Through My Eyes

I wish, for once, I could start something with Sara and actually finish it. But no, there's always something fucking with my plans. Like the whole bloody universe is working against us being together.

This time the universe used my mom to stop us.

Sara and I were getting x-rated in the elevator, not expecting it to stop before reaching my floor. We certainly weren't expecting my mom to catch me with Sara sucking on my neck while I tried to rip her bra off to get my hands and mouth on her.

"TANNER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!"

"Mrs. Ross!" Sara jumped back from me as if she was burnt, slapping at my hands as she tried to right her clothes. "I...we....I mean...he..."

My mom looked right past Sara, giving me the dirtiest look I've ever seen her give. "What on earth are you thinking?"

If Sara didn't look like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole, I would've told mom I was thinking I wanted Sara naked. Instead, I just shrugged and kept my mouth shut.

"For the love of God Tanner, do your pants up." I watched horrified as mom came at me as if she was planning on zipping me up herself.

"I got it." I turned away from her and zipped myself. "I'll do it."

While I was hiding my goods, mom was lecturing me on the inappropriateness of my behaviour and how disrespectful it was towards Sara to manhandle her in such a public place. "I thought you were better than that Tanner." Shaking her head, mom said, "I thought I raised you better than this."

There was no arguing with that. If I told her she did, she'd be more pissed. If I didn't say that she did, she would be pissed. It was a lose-lose situation and I had other things on my mind, so I apologized to her and to Sara for being unable to control myself.

"Alright," Mom smiled at us. "I was coming to look for you two, your dad wants us all to have supper together in the restaurant." She started to back out of the elevator. "Be there at 6 sharp." As my mom walked away she said something about having to find Travis and Anna. "Oh! Mom looked over her shoulder at Sara. "You friend....Billy, was it?"

Sara nodded.

"If he's free, we would love for him to join us as well."

Sara pulled me into her arms as the doors closed and the elevator started to move again. Giggling, she pressed her face against my chest. "You should've seen the look on your face!"

"Me?" I laughed. "What about you? Stammering? Trying to explain? The blushing? What do you have to say about that?"

The elevator stopped, Sara pulled away from me. "I'd say we have only an hour before meeting your parents for supper."

****

"What are you doing?"

Frowning, I straightened from leaning over to swipe my card through the card lock. "What do you mean? I'm unlocking the door."

"This door?" She looked confused.

"Yeah," I pointed to the room number as I said it out loud. "My room."

Sara crossed her arms over her chest, she looked pretty upset as she tapped her foot and stared up at me. "Since when?"

"Since Scott moved Anna and me into our own rooms last -" Sara started to shake her head. "What are you...? Stop shaking your head and...Are you laughing?"

She nodded. "I'm such a moron!"

"O-kay...gonna tell me why?"

Sara opened her mouth but her voice was drowned out by a group of young kids as they moved from the elevator, down the hall past us to the rooms on the end where we shove most school teams when they are in town for tournaments.

"Can we go inside?"

Once my door was open, Sara made her way into the middle of the room, glanced around and then turned towards me with her hands held out to me. "I've been driving myself crazy all week," she confessed. "I thought that you were mad at me, playing some kind of game or something but..." Shaking her head once again, she sighed. "But you weren't, you just changed rooms and didn't tell me!"

"I didn't?" I tried to think back - to remember what I told her but she was right, I don't think I ever mentioned that I had switched rooms.

"No," she smiled. "And all week, I've been calling your old room and leaving you messages."

"Front desk didn't put you through to my room?"

"No," she shrugged. "Not when you don't ask for a guest by name."

"So you...." She nodded. I laughed. "Smart Sara, real smart."

****

"Sara?" I rapped on the bathroom door for the second time in two minutes. Sara had been in the bathroom for a half hour, getting ready for dinner with my parents. "Sara, I have to go. Hurry up."

The bathroom door opened and in a cloud of steam, I saw Sara standing, wrapped in just a towel. My eyes didn't know where to focus first, there was just too much to take in. I was speechless.

"Close your mouth Tanner," she chuckled as she moved closer to me, which did nothing for my speechlessness.

I had to do it, I just couldn't stop myself. It was like my hands had a mind of their own, or maybe they were doing the dirty work for other parts of my body. Gripping the edge of the towel, I tugged on it and damn near had a heart attack as the towel fell away.

"Tanner!" Sara screamed and scrambled to recovered the towel. "I thought you had to pee!"

****

Sara stood at vanity, towel tightly wrapped around her as she ran a comb through her wet hair. In the mirror, she was avoiding looking in my direction as I washed and dried my hands next to her.

"I'm upset with you," she stated when I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind.

"Why?" My lips trailed along her neck as I told her I loved everything I saw. "You are so sexy."

"Yeah, right," Sara snorted.

"For real, let me show you." I reached for her towel again.

In Your Room

Normally when someone mentioned cameras and pictures, Sara was out of the room like a shot but while mom searched through her purse, looking for the camera she thought she had in there, Sara cuddled closer to me. "We do look good, don't we?"

Giving her the once over, I told her that she looked really good. "Me, on the other hand, I've looked better."

"Hmm," she grinned. "You know you look good, so don't even."

"Yeah, I'm rockin' the black and blue today, baby."

Pushing herself up on her elbow, Sara gazed down at me, a smile playing on her lips. I asked her what she was thinking but she just grinned and told me that even hurt, I looked good.

"Is that so?" I raised a brow. "Good enough to -"

"Well I don't know what happened to my camera." I was about to tell mom that it was ok when Sara piped up that she had her cell phone on her.

"It's not the best way to snap a photo but..." she pulled her phone out and after a brief run through on how to work the camera before turning back to cuddle with me.

It seemed to take forever before mom finally got a photo that both her and Sara agreed looked awesome. While they were going through the photos, criticizing them, Billy appeared from out of nowhere.

"Hey..." He glanced briefly at Sara and my mom, giving me a questioning look.

"Mom wanted a photo."

"Ahhhh." He nodded knowingly before asking me why. "No offense buddy but you look like crap."

Shrugging, I told him Sara thought I looked good.

"And you believed her?" Billy snorted.

"Of course he believed me," Sara swatted at Billy. "You look good," she leaned in and kissed my cheek. "He's just jealous."

"I'm not even gonna ask how you figure that one Sara."

He wasn't the only one who didn't want to know and thankfully Sara didn't explain it to either one of us.

Somewhere in between the catching up with Billy and teasing Sara, my parents slipped out of the room, using Travis as an excuse when I knew all they were really wanted to do was sleep since they didn't do much the night before.

I didn't really blamed them, I was pretty tired myself but as long as Sara was in town, I didn't want to sleep at all.

Of course, we all know what happened, I fell asleep.

I fell asleep. I couldn’t believe it. I had been missing Sara for a couple weeks and when I finally got her in my arms, I was so wiped, I fell asleep on her. When I woke up, she was gone. Not from the room just from my arms.

She caught shit from the nurse for being on the bed," Billy told me when I asked him why Sara was sleeping in the chair next to my bed.

While Sara slept, Billy and I talked about work and Sara. He told me that Sara had been on edge all week, waiting for this week to be over so she could come visit me. "It's all she's been talking about," he chuckled and told me it was cute but a little annoying. "Then when your mom called her at work..." he trailed off, as he shook his head. "She was so worried, she was in no shape to drive and your parents had already left so she called me."

"She call you away from something?"

"Had a few friends over. A little party but I'm glad she called, Cal showed up."

"What did he want?" I couldn't help thinking back to a couple weeks ago when Sara and I were interrupted by Billy, who was upset that Cal just broke up with him.

"Me." Billy shrugged. "He said he wanted to 'talk' but I know the difference, talking wasn't what he had in mind."

