Sip of Assistance

Chapter 14

When I woke I was incredibly cozy and warm. I burrowed my face into the hard pillow. Then I realized the pillow was breathing. I opened my eyes and once they adjusted to the pitch black of the room I saw that I was lying on a sleeping Jon who must have turned out the lights after the film ended.

Glancing at the clock I could see it was only one a.m. so I tried to lift myself up to pull away, but the arm he had around me tightened. I stilled for a moment and then tried again. This time he woke slightly and looked me.

“Stop moving and go back to sleep. I’ll keep you safe from the serial killers,” and with that rolled so he was half on his back, half on his side and pulled me tighter against him, falling back asleep.

After that all I could think about was serial killers lurking in the dark so I decided to stay where I felt safe, in Jon’s warm arms. I pulled the comforter up around my shoulders and nuzzled into his neck. Just as I felt I was going to doze off, his other arm moved from his side and onto my hip.

I realized that our bare legs were intertwined. He must have taken off his pants and come back to bed to sleep in his boxers as he usually did. I wasn’t sure if he was aware that I was still awake or not because he slid his hand from my hip up onto the smooth skin of my waist where my tank top had ridden up and left me exposed. He then slid his hand to my lower back and then caressed it softly, drawing unknown patterns. His hands were warm, but they left a trail of goose bumps and gave me chills.

My arm had been lying awkwardly at my side, but since he was openly touching me I thought it would be okay if I got more comfortable. I moved it so it rested on his chest and sighed in contentment, falling back into a deep sleep.

Shaking the feeling of Jon’s arms around me as they had been so long ago, I walked over to James’ trailer where he would be getting ready to leave for the day, giving up entirely on finding Tony's m.i.a. wife. I barged in without knocking to find James sitting on the couch next to none other than the missing Sammie. She had her arms around his neck and in his hair while his hands were on her wrists. Their faces pulled away from eachother and it looked like they had been kissing when I burst in. A flash of jealousy surged through me, but as quickly as it came I ignored it.

The looks of shock on their faces no doubt mirrored my own. Did everyone in Hollywood cheat?

James shoved Sammie off of him and stood up, “Holly! This isn’t what it looks like!”

At the same time Sammie shouted, “Do you mind?”

I crossed my arms trying to fight back the anger. How could they do that to Tony? James and Tony were best friends and this was wrong; lying and banging his wife behind his back! My whole image of James crumbled. I couldn’t say I was surprised by Sammie’s behavior; I’d seen her hit on men before when Tony wasn’t around, but still, his best friend and client?

“I don’t care what it looks like and yes, I do mind. Tony’s waiting at the car. If you don’t get out there soon, he’ll come looking for you.” It was all I could do to stay calm and not scream at the two of them.

Sammie glared at me before grabbing her Louis Vuitton purse off the table and pushing her way past me through the door. As soon as she was out, I followed so I didn’t have to be alone with him.

I walked briskly towards where our driver would be waiting, mad that I would have to ride in a car with him for any length of time; it would not be good for his health.

He got in behind me and as soon as the door closed he started, “Holls-”

“Don’t!” I yelled, clearly seething.

“Holls, please,” he leaned and touched my arm.

I ripped it away from him disgusted. “He’s your best friend! How could you do that?” I finally exploded.