A Secret Love Affair

Chapter 9

"Arkansas, wake up! I want to get my hands on that complimentary hotel breakfast!" Paige said, with an excitement that could only be described as that of a little kid in a candy store.

Sienna slowly opened her eyes, forgetting where she was but quickly grabbed one of the extra pillows and covered her face with it. "Just go without me Paige, we've got four hours before checkout time and I want to sleep." Sienna replied, lying to Paige. She was still feeling upset from the night before and was hoping that a few minutes apart would be all she needed to get over it.

"Alrighty then." Paige responded, sounding disappointed. "You want me to bring you something back? A bagel or something?" She asked, you could tell she was trying to feel out what was wrong but she didn't want to overstep.

"No thanks." Sienna replied, as she waited for the hotel room door to close.

Sienna sprang out of bed and into the shower. Although she had showered the previous night, she figured the shower was a good place to let out a good cry. Maybe that would help her get through the next few hours of the trip and hopefully the next two weeks. If she was unable to shake this feeling off, it would ruin the whole trip.

After letting it all out in the shower, the anger, the frustration and the confusion about her feelings towards Paige, Sienna brushed her teeth and got ready for the day. She felt a little better and felt ready to be around Paige without feeling upset. The temperature had changed since they left Florida and she found a warm outfit to wear. Sienna threw on a pair of jeans, a black thermal, a puffy vest and a pom hat. The weather had gone from fair to really cold overnight and she wanted to make sure she'd be comfortable during her trip.

She walked over to the breakfast bar to find Paige chatting it up with an older lady. As she approached them, Sienna noticed how much of a stunner Paige was. She stopped those thoughts dead on their tracks, she refused to go down that road again but boy did she look beautiful. She noticed Paige was wearing a pair of tortoise shell glasses when she got closer to her.

"Hi!" Sienna said, hoping that if she faked enthusiasm it would somehow become a real thing.

"Hey Sienna," Paige replied, matching her enthusiasm. "This is Gail, she was telling me all about her bookstore that she owns back in Florida. She's also on a road trip!"

"Nice to meet you," Sienna responded politely. "You definitely have to give us the bookstore information. We'd love to stop by and check it out." She said, smiling at Gail.

After a polite exchange with their new friend Gail, Sienna and Paige made their way toward the breakfast bar.

"That was sweet. The way you were interacting with her, it was nice to see you talking to a woman you weren't actively trying to pick up." Sienna said, using her snarkiest tone. "Didn't you already eat?" Sienna asked Paige, making sure to draw away some attention from the jab she had just taken but letting Paige know she was aware of her shenanigans.

"Who says I wasn't trying to pick her up?" Paige asked, a mischievous look on her face. Paige chuckled after a brief moment.

Sienna gave her an unamused look. Her joke hadn't landed. Paige panicked and began nervously talking. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't hit on everything with a pulse. Although, usually they hit on me first. It's like they can't help themselves." Paige grinned, searching Sienna's face for some sort of sign or reaction from Sienna but she gave her nothing. Sienna just let her keep talking and Paige took that as a sign to keep doing so. She finally gave up and answered Sienna's other question. "No, I was waiting for you. What do you take me for? Some sort of animal without any manners? It would have been super rude to eat without. I don't know, I figured I'd hang out here and eventually you'd make your way down. You seemed like you needed space or something." Paige said, walking down the breakfast buffet and making her way toward the hashbrowns. She felt self conscious, as if she had already said too much.