Universally Challenged

by Anna Bell

  Jess felt like a death row prisoner being given a reprieve. She needed to go back to the hotel and figure out what the hell was going on. If she could find a way back to her own life then she wouldn’t have to worry about investment banks, conferences and multi-million dollar deals. Hopefully, she’d be back enjoying her summer vacation schedule of reading and sunbathing before Jake reappeared for the working dinner.

  ‘Are you going to be alright getting to the hotel?’ asked Jake. He got into the elevator with her and pressed the button to take them to the lobby.

  ‘Yes, The Grover Hotel right?’ Jess said remembering the headed notepaper from beside the phone. ‘I should be fine.’

  ‘Now, you will go there, won’t you? I’m not delivering this speech for you. You’re not allowed to do a runner.’

  ‘Where would I go? No one knows who I am.’

  ‘Well, no hot footing it out of the country,’ said Jake, as the lift doors sprung open.

  ‘Brownies honour,’ said Jess holding her three fingers up in a Brownie salute .

  Jake gave her another puzzled look. It was the look that Jess had just about got used to. She had, after all, had so many of them over the last few hours.

  ‘Ok, I’ll be at the hotel at eight. That should give you more than enough time to sleep, or bang your head, or whatever you need to do. Ok?’

  ‘Ok.’

  Jake walked her out of the building. When they reached the kerb, he flagged down a cab in such a manly manner, that Jess actually felt her stomach flip. She told herself firmly that it was the stress of the day that she’d had, rather than anything more. She was married after all.

  ‘The Grover Hotel, 5th street,’ said Jake to the taxi driver. He held open the door for Jess. He really didn’t trust that she was in control of her thoughts.

  ‘See you later,’ said Jess.

  ‘I’d better do,’ said Jake. He slammed the door shut in what Jess thought was quite an abrupt manner.

  Jess arrived back at the hotel and let herself back into the room she’d left five hours ago.

  She sat down by the suitcase and tried to piece together what was going on. The clothes were neatly folded in tissue paper to prevent creasing, and so that she could see what was there she decided to hang them in the wardrobe.

  When she opened the wardrobe there was already a garment cover hanging there. She unzipped it and found a floor-length, black ball gown. It was a silky black number with a v-neck front and backless down to her waist, with a fish-tail skirt. It was the most stunning dress she’d ever seen.

  The rest of clothes she unpacked were a monotony of tailored garments, silk blouses and a couple of cashmere cardigans. There was just one pair of chinos thrown in for the casual elements of the trip.

  Jess looked around at the rest of the room, deliberately avoiding making eye contact with her briefcase and laptop. She knew that was what Jake would probably want her to be looking at, but she couldn’t face it.

  She ran over this morning’s events in her mind. From her unsuccessful attempts to call Benjy, her mother oozing proud parent on the phone and Jake’s insistence that she worked for LMG Global. None of it made sense. When she’d gone to bed last night, she was a married woman, albeit unhappily after their massive argument, but she had a husband, an apartment and a life she knew. Now the only thing she recognised of her life was her watch and her suitcase.

  What had happened to her last night? She tried to block out the screaming row with Benjy. Her anger and venom still felt fresh, and with no way to get to him now it burned in her heart.

  She could remember the drinking, she still didn’t feel quite right after her hangover from hell. Was that it? She’d got so drunk that she’d drunk herself into a new life? She ran her fingers through her hair, her long hair. All that did was remind her how different her life was.

  She stood up and paced the room, desperately trying to work out how she could get back to the life she knew. Before she could think too deeply a phone rang in the room. Jess found a small Blackberry plugged into a charger in the wall.

  ‘Hello,’ said Jess tentatively. The last time she’d answered the phone she’d ended up meeting Jake, and she wondered what rabbit hole she’d disappear down speaking to whoever Sasha was, reading the name on the caller ID.

  ‘Hi, Jessica. I just phoned the New York office and Jake said you’d gone back to the hotel. Everything ok?’