I couldn't think of anything to say, I just stared at him, trying hard not to get an mental images of what exactly Cal wanted Billy for.

"He's crazy," Sara mumbled as she lifted her head. "You should've told him to fuck off."

"Sara!"

"What?" She wiped her hand over her mouth. "You know I'm right, you shouldn't be giving him the time of day."

"Easy for you to say."

"Billy it's not easy, I don't like seeing my friends being used and you know Cal -"

"Sara, I know!" Billy snapped. "I know what he wants and maybe...." He shrugged. "Maybe that's what I want too."

"Whatever," Sara shook her head sadly. "Do whatever you want, I told you what I think."

"I will."

Sara rolled her eyes as she turned back to me. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." I yawned as I reached for her. As my hand caressed her cheek, she gave me a smile but she looked really tired herself. "You too, by the looks of it."

Closing her eyes, she nodded. "Very but..." With a shrug she told me that she'll sleep later.

"You don't have to stick around, I'm not really going anywhere." I suggested that she checked in on her mother. "She does live here, doesn't she?"

"I want to spend some time with you."

"That's great Sara but you haven't seen your mom in a while, maybe you should go see if she's home."

In the end, I managed to convince her to go get some rest, or do something else instead of waiting in the hospital with me. It wasn't that I didn't want her there, I just didn't want anyone feeling sorry for me while I was stuck in a hospital bed.

Unfortunately, I got the feeling that Sara didn't see it my way - she seemed sort of pouty as she left with Billy but she didn't say anything to me besides talk about seeing me later.

With everyone gone, I drifted off to sleep, only to be woken what seemed like moments later by the nurse. She told me that I couldn't just sleep all day, I had to get up and walk around. "You don't want to spend anymore time than necessary in this hospital, now, do you?"

Even if that was what I wanted to do, the nurse had no intentions of letting it happen. Before I could respond, she was damn near pulling me out of bed while muttering something about needing the bed for someone who was really sick. As I thought, what a bitch, I wondered if this was the same nurse that my mother and Billy were talking about.

By mid afternoon, I had more than enough of the nurse and her attitude, I wanted to go home and she wanted me out. One phone call to find the doctor and about twenty minutes later, I was standing at the entrance of the hospital waiting for my parents or Travis to come get me.

The first thing I did when I got back to my hotel room was call Sara to let her know I was out. "I broke out," I told her when she answered. "Told the fucking nurse I was tired of her bullshit."

Sara snorted. "Just like that?"

"Fuckin' eh!"

Laughing, Sara told me there was no way I said that, "You're too nice Tanner."

"Get your ass over here and I'll show you nice."

Lowering her voice, Sara told me she wasn't looking for a nice guy. "How naughty can you be Tanner?"

"Meet me in the lobby," I growled into the phone before hanging up.

Twenty minutes later I was standing in the hotel entrance, pacing impatiently while I waited for her to get her ass there. As I paced, I couldn't stop myself from going back to the night before I left to go away for training in the city. It was dangerous thinking considering that I was standing in the middle of a busy hotel entrance with the beginnings of a serious hard on forming. But fuck it, that added to the excitement.

When Sara came waltzing into the hotel, I didn't bother to say 'hello' I just grabbed her. Ignoring Billy, I hauled Sara towards the elevator unable to wait to be alone with her.

"Tanner!" Sara chuckled as she tried to wiggle out of my grasp. "What about Billy?"

"He can watch, if you like," I threw over my shoulder.

"Not that desperate," Billy informed the both of us. "I'm gonna see if there's a room available and then...." he trailed off with a shrug. "Maybe I'll call up some old friends."

I pulled Sara into the elevator. "Have a good time," I called as the doors shut. Jabbing the floor button with my finger, I noticed a frown cross Sara's face for a brief second. I would had asked her what that look was for but I wasn't thinking with my head....well at least not the top one. Haha!

"Ahhh, Big Boy," Sara sighed happily. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pressed her body against mine. "I've missed you so much Tanner."

Caring For The Sick

Even though I toyed with the idea of moving on from Sara, I knew the moment I saw here standing in the doorway of the hospital room, it would be easier said than done. There was something about the way she stood there watching my parents and me that made all thoughts of finding anyone else, hard to swallow. For the first tie in my life, I found myself not wanting anyone else.

Although it was very strange for me to feel that way, it was exciting as well. As my mom fussed over me, I couldn't help but wonder what it was about the shy, uncertain, reserved woman that made all the other women I meet seem like skanky whores? And since when did that skankyness not turn me on?

Pondering that, I couldn't help but stare past my parents, tuning out their chatter as I studied her. I was surprised to see her standing there, I honestly didn't think that anyone would've called her but I should've known the difference, Anna liked to interfere and she liked Sara, so it was only natural for her to call her and let her know I was hurt. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail I came to despise when we worked together, I couldn't help but notice that she looked tired, like everyone else I've seen since I woke up. I wondered if it had anything to do with being woken up late at night or if she had even gone to bed when she got off work Friday morning - many times she didn't sleep on her first day off, she always kept going until she just couldn't function anymore.

But, I frowned as I took in the clothes she was wearing - jeans and a t-shirt, her work 'uniform'. Hair in ponytail, jeans and t-shirt? Was she working? I glanced around the room, confused as I wondered if it was in fact Saturday morning or if I was actually out longer than I thought.

No, it's Saturday morning. It has to be, otherwise mom and dad would've been here already. Then why...? It was messing with my mind to see Sara in work clothes on a Saturday morning when she was supposed to have Friday and Saturday nights off.

"Tanner?" My mom moved into my line of sight, a worried look on her face as she reached out and pressed her hand against my forehead. "My poor baby," she sat on the edge of the hospital bed and asked me if I was feeling ok.

"I'm -"

"Of course, you aren't." Mom cut in before I could tell her I was fine. "I'm going to find the doctor," she told meas she stood up. "I want to know everything that's wrong with my baby." I tried to tell her I was fine, just in a little pain but she refused to believe me. Grabbing my father's hand, she told me she'd be right back.

"Oh hello Sara, I didn't see you there." Letting go of my father she gave Sara a hug. "You'll keep him company," she told her. "It'll do him good to spend some time with you."

When my parents left the room, I half expected Sara to be reserved and need coaxing to come closer to me but she surprised me by confidently striding across the room. Confidently that is, until she tripped and stumbled.

"Well," she chuckled in embarrassment when she caught and righted herself. "That was smooth."

"Very," I snorted, my attempt to hide my laughter failing miserably.

"Go ahead," she grinned as she came to stand at the side of my bed. "Laugh it up, it's so good to hear."

I laughed until I thought I was going to cry from the pain. "Oh it hurts," I groaned as I folded my arms over my midsection.

Sara looked so concerned, I thought for sure she was going to start to fuss over me, something I really didn't want from her - from anyone really. Trying hard not to cringe from the worrying I thought was about to come from her, I waited.

There was a light in her eyes as she told me to stop laughing then.

"I can't help it," I groaned. "You looked so cute, your cheeks stained red from falling for me."

"I didn't fall," she stated matter of factly. "I tripped - over my feet." Her cheeks turned bright red again.

Patting the mattress, I smiled, one I hoped looked innocent and not that of a sex starved inmate getting his first conjugal visit in 10 years. "Sit down so you don't hurt yourself."

Once Sara was perched on the edge of my bed, she asked me how I was doing. "When your mom called me at work, she was so upset and crying, I was so afraid that I wouldn't get to talk to you again."

"Mom called you?"

Sara nodded. "Yeah, she said that she wanted you to be surrounded by all the ones you love, so that you would get better faster."

A couple months ago, Sara would've hesitated over saying something like that but as the words flowed through her lips, she sounded confident and she even smiled as she stretched out her pinky and slide it along mine. "Looks like she was right."

