"Not having much luck with elevators, are we?" He guffawed.
Seren wasn't amused. "Next time, we're taking the stairs!" It wasn't until she had checked all the material was present and correct did she see the funny side.
This hotel seemed more tempered than the other. Still grand, but more simple. Rob lead her down the corridor until they reached the room at the very end.
"I didn't have time to tidy up." He said, apologetically.
Seren rolled her eyes. "Commune girl, remember? Like I care!"
This seemed to calm him a little, and he took the slightest of deep breaths before opening the door. There was a bedroom, and an adjoining room with a table and arm chairs facing a flat screen tv on the wall. The bathroom was en suite, and Seren was even surprised to see there was a juliette balcony at the windows. It was large, and had everything you would want and more in a hotel room. But it was not imposing. Nor overstated. She decided she liked it. And the fact Rob's clothes were strewn across the bed made it seem all the more homely.
"You want a drink?" He asked, heading for a tiny refrigerator in the room.
"Sure." She replied, instinctively going towards the window and looking down over the city.
It was breath taking. Some buildings stood towering above them, some were far below. The yellow cabs weaved in and out of the tiny streets and the sun reflected off each crystal clear window from the building opposite. She'd never been this high before. Rob came and joined her, handing her a can of soda.
"This is just...amazing!" Seren breathed, excited.
Rob looked at her peculiarly. "You've never seen anything like this before?" He asked.
Seren shook her head regretfully. "The things I have seen, some people never see in a lifetime. And the things I have never seen, so many take for granted."
Rob fell silent for a moment. "Tell me what you have seen." He then said quietly.
They stood together at the window, and Seren thought she could hear his breathing deepen. He stood close enough to hear it, and as he took a step closer she felt the warmth of it on her skin.
"When the sun sets over the grand canyon...there's no sun set like it. All colours and shadows. We sat there and watched it until the very last shard of light disappeared under the horizon. I've seen babies being born in thunder storms. It's the most scary thing to see them crying out in pain, and then everything just fall away once the baby arrives. Once, I swear, the storm ended the moment the baby came. And the taste of home brew. My Mom's ex husband had his own brewery, my brother's and sister remember it better than I do. But we went there once, when my Mom was married to her second husband, my Dad, and he gave me a sip. I almost choked but it tasted like nothing else."
Cutting away from the window, Seren caught the way Rob was looking at her. His eyes bore into her. But she didn't feel uncomfortable. She stared back, wondering why it was that she couldn't tear herself away.
"What?" She finally asked, barely in a whisper.
Rob blinked. "Nothing...nothing it's just...I've never seen any of those things. They sound...amazing...to say the least."
The spell was broken. Seren managed to pull away for a moment to think about what she had said.
"And here I am, never been on the top floor of a hotel before."
But Rob shook his head. "No, you've had an amazing life."
"It's all relative." Seren surmised. "You've had things I've never had, and vice versa. Tell me about the things you've seen."
He thought about it for a moment but couldn't think of anything as extraordinary as the things Seren had spoken of. And then he remembered, that to her, all of those things had been ordinary and perhaps the things he had seen and done would amaze her too.
"I remember going on one of the open top buses in London with my sisters. We took sandwiches and rode around on it paying no attention to the historical landmarks around us we just couldn't believe we were sat on a bus with no roof! And we picked apple's at my Uncle's house from the orchard behind his house, every summer."
Seren smiled. "I aint never been apple picking."
"You should. It's bloody hard work when you're 4ft nothing!"
They both laughed.
"Not so 4ft now..." She said, looking up at him.
He towered over her. Strands of his messy hair falling as he looked down. She took a nervous sip of her soda and suddenly she realised she was alone with him...in a hotel room.
"So...what are we doing for the rest of the day?" She asked, changing the subject.
Rob's smile faded. "I'm not sure. You've seen what it's like for me right now. Especially with all the hype around the film. I don't want to draw attention to us. Maybe nobody will notice, but I don't want to take that chance while Dean's not around."
"Is it really that bad?"
He sighed. "A little. I know it's not going to last. And it's not actually me they are screaming for. Which is probably the most frustrating thing about it. If they knew me, they'd realise I'm not worth screaming for."
He walked away from the window and went to one of the chairs. He moved them both towards the view so they could sit and enjoy it.
"That's kinda why me and Kristen get it. Everything blew up for us at the same time. She knows what it's like. But even that is hard. We can't be pictured together without something being made of it."
Seren flinched. The guilt began to gnaw at her.
"They think you're a couple?" She asked, testing the waters.
Rob laughed. "Couple, not a couple, breaking up, making up. They've written about an entire relationship that never happened."
She couldn't look at him then. She knew she had been taken in by the stories without knowing the truth.
"Excuse me..." She said, " I just need the bathroom."
She fled to the bathroom and locked the door. Palms down on the cool tiles infront of the mirror she stared at herself. How could you do that? Why did you do that? You have to tell him...But she didn't want to. She was afraid he would turn her away, tell her she was as bad as everyone else. Taking a deep breath, she splashed her face with cold water and tied her long black hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. Systematically flushing the toilet, she took one more deep breath before returning. He was sitting in the chair facing the window, his leg draped across his other knee, both arms on the side of the chair. He looked comfortable. And she wasn't about to ruin his peace. She decided not to tell him what she had thought. What good would it do? She liked him, and not for the same reasons as those girls who had never met him. Everything had changed today. She knew, from that moment on, she would never listen to another story again in her life.
"You got room service?" She asked.
He turned around. His face was incredulous. "Wow." He said. "You look pretty with your hair like that."
She forgot that she'd tied it up, the way she did when she was having a lazy day. But somehow, it didn't bother her.
Rob caught himself. "Sorry...yeah sure, I can get room service."
Seren smiled. "So let's have a Pretty Woman carpet picnic!"
Rob's smile became coy. "Pretty Woman?"
It was one of the films Seren had managed to catch on the TV at the motel.
"Yeah, when she goes to the guy's hotel and has a little carpet picnic!"
"You do remember what happens after that, right?" Rob laughed.
Seren began to blush. "Of course. But...I'm not a hooker. And you're not Richard Gere!"
Rob shrugged sarcastically and went to the phone. "What do you want?"
That was a good question.
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