she remembered that she hadn’t bothered to buy tights. Seeing Sean with his...whatever she was had distracted her. Her lack of foresight would mean putting on instant tan. Damn. The only tan she owned wouldn’t dry properly for at least two hours. Her only other option was to wear something else. Nothing spoke to her so she went with her instinct and whipped on the tan. As she had predicted the tan dried slower than a wet week.

  Tearing around the room, she heard a car horn outside. Adam was early. No, looking at her watch, he was right on time. Damn.

  ‘I’ll be down in a minute’ Amy shouted out the window.