And Then She Was Gone

A Perfect Night

Jason checked in on her quietly within the depths of the tub frequently. Each time he did, she never noticed he was there peering at her through the doorway. She had sunk down to her chin in the hot bath, and was surrounded by bubbles, he had missed it, but at one point she had even dunked her head. This being apparent as her hair hung heavily at the sides of her face the next time he appeared at the rooms opening. Each time he looked, her eyes had remained closed and she held a smile of gentle contentment on her face, which showed to him the bath was relaxing her body and soul.

His own uneasiness began to relinquish its hold on his heart, and she looked as if she had found a semblance of peace while she soaked. The room service order had arrived, and at the popping of the cork on the first bottle of champagne, he heard the water shift within the tub and begin to drain. Like Pavlov's bell, she was beckoned out of the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy white robe, and a towel wrapping up her hairs length into a neat fold on top of her head.

"Mmm... I haven't had pizza in so long." she said, her words contradicting her own desire as she approached the suspended flute of champagne he held out to her. "And its from home... Pennsylvania does it so much better." she said taking a sip of the champagne before chasing it with a luscious bite of a big fat juicy strawberry, the flavor of the fruit forcing her eyes closed as she savored its sweetness in combination with the champagne.

"You're a cheap date." he said with a light laugh before he took a sip of his own champagne, his words would have been true, had each bottle not cost him about two hundred dollars. Their price however, could have been blamed on him and his snobbish ways.

"One of us has to be frugal." she quipped an eyebrow at him with a smirk before she delved into the box and picked out a piece that had large bubbling air pockets on its crust. "Wait till you try some Pennsylvanian pizza, Montana doesn't have a clue about what good pizza is." she said with a shake of her head as she walked over to the bed and deposited herself against the headboard, crossing one leg over the other in a contented lazy manner.

"Neither of us have to be frugal." he said with a head shake before he placed his glass down and began to strip off his vest followed by his tie. "I don't know how many times I have to relay this to you." he said as he began to unclasp his watch from his wrist, catching her stare at him as he began to undress while she idly sipped at her champagne. "What are you looking at?"

"You." she said before taking a bite of her pizza, and continuing to keep her hazel eyes focused on the bottom of his shirt, it would be his next task.

"Am I interesting?" he smirked at her, he enjoying how intently she was looking at him.

"I'm watching your away routine." she said lifting her eyes up to his only after he pulled his shirt from the tucked hold of his pants.

"My away routine?" he questioned finding her statement humorous.

"It starts with your jacket, which was already off and is the obvious choice, I hung it for you on the back of the chair. Then your vest gets draped over the center of the jacket, your tie will be taken off and then draped just as carefully over the center of the vest only after you have unknotted it. You'll follow that with unclasping your watch and and placing it down in a perfectly straight line on the table the chair is in front of, being in perfect center of the materials on the chair. Of course after that you will untuck your shirt, unbutton the cuffs of it and then descend down your chiseled upper body."

"My chiseled upper body?" he laughed as he was in fact removing the button from its hold right below his chest.

"Shhh. Don't interrupt. You will then undo your belt and tightly roll it within itself, and place it exactly three inches to the right of the watch, the metal buckle positioned furthest away from the chair. Once that's done, you will empty the contents of your pockets, the wallet comes out of your back pocket, and goes to the left of the watch, it too being in a straightened position according to the alignment of the clothes on the chair. Your keys will be gently placed above and in the center of the watch and the buckle placement, and you'll fidget with them a couple times despite them never laying quite to your liking. My favorite part is your phone." she said with a smirk, watching him fall in line with everything she was stating, his pace slightly behind her words. "The phone is the chaotic element."