  ‘Yes fine, just needed to get some paperwork,’ said Jess, lying.

  ‘Ok, great. I just wanted to check your email was working as I haven’t had any replies to my emails today,’ said Sasha.

  That was why the name Sasha sounded familiar. Sasha was her assistant, Jake had mentioned her a few times that morning.

  ‘Actually I’m having one or two problems with my login and my password.’

  ‘Ok, I thought there must have been a problem. I’ll get IT to text new details. So everything else good in New York?’

  Jess wanted to scream, yet again this person was speaking to her like a long-lost friend and she was left with a blank as to who she was.

  ‘Absolutely,’ said Jess. It was just easier to lie.

  ‘Great. Well I’ll get IT to sort you out, and I’ll speak to you tomorrow.’

  ‘Ok, bye.’

  Jess stared at the phone. This couldn’t be what her life was going to be like from now on; she had to do something to change it back to how it was.

  She opened the mini-bar, something she’d never usually do. But Jake kept telling her that she worked for LMG Global, meaning they’d be picking up the tab, so why shouldn’t she help herself? She took out the miniature bottle of Jack Daniel's and mixed it with a diet Coke. Jess was half expecting for it to come straight back up after the hangover from hell, but the first few sips went down rather well. Maybe there was some truth in hair of the dog, she thought.

  Jess paced as she drank, as if taking each sip would get her closer to her old life. She soon finished the Jack Daniels and went back to the mini-bar. She hesitated at the vodka - she couldn’t face that straight after the JD. Instead she started on the different bottles of imported beer.

  It didn’t take long before everything seemed to get a bit fuzzy – she was probably just topping up the alcohol still in her bloodstream after last night. She flicked the television on, and found a music channel. As Jess tried to drink and dance her way into oblivion she clung desperately to the idea that she’d soon be back in the life she knew.

  Chapter 9 - Jessica Anderson

  Minute by minute, Jessica was growing more and more excited about seeing Benjy. In the two hours that had passed since Katie had left, Jessica had showered, shaved, pampered and preened. She’d tried on all the jeans in the wardrobe and found a pair that clung in all the right places and made her bum look amazing. It wasn’t a brand she recognised, but it did wonders. She then found the nicest black vest top she could and there she was: dressed in Benjy’s favourite outfit.

  She wasn’t entirely sure what to do with her hair, now that it was three inches shorter than it ever had been. She didn’t cut her hair in any other length than shoulder length. Her most radical change ever had been last year, when she got her fringe. Other than that, her hair was not layered or feathered, or cut in anything other than dead straight lines. Yet here she was standing staring at herself with a short bob, and she wasn’t sure what was supposed to be flicked or curled when blow dried. Deciding the only way forward was to turn the hairdryer on, she gave it a go.

  She looked at herself in the mirror with her slightly too bouffant hair. It wasn’t a bad first attempt. She pinned part of it back in the hope that Benjy would be too distracted by the rest of her to notice the hair. And then she sat on the sofa and waited.

  Despite the fact that she still felt exhausted from the night before, she was so pumped up her mind wouldn’t let her go to sleep, even if she wanted to.

  She still found herself sat right on the edge of the sofa, as if she was sat in someone else
’s flat. She was fearful they’d come back and tell her off for making herself at home.

  She thought about the first time she’d met Benjy. Katie had made her go to a party at an ice rink, despite all objections from Jessica that she couldn’t ice skate. It was called kegs on ice, which translated exactly as it sounded: beer kegs were placed in the middle of an ice rink. It had been hosted by Benjy’s fraternity.

  Benjy had laughed at Jessica clinging on to the edge of the ice rink, making her knuckles go white. She’d been particularly in need of a drink and she’d instantly made friends with Benjy who offered to help her get a beer. Jessica had grabbed hold of his hand for dear life and hadn’t let it go. By the time that the party was over three hours later, they’d become far better acquainted then just holding hands.

