Chapter 3

Jack Parker sat in his office in Tempe, Arizona, looking at real estate listings for clients. It was a successful real estate firm that he owned, with several employees and aides to help. They had recently upgraded offices to the full floor of an office building, but Jack still liked to get his hands dirty listing and selling property to clients. He didn’t want to lose touch with his employees and have them doing something he wouldn’t do anymore.

It had been a few months since his conference in Flagstaff, where he stayed in a small motel outside the city. He thought about that trip for a while after he got back, but he recently decided to put it behind him. He had met a girl there, hanging around the pool, and they had become close and slept together.

While he had given her his phone number, she hadn’t called it. He often wondered how she was doing, sitting there alone most days with no friends to talk to, just the random guests who stopped for the night. Her living situation was rough as well. Living in an old roadside motel on the outskirts of a small city must have been hard.

The ringing of his phone snapped him out of his reverie. Looking at the display, he saw that it was his receptionist.

“Yes, Cynthia? Is it the Munroes for their 11:00 o’clock?” Jack asked.

“No sir, there’s a Chelsea McConnell on line one. She says it’s important.”

Jack stopped to think, McConnell, McConnell. The name didn’t ring a bell with any of his clients. He was about to tell Cynthia to lie and say he stepped out when it dawned on him. It was Chelsea from the motel! He never did ask her last name or much else, actually.

“Put her through, Cynthia, thank you.” He heard the line beep and then click in.

“Hello, Jack?” He heard Chelsea’s voice over the phone.

“Yes, hello, Chelsea. Are you ok, what’s going on?”

“I’ve got a big problem. Mom’s been arrested, and we’re getting thrown out of the motel.” She said quickly, sounding panicked.

“OK, slow down. Are you safe? What happened?”

“I can’t go into it right now. I don’t have much time left on this call. I’m still at the motel but have to be gone by 5:00 or I’ll be trespassing. Please, Jack, you have to...” The phone disconnected.

“Chelsea? Chelsea? Are you still there?” Jack yelled into the phone. He tried to ‘recall’ the ‘last number called’ but it was listed as private. Jack quickly collected his laptop, packed up his bag, left his office, and headed to the door.

“Mr. Parker, is everything all right? Who was that on the phone?” Cynthia asked as he passed by.

“Sorry Cynthia, cancel or pass on all my appointments for today and probably tomorrow. I have a personal situation,” he said as he walked out the door. Cynthia simply agreed, just as the door closed behind him. She had never seen him that way before. What was more confusing was that she knew he had no living family. His parents had died several years earlier in a car accident. He had no siblings or relatives with whom he was close. He didn’t even have a girlfriend, as far as she knew. And she thought she knew everything he did ... or did she?

Jack jumped in his car and headed towards Flagstaff. It was more than a two-hour drive, but it was just after 11:15, and he’d make it there well before the 5:00 she had 1¹mentioned. On the drive there, he wondered what the fuck happened that caused all this. It was nice to hear her voice, but he didn’t know what kind of situation he was going to be walking into.

The drive wasn’t overly long, just lots of scrubland and stops along the highway. He realized he didn’t have anything with him if he needed to stay overnight somewhere. All he had were the clothes on his back and his work stuff, so he might have to make a trip to get supplies if whatever this was, took longer than a few hours.

After a few hours, he got off of I17 to Flagstaff and drove the short distance to the Vista Lodge Motel. It looked exactly as he remembered it. He wondered if he should go to reception first or just look around for Chelsea. He decided to pull around back by the pool to see if he could find her.

As his car pulled into a parking spot close to the pool gate, a familiar girl ran to the fence. Jack stepped out of his car and was tackled by the diminutive Chelsea, wearing a skirt and bikini top. She looked rough, like she hadn’t slept in a couple of days. There were bruises on her arms and tears in her eyes.

“JACK! You came! I can’t believe it!” she cried, hugging him tightly.

“Chelsea,” he said, hugging her back. “What the hell happened?”

It took her a while to finally let go of him. When she did, she led him to the pool deck, and they sat in a couple of chairs under an umbrella. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she told him what happened.

“Last night, Mom came home drunk with her boyfriend. I don’t like him, so I left to sleep in the car so they could sleep together. Well, late at night I had to pee, so I went back in to use the washroom. He heard me come in and cornered me in the washroom when I tried to leave.” She put her hands to her face as she started to cry again. “He kept trying to touch me, but I wouldn’t let him. I kicked him in the balls and got around him, but he started yelling, calling me a little slut bitch. Mom woke up, but instead of helping me, she said I was trying to steal her man.”

Jack put his arms around the girl to comfort her as she continued, sobbing.

“She started yelling, calling me a useless whore, and then attacked me. She grabbed my arm and tossed me to the floor. I knocked over a table, which sent something through the window, shattering it. All the noise and yelling caused the owner to call the cops. When they came, Mom struck an officer who was trying to get her off me and her boyfriend needed three cops to take him down. The owner now wants us all out of here. I tried to talk to Mom at the station, but she said she was done with me. I didn’t know what to do, so I called you,” she said, as she looked at him with tears streaming down her face. “I hope you aren’t mad.”

Jack just looked at her in disbelief. She went through such a horrible night and she was worried he’d be upset with her? He brought her back into a hug, cradling her head in his hands as she sobbed.

