The Toughest Rose by Jennifer Middleton

Author:Jennifer Middleton [Middleton, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen:

Tempis Fugit

Silence quickly descended upon the room as we both looked out the large picturesque window. Two completely different people (or at least I assumed) looking out the same window but from completely different viewpoints.

I used the snowy reflection in the glass to surreptitiously study my benefactor and new travelling companion. Juliet looked like she could have descended directly from her namesake in the Shakespearean play, and I had to refrain from asking her if she had a boyfriend or lover named Romeo.

Her long hair seemed to catch whatever diffuse sunlight there was and turn it into a brilliant red-orange; was there no angle at which her hair didn’t look amazing? The window also reflected her face that was an amazing classical composition.

One could tell that it was all due to genetics and that no surgeon’s knife had ever touched it.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked, and I blushed a furious shade of red, embarrassed at being caught. Juliet probably thought she was now sharing her bedroom with a crazed stalker.

Desperate for any plausible non-stalkerish response, I dug in my pocket for the secret stash of cash I had on me. “Here, I never paid you for the ticket,” I said, peeling off the wad of bills that I judged to be sufficient and handing them over to her.

What ensued was the elaborate back and forth social dance of excuse, offer, insistence, and refusal. But in the end, I won out after putting the cash next to her on the seat and commenting about how awkward it would look if the steward were to stop by and see a pile of cash just sitting there.

True enough, he chose that exact moment to pass by. His eyebrows briefly raised, and he went on to discuss the features of our bedroom as well as the lunch food options.

Juliet quietly reached over and took the money while our steward’s back was turned explaining where the washcloths and towels were located. Debate won. Once he was gone, Juliet once again focused her attention on me with laser precision.

“So, what were you staring at?” she asked once again.

Inwardly, I panicked. There was no right and correct answer, nothing that didn’t make me sound like a complete creep. I hated to lie but, “I was wondering about your destination.”

“Denver. Or more precisely, Boulder. And I’m afraid that’s yours as well, a least for this portion of your journey since I’ve only booked the room that far.”

It was only then that it finally occurred to me that I would have to find some alternate transportation to get the rest of the way.

“And what about you?” Juliet asked.

“Los Angeles or near there,” I responded.

“Business or pleasure?”

“Neither really.” We were going way too fast through this portion of the conversation. At this rate, we’d run out of small talk topics by the next station.

She raised one eyebrow but didn’t follow up, and the room descended into a quite peace. The snow continued growing heavier until it was nearly completely white outside the window.

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