I chuckled, "Mom always says 'mother knows best'."

Nodding in agreement, she told me that her mom liked to say the same thing. "Must've been in the Mom handbook."

Turning my hand, I caught her fingers and held them. "Think they were given it when they left the hospital with us?"

"Maybe," she shrugged. "Either that, or they think it's the best way to convince us they know what they are doing."

"Sounds about right," I shifted against the mattress, trying to get comfortable and see her at the same time.

"Did you want to sit up?" She went to stand up but paused halfway, "Can you sit up?"

To tell the truth, I didn't really want to sit up, I wanted her to crawl onto the bed next to me. I wanted her curled up at my side with her hand roaming over my chest like she loved to do. I wasn't going to tell her that but some how it just seemed to spill.

"I don't think I should," she replied stating that she didn't want to hurt me anymore than I was hurting already.

"It'll help." I told her that her laying next to me would take my mind off the pain.

It really didn't take all that much convincing on my part to get her to shed her steel toes and curl up next to me. "That's good," I murmured against her forehead as her hand slid to rest on my hip for a moment before sliding up to the center of my chest. "I feel better already."

Sara didn't say much once she was laying next to me. She was so quite that after a while I started to worry that she fell asleep on me. "Sara?" I tried to see her face but it was pressed against my side. "Are you sleeping?"

"No," she replied, sighing as she shifted her position to look up at me with a sleepy grin on her face. "I was just relaxing; I'm so comfortable with you."

"I'm just a big old teddy bear," I remarked. She snorted and went back to pressing her face against my side. "Hey," I picked at her t-shirt as I asked her why she was working on a Friday night. "Don't you still have Friday and Saturday's off?"

"Yeah," she tilted her head back to gaze at me again. "But I wanted Sunday and Monday off this week."

"Oh?" I raised a brow, trying to ignore the pang of jealousy inside at the idea that she would switch her days for something but not for me. "Big plans?"

She chuckled, hiding her face so I couldn't hear what she said.

"I can't hear you," I poked her side. "Why did you switch your days?"

When she lifted her head, her cheeks were bright red again. "I switched so that I could come to the city to surprise you on your next days off."

I was shocked. After not hearing from her at all last week, I thought for sure she was pissed about the bar chick still. "You were coming to see me?"

She nodded. "I wanted to surprise you."

I was a mix of emotions when she repeated that. It was great that she wanted to surprise me by visiting but why the hell wouldn't she still talk to me all week? It didn't make sense. "You still could've talked me to you know."

Her eyes clouded over, her brow wrinkled in confusion. "What are you -?"

"I can't believe that nurse!" My parents came barging into my room before Sara could finish what she was saying. My mom was in the middle of ranting about the nurse when she spotted Sara curled up on the bed with me. A smile appeared on her face as all negative thoughts about the nursing staff was forgotten. "Oooohhhh," mom gushed. "Don't you two look so cute together! Quick!" She batted at my father as she asked him where her camera was.

Aftermath

While Anna was in the middle of her ranting, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was just Travis so I didn't stop her but when she finished, the 'any suggestions on how I get it there?' let both of us know it wasn't Travis who overheard the conversation.

Scott stared down at Anna as he hovered next to her chair. He repeated the question when she didn't answer but it didn't look like she had any intentions on saying anything. "I see," he said finally before turning to me to ask how I was.

Despite feeling like someone beat the shit out of me, I told Scott I was doing fine - I didn't want to talk about how I was feeling. "I just want to get out of here."

Scott nodded, mumbled something about understanding and then told me to drop into his office as soon as I could. "I'll need you to give a full report of what happened," he told me before turning back to Anna to ask her to step into the hallway with him. "

Reluctantly Anna got up from her chair. "I'll be just outside," she told me. "Call me if you need anything."

With Anna gone, there was no one to keep my mind off the pain - I wanted to call her back in just so she would do the endless chatter thing that she did so well. But I didn't because I started to think about how good it was to have her there, caring for me and that got me thinking about Sara.

Sara. I sighed. I didn't know what to think about her behaviour anymore. I really thought she was into me, just a little cautious because of the Bastard but now I wasn't so sure. I hadn't heard from her since the night I went out with Travis. She failed to return my calls. She never answered when I called. Was it time to move on?

"Hey Tanman!" Out of nowhere Travis appeared and after a quick once over, he started to give me shit. "I come to the city to party with you and you check into the hospital? What kind of brother does that?"

"I got into trouble with out you," I joked and attempted to laugh but ended up wincing in pain.

"Anything for the attention," he remarked with a smirk as Anna, who had just returned without Scott, hurried to my side.

"He's alright," Travis stated when Anna asked me how I was feeling. "I told you he would be alright, didn't I?"

Anna gave him a funny look. "Don't you mean, I told you?"

"No," he scoffed. "You were the one freaking out -"

Anna snorted. "Me?"

"...freaking out and lying to the nurses about being his girlfriend -"

I raised a brow.

"Hey, I only said that because they wouldn't let me in otherwise!"

Travis was just grinning as he corrected himself. "Wait, didn't you actually spill some tail a romantic weekend and a proposal?"

My eyes widened as I turned to stare at her the best I could without hurting too much. "What?"

"They wouldn't let me come in," she said defensively. "I was worried."

"So you told them we..." I couldn't even say it.

"Yes!" She exclaimed as she moved to swat at Travis for laughing at her. "You don't know how horrible it was!" She turned to me. "You rolled down over the stairs and there was a loud crack when your head hit the wall! I thought you were really hurt." Lifting her hand, she brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I needed to know you were ok, and I would do it all over again if I had too!"

With that said Anna excused herself. Just as she disappeared, Travis pulled up a chair to my bed. "God she's so hilarious when you get her going."

"You're such an ass," I chuckled before agreeing with him.

"It's so easy to push her buttons," he commented with a grin. "All night I had it going about one thing or another. Why, while we were in her room -"

I stopped laughing and felt a sudden desire to kick my brother's ass. "Why were you in her room?"

"She invited me."

"For what?"

He shrugged.

"What did you do in her room?"

"Hung out."

When I asked him again what he did in her room, he got all defensive and snapped, "I didn't do anything Dad, so lay off."

"How is everyone in here?" An older blond nurse came waltzing into the room so I didn't get to ask him anything else.

"Great," I hissed through clenched teeth as she hit every single sore spot on my body as she checked things off her clipboard.

"Good," she gave me a smile and told me that the doctor would be in to see me soon.

"How soon? I really want to go home."

"Well, he starts his rounds at 5 so..." she glanced at her watch and told me it was 4:20. "Just relax, get some sleep and before you know it you'll be back at the hotel with your fiancee." She flashed me a smile and patted my arm. "Congratulations."

When the nurse left, I groaned. "Not even two hours ago, I was standing at my room door. Why the fuck didn't I go in?"

"You're a Fucker."

"Just shut up."

"Make me, Pussy."

I laughed, "I can still kick your ass Travis."

"Yeah, right!" Travis laughed. "You can't even drag your ass off that bed Tanman."

"Oh yeah?" I tried, it hurt like hell but I managed to sit up in the bed. "Better run, I'm going to..." I felt very dizzy suddenly.

"Tanner!" Travis' laughter died as he leapt from the chair. "Don't you dare fall out of that fucking bed!" He helped me lay back down, cursing the entire time.

"What's going on?" Anna reappeared at the side of my bed. "What are you trying to do to him?" She snapped at Travis as she rearranged the sheet over me. "Are you ok Tanner? Do you need me to get the nurse?"

"He needs you to stop smothering him," Travis snapped.

"I'm fine..." I still felt a little light headed to tell the truth.

