Chapter 6: A Long Talk

Denise looked at Thomas sitting in a chair in the corner of the hotel room with a washcloth sitting in his lap. He looked weathered and down for the count.

“We need to talk?” she whispered. Her imagination could easily fathom what he was about to say. She didn’t think it needed much “talking.”

Thomas had just walked in on her fucking a man she met less than four hours earlier. Her relationship with Thomas started as high school sweethearts. He cheated on her, she broke up with him, and then she spent a few weeks over the summer living the wild life.

They ended up in the same dorm at Graskin. After he saved her from a handsy frat boy, he wooed her and won her back as his girlfriend. They put each other’s relationships aside and seemed to be truly in love. Thomas treated Denise like royalty and pampered her with his affections, little gifts, big gifts, and unlike any other guy she knew, he made her needs the priority in the bedroom.

The reality of her actions crashed down on Denise’s consciousness. She ran to the bathroom and a copious amount of vomit exploded from her mouth. She stayed hovered over the toilet. Dry heaves racked her body. Her abdominal muscles twisted painfully. With one arm she held her stomach while the other rested on the rim of the toilet.

She let go of her stomach and flushed the toilet. The moving water, along with the smell that wafted upward, started another dry heave and she convulsed roughly as she stared at the swirling water.

Thomas entered the bathroom and handed her a glass of water. He turned on the shower and set the temperature.

“Drink a little. Get in the shower and rinse off.”

Denise looked up from her position on the floor with disbelieving eyes. How could Thomas be acting normally? Moving like an automaton, she sipped water and stood. Thomas was back in the bedroom. She stepped into the shower and let the warm water cascade down her body. Several minutes later she heard Thomas reenter the bathroom.

“You doing OK?”

“Yeah, I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

She heard Thomas retreat and turned the water to full cold. The icy blast shocked her but her head cleared. She stood there shivering as long as she could take it, then shut off the water and stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel.

She entered the room and saw Thomas sitting at the desk chair watching the television. He had the remote in his right hand and was flipping channels every few seconds.

She looked to her suitcase and saw that Thomas had taken out panties, a bra, socks, jeans, and a hoodie. Guilt overwhelmed her again as she thought about the intimate act of selecting her clothes, and how she destroyed their relationship.

She dropped her towel and slowly dressed. She held back tears and eventually took a seat in the corner chair. She looked morosely at the bed.

Thomas stood and said, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Having lost all fight, she stood and followed Thomas out of the room. They took the elevator to the first floor, then exited a side door of the hotel. Thomas led her down the street for a few blocks then steered her toward a restaurant that had a live band.

Even though it was December, the stage was outside. Several portable heaters were situated around the perimeter. An outside bar was open. Thomas put Denise in a seat and went to the bar. He came back a minute later with a shot and two mixed drinks. He gave her the shot.

“Down this,” he said.

He took her empty glass and handed her a drink, then escorted her to a far corner. No one was seated nearby but there was a heater overhead.

Before he could speak, Denise said, “I’m so sorry. I have no excuse. It just happened. I love you so much and the last three months have been the best of my life. I’ll understand if you never want to see me after tonight.”

She caught her breath and fought back tears. Her shoulders were shaking.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Thomas said evenly.

“What? Are you serious? You know what happened?”

“I know how it ended. I want to know what happened from the first time you saw him to when I walked in the room.”

Denise looked at him with incredulous eyes.

He said, “Trust me.”

When she did not respond, he said, “Please, just tell me. It is very important. Every detail.”

Denise drained her drink and sighed. “What the fuck do I have to lose?” she muttered.

“Last night was Cindi’s bachelorette party. We went to a strip club but there was no physical contact. I promise.”

Thomas nodded and indicated she should continue.

“We met at the church this afternoon at 6:00. It’s where I first met Heinrich. He is one of Charles’ groomsmen. We were paired to walk down the aisle together. As soon as he we met, Heinrich started to flirt with me. The first time I just laughed it off. When he made a more overt gesture I told him very directly that I had a boyfriend and was not interested. He seemed to back away for a time.”

Denise was looking anywhere but at Thomas. Her face could not hide the enormous guilt she felt.

“Keep going,” instructed Thomas.

Denise explained how Heinrich brushed against her several times as he walked by. Each time he laughed it off as an accident, but the way he grinned at her she knew he was trying to get her interested.

“I told him I wasn’t interested and he should put his energies elsewhere.”

When we left the church two of the bridesmaids asked if I wanted to ride with them to the restaurant. It seemed like a great way to get away from Heinrich.

“I had just pulled the backdoor closed when the bridesmaid in the passenger seat turned around with a huge smile. She asked me, ‘So are you gonna?’”

The driver started the car and said, “Of course she is, even if she doesn’t know it yet.”

The passenger had a dreamy look in her eyes. She told Denise that Heinrich had the most ‘divine dick.’ It was something that could not be described but had to be experienced.

“They told me that Cindi found him in the hotel after going to the strip club and spent the night with him.”

Denise hiccuped.

“Do you want something to drink? A water?”

Denise nodded.

Thomas hurried to the bar and came back with two glasses of water.

Denise nursed her water for a minute, then continued. “At dinner he sat next to me and flirted with me non-stop. When he rested his hand on my thigh I realized I was really horny. Even so I pushed his hand away. I knew you would take care of me when you arrived in the morning. When we left the restaurant I couldn’t find the bridesmaids so Heinrich offered to give me a ride. When we got to the hotel he asked if I wanted a drink. I said no, but he persisted. I eventually went to the bar with him to shut him up. Drinks led to an invitation to go to his room. I don’t remember leaving the bar, and I don’t know why or how we ended up in my room and not in his room?”

“Tell me every little detail after you got to the room,” demanded Thomas.

“It’s fuzzy, but what I remember is that as soon as the door shut he kissed me. I pushed him away and started to tell him to leave, but he unzipped his pants and pulled out his dick. I looked down and saw him. He was enormous, and as the bridesmaid said, his dick was ‘divine.’ It almost glowed. My eyes glazed over and my stomach lurched. I didn’t know what it was because I only had one glass of wine at dinner, and then one drink at the hotel bar.”

Denise was weeping.

“Almost done, please go on.”

Denise looked at Thomas with pleading. “Don’t make me...”

Thomas offered a small smile. “Trust me.”

“He just kept waving his dick. It wasn’t hard yet. He was swinging it like a rubber hose, or maybe a hypnotist waving a coin on a string. He stepped closer to me and rubbed it on my crotch outside of my pants.”

She paused a long beat. “The next thing I knew we were in the bed, he was fucking me doggy style, then you came through the door and found us.”

Thomas was slowly nodding his head.

Denise said, “How are you not yelling at me? Or in your car halfway home?”

Thomas stood and offered his hand to Denise.