Dreams

By ROCshadow

Part 4

After a few seconds of uncertainty both women stepped back and tried to regain their composure. Jenn was the first to speak.  " Sorry, I didn't know you were….you."  She stuttered.

Jenn was having trouble forming coherent words, she'd never expected to meet the writer under these circumstances, and she certainly wasn't prepared for such a close encounter.

Kristen, for her part, returned from the trance she'd been in when she heard the soft voice talking to her.  " Oh it's okay, I'm the one who needs to apologize to you; I wasn't looking where I was going! Today is one of those days when I wish I hadn't got out of bed at all."  Kristen said, with what little dignity she had left.

Jenn noticed that Kristen's face looked pale, and her dark eyebrows furrowed behind silky black locks.  "Are you ok? You look a little pale." 

Kristen couldn't believe her luck, here she was talking to the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on, inside a public bathroom dressed in her worst outfit! What she didn't know was whether that luck was good or bad.  " I'm fine now, five hours flying and two more in a traffic jam just doesn't agree with me."  She smiled shyly, and tried to look anywhere but into the blue orbs in front of her.  'What the hell is going on with you Kris, you're saying stupid things, she's going to run out of here anytime now'.  Kris thought, feeling a little helpless.

Jenn smiled on noticing the frustrated look on the petite writer's face, and tried her best to ease the other woman's discomfort.  " I know the feeling believe me; by the way, I'm Jennifer."  She offered her hand to the writer, while she mentally praised herself for her good manners.

Kristen took Jenn's hand and marveled at how soft it was.  " Nice to meet you Jennifer, my name is Kristen and once again I sincerely apologize for loosing my temper with you earlier."

" Let's forget that ok? I hope you feel better now, if there's something I can do to help just let me know."  Jenn smiled broadly and began scrubbing her shirt with a towel paper; all the drink had spilt over her clothes.

Kristen noticed the stain, and asked.  "What happened?"

"Nothing, I spilled my piña colada over me."  Jenn tried to let it pass without incident she didn't want to make Kristen feel any worse than she already did. As difficult as it was, Kristen needed to get back to the front desk to check in and retrieve her luggage.  "Well, it was nice to meet you Jennifer but now I really need to go find my room."

'Yes!!!' Jenn thought. 'She's staying here too.'  She composed herself and gave Kristen a blinding smile.  "It was a pleasure to meet you too Kristen; try to rest a little and you'll feel a lot better."

Kristen walked back to the front desk and a very concerned Brenda was waiting there.  "I was going to send a search party to find you." 

Brenda gave Kristen a stern look as she moved toward the front desk. "Can't a woman have a little privacy?"  asked Kristen with an annoyed look. " You didn't make a discreet entrance yourself running across the lobby."  Brenda liked very much the author but she wasn't going to let her mistreat her.

" I was in a hurry and I don't have to give explanations to you anyway." The young author was really mad at the moment and the driver wasn't a happy camper either, the long drive to the hotel was taking its toll on them.

Kristen breathed deeply and said to the young driver. "Brenda, forget what I said ok? This isn't exactly the greatest moment for me; I'm tired, dirty, sick, sleepy, did I mentioned tired? All I can think about right now is a hot shower and a bed." 

The writer signed for her key. Brenda looked at her and smiled. " It's ok, Kristen I'm pretty tired myself and I was worried when I saw you running around and knocking the drinks out of those people's hands. I thought that woman was going to deck you inside the bathroom, she looked very mad."  The last part of the statement piqued Kristen's curiosity.  "Woman? What are you talking about?"  The writer asked.

Brenda sighed deeply  " The woman you spilled the drink on. You know, the tall one that went after you, with the angry look on her face, geez she was scary."

Kristen was confused beyond words  "I don't understand a thing you're saying, care to elaborate?"  They were walking across the lobby towards the elevators, Kristen smiled at Jenn as she saw her pass by, the dark woman smiled and nodded in reply, whilst Brenda watched the interaction between the two of them with awe. 

" Wowee, that woman is gorgeous! Those eyes, and what a smile; I thought she was mad at you."  The sheer beauty of the tall stranger had stunned Brenda; Kristen in the meantime was having a private conversation with herself. "I need to meet that woman again, what was her name again? Jennifer, yeah that's it, I need to find an excuse to talk to her again, she is something else…… those eyes make my knees go weak."