"Don't." Anna batted Travis' hands away from me as she tried to put some distance between him and my bed.

"Don't tell me what to do," Travis started slapping her hands whenever she touched me. "He's a big boy, he can tell us when he needs something."

This went on for a couple minutes, Anna was getting more and more frustrated but Travis seemed to be enjoying it. "Stop hitting me!" She finally snapped at him.

So what did he do?

"Anna watch -"

SWACK!

Anna yelped and spun around. With one hand rubbing her butt, she gave him the dirtiest look ever. "Don't you ever slap my ass again!"

Travis shrugged nonchalantly. "Ok," he replied but I knew the look in his eye, he was planning his next slap.

"I mean it!" She poked him in the chest. "Don't do it again."

"Ok."

Glaring at him one more time, Anna turned back to me. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm just getting tired."

"Oh, then maybe we should...." she glanced over her shoulder. "Don't even think about it!"

Travis held up his hands and tried to look innocent.

"I'm not that stupid."

He just grinned.

"We should let Tanner get some rest."

"Yeah," Travis glanced at me, looking sorry. "Before mom shows up and smothers you even more than Anna."

"You called mom?" I was pissed. I hated having mom worry about me for something so stupid.

He pointed to Anna. "She made me! Told me if I didn't call her, she would and she would let mom know that I didn't think she needed to be bothered."

"Your mom is listed as an emergency contact Tanner, I had to call her." Anna didn't even listen to me when I tried to explain that mom over worried and I didn't want her called unless something serious happened.

"This was serious! You could've broken your neck or worse Tanner. What would've happened if I didn't call her and it turned out differently?"

"Umm," Travis leaned closer to her. "I believe I called her."

"Only because you refused to let me near the phone."

"You were freaking out! That's all I needed mom to hear when she woke up, some crazy chick crying as she told her that her son took a flight down the stairs on his head."

"Guys stop it!" I had enough. "When did you call mom?"

Travis looked at Anna. "Was it 3? 3:30?" She nodded.

"Great," I sighed, closing my eyes. "I'm going to need more sleep before I can deal with her."

"Ok, we'll be quiet." Anna reached for the chair next to the bed.

"No," I glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Can you guys go? I'm alright so there's no need to stick around."

Anna didn't want to leave Travis ended up almost dragging her out of the room. "Call me if you need anything," I heard her call as he pulled her away.

I fell asleep almost immediately.

The doctor came in around 5:30 but I was still half asleep, I had no idea what he said.

My parents showed up 6. My mom cried and ran across the room to give me a hug when she saw I was awake. She squeezed me so hard, it hurt but I didn't really notice because in the doorway, almost hidden from my view by my parents, stood Sara.

Chain Of Events

A door down the hall opened. "You fucking bitch!" A guy yelled as a scantly clad women in her late thirties stumbled backwards out into the hallway.

"It's not -"

"It's not what?" The guy yelled as he shoved the woman backwards again, getting dangerously close to the stairway. "What it looks like?" He asked her but never gave her a chance as he called her a fucking cunt. "I work my ass off to get you everything you want and you repay me by fucking everything that walks? I don't fucking think so Bitch!" He went for her again but was stopped by another guy, in his underwear, from the same room.

"Get the fuck off me!" The first guy took a swing at the second guy as he grabbed him off the woman. "I'll kill you!"

By this time another door opened down the hall - Anna's door.

Oh fuck, I thought as I saw her peek her head out the door. Are you stupid? Go back into....no! Don't come out! I watched Anna take a deep breath and start towards the two guys who were now throwing punches.

My only thought was to stop her; to make her go back to her room. I guess I was so focused on what Anna was doing, I didn't notice that the first guy had gotten away from the nearly naked guy and spotted me heading towards them. "Who the fuck are you?" He demanded, taking me by surprise, as he shoved me. "What? Are you here to fuck her too?" Turning towards the woman again, he called her a dirty fucking whore. "Who else are you fucking?"

This was getting out of hand, I could hear other guests in the hotel calling out for them to shut up and even a couple of them had poked their heads out of their doors. "Please go back into your rooms, this'll all be over soon."

"I called the police," one of the female guests, whose room was right next to the stairs, informed me as her male companion pulled her back into the room. "I also called to complain to the manager."

Just great, I thought.

"You called the police on me?" The irate man spun around and headed towards the room of the 'helpful' female guest. "You fucking little whore, how dare you call the police on me!" He screamed as he banged on their door. "Get out here Bitch!"

"Tanner, do something!" I heard Anna hiss.

"Just go back to your room," I told her as I headed over to the screaming guy. "Listen sir -"

I don't quite remember what was said or what exactly happened. I'm assuming he shoved me because all I really remember is hearing Anna scream my name as I tumbled backwards, down the stairs I was so worried about earlier.

Everything went black.

I don't know how much time passed since I took the flight down the stairs and the moment I came to and heard my brother giving Anna shit for what happened.

"What do you think I could've done Travis?"

"You were supposed to be watching out for him!" Travis snapped at her. "You got him this stupid job, the least you could do is make sure he came back in one piece."

"Came back...Travis he'll be ok, the doctor just told you that!"

"Whatever! Get outta my face, I'm done talking to you."

"What, are you two now?"

"Just....just go away Anna. Go away."

"No," she replied. "I'm staying right here until he wakes up so deal with it."

Travis mumbled something but I didn't quite make it out.

I fell back into the blackness again.

----

The sun was shining through the hospital blinds when I woke again. I needed something to drink but when I tried to roll onto my side to see if there was water around, every single muscle, joint and bone in my body seemed to cry out in pain.

My involuntary wince and the resulting groan must've gotten someone's attention because I heard a chair move. Not even a second later, Anna was peering down at me with concern written all over her face. "Tanner?" She reached out and gently touched my cheek. "Are you ok? Do you need something? Are you in pain?"

"Yes," I wanted to say more but I made the mistake of trying to nod my head at the same time. Stupid idea.

"Do you want me to get the nurse?"

"No...water."

"Ok, sure." She looked around and then told me that she would have to go get some. "I'll be right back," she said as she hurried out of the room.

In no time at all, she reappeared at my side with a small pitcher of ice water and a couple glasses. "The nurse said the doctor will be in soon to check you over and if he's happy with what he sees, you'll get to go home."

"Home?" I stared at her. "How? What about work?"

"Well..." She shrugged as he leaned over and slipping her hand under my head. "This is gonna be a little awkward," she warned me. "But it's the best way to do it...I think."

After a few frustrated sighs and a couple wet spots on my pillow, I managed to sip back enough water to satisfy the need for the moment.

"I'm sorry," she said out of the blue.

"For what?"

"Everything," she sighed and pulled her chair up to my bedside. "I feel that I should've been able to handle the situation without this happening."

"Anna, no. This isn't your fault. If anything it's mine for not thinking it through."

"Your brother is blaming me."

"My brother is a jackass sometimes," I chuckled and then groaned. "Listen, it's not your fault. And...wait a minute," I frowned. "What is Travis doing in the city?"

With a shrug, she told me that she didn't really know. "I got a call from the front desk around 6 last night, telling me that he was down in the lobby. He wanted to talk to you but when they told him you were busy with the banquet, he wanted to be let into your room to wait. They told him they couldn't do that and he got pissed so they called me."

"What did you do?" I asked cautiously, knowing full well they didn't get along the last time Travis showed up.

"I told him the same thing they told hm at the front desk, he told me I was being a bitch. I told him that bitch or not, I couldn't just let him in your room, I would have to talk to you. He told me to go fuck myself and I told him to grow up."

"And then you hung up?"

"Yeah," she chuckled. "I hung up, waited for ten minutes or so before I headed downstairs to see if he was still around or if they kicked him out."

