The Christmas I Loved Her A Sa by Johnson Rose

Author:Johnson, Rose
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pacific Prose
Published: 2022-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

9

The motel was pretty much what you would expect for fifty bucks. The buildings were old, with paint chipping and the stairs rusted. At the check-in, the manager gave me a stare that made my stomach curl. I considered getting a coke from the vending machine outside the office, but it looked like it had never been clean. I chose against it.

Our room was on the second floor, and below it sat a couple of old men smoking.

“Work or pleasure?” one of the old men asked.

Amanda stopped in front of me. She just looked at the ground, frozen.

“Travel,” I said quickly.

“Fine woman you have there with ya,” he said.

Amanda turned her head to me, her wide eyes gazing into mine. I got the message. Get her out of here.

I positioned myself in between Amanda and him. “She’s great.”

He moved his head to the side to look at Amanda. “Want to come down to visit us when you're done with this one?” he asked, only he didn’t use the word “one.”

“She’s my girlfriend, boomer. Leave her alone,” I said without thinking.

The old man let out a puff of smoke, and his friends laughed. “Just having some fun.”

“Have some fun with someone else.” I ushered Amanda towards the stairs.

“Looks like we found someone who can’t take a joke,” said one of the old man’s friends.

I looked at Amanda and continued up the stairs after her, not letting even a few steps get between us. At the top of the stairs, I opened the door with the keycard and shut it hard behind us when we were inside.

“You alright?” I asked Amanda. She had already crossed the room and wrapped herself in a blanket on one of the beds.

“You called me your girlfriend,” she said.

I laughed. “I wanted them to leave you alone. I won’t do it again if you don’t like it.”

She nodded, staring off into the distance. “I didn’t mind it. It was just interesting.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” I asked. “You seem out of it.”

“They are just below us, aren’t you scared?” she said.

I walked over to her. “Of course, I’m scared.” I sat next to her on the bed. “Do you want to leave?”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to go down there again.”

“Okay,” I took her hands. “I’ll put the doorstop under the door, will that be better?”

She nodded.

I went over, took the doorstop from the bathroom, and placed it snugly under the front door. When I turned around, I got to see the full view of the room, two twin beds with outdated bedspreads, a dresser that looked worse for wear, and a carpet that I didn't want to look at with a black light.

“Tes?” Amanda said.

“Are you okay?”

Amanda stared at the bedspread below her. “Will you hold me?” she asked.

I went over to her. I pushed some of her hair away, letting my fingers linger a little too long on the side of her face. "Of course." I sat on the bed with her and wrapped her in my arms.

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