I wonder if the maids notice my bed hasn't been slept in. I wonder if they care.
"I'm just going to make sure I didn't leave anything behind," I tell him, walking through the connecting door. He nods.
I close it, and I walk into the middle of my empty room and stare at nothing.
The chair's still by the sliding glass door, where I left it. My striptease certainly had the desired effect, but what was my long play? Do I really want something ongoing with Adrian Fucking Risinger?
Really, I can't believe I've let my hormones get the best of me like this. I should know better. There's no good outcome here, though…is there?
Why did I walk into the pool?
If we leave all of this behind in Austin, if we go back home pretending it never happened, I'll be devastated. But if we carry on…what'll happen then?
Adrian knocks on the connecting door.
"It's open," I tell him.
He walks in, and sits down on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry I said you were complicated."
A preemptive apology? From Adrian?
The world must be turned upside down.
"I'm not upset that you said it," I tell him, staring at the blank TV screen. "I'm upset that it's true."
I can see his dim reflection reaching out to me, so I go. I let him take my hand, and I sit down, and he puts his arm around my shoulders and says nothing.
Finally, he speaks.
"This whole thing is complicated. It's not your fault. I wanted the part of Natalie to be played by someone I could trust. I think Kara wanted to do it. She never brought it up, because she knows she can't - she already runs in these circles, she's known as herself. I think she's unhappy that someone else got to do it, instead of her."
I'm shaking my head. "Stop making excuses for her. Please."
"I'm not."
"You are. She likes you. Did you tell her that we're sleeping together? Did you tell her about the pool?"
His tone is mildly offended. "Of course not. But she's not an idiot."
"She didn't like me the first moment she saw me. So if she didn't know…"
Adrian kisses my forehead. "I told you. It's got nothing to do with us. She's just unhappy with something she can't control."
A thousand questions rush and churn in my head. I want to ask him if all that stuff about us fooling around in the office was just dirty talk and fantasies. I want to ask him why Kara saw me as a threat from the very beginning, if he didn't tell her something.
"Come to bed?" Adrian asks, finally. "Just to sleep. I mean - unless you'd rather something else."
"Sleep sounds good," I admit. "Might have overdone it a little this week. I could use some recovery time."
"God, yes." Adrian grins at me, leading me through the door. "Does this mean I'm getting old?"
"A little," I tell him. "But it's okay. You've got enough money that nobody will call you out if you keep pretending like you're young. Make sure to wear lots of tight jeans and hipster glasses."
"I have been wondering if my eyesight's going," he admits, sitting down on the bed and pulling off his shoes. "I don't know, though. That's a bit of a commitment to the hipster uniform."
"Well, you can start slow, and work your way up. Start with a stylish beard."
"You think so?" He touches his chin, thoughtfully.
"Sure. It would suit you. Everything suits you."
"If only the senior partners weren't an average of nine hundred years old," he sighs. "They'll think I'm a dirty hippy. I'd better not."
I laugh, slipping out of my hideous dress. "Oh, goodness. Well you wouldn't want to cause a stir at the country club."
He groans. "You think you're joking, but the last time I played golf with them, one of them spent the whole time talking about how he thinks his great-great-great-great-whatever-granddaughter must be 'doing drugs' because she wants to get a tattoo. I was tempted to ask what drugs, just to hear him say something like 'crack marijuana.'"
Cackling, I fall into bed. "'Helen, I swear that child is snorting the blue crystals like I saw on the TV show.'"
"How'd you know his wife's name is Helen?" Adrian curls his arm around my waist, pulling me against his body. Spooning with my boss - go ahead and add that the list of things I never thought I'd do.
"Lucky guess. It was a toss-up between that and Brittany, which would of course apply to his third nineteen-year-old trophy wife."
"One day I'll snap, and kill them all with my five-iron. But until then, I've got to pretend that we can socialize." He sighs into my hair. "I know you think I'm bad, but you have no idea how lucky you are. Really."
I smile, a little sadly, into the darkness.
"I think I've got some idea."
***
The next morning, before our flight, I manage to sneak down to the gift shop and pick something up that I think will make him smile. I'm planning to save it for when we get home, when I suspect he'll need a reminder. But once we're settled into our flight again, champagne in hand, I'm already itching to give it to him - just to see his face.
I notice that he carefully avoids making eye contact with the flight attendant, and I feel kind of bad.
"Here." I plop the little bag on the table between us. "To start your hipster uniform."
He gives me a look as he unwraps the bag and unfurls the shirt. When he sees the writing - KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD - I get that chuckle I was hoping for.
"Good one," he says, folding it back into the bag.
The air is thick with the expectation of the conversation I really, really don't want to have. My stupid gift landed like a ton of bricks. That's it - I'm ripping off this band-aid now.
"So do you want to talk about what happens back home?" I hold his gaze, even though it makes me want to sink into the floor. Even if that means falling thousands of feet into the earth.
"What happens back home?" he echoes. "Well."
He clears his throat, and I just wait.
"We just need to keep things in perspective, that's all," he says. Like all businessmen, he's mastered the art of using a lot of words to say nothing. "You and me both, we've only got one speed. Don't do anything halfway. Ever. That's what I like about you. But it can get you into a lot of trouble, especially when it comes to…interpersonal…"
He doesn't want to say relationships. I can tell.
I still have no idea what he wants. How he expects me to behave.
"Just give it to me straight, doc," I say, resting my elbows on the table. He laughs a little, glancing at me, then down at the table and back.