  For the next four months they had been practically inseparable. They’d been the best four months of her life. Her, Benjy and Katie hanging out. Sometimes Katie’s boyfriend Justin would be there too, but not often as he and Benjy didn’t get along.

  Jessica had had to return home to the UK to do her final year at university and they’d kept up their long-distance relationship via email and pay phones. It was one of the reasons she’d got a first in her degree: she’d thrown herself into her studies to distract herself.

  She’d seen him one last time when they’d spent the summer staying in one of his dad’s pokey little studio apartments in Manhattan. Benjy had begged her to stay, but Jessica had received a letter about an interview with LMG Global in London and she’d gone home and got the job. She’d argued with Benjy that after a couple more years of long distance she could transfer over to one of the US offices. She just wasn’t ready to get married, which at the time was the only way she’d get a US visa.

  But Benjy wouldn’t wait. He’d said he couldn’t do another year apart. Jessica could still feel it in her heart: the feeling of rejection when he’d told her. Her heart had actually burned. It was only then that she’d understood what it meant to have your heart broken. She’d felt after that she’d never feel the same way about anyone else.

  Jessica closed her eyes. She didn’t like to think of what happened after they broke up. It was the only decision in her life she actually regretted.

  She stood up from the sofa in a bid to distract herself before Benjy returned. She looked once more at the photos, willing herself to remember this life of hers that everyone else seemed to think she was living in. But the photos looked alien, like someone had Photoshopped her face on to them.

  She didn’t want to think too hard about what was going on, as she desperately wanted to see Benjy, now that she was so close to seeing him. She didn’t want to force herself to find the cause of the change, for fear it would send her back to her normal life. She was also terrified for a split second that this would all be some cruel dream that she’d awake from just at the moment that Benjy came walking through the door.

  Jessica’s thoughts turned back to Benjy; she’d always wondered what he’d been up to on the other side of the pond. She’d seen the guitars on the wall and the photo of him playing in the band, but there were no platinum records hanging on the walls. His band clearly hadn’t made the big time. Judging from the apartment they lived in, he was obviously fairly successful. He probably had gone to work at his father’s insurance company or worked on Wall Street. Even though his apartment wasn’t fit for a rock star, it was pretty spacious by Manhattan standards and must have cost a small fortune to live in.

  But before she could snoop around to find out more about him, the key turned in the lock.

  Jessica’s stomach flipped in anticipation. This was the moment she’d dreamt about for years. She ran back over to the couch, trying to position herself as if she was idly sat there, desperately trying to look normal. She sucked in her stomach and pulled her shoulders back. She was hoping he’d still love her after all this time.

  The door opened and Benjy walked in. He was dressed in a dark pair of smart trousers with a formal shirt and tie. He had a messenger bag slung diagonally across him. He was far from the guy in his early twenties she’d once known; the one whose staple wardrobe was baggy jeans, hoodie and flip flops or trainers depending on the weather. He was slightly older, with slightly darker bags under his eyes, but he was still the same old Benjy.

  ‘Hey,’ he said, smiling at her with his wide smile.

  She didn’t know if she would be able to speak to him. Her mouth had suddenly become dry and her heart was beating so loudly that she was sure he was going to hear it. She was, however, positively beaming.

  ‘Hey yourself,’ she said. She was suddenly overwhelmed with embarrassment, as she had no idea how she was supposed to act. She wondered how they usually greeted each other and she shuffled awkwardly on the sofa not knowing what to do. She wondered whether she usually got up and kissed him, or made his dinner, or whatever it was wives were supposed to do when their husbands came home from work.

  ‘What’s going on? Why you looking at me so strangely? Am I missing something?’ He dumped his bag on the floor next to the sideboard and flicked through the post he’d bought into the apartment with him.

  ‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. She was watching his every move and studying every detail of him, and his bum as he turned around. Goodness, she thought, she’d forgotten about his perky bum. ‘I’m just pleased my husband is home.’

  Husband; she nearly died saying that. She was expecting him to laugh and call her delusional, but he didn’t. He just turned to face her again and smiled back.