She went on to tell me that he was still there, sitting in the lobby pouting. "Front desk told me that he said he was staying until you came out of the banquet and then they would all get it."

"Get it?" I laughed. "What exactly were they going to get?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I figured he realized that he wasn't getting anywhere and didn't have anywhere else to go if he got booted out of the hotel. Anyway," she glanced over her shoulder and then continued. "I went to talk to him, he told me he was bored and wanted to know when you would be finished. I didn't know but he didn't like that at all; he wanted to go out to the bar."

"Did you tell him you'd call him a cab?"

Anna grinned, "I thought about it, I really did but no. I told him that he was out of luck, you were working so he'd either have to sit there all night waiting for you to finish or he could play some pool with me in the lounge."

"What?" I stared at her. "You offered to hang out with him?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"Because he's your brother?" She offered but I didn't believe that for one minute. "Fine," she sighed. "I offered to hang out with him because it got me away from having to deal with Scott."

It took little to no prompting for Anna to tell me that Scott had been bugging her. "I don't know what to do anymore," she told me. "I told him a long time ago that I wasn't interested in him like that and I thought that he got the message but it seems that he hasn't. Or maybe he refuses to believe that I'm not interested."

"So they rumors are true?"

"Rumors?" She sat up straight in the chair and stared at me. "What rumors?"

"The ones that are going around saying that Scott's relationship with Kim is on the rocks because he's hot for you. The grapevine says that Kim has given him an ultimatum, fire you or she's leaving."

"Oh my God!" She slumped back in her chair. "I should've known," she shook her head slowly. "It makes sense, the looks and comments...."

"I didn't do anything!" She exclaimed. "You have to believe me Tanner, I haven't done a damn thing to make that man think I'm looking for anything from him."

"You have a boyfriend," I stated.

"You're damn right I do!" She jumped out of her chair. "I have a boyfriend, who I love with all my heart." She was pacing, telling me all the great things about her relationship, how happy she was and how she wasn't about to ruin her relationship for something she didn't feel. "Scott can take this job and shove it if that's what he thinks is going to happen."

While Anna was in the middle of her ranting, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was just Travis so I didn't stop her but when she finished, the 'any suggestions on how I get it there?' let both of us know it wasn't Travis who overheard the conversation.

First Time Out

Ten minutes before I had to be down in the banquet area, ready to serve the ridiculously rich guests that occupied the largest banquet room the hotel offered, I was standing outside Anna's door.

"Come on, come on," I whispered impatiently as I tugged at the untied bow tie that was giving me trouble. It wasn't giving me so much trouble a half hour ago, when it was still tied but somehow I managed to untie it. Or maybe the fuck up fairy was visiting me, hoping to get a good laugh.

I was about to knock again when the door flew opened. "It's about time."

Anna rolled her eyes. "What do you want Tanner?"

"I need help," I told her as I walked past her and into her room. "I have to be downstairs in a couple minutes and I can't get this damn thing to cooperate with me."

"And you think I know how to work one?" She snorted. "Do I look like I go around tying -"

"Maybe you should," I grinned when she frowned. "Maybe the boy would like you to tie him up."

Her eyes widened as she gasped, "Tanner!" She lashed out, hitting my in the arm while she told me just how much of a pervert she thought I was.

"Yeah," I smirked. "I know."

Shaking her head, she told me that she didn't know how to help me. "But maybe..." she headed off towards the small table by the window where her laptop was opened.


"Whatcha doing?" Pulling up a chair, I leaned in to see what she was typing but damn, her fingers worked quickly. Before I had a chance to see the screen, she was motioning for me to come closer as she studied something.

"You shouldn't have left this until the last minute," she lectured me a couple minutes later when she had to untie it and try again. "Don't get mad at me because you aren't ready - it's not my responsibility!"

"You should know how to tie this," I snapped.

"Oh?" She shot me a dirty look. "Do I look like the type -"

"You keep telling me you have a guy, you'd think you'd know how to tie a tie!"

I'm not sure if it was an accident or not but the material tightened around my neck as she informed me that being a guy, I should know how to tie one on myself. "Now shut up, or you'll really be late!"

As it was, I was ten minutes late getting downstairs. And just my luck, Scott was waiting for me. "I did say 5, didn't I Tanner?" He asked as he glanced at his watch. "You should've been here..."

I held up my hands to stop him before he even got started. "Anna already lectured me around being late."

"Anna?" Scott didn't look to happy as he looked around. "Where did you see Anna?"

"Stopped by her room," I threw over my shoulder as I made my way over to Lonna and the rest of the banquet crew. "Good evening ladies." I flashed them, what I like to think is, my sexy 'you know you want me' grin and for the most part, it seemed to work; I got a few whistles and comments on how hot I looked all dressed up.

Except from Lonna, she gave me a dirty look and demanded to know what the hell I was doing there.

"Scott told me to be here," I informed her. "You know, after he found out that you haven't been training me properly."

"I'm training you the best I can," she hissed. "I can't help it you aren't picking it up."

"Not picking..." I trailed off, completely shocked that she would say something like that. It's not like my job was rocket science, any idiot could do what I do. Well, maybe any idiot who is organized and doesn't mind having a million and two little details to worry about.

"You need to leave." Lonna turned, said Scott's name but he was no where to be found. "Where did Scott go?"

Most of the banquet staff just shrugged but Chelsea, who came into the kitchen just after Lonna said I was stupid, mentioned that she thought she saw Scott heading for the elevators as she was leaving the front desk.

Now, I'm not one to repeat gossip but it seems that there have been talk that Scott has the hots for Anna. Rumor has it that Scott's relationship with Kim has been rocky since he hired Anna, there is even talk that Kim gave him an ultimatum - fire Anna or she walks.

If the rumors were about anyone else but Anna, I would've jumped into the conversation, wanting to know more but I considered Anna to be like the annoying little sister I never had, therefore, I felt the need to 'protect' her 'honor'. "Come on guys," I cut off the gossip mill. "This isn't 'old biddy' hour, we have work to do."

As they broke away, I swear I heard someone snidely comment that maybe Scott wasn't the only one who was hot for Anna.

I almost lost my lunch at the suggestion.

Once every one's mind was back on work, Lonna started to shout orders at both the banquet crew and me. At one point, while I was helping one of the younger servers, another more experienced server came over and asked me why I wasn't the one in charge. I told her that, technically, I was just like the rest of them for the banquet.

"That sucks," she stated. "You would be so much better than Lonna. At least you wouldn't treat us like morons."

I didn't reply, I thought it would be better if I just let her say what she needed to say instead of getting in the middle of it. I figured that I would talk to Lonna, or Scott, about her attitude later when I heard a loud crash from the kitchen. "I'll be right back," I told the younger server as I went to check it out.

"Watch where you're going!" Lonna snapped at the only male server working that night. "You were given eyes for a reason! Use them!"

I wanted to slap the bitch for yelling at the kid in front of everyone but instead, I called her name and told her I had a couple questions for her. "What's going on?" I asked her the moment we were out of earshot.

"Don't mess with me Tanner," she warned as she jabbed me in the chest before spinning on her heel to shout a new batch of orders at the staff.

Even now, I'm just shaking my head at that.

Hours later, I was wiped. I wanted to head upstairs, jump in the shower and fall into bed but Lonna decided to cut out and told me that I was in charge. "Remember Tanner," she threw over her shoulder as she was leaving. "I don't have to prove I can do my job, you do. Oh," she paused at the door. "Don't fuck this one up, the hotel can't afford to piss these clients off."

Once Lonna left, I realized that I was really starting to hate that bitch. She thought that me failing had nothing to do with her? Well she was fucking wrong. If I failed, sooner or later, Scott and his father would realize that it wasn't because I'm not qualified, it's because Lonna has some fucking chip on her shoulder.