"Hey! I see I'm not the only one affected by that beauty over there." Brenda teased as she saw the distant look in Kristen's eyes. "I would have spilled a drink on her myself just to get to meet her." Brenda said, more to herself than to the author.

Kristen came out of her reverie. "What are you talking about? What drink?"

 "Kristen, didn't you noticed that in your race to get to the bathroom you spilled that woman's drink all over her?"  Brenda asked and then added, "She looked so angry I thought she was going after you to kill you." 

Kristen was dumbfounded, "But I just met her in the bathroom and she said she spilled the drink herself. She wasn't mad at me at all, just the opposite; she was really kind."

" I don't know why she told you that, but I saw you spill the drink on her, and the look on her face was anything but kind."  Brenda said, as they stepped out of the elevator and started walking toward Kris's room. They approached a door to the right.

" I think this is it, do you want to come in? I don't want to think that you have to drive back tonight."  Kristen opened the door.

"No, I'll be staying at my grandparents villa ten minutes from here. If you need me just give me a call and I'll be here."

 Kristen tried to hide a yawn but wasn't very successful, " I don't think I'll be calling you anytime soon, the only thing I want to do is rest and relax right here." Brenda thought for a moment, then added. "In that case let me suggest that you go to Palomino Island and do your resting and relaxing there; it's a wonderful little island which is the property of the hotel. There are hammocks all over the island and they bring the personnel from the hotel restaurant over to prepare lunch. It's a lot of fun, but you have also peace and quiet for yourself."

Kristen liked the idea.  "Sounds like fun, how do I get there?"

"A boat goes out every hour, it's just a ten minute ride away; if you want I can put your name on the passenger list when I get down there. Just tell me what hour suits you and I'll take care of it." 

Brenda was pleased to be able to do something for the writer, she hoped Kristen would invite her over, but it never happened. Kristen thought for a moment, and said.  " Eleven would be fine, I want to be able to have breakfast before I go."

"Eleven it is then, just go to the front desk and they'll get you to the dock, ok? Have fun tomorrow and remember, if you need me I'm only a phone call away."  Brenda said, with an enchanting smile; she was trying hard to get the author interested in her.

Kristen noticed the gleam in Brenda's eyes and smiled as well. 'She's cute but, too young.'  She thought; out loud she said. "Thanks Brenda, try to rest yourself because when my manager gets here tomorrow night you'll be working non-stop."

"Ok just remember that I'm at your service."  Brenda winked and left the room, not giving Kristen the chance to reply. The petite writer laughed at the antics of the young driver. Suddenly her thoughts drifted to the intriguing tall woman she'd met in the bathroom. ' Why did she lie about the drink? I need to find out what's behind those beautiful baby blues. God she's gorgeous!'  Kristen thought as she prepared to take a shower.

'Maybe after the shower I can go downstairs, grab a snack to settle my stomach, try to find out more about this Jennifer, and if I'm lucky get the chance to buy her another drink to replace the one I spilled. I'm definitely a sucker for beautiful women.' With those thoughts, Kristen entered the shower.

Jenn went upstairs to change her clothes after the incident with Kristen. She felt so nervous but couldn't say quite why; she had seen the petite author once more as she had walked by the front desk to take the elevator to her suite and once again had felt butterflies in her stomach. ' Why am I feeling like this?'  She asked herself, deciding to take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Her body was in overdrive with so much energy that she took the steps two at a time until she reached her floor. ' How can she be so natural? She acted like she was a simple bystander and not the star she is, I knew she was different. ' Jenn was submerged in her thoughts as she changed her clothes.

 ' She looked so young with that outfit on, like a little girl, but those emerald eyes took my breath away.' With this last statement, Jenn reacted to her own musings. ' JJ what are you thinking? Those conversations with Marge have got you all messed up; hold your horses girl.' Jenn finished getting dressed into a pair of sweats and a sleeveless tank top, she grabbed a book and headed back down to the lobby, hoping to find a quiet place to read for a while.

Kristen choose to wear her favorite VB Rags™ shorts and a matching t-shirt and her ever present Nikes™; her stomach was growling so loud that she went in search of a snack, and also for a certain tall dark haired woman. 'What am I doing? Acting like some teenager going downstairs to try to see her again.' Kristen sighed deeply. ' I could be in bed by now, maybe I'm beyond all redemption, I'll always be a sucker for beautiful women.' She thought as she waited for the elevator to arrive.

