A Love Like Ours

by Christine L'Amour

  “Do you want to just rent a room for the two of us?” I ask her quickly before I lose my nerve.

  “I don’t have the money for that. I only came with enough money to get to see my dad and back home again.” She shakes her head.

  “Okay, if I rent a room are you willing to share it with me so that we don’t have to deal with that crowd. I mean it would be silly just to rent one for me knowing that neither of us want to go into that crowd.” I nod my head at the women that are moving around, lying down on cots, reading books and there’s even one that’s snapping their gum as loudly as they can.

  “You’ve got yourself a deal.” Vicky nods her head.

  “Good, let’s see how much longer it’s going to be before we can board the plane.” I tell her, shaking my head.

  We grab our things from the room and head for the flight information that we need.

  I don’t know how long we stand in line, but I keep checking my watch like I have somewhere important to be.

  “Can I help you?” A short woman that can barely see over the counter asks me.

  “I was wondering when we would be able to board the plane heading to Vegas and Colorado.” I tell her.

  “All flights are cancelled everywhere until the snow lets up and we aren’t even in the middle of it yet.” Carol is what her name tag says.

  “All right, so I should be able to get a hotel room here at the airport. I mean you guys are a combo.” I point out to her.

  “Yes.” Carol tells me and we thank her with a small smile before turning away into the crowd.

  I don’t know how we make it over to the other side of the airport to get a reservation for the room, but we have to wait in line.

  “I don’t think that we’re going to get a room look at all the people in front of us.” Vicky tells me.

  I have that same fear, but I also have hope that we’re going to get one. I don’t want to stay in the room with all those women.

  Getting to know Vicky is making me feel a little better. I like her already I know that we can become good friends.

  When we finally get up to the front desk an hour later, I smile at the receptionist. His name is Chad with short black hair.

  “How can I help you?” He asks, looking drained.

  “We’re looking for a hotel room with two beds.” I tell him.

  He looks through the computer and shakes his head at us.

  “How about a room with one bed and a couch, a cot, something?” I ask him, feeling the hope quickly draining from my body.

  “What we have left is a one bed hotel room. It’s not the best. I mean it’s clean and it has a good view if that’s what you want to call it with the storm other than that we have nothing.” He explains to me, waiting for me to start screaming at him. I can already see it in his eyes.

  “We’ll take it.” Vicky jumps as if I’m stupid enough to let it go.

  “We’ll take it.” I confirm and get my cash card out of my wallet.

  I’m expecting it to be at least a hundred dollars a night.

  “It will be thirty dollars a night. It’s not your fault that your flight is going to be delayed, however it’s not our fault either.” He tells me, giving me an apologetic smile.

  “That’s a good deal. Better than what I thought. Do you know how bad this is going to get?” I ask him.

  “I don’t, I only know the gossip that’s going around. I’ve been so busy today that I haven’t even taken a break yet.” He gives me a small smile and only because we didn’t yell at him.

  He gives us a keycard.

  “Room 104. Go to the elevator down the hall and around the corner.” He gives us instructions and I thank him again.

  “I can’t believe how cheap it is.” Vicky laughs at the thought.

  The way she laughs when she lets herself is amazing. It’s like all the attitude is just draining out of her.

  We see the elevator that the receptionist was talking about around the corner just like he said. We wait for it and get on.

  “I can’t wait to take a shower.” I groan, adjusting my bags on my shoulders.

  Getting off the elevator the room is only a few rooms down and I slide the keycard through. It unlocks and I shove the door open.

  The room is small, it’s warm and Chad was right. It’s a clean room and I can see nothing but snow because someone had left the curtains open.

  There’s hardly enough room to move around though and I’m glad that I don’t have a fear of tight spaces.

  “I guess this is good enough.” Vicky tells me after a few minutes.

  The look on her face I can see that she’s not picky.

  “Yeah. We didn’t want to be with the other women.” I remind her, opening the bathroom door once the hotel room door is shut.

  It’s a little cool in there and I leave it open so that the heat from the room can go into the bathroom.

  “I wouldn’t take a shower just yet.” Vicky wrinkles her nose

  I shake my head in agreement and throw my bags on the bed.

  There’s just enough room for the two of us. I can imagine one of us hanging off the edge of the bed come morning.

  “Let’s just hope that we don’t have to be here too long.” I give her a small smile.

  “I wouldn’t mind staying here. To tell you the truth I don’t want to see if my father has changed.” She confesses to me putting her clothes in the closet on the floor.

  “Really?” I’m surprised to hear her say that.

  “Yeah, he wasn’t the best dad growing up and I don’t think that he has changed at all.” Vicky states.

  I don’t want to judge her it would mean that I would be judging everyone who didn’t like their father.

  “What do you hope has changed about him?” I watch as she sits in the chair beside the bedside lamp.

  “His drinking, arguing, fighting. Just over everything in his life. He complains a lot. He’s remarried for like the sixth time.” She goes down a small list.

  “He drinks.” I whisper, shaking my head slightly.