Things seemed to go far more smoothly after Lonna fucked off. I don't think I could've asked for a better group of servers or a better party. It almost made up for Lonna's bitchy attitude.

When the last guest had finally left and the staff went home, I was finally able to drag my sorry ass to the elevators and down the hallway to my room. As I slid the key card through the slot, I heard a door open down the hall. It was reflex to look but I wish I didn't.

Killing Time

A light tapping sounded on the office door moments before I heard it squeak open. "Tanner?" Anna spoke softly as if she was afraid of what she would find. I guess she was ok with what she found because the next thing I know she's coming into the office. "I guess the apron thing wasn't working out."

"Can't hold my weight," I mumbled as the edge of the desk dug into my forehead. "I haven't given up on it though."

"Hmmm," she pulled one of the spare chairs around to my side of the desk and sat down. I know this because I could hear the chair as it was drug over the floor and I saw her shoes out of the corner of my eye. "Maybe you should put it on hold," she placed something on the desk and slid it across to me.

Curious, I lifted my head a little and eyed the heaping plate of fries and gravy I ordered. "Where's my burger?"

Anna had just finished plopping a cheese/gravy covered fry into her mouth so it took a moment for her to tell me that someone accidentally gave out my burger. "They told me to tell you it would only be a couple minutes for a new one."

Grumbling, I sat up and pulled my fries towards me. "Can't get any worse."

"What can't?"

"My week." I stared at my fries, I wasn't even sure I wanted them anymore.

"Been a bad week?"

I nodded. "My brother's marriage is failing apart, I think I fucked up with Sara, Scott is probably thinking he made a bad choice hiring me and now I have to work a split shift because Lonna didn't show me any of the banquet stuff."

Anna popped another fry into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "Ok well," she took a sip of her pop before telling me that maybe it wasn't as bad as it seemed. "The state of your brother's marriage isn't something that you can change Tanner; no matter how much you may want to help. This is something that your brother has to deal with and you can only be there for him when it all comes down."

I knew she was right but still, I couldn't help but wish there was something I could do. I loved Shelly, I thought she was great for Travis but I knew she hadn't been happy lately.

Taking another sip of her pop, Anna told me that she didn't know what was going on with Sara and me so she really couldn't offer any advice. "But," she reached out and gave my hand a squeeze. "Don't give up trying, she could just be busy and hadn't had the time to call you back."

"For a whole week?" I shook my head. "No, if I didn't do something dumb the night I went out with Travis, it wouldn't be an issue -"

Anna frowned. "What did you do?" She asked cautiously.

With a shrug, I told her that Sara's friend 'caught' me flirting with another chick. "She made it seem a lot worse than it was though."

"Did you tell Sara that?"

"Yes!" I told her that Sara seemed ok when we got off the phone that night. "She wanted to know if we would talk the next day but she didn't return my calls."

"I don't know what to tell you."

"Have you talked to her this week?" I was hoping for something, some news but Anna just shook her head.

It was a little awkward sitting in silence with Anna as we both ate our lunch. I was starting to wonder if she knew more than she was letting on when she suddenly jumped, making me jump as well.

"Sorry," she chuckled as she went on to explain that she was sitting there trying to remember what else it was I said. "Scott doesn't regret hiring you Tanner, he was just upset that Lonna hadn't done what she said that she would. Plus he -"

"Doesn't like to look like a fool?" She shot me a questioning glance. "He told me so before we went into the restaurant."

"I don't really blame him, it reflects badly on him and -"

I cut her off by asking if he said anything to her before he left. "He seemed pretty pissed that you didn't know anything about it."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked while giving me a dirty look. "You just left me wide open and I didn't know what to do."

"Sorry," I said while trying not to smile. "I did go looking for him earlier this week."

"You told me that it was nothing!"

"No," I grinned. "You asked if I needed him to come back and I -"

"Were a jerk and hinted that maybe I needed him for something."

Jokingly, I told her that I couldn't help that it seemed like they were closer than necessary. "You are in his office all the time."

She scoffed. "That's where my office is Tanner, you know that. And you know that I have a boyfriend who I'm crazy about so stop it!"

"Oh, the boyfriend." I nodded knowingly. "The one that I have yet to meet."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing her empty plate. "Have fun tonight," she threw over her shoulder as she disappeared through the doorway.

My only thought was - where the fuck was my burger??

All In A Day's Work

Time is flying around here, I barely have time to look at my computer, let alone write anything. Please cut me some slack and hang on while I try to play catch up to what's going on now.

What started out as a free weekend with endless possibilities turned into a crappy weekend when my brother and all his marital problems walked into my room. It got even worse when, after the night out with my brother, I didn't hear from Sara. Despite all of that though, the weekend wasn't too bad in the end because my brother went home and I was moving into another room - without Anna.

I can't tell you how excited I was to finally have the room situation cleared up. I needed my own space and some time for myself - Anna never shut up when she was in the room. It was like she needed to hear her own voice to be happy. Or maybe she just loved to talk, who knows. All I know is that I can't stand it when people go on and on about shit that I care nothing about. I don't really want to know everything her boyfriend's - son?...daughter?...whatever? - said or did. I don't care if it was cute or funny, it has nothing to do with me.

The morning of the move, Anna and I were to pack our stuff and bring it downstairs to the front desk before we went to work. When the rooms were cleaned, Scott told us that he would make sure our bags were put into our new rooms and we would have to stop by the front desk after our shifts to pick up our new keys.

"Are you sure you have everything?" Anna asked me as we were walking out the door Monday morning.

"Does it really matter?" I asked her. "If we forgot something housekeeping will find it and bring it down to the front desk for us. It's not like we are checking out and will have to make a trip back here to pick it up."

Instead of replying, Anna did what she always did whenever I pointed out an error in her way of thinking, she rolled her eyes at me.

"What?" I asked, just because I knew it bugged her. "It's true. If we leave something behind, we'll have it before we even check into our new rooms."

OK, maybe there was something about Anna I would miss when we got our own rooms. When I was bored, there was never anything better than to bug her. It was hilarious how easily frustrated she would get with me. Then again, I did take the opposite side of whatever she was saying, just to tick her off. It's a wonder she didn't kill me in my sleep some nights.

After work Monday night though, when I walked into my room and closed the door, I almost missed her non stop talking. It was too damn quite and I was too tired to go out anywhere.

Work wise, things were going along well. I wasn't having any problems with the restaurant manager part of my job description but the banquet manager part? Well that was a little harder to do when they weren't letting me do anything at all with it. I had asked Lonna when I would get a chance to make a booking or even take part in a banquet but she keeps telling me that I still have stuff to learn on the restaurant side of things.

Wednesday morning, I decided it was bullshit. I went to Anna to see if Scott was around but she told me that he was at one of his families other hotel's for a couple days. "What's going on Tanner?" She wanted to know. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

I debated telling her but in the end I just told her that I needed to speak with Scott.

With a smile, she told me that she would tell him when he called later to see how everything was going. "Did you want me to tell him that he needs to get back here immediately to take care of something?"

She set herself up for it, so I don't think it's wrong of me to take advantage of the opportunity. "I don't know Anna, do you need him to take care of something?"

She frowned. "No, I don't...." Her eyes widened and she gasped as I laughed. "That's not funny Tanner! There's nothing going on between Scott and me!"

It was so easy.

Friday morning, I was cashing out a customer when Scott came up to the counter with a huge black binder and an older couple. "I'll just leave you with Tanner here," he told the couple. "He'll let you know what's available for that day." Before walking away, he handed me the binder, he told me that the Lismens wanted to look into booking a banquet room for their daughter's wedding in the fall.