“You are right, Chelsea. I am mad, but not at you. I’m mad that you had to go through that last night. I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do, but I’ll try to help you any way I can, ok?” Jack said as he looked into her pretty eyes. “I guess the first thing to try is to talk to the owner and see what can be done there, ok?”

Chelsea didn’t say anything, she simply smiled and nodded. She somehow felt safer knowing Jack was there. While their time together was brief, he was the only person who showed her any attention and genuinely seemed to care about her. She thought of him often when sitting alone by the pool, but never called him. She didn’t want to be a bother to him or break the fantasy she had built in her head. But he had come! One call from her and here he was!

Jack pulled himself away from Chelsea and headed to the reception desk to talk to the owner. When he entered, he recognized the same overweight man from his first stay, sleeping near the counter. He rang the bell, which startled the man awake.

“Yes? Do you have a reservation?” He asked.

“No, my name is Jack Parker. I’d like to talk to you about the incident last night. I’m a friend of the family. Is there any way Chelsea could stay here?”

“You don’t look like someone who’d be friends with Shannon,” the man said. Jack assumed Shannon was the mother’s name. “So honestly, no. I’ve been having problems with them for a while now. The girl is fine but the mother’s drunk and noisy when she isn’t working. Stuff gets broken, doors are slammed, and all the yelling. I just want the problems out of here.”

“How much do they owe for damages?” Jack asked.

“About $1500. $1000 for all the broken stuff and $500 in back rent.”

Jack pulled out his credit card and offered to cover the costs, which the man gladly accepted. He paid off the balance and once again asked if Chelsea could stay.

“Unfortunately, I know the girl doesn’t work and I worry Shannon will show back up. I am sorry. I feel bad for her, I do, but I have to run a business here. Is there anything else?”

Jack said no, thanked the man, and headed back to talk to Chelsea. She looked at him hopefully, but he shook his head no. Her head dropped back down, unsure of what was to become of her. Jack took her hand and lifted her to stand. He suggested they get everything she had and put it in his car while they figured things out.

It took a little bit, but they had the few clothes she owned and a few keepsakes she wanted and packed up the car. Chelsea and Jack drove to reception and gave the owner her key. When asked about the mother’s things Jack replied, “I don’t give a shit. Burn it for all I care,” and left.

It was about 4:00 in the afternoon at this point and Jack wasn’t sure what he was going to do next. He had a girl that wasn’t his and no place to put her. He decided to call Cynthia, the receptionist at the office, to see if she could book him a hotel in Flagstaff, someplace downtown. He figured they could sleep on it and come up with a plan in the morning. She was rightfully confused when he asked her to find him accommodations in Flagstaff, not knowing why he was suddenly there. She knew her place not to ask too many questions and let him know she would find something for him and call him back.

“Where are we going to go, Jack?” Chelsea asked, still uncertain about her future.

“We’re going to go into town, get some food in us, and then figure out a plan. Cynthia will call back soon with someplace to sleep for the night.”

“You’ve got people to do stuff for you, Jack?”

“She’s my receptionist and she’ll get us set up. I trust her. Let’s get in the car and start heading down now. We don’t want to stick around here any longer.”

They both climbed into his Lexus and headed down to the city. It was a quiet drive as Chelsea just looked out the window while Jack drove. He wondered what she was thinking about and assumed she was likely exhausted as well. About five minutes from town, Jack’s Bluetooth notified him of a call.

“Hello Cynthia, what do you have for me?”

“Hello sir, there were a few options. I booked you at a Days Inn downtown. I wasn’t sure what you needed, so I hope that’s ok,” Cynthia replied.

“That’s perfect. Thank you, Cynthia. Email me the details.”

“Thank you, Cynthia,” Chelsea yelled out before wondering if she should have done that.

“Uh ... you’re welcome. Anything else, sir?”

“That’s everything. Talk to you later. Goodnight,” Jack said before hanging up the phone.

After pulling up the directions, they found their way to the hotel where they checked in. Jack carried Chelsea’s bag of clothes, as they didn’t have time to sort it. Jack himself didn’t have a change of clothes, so they decided to pick up a few things before dinner. They stopped by a pharmacy to get a toothbrush and toothpaste and then looked for a clothing store to find Jack something else to wear.

While Jack was being fitted with a new outfit, he had Chelsea go off with one of the female workers to get her some new clothes as well. He suggested a nice dress, he thought they should go somewhere nice for dinner. Thirty minutes later, after Jack had a new suit and shirt ready, he wandered over to see how Chelsea was doing. He found the assistant he had left with Chelsea, standing by the changing room, and inquired as to how it was going.

“Hello sir. Your daughter is just trying on a dress now. She should be out momentarily.” Jack didn’t bother to correct her. It was probably for the best. A few moments later, the door opened, and Chelsea stepped out wearing a beautiful red dress that sparkled as she moved. While she didn’t have much cleavage to speak of, it was a lower cut dress that drew the eye to what she did have. It hugged her body down to her hips. The bottom of the dress fit her skinny form, as the hem started just above her ankles. There was a slit in the dress that ended mid-thigh, allowing her to walk. She also had a pair of red heels on, not too high, but enough to accentuate her legs.

“What do you think?” Chelsea asked. “I thought it was too expensive, but I wanted to try it on anyway.”

“You look beautiful, Chelsea, absolutely beautiful. We’ll take it, just like that,” Jack said, his eyes locked onto Chelsea.

Chelsea tried to talk him out of it. “It’s too expensive, Jack. You don’t even know how much it costs.”