Balance (30 page)

Gazing down on her, h
e nods
and smiles uncomfortably. 
“I’ll be right back
.
I
need to take a shower first.
”

H
er eyes fill with tears,
“I
'm sorry.
”

“S
hh,
y
ou have nothing to be sorry for, believe me, nothing
…
ever.”

Rena
appears sound asleep when he returns.
Michael
slides quietly into the bed
so not to wake her
.  F
eeling a little more modest
,
he found
a pair of
silk
box
ers in the bathroom
. 
O
n his back
with his arms behind his head
,
he
star
es
up
a
t the ceiling, thinking, rewinding
the last six months
,
to
that moment
he
approached
her on the sidewalk
.

W
ithout opening her eyes or making a sound,
R
ena slides over
,
head
and
arm
resting on his chest
,
their
leg
s
entwined
,
her warm naked body pulled tight to
his
.
  M
ichael realizes,
at that moment
,
he would rather spend the rest of his life with
R
ena under these
circumstances, then a single moment without her.
  He
lays
his arm over her,
resting
his hand on the small of her back, gently caressing the soft bare skin
.

Rena, for the first time in her life,
held in the embrace of someone
she loves, a man
by whom she feels loved and secure, s
he falls asleep …
feeling truly
safe.

Michael wakes the next morning
to find Rena lying
next to him,
head on her pillow staring at him
, arm still rested gently across his chest
.  “How long have you been up?
” He
asks
.

“Couple hours.”

“What have you been doing all this time?”

“This.”  She smiles
, impishly
.

“Good to know you had a productive morning.” He laughs

“I did
n’t
want to wake you.  I
t
was nice,
just watch
ing
you sleep. 
Gave me
time to think about some stuff.”

“About what Takada said last night?”

“A little …
and … a lot.  Different topics,
different thoughts.”

“Care to share any?”

“Yes, but now is not the time.”  Ren
a points
casually at her ear
.

Michael understands.  Takada and
Ms. Smith
arranged these accommodations, so audio surveillance
wa
s
likely.

Rena slide
s out
from under the covers
, still naked,
and
saunter
s
suggestively
around the foot of the bed to the bathroom.

Grinning,
Michael watches
her
until she disappears behind the textured
clear
glass
,
he
r form still alluringly visible.  R
ealizing
there could also be
video surveillance in the room,
“You
don’t have
a lot of privacy
in there.”  He announces
.

“As much as I’d want, it’s your eyes only.”

He
smiles
wryly
, s
o she was a little busy the last couple o
f hours
.

Rena calls to
him
from the bathroom,
“So, have you
started looking
around at all?
  I think I know what might be upstairs.
”

“No, I haven’t left the bed.
What’s upstairs?”
He
inquires.

Rena emerges from
the
bathroom
, wearing a robe,
“My guess
,
a pool and or sunroom.”

“What make
s
you think that?”

She
opens her robe, revealin
g a very small
, very flattering
turquoise bikini
with jeweled accents
,
“
Courtesy
of
Ms. Smith
.
” She
informs
.

Michael
grins
ardently
, “Remind me to thank her.  Was there something in there for me?”

“Yes,
al
though I’m
not sure how you’re going to like
it
.
” She chides, “
I’ll meet you up there.”
D
ropping
the robe, she
seductively
climb
s
the spiral staircase
, disappearing from sight
.

Michael returns from the bathroom, wearing a robe over the mildly uncomfortable suit
. 
Ms. Smith
must have
thought
Rena need
ed
some extra incentive to take their relat
ionship to the next level.  He’
s
reasonably
su
re the skin tight, all-to-short
boxers are probably not going to accomplish much
,
other than relax her further th
r
ough laughter.  The interest in he and Rena’s relationship
taking
a very uncomfortable turn.  The exercise turned out to be an extreme
form
of tough love, intended to push the relationship
,
to see if it provided the emotional stability required for infiltration.  The test could very well have destroyed Rena
psychologically
, or worse she could have died.

A knock at the door abruptly pulls
him
back from his
thoughts
.
 
I
nstan
tly
shifting
to protector mode
,
Michael
moves quickly
to the wall beside the
entrance,
relocating
just
as
the doors swing open
.

A
waiter
ro
ll
s a serving cart into the room,
look
ing
around for some sign to proceed
.

Michael s
crutiniz
es
the
young
man,
considers
everything,
his carriage, build and demeanor.  T
urning his attention to the cart;
draped
with a
full-length
tablecloth
,
covered
serving
platter, table settings, looking for
places that could conceal a weapon. 
C
autiously
, he
moves
behind the waiter, ordering him to step away from the cart.

O
bviously accustomed to this manner of reaction,
the
young man
simply moves to the left several feet,
turning to acknowledge the source of the command
.

Michael
lift
s
the
tablecloth
,
exposing the un
dercarriage of the serving cart.  Satisfied
,
he inspects the contents of
the
serving tray
; revealing
nothing more than several cut fruits, many
of which
he’d
never seen before, a few baked delicacies, juice decanters and
various thick creams of different color. 
C
onfident
no threat
exists
,
Michael
turns to address the waiter
,
who regards him
indifferently.

“Sir, if all is sufficient, I shall leave you.  If you require any further assistance, the intercom
will connect you with your concierge. 
D
ining
requirements
already
arranged,
including menu
s
,
your
m
eals will be served at seven in the morning, twelve-noon and eight in the evening.”  The waiter nods and leaves.

Committing
the
content
s
of the
exchange
to memory
,
h
e
carries
the
serving tray
up the spiral stair
case
to the second floor.
The stairs
go fa
r higher
than
expected,
he
’s certain he
skip
ped
a floor before eme
rging into a massive solarium
.

The
expansive
room is
clearly
the top of the hotel, the ceiling and walls
comp
ri
sed
entirely of glass, the only
brick and mortar
construction
at its center, likely housing the private
elevator
meant
for staff services. 
Tropical plants
and trees
populate the space, providing color
, ambiance
an
d strategically located shade,
with
c
omfortable sitting areas positioned under several of the trees. 
The
mystery of the missing floor
explained by the presence
of a
n
in-ground kidney
shaped pool
surrounded by tropical trees and foliage,
the
bottom
and sides
lined with large colorful rocks
,
giving it the look of a hidden lagoon.  A sm
all waterfall pours crystal-
clear water into the
basin
at the far end
,
at least eight feet deep.
T
he
near
end
,
only a foot
in depth
,
has f
our slatted lounge chairs
immersed in the shallow water
,
positioned in pairs around small
glass
tables
.

Michael
spies
Rena
laying on her back,
stretched out on one
of
the immersed
chairs, eyes closed, her wet hair slicked back behind her head, exposing
the soft features of her beautiful
face.  The minimalist turquoise bikini
,
contrasting perfectly with her
hair color and
tan complexion
,
covers very little, ju
st enough to flatter her physique
and imply modest mystery.
  Her wet tanned skin glistens in the filtered sunlight, the jeweled accents of her suit sparkle; Rena
is a vision of
magnificence
.
 
“I really need to thank
Ms. Smith
for her fashion sense
.
” Michael comments as he disrobes.