In a panic, I looked around for Lonna and remembered that she wasn't in until later because of the banquet that night. Calling out to Carrie, one of the waitresses, I told her to seat the Lismens in one of the boosts in the back and get them something to drink. "I just have to check on some things," I told them.

Once Carrie started to lead the Lismens off, I booted it across the lobby to the front desk where Scott had stopped to talk to Anna. "Finished already?" Scott looked shocked. "We didn't have anything for that day?"

"I don't know -"

"What do you mean you don't know?" He snapped. "What did you do with the Lismens?" Before I could even tell him the situation, he started saying how poorly this reflects on me and my abilities.

"Oh yeah?" I raised a brow. "How poorly does it reflect on you and this hotel to send clients to me when no one has taken the time to show me where the info for the banquets is? Lonna hasn't let me do anything but the restaurant side of things since I've been here and now you expect me to put this banquet stuff out of -"

"Whoa," Scott held up his hand, gave Anna a questioning look before turning towards me again. "What do you mean she hasn't had you do the banquets? I was talking with her on Monday and told her I needed you to start on the bookings. She told me she would handle it."

"Well," I shrugged. "I guess she decided that by handling it, it meant that she did them and left me in the dark."

Scott swore under his breath. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He wasn't looking at me when he asked that, he was looking at Anna.

"What?" Anna frowned. "How was I supposed to know?"

"Anna, you are my personnel manager, you are supposed to be checking up on the training process. You have to be on top of all employee issues before it comes to something like this!"

She started to protest but Scott was already heading towards the restaurant. "Tanner, you'll watch and listen while I go over the Lismen's requirements and check the dates. Anna, call my father and let him know that I have to deal with issues here so I won't make it back over until this afternoon."

As we made our way through the restaurant, Scott told me that I should've informed him before today that my training wasn't complete. "I hate looking like a fool Tanner."

It was around 2pm when Scott finally decided that I knew enough to handle taking the basic reservation by myself. "I'm going to tell the girls at the front desk to transfer any calls about the conference room to you so you get some practice."

I didn't have the energy to question him, I just nodded and pretended that I was excited about the possibility of getting a call.

"Why don't you grab something to eat?" He said as he opened the office door. "Can't have you passing out tonight when you are in the middle of serving the Homeowner's Society their meals."

I did question that, I was supposed to have the night off.

"Not anymore," he replied. "You'll be here at 5 like the rest of the serving crew. Have a good night Tanner."

Fuck, I wanted to deck the little bastard as he went waltzing out of the kitchen. Instead, I pulled out the manager's food order slips and wrote down what I wanted for lunch.

I had just returned to Lonna's office in the back of the kitchen when the phone rang. Fearing that it was a call about a reservation, I took a deep breath before answering in my best professional voice.

"Hey Tanner, I just saw Scott leave, do you have a minute?"

"No Anna," I sighed. "I'm in the middle of contemplating how to hang myself with an apron."

Out Of His Mind

"Oh, you are still here." It was almost 11 when Anna returned to our room.

Travis, who had claimed her bed for his as we watched TV, rolled his head to the side to look at her. "Yeah." Then, pointing to the phone on the nightstand, he asked her to call her boyfriend.

Puzzled, Anna asked him why.

"I think the phone is broken."

"What?" She crossed over to the night stand and picked up the receiver, dialing '9' for an outside line. "Dial tone," she held the phone out to him. "It works."

"No," he sat up, shaking his head. "I don't think it's able to receive calls." Anna didn't look too convinced, she hung up the phone. "Look, could you just give him a call and ask him to call you back?"

Telling him she didn't have time for it, Anna started to walk away. "The phone's not broken," she threw over her shoulder. "Your wife just don't want to talk to you."

"Bitch!" Travis spat as he sent her pillow sailing in her direction.

When she disappeared into the bathroom, he turned to me. "Try calling Sara again, maybe she was just sleeping and didn't get your messages."

"If last night didn't happen -"

Travis groaned. "How many times do you want me to apologize? I said I was sorry her friend caught you having a good time but fuck man -"

"But I wasn't having fun," I snapped at him. "I didn't even want to go out!"

"Yeah, right!" He scoffed. "You didn't seem too miserable when you face planted in that chicks' tits with every shot."

"Her tits weren't even that special," I informed him. "They're fake and she smelt funny."

"Like that ever mattered before Tanner!" He laughed. "Are you forgetting that I know the women you've hooked up with?" He paused and then said, "Tammy."

I almost puked at the mention of her name. Cringing, I tried as hard as possible not to remember Tammy's horrible body odor. It wasn't that she didn't shower - she did, we did together - she was just a sweaty woman. "I was drunk most of the time, what the hell did I care?"

"Ok." He slid across Anna's bed to sit on the edge facing my bed. "Candy?"

"Candy?" I stared blankly at him.

"You know," he motioned towards his face. "The chick fucking ugly chick you were banging for a while....the one who was always stuffing her face with whatever candy she could get her paws on."

"Oh!" I rolled my eyes. "You mean...." I frowned. "What was that chick's name?"

Travis shrugged, "Don't know but fuck Tanman, she was ugly!"

Maybe it was cruel. Maybe it was completely uncalled for but Travis and I had a good laugh about 'Candy' and many of the other 'miss' chicks that I've dated.

"With all the losers that you dated, I have to know, what's wrong with Sara? She doesn't seem to be a 'miss'."

"There's nothing wrong with her."

"There's got to be something," he insisted. "Otherwise mom would have her over all the time - getting to know her - like she did with Shelly when..." He ran his hands over his face as he trailed off. "Why isn't she calling me back Tanner? She can't be serious, can she?"

"About leaving you?"

He nodded and then told me something I didn't know before. "This isn't the first time she left." He went on to tell me that Shelly had packed up the boys and her stuff a couple times before. "She always went to the hotel - the one I took her too that night - but I called there and they said she wasn't registered."

"Maybe she went elsewhere," I offered.

"You think?" He sounded so hopeful, I didn't want to tell him that 'no, I didn't think'. "No," he replied before I could. "She wouldn't change hotel's unless she..." All color drained from his face. "She's serious. She's done with me."

What do you say that hasn't been said before?

While I tried to think of something to say, Travis fell back against Anna's bed and rolled onto his side, facing the wall.

The only noise in the room was the sound of the shower running and the TV as it circled through the same old commercials for the tenth time that night. Every now and then I would hear Travis cursing under his breath but I didn't know what he was saying.

Quarter to twelve, Anna was seated at the table by the window with her laptop. Fast clicking of the keys, familiar MSN sounds and the occasional laughter were all I heard from her since she sat down there.

Travis, when Anna came out of the bathroom, got off her bed to lie on mine but he wasn't in the mood to talk; he laid back and closed his eyes. He hadn't moved at all so I assumed he was sleeping.

Me. I was tired but not tired enough to sleep, so I was watching bad late night TV with the captions on so I didn't disturb either of them.

Someone else had other ideas though. At twelve, the hotel phone broke the silence.

Travis and I jumped at the same time; both hoping it was for us. As soon as the first ring finished, I snatched the receiver off the base. "Sara?" Nothing, if not hopeful.

"Sorry, no," Shelly's voice came over the phone.

"Oh! Do you -?"

"No!" She cut me off. "I don't want to talk to Travis. I want you to tell him to stop calling me."

I watched Travis fall back against the mattress again, only to jump up a moment later to disappear into the bathroom. "He's in the bathroom," I whispered. "I can get him, it won't take too long."

"Tanner you aren't listening to me," Shelly sighed. "I don't want to talk to him. Tell him to stop calling me, I'll call him when I'm damn good and ready - divorce papers in hand."