Jenn found the perfect spot to read undisturbed and listen to the ocean. The place was well illuminated and she had no problem reading the book she had brought; soon she was engrossed in her reading.

The author headed straight to the snack bar, it had a wooden deck that was near the beach. ' Maybe a turkey sandwich will settle my stomach, I will never drink like that again, no way! I've embarrassed myself enough for this lifetime already.' Kristen thought as she waited for her sandwich; she glanced around to see where she could get a seat, and noticed a familiar figure. ' Oh God, she's here! What I'm going to now!!'

Kristen felt the butterflies in her stomach return and wondered why it was happening, she didn't even know the woman. 'Ok, think O'Rourke; you can handle this, damn you can handle a hell of a lot more than this.' A deep breath. ' First, I need to draw her attention, but how? ' The waitress choose that particular moment to interrupt her thoughts.

"Excuse me, miss? Would you like something to drink with your sandwich? " Kristen found an answer to her own question. ' To drink? Yeah that's it!!!! I need to replace the drink I spilled.' Aloud she said,

" I'm sorry, yes I'd like a Sprite™ and can you send a Piña colada over to the woman seated on the right side of the terrace? I'll pay for it. " Kristen asked, with an intentionally charming smile.

" It's ok miss, I'll take care of that, do you want something else? " The waitress asked with a knowing smile. Kristen blushed deeply and after a few seconds she composed herself, saying. " No thanks, that will be enough for now."

'I'm acting like a kid, what's wrong with me?' Kris thought as she paid for everything. She took her sandwich and went in search of a seat where she could see the dark haired beauty. The author started eating her sandwich and began another conversation with herself. ' Why did I come here? I could've ordered room service, stayed in bed, watched a movie but, no, I have to come down here and act like a teenager sending drinks to a beautiful girl. It's obvious I'm irredeemable! Watch it O'Rourke you're going down again, don't hurt yourself. '

The waiter stopped beside the accountant and settled the drink in front of her. Jenn was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice his presence until he cleared his throat.  " I'm sorry but I didn't order this."  Jenn said, surprised.

" It's okay miss, someone sent this for you. " The boy said, with a shy smile. Dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion, this wasn't something common for Jenn; she was rarely in a place which brought this kind of attention to herself. " For me? Are you sure? But, who? " A very confused Jenn asked.

The waiter smiled and said.  " It was Miss O'Rourke; she's seated back there, right behind you. I hope you enjoy your piña colada. "  Then he left, leaving behind a very bewildered and puzzled Jenn. ' She sent me a drink? Why? Was Marge right after all about the rumors about her sexual orientation? Is she flirting with me?'

Jenn was feeling an uneasiness she'd never felt before. But deep inside she was happy to have an excuse to talk to the author, and that made her even more nervous. ' I have to go thank her for this, show that I have good manners. Should I go there or just thank her from here; maybe if I turn slowly she won't notice. I can do this, I know I can; come on Heart pull yourself together, you've been through worse.' 

Jenn tried to turn as slowly as possible so that she could go unnoticed by the other woman. When she finally looked at the author, blue eyes locked with green orbs; she felt dizzy and couldn't move her eyes away. ' Oh, shit! What's going on here? How come she makes me feel like a child? '  Jenn was trying to deal with the emotions that those green eyes were causing at that moment.

' Dear God she is beautiful! Those blue eyes , I could drown in them. Is she mad at me? What is that look on her face, and….. what a beautiful face she has, I bet her body is perfect as well.' Kristen had stopped eating the moment she'd felt those eyes on her.

When they'd looked at each other, the world had stopped for Kristen; those eyes were giving her an incredible sense of deja vu that was quite overwhelming, She couldn't tear her eyes away from the tall woman.

Jenn was losing her battle with her conscience: her mind was screaming to her to run away, but something inside was saying that she should go and talk to the writer. She grabbed her book in one hand and the drink in the other, and headed to where the author was seated. 'I can do this, it's polite and only right to thank her for the drink. I won't embarrass myself, I won't embarrass myself, oh those eyes make me so nervous…. I won't embarrass myself, I can be polite, I can be coherent. Think Heart, what are you going to say to her?' 

By then, Jenn was standing in front of Kristen, their eyes never left one another.

TBC 

Feedback: ROCshadow@xenafan.com