  ‘Well then, come and give your husband a kiss.’

  ‘Ok,’ said Jessica. She had suddenly lost the ability to make her legs move. Her brain didn’t seem able to function. But somehow she found herself on her feet and walking across the room, until she was kissing him. Not just a little peck on the cheek either, but a full blown kiss on the lips. She’d forgotten how good a kisser he was.

  ‘Well, I wish I got a welcome home like that everyday,’ he said. He pulled away and took off his tie and placed it on the sideboard. He looked as if he was about to walk past her further into the apartment.

  ‘Maybe you should.’

  Benjy turned to face Jessica and he must have seen the lust in her eyes. He walked back over and put his hands on the small of her back and pulled her in for another kiss. He was kissing her harder this time but just as passionately. Jessica put her hands up to his neck and started stroking his nape of his neck. He started to groan softly as they kissed. Before Jessica knew it he’d pushed her back against the sideboard, and had pressed himself up against her. Jessica could feel him growing hard at her touch.

  She couldn’t believe she was kissing Benjy. She kept saying silent prayers in her head, willing this kiss to be real and not a dream that she’d wake up from. She secretly feared that she’d discover she was asleep in the middle of a board room, but surely it wasn’t a dream; it felt too real.

  She couldn’t wait for what was inevitably going to come next. She’d always remembered how amazing the sex was, and she’d compared every guy to him ever since.

  He lifted her top off as she unbuttoned his shirt. She hoped that it wasn’t as expensive as it looked, as one or two buttons had pinged off in the process. Benjy slipped off Jessica’s bra like a pro and quickly moved onto the jeans. Before long they were standing naked in the middle of their living room: it couldn’t have felt more normal.

  Benjy took Jessica’s hand and led her to the sofa, sitting down and pulling Jessica down on top. He tugged her nipples gently with his teeth and sucked and licked them before tracing his fingers down her body. The next thing Jessica knew he was inside her and thrusting.

  Jessica wanted the feeling to go on forever. It had been so long since she’d had sex with Benjy that she wanted to savour every minute of it. But before long Benjy climaxed and pulled Jessica in close to him, so that she was strewn across his chest, finished or not.

  Jessica couldn’t believe that was it. Before she coul
d begin to feel hard done by, he wrapped his arms around her so tightly and protectively, and planted small kisses over the top of her head.

  ‘I love you, Mrs Burns,’ he said. ‘You do know that, don’t you?’

  And with that any thoughts of bad sex drifted out of her mind. She had waited so long for him to tell her he loved her still. It was the best thing that anyone had ever said to her.

  ‘I love you, too,’ she said sincerely; she’d never stopped.

  She wanted to lie there forever. She decided that the sex wasn’t that bad. It was just not what she was used to with Benjy. They used to spend hours exploring each other’s bodies and satisfying each other slowly. But she had to keep telling herself that to him this was just another quickie, and seeing as they were married they probably had sex all the time. This to him was a little bit of post-work sex, and they’d save the longer heavy stuff until weekend or however it worked with married couples. She needed to remember that it wasn’t the same for him: he wasn’t the one that hadn’t seen her for seven years.

  ‘Wow, Mrs Burns. I don’t know what’s got into you today. There seems something different, but I like it,’ he said, kissing her on the nose.

  Jessica tried not to shriek out loud when he called her Mrs Burns. Mrs Burns was the name of Benjy’s mother. She was a flamboyant lady who lunched, who modelled herself on a cross between Martha Stewart and Samantha from Sex in the City. Mrs Burns definitely didn’t feel like a name that should belong to Jessica.

  ‘I gotta take a shower babe. I’ve got band practice in an hour.’

  Benjy released Jessica and stood up.

  ‘Want me to come shower with you?’ asked Jessica. She stretched out her naked body, draping herself over the sofa to accentuate all her best bits.

  ‘Jess, you’re killing me. I don’t think I’ve got it in me. But hold that thought for another day.’ He walked out of the room chuckling, and Jessica lay down taking in what was going on.