I didn't want to hear that. I didn't even want to be involved in this. "He's my brother Shelly, I can't be the one to tell him that." I asked her if she was sure this was what she wanted to do.

She hesitated, for the longest time. So long that I thought she would tell me that it wasn't, that she wanted Travis to smarten up. Then she finally spoke, "I have to Tanner, it's never going to change and I'm tired of it."

"Ok." What else could I say? Besides, "I'm not going to be the go between, if you want Travis to stop calling you, you'll have to tell him yourself. And I'm not telling him that you won't be willing to talk until you have divorce papers drawn up. I'm not doing it."

Shelly told me it was ok, she understood. "I guess I just wanted to -"

The phone was yanked out of my hand. "Hey!" I tried to grab it back but Travis wouldn't give it up.

"Shelly?" He swung at me as he said her name. "Come on Shelly, don't do this, I know it's you, who else could it be?" He paused but I'm assuming she didn't say anything because he hung his head. "Ok, fine, don't talk, just listen. I -"

"What do you mean you don't want too? Why not?"

"Yeah, ok, I know but -" He let out a frustrated groan. "Damn it Shelly, you know I didn't mean that!"

"What do you...you know me better than that damn it!"

"No!" He started to shake his head. "No, I'm not."

"No!"

"Well I don't care, 'no' is all I have to say to that. I'm not agreeing to it!"

"If you want to know why, come home and I'll tell you why."

"Damn it Shelly, I..." he trailed off when he realized that I was listening to his every word. Turning away from me, he held his hand over his mouth and whispered, "I'll do anything, anything at all for you, but I'm not signing anything that says our marriage was a mistake! We aren't a mistake Shelly - yeah, we argue but all couples argue. It doesn't mean -"

The longest pause of his entire conversation happened at that moment; I believe it was a whole five minutes. As he listened to Shelly, I watched his face turn red as he got angry.

And then he blew up.

"Fuck that shit!" He snapped. "Who the fuck do they think they are, telling you that we aren't working when he's out screwing around every single weekend! Tell your brother to go fuck himself, we aren't getting a divorce."

I'm guessing she told him that she was filing for divorce because he told her that he really didn't want her to do that. "Let's talk about this, face to face Shelly." He told her she could even pick where they talked. "There, at home, somewhere else, I really don't care, I just want to see you."

A few minutes later, Travis asked her to tell the boys he missed them. All the anger that was in his voice moments before had disappeared. "I'm glad you called Shelly, missing you is a bitch when I don't hear from you."

When he hung up, a smile - the first real one since he arrived the night before - appeared on his face but disappeared the moment he looked up and saw Anna and me. "What the fuck are you two staring at?"

Shared Traits

My head was spinning. It wasn't a smart idea to jump up in bed like I did. Closing my eyes, I tried really hard to calm the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm never drinking again, I pledged to myself, knowing that the next time the situation presented itself, I would indeed indulge once again.

Somehow, I'm not quite sure how, but I managed to make it off my bed. "Fucksakes Tanner, put on some clothes!" My brother snapped. "No one wants to see that!" For a split second, I thought I stripped before I got into bed the night before.

"I'm dressed!" I told him after checking to make sure I was wearing the pj pants and t-shirt I barely recalled pulling on after talking to Sara. As I made my way towards them, Travis told me I was a dumbass.

Ignoring that comment, I told him I wanted to know what went on between Shelly and him. "Why did she leave...now?"

Travis gave me the 'death stare'. "What is that supposed to mean?" He glanced at Anna before asking me if I expected his wife to leave him.

"Are you kidding? I'm surprised she stuck around as long as she did, you're an asshole. You treated her like crap and -"

Travis got to his feet, his hands clenched in anger as he glared at me. Just when I thought he was going to punch me, he came at me, his shoulder ramming mine as he walked on by. "Thanks for nothing, Fucker."

The bathroom door slamming shut sounded like a gunshot in the silent room.

****

"Are you ready to talk now?"

A few hours had passed since Travis threw a few choice words at me through the bathroom door moments after he slammed it shut. He had stayed in there for the best part of an hour before he came storming back out into the room to grab his wallet. When I asked him where he was going, he flipped me off and walked out.

Over the rim of the newly opened beer he had purchased when he left the room, Travis shot me a dirty look and a "Fuck you."

"Quit being a bitch."

"Fuck off!"

With a shrug, I told him if this was how he acted with Shelly, she had ever right to take the boys and leave.

"Shut your fucking face!" He yelled at me. "I did everything I could for that bitch!"

I laughed. Really laughed. "Everything?"

He nodded.

"You've got to be kidding me! You ignored her. You treated her like crap. You didn't do anything she wanted to do and you always forgot her birthday and your anniversary!"

His face was starting to turn red, like it always did when he got mad. "I worshipped the fucking ground that bitch walked on! She left me! Are you forgetting that?"

From the sidelines, I heard Anna quietly say, "Being called a bitch always makes me feel all warm and tingly inside."

Travis heard her too. "Who the fuck asked you?" He demanded. "Mind your own fucking business!"

Anna stared at him, and for a second, I thought she was going to rip a strip off of him. Instead, she calmly shut her laptop and got off her bed. "No one asked me," she said tersely.

"That's right, so keep your fucking comments to yourself."

"Fine," Anna shrugged. "What the hell do I care anyway? From what I've seen, I'm glad your wife left you and took the boys with her; you're an ass. They all deserve someone who'll treat -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Travis held up his hand. "My wife loves me - there is no one else."

"I didn't say there was," she replied as she slipped her shoes on. Turning to me, she told me she was going to visit some friends. "I'd say 'have fun' but..." She glanced at Travis. "I'll be back later Tanner."

When Anna left, Travis started ranting and raving about her suggestion that Shelly could be with someone else. "I'll fucking kill any man who so much as looks at her!"

"Calm down! Shelly isn't out with another man."

"How do you know? She could be! She did mention some bastard who was trying to hit on her a couple weeks ago. What if -?"

"Travis! Shelly isn't with another guy."

"She could be," he muttered. "She's hot enough to have someone else."

I tried to make him see that Shelly wasn't seeing someone else but he refused to believe it wasn't true. "Why else would she leave me?" He asked at one point.

I jumped all over that one. "You're an ass."

"Fuck you, I'm not!"

"Why did she leave then?"

With a shrug, he told me he didn't know. "We were watching TV and she started on about what we were going to do this summer for vacation. Next thing I know, she's screaming at me and shoving her shit into a suitcase, threatening to leave me."

"What did you do?"

"I told her if she had it so bad, then she knew where the door was."

Fuuuck! I closed my eyes and just shook my head. "You told her to leave."

He didn't say anything.

I opened my eyes. "You told her to leave!"

He started to deny it.

"Are you fucking crazy?" I grabbed his shirt and started to shake him. "You fucking asshole! You told her to leave! And then you have the nerve to come here and drink yourself stupid, acting like you don't know why she left!"

"I don't -"

Shoving him backwards, I told him he was the dumbest fucker alive. "What woman would stick around when she's been told and shown over and over again that she means nothing? It was only a matter of time before she left your sorry ass." I started to walk away from him. "Congratulations Travis, you destroyed the best thing that ever happened to you."

Later that night, as I was watching TV while Travis tried, in vain to get a hold of Shelly, I realized that I hadn't heard from Sara.

But I did hear from Scott. He had knocked on my door just before supper, looking for Anna. When I told him that Anna was out with friends, he told me that he just wanted to let us know that our original reservations were straightened out. "Come Monday morning, you two will be in two one-bed rooms, like you were supposed to be from the start."

When Scott left, Travis asked if he could change rooms with Anna when the time came. "She's hot bro, why aren't you trying to hit that?"

I didn't bother to answer that. He wouldn't believe me if I did.