  “Yeah. That’s the part that I hope has really changed.” She scoffs at me as if she doesn’t believe it for a minute.

  It sounds like her upbringing was just as bad as mine I just don’t say much about it.

  “You’re really excited to meet this woman, huh?” Vicky asks me, almost as if she’s testing me.

  After the kiss that we’ve shared I’m not sure that I want to meet her. I don’t know where Vicky is going with this either.

  “Yes.” I play it safe.

  “Then it means that I didn’t do a good enough job.” Vicky giggles giving me a wink and I feel the heat rapidly come to my face.

  “It’s all right. I’m sure that someone will like it one day.” She shrugs at me, her confidence showing in herself.

  Chapter Three

  We talk about the friends that we’ve made, the ones that have gone by. I don’t touch upon my mother, but she knows that I have no idea who my father is.

  It’s not long before I decide to get into the shower, taking out a pair of sweatpants and a matching hoody. We may not be here for long, but it’s evident that we are here for the night because I can hardly see through the snow.

  I turn the water on making it as hot as I possibly can before getting in. I wash quickly, not liking the idea of the heat from the water escaping the second I shut it off.

  “Is it cold?” She asks me.

  “A little.” I tell her through chattering teeth as I dry myself off.

  “That sounds more than just a little.” She laughs at me.

  I kept the bathroom door open so that the heat from the room can come in, but it doesn’t work very well and I’m quickly getting into my sweatpants and hoody.

  Glad that they are a little oversized on me to keep me warmer.

  “I am glad that they have a television.” Vicky comments and I hear the volume of a talk show. At least we won’t be completely bored.

  Anything t
o fill the silence when we’re not talking.

  I come out with a towel wrapped around my hair. Not even ready to bother combing it knowing that it’s going to make me colder when I take it off.

  “Come on, it’s not that bad.” Vicky rolls her eyes and gets out of the chair so that she can use the shower.

  “Wait until you get out and then tell me that.” I shake my head as she laughs at me and closes the bathroom door.

  She’s going to wish she hadn’t when she gets out of the steamy shower.

  Going over to the window I can see the runway. There are no planes that are on it. They are all on the sides.

  I can see there are two reasons that they aren’t flying. You can’t see anything really without squinting and the ice on the planes won’t stay off. I see the heaters that they use on them.

  I am sure that the ones complaining about not being where they should be by now don’t think to look out and see that the airport is doing everything they can to get the planes to go up, however they can’t change the weather like everyone wants.

  I’m just glad that they aren’t opening tonight because I would be so afraid that the damn plane would crash.

  “Safety first.” I whisper to myself a shiver going down my spine and not because it’s cold.

  While everyone’s complaining about not being in the air and going where they need to be, I’m praying that they don’t let us on the plane unless they are sure that they can make the travel without calling in for an emergency landing.

  “Did you hear me?” Vicky asks.

  “No, sorry.” I blink and turn away from the window.

  “I said that if we didn’t have a delayed flight, I bet we would’ve been there by now and I could be on my way home.” She comes out with a towel wrapped around her instead of her clothing.

  I turn back toward the window.

  “I couldn’t handle the cold in there.” She admits to me and I laugh, shaking my head. I knew that she wasn’t going to be able to.

  “You didn’t have to turn away though. Do you know how many women that I change in front of?” She asks me.

  “I don’t, but I taught myself that it wasn’t right to sit there and watch someone change.” I point out to her.

  I at least have manners.

  It’s not that I didn’t want to, I mean if I snuck a peek here or there then it would be a turn on. I’m still thinking about the woman that I’m supposed to meet.

  “What’s her name again?” Vicky asks me.

  “Hmm?” I ask.

  “What is this woman’s name. You’ve told me about her, but I don’t remember her name.” She points out to me.

  “Corinne.” I tell her, thinking quickly.

  I almost forgot her name!

  “That’s a pretty name.” She tells me.

  I turn around when I see that she’s moving around the room.

  Wearing a tight, black, tank top and a pair of matching panties. As if it’s the most normal thing in the world to do.

  “What?” She asks me, seeing the surprised look on my face.

  “Nothing.” I shake my head at her quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

  “You’ve never walked around your house like this?” She rolls her eyes, letting me know it’s really not a big deal.

  “No, I share a house with roommates.” I mutter.

  “Oh, well that sucks.” She goes into her luggage and takes out a pack of cigarettes and my eyes grow wide.

  Everything that I don’t like in a woman I find attractive. Maybe it’s because of the way she holds herself.

  “You can’t light that up in here, we’ll get kicked out!” I holler at her.

  I make her jump, and she drops the cigarette.

  “Jesus, give someone a heart attack.” She glares at me, picking it back up.

  I think that she’s going to try and fight me, and it scares me a little. I know that I’m not that strong, I wonder how strong she is.

  Instead of walking toward me though she puts her cigarette back in her pack and tosses them on the bed.

  “I need to quit anyways.” She grumbles at me.

  “If we’re going to be sharing a room, we have to find out what bothers us and what doesn’t.” I sigh.

