Chapter 7

As they drove to the Hampton Inn Janice sat string out of the window. The only words she spoke were short answers to any question that he asked. Without telling her why, he pulled his truck around the rear of the hotel. He didn't want to take a chance on the Beame brothers trying to find his truck.

As he came to a stop, Janice turned to him, "Look, why don't you just drop me off in Scranton. I'll call some friends and see if I can't bunk with them tonight."

He turned the truck off, "Janice, I'll take you into Scranton if that's what you really want. I promised you that we'll get separate rooms and I meant it. I'm just trying to help. It's time that you trusted someone. You need to get away from your troubles for at least one night. Now come on and let's get settled into our rooms."

Roger got out of the truck, locked his door and went to the back of the truck. He grabbed one of his suitcases and closed and locked the bed cover. He saw that Janice was sitting in her seat staring out of the windshield.

He walked to her door and opened it, "Come on and let's get our rooms."

Janice got out of the truck very slowly and they walked into the hotel and up to the front desk. Roger told the clerk that they needed two rooms, without knowing why he said that he would be staying for two days. The young man behind the desk slid the applications in front of them and Roger shoved one over to Janice. After the cards were filled out Roger paid for them with his credit card. The clerk gave Roger the keys for two adjoining rooms. Roger handed one to Janice and she took it and looked at it like she had never seen a key before. He took her arm and led her to the elevator.

Outside of their rooms Roger took her key and opened her door for her and handed the key back to her. She stood for a moment as if she was unsure what to do. He gave her a gentle nudge toward her door and went to his door and unlocked it.

He turned to her, as she was about to enter her room, "It's too early to go to sleep. Get settled and we'll go down to the lounge and talk for a while."

He walked into his room before she had a chance to answer. The room was excellent and had a king-sized bed. He looked out of the window and he saw that they were close to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. After cleaning up and shaving he picked up the phone and dialed Janice's room. It had been about thirty minutes since they had checked in.

"Are you ready yet or do you need a few minutes more?"

She told him that she was ready and that she would meet him in the hall. He hung up the phone and made sure that he had his keys and wallet and went into the hall. Janice was waiting for him outside of her door. He saw that she had reapplied her makeup and she looked as fresh as she had at the restaurant.

In the elevator he turned to her, "Janice, I promised you that I wasn't going to put the moves on you tonight. Relax and enjoy yourself for a while. I promise that I'll be the perfect gentleman."

She gave him a weak smile and took his arm and walked with him to the lounge. The lounge had a piano in one corner but no one was playing it. The lights were appropriately dim and the décor was tasteful. He suggested that they sit at a table instead of the bar and she nodded. Roger asked her what she wanted and she asked for a Margarita again. There was no waitress so he went to the bar and orders a Margarita for her and a bourbon and water for himself.

They talked for a while and Janice asked him what kind of company that he had started. He told her everything about the company and went into great detail about what it took to run a high-tech company. He began to feel that he was monopolizing the conversation and he asked her about her life in San Diego. He found out that she had left San Diego needing only one more year to get her degree and becoming a registered nurse. The way her eyes sparkled when she talked about nursing he knew that this was what she was born to do.

Roger looked at his watch and found that they had been talking for three hours, "We'd better get some sleep. Driving all day is just as hard as working an eight-hour day. I need some sleep."

She nodded and they walked out of the lounge and headed for their rooms. At the door to their rooms he thanked her for listening to his bragging and for telling him about San Diego. He gave her a quick hug and when he did he felt her go rigid in his arms. He released her and walked to his room. He smiled at her and went into his room.

He sat on the bed for a few minutes wondering what demons were eating away at her soul. He shook his head and went into the bathroom and stripped his clothes off and got in the shower. The warm water began to make him sleepy and he finished the shower and went back into the bedroom. He suddenly remembered that Janice didn't have anything to wear to bed and he picked up the phone and dialed her room.