  “Do you drink? Because clearly you don’t smoke.” Vicky groans at me, sitting down on the side of the bed that I was going to take.

  I don’t mind the wall I guess, that’s why I don’t say anything about it.

  “No, I don’t drink. My mother was a drinker, a smoker, and God only knows what else she used to do while I was sleeping. She had a lot of men coming in and out of the house. She probably sold drugs. I’m not going to be like her.” I feel my face getting red with anger.

  “Calm down killer.” She gives me a soft look and almost instantly my anger just vanishes, and I give her a small smile.

  “I don’t do any of those things either. I’m not bad to the bone. I look it, but I’m not.” She whispers to me.

  “That’s a good thing. I was wondering if I had to pull a knife out from my bag and hide it on my side of the bed between the mattresses.” I do my best to hold a straight face.

  When I look at her, she isn’t smiling, I think I see fear in her eyes.

  “I’m kidding.” I laugh at her.

  Vicky blushes and looks down at the blanket.

  There’s too much silence between us.

  “If you want to check my bags you can. I promise, I don’t have anything like that.” I giggle at her, sitting at the foot of the bed.

  “I believe you.” She grins at me.

  Vicky pulls the blankets back and climbs under the comforter. Leaving the top sheet tucked tightly into the mattress.

  I don’t know why, and I don’t ask.

  I get into bed beside her and do the same thing. We sit there and watch a commercial for toothpaste and hear about how whitening it is for your teeth.

  “My father was in prison for killing a man.” Vicky lets the words come out of her mouth and continues to stare at the television.

  “That’s something that you should tell someone before you rent a room together…” I look at her as if she has two heads.

  I’m trying to find the grin. Maybe she’s getting me back for the knife joke, but I can see that it’s no joke because she won’t even look at me.

  “Would it have made you change your mind about sharing this room?” Vicky whispers to me.

  “Yes.” I must be honest.

  “See why I don’t give all the information about who I am. Why would I want to be judged for something that I didn’t do?” She asks me.

  I feel guilty for coming out with the answer so quickly.

  We have something big in common. We came up from horrible childhoods and here I am making it sound like she’s the bad guy.

  “I’m sorry.” I whisper to her.

  “It’s fine, but that’s what I’ve gotten whenever I say something. Maybe it’s why I can’t keep a relationship. Who wants someone who’s parent has been in prison for killing someone?” She asks me, I can hear the sadness in her voice.

  If she was to look at me, I wonder if there would be tears in them, I don’t ask her to look at me though.

  I don’t even know why I do it. I reach down and take her hand in mine as I bring my eyes back to the television screen.

  I link my fingers with her, without saying a word I’m telling her that I’m here for her. I want her to know that she has a friend in me even if we just have this moment together and we take off for different places in the morning.

  I am surprised that Vicky doesn’t pull away from me. She seems like the type that would especially after the answer I had given to her.

  “Thank you, Nadia.” I hear her words come out of her mouth, it’s just above a whisper and if I wasn’t so close to her I don’t think I would’ve heard her.

  I pat her hand with my free one and feel a smile come to my face.

  “Do you believe that you can be attracted t
o two people at once?” She asks me, this time tearing her eyes away from the television screen.

  She stares at me, waiting for an answer.

  “Nadia?” She asks me, searching my eyes and I don’t really know what to say.

  “I don’t know.” I tell her quickly.

  “That spark in your eyes tells me that you do.” Vicky calls me out, I’m not used to someone being that sharp.

  “All I know is that in the moment that you asked me my heart was pounding heavily. Looking into your eyes and remembering the kiss we shared…” My voice trails off.

  There are different thoughts going through my head and I don’t realize that she’s getting closer until her lips are on mine.

  It’s a rough kiss, but my mouth has a mind of its own and I thrust my tongue into her awaiting mouth.

  I massage her tongue and suck on it, hearing the first whimper come out. The first noise. I hear our heavy breathing and I feel Vicky’s hand tugging on my hair, our teeth bang off each other slightly.

  “God, I can’t stop thinking about that first kiss.” I hear her confession as her lips smack against mine and our tongues are pushing against each other, trying to get to the destination. To the back of our throats.

  My hands have a mind of their own, there at her sides at first and the more we move I feel them inching toward her breasts.

  “Mmhmm.” She moans nodding her head up and down.

  I push away, catching my breath.

  “We can’t.” I tell her breathlessly.

  “Why can’t we? Because you’re meeting someone from the internet?” She giggles at me.

  I want to laugh with her, but Corinne knows a lot of things about me. I know a lot of things about her.

  “You can’t tell me that the kiss we just shared wasn’t electrifying.” Once again Vicky is calling me out, she wants the truth.

  Chapter Four

  Instead of answering her I press my mouth against hers again. I don’t want to answer her, knowing if I do verbally then it’s going to be a lie and she’s going to see that.

  Vicky bites down on my lip, I think she only let’s go because she’s broken the skin. I lick my lips and the taste of blood hits the tip of my tongue.

  I lean back onto my side of the bed and she’s already taking her tank top off. Smiling at me, those eyes full of lust.