-- ELEVEN --

Johnathan had been dreading this day for quite some time now. He knew it was inevitable, but nevertheless he had made no attempt to improve the situation. Not even last night had he lifted a pencil, despite the fact that he had spent the entire time awake and restless. Under the pale light of the moon, he had walked the beach alone for several of the early morning hours; watching the shadows move on the waves, studying his footprints in the soft, cool sand, venturing over to the spot where Naomi had sat beneath the palms several hours before. When he wasn’t focused on what he would say when morning came, his thoughts were haunted by the feel of her smooth skin under his lips with the faint scent of lavender from her shampoo. Her effect on his was still quite puzzling in his mind. Of course she was an attractive woman, but he had never been the type of man to just fall at the feet of beauty. Yet when she was in his presence, he was incapable of resistance, though she didn’t remotely try to catch his attention. He knew she was married, but even that couldn’t deter him from getting as close to her as she would allow. He needed her.

It wasn’t until the sun began its ascent that he finally returned to the hotel, slightly disheveled, with dark circles under his piercing blue eyes. With absolutely no effort to look put-together, he quickly threw on fresh, mismatched clothes, and mindlessly padded downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. It felt oddly as he imagined a prisoner might feel on the path to his last meal. There were no emotions, no anxiety, just a quiet acceptance of what it’s too late to change or repair, and the repercussions you should have seen coming. As usual, he ate alone and undisturbed, always awake long before the rest of the small hotel’s occupants. The mug of steaming coffee before him offered the tempting thought of drawing out his morning routine, but he knew that would simple be a short term solution for a gradually worsening problem.

One last, longing look at the coffee cup, and he was out of his chair, striding back to the stairwell despite the vacant elevator waiting for him. He arrived at the door to his room just in time to hear the phone begin ringing from within. Lovely. He released a dejected sigh and pushed it open, heading straight for the desk.

“Hello”, he said politely, already knowing what the response would be.

“Good morning sir, this is the front desk calling. A visitor has just arrived and wishes to speak with you.”

“Yes, I’ve been expecting him. Please tell him I will be downstairs momentarily.”

Carelessly he dropped the receiver back on its dock. For a moment, he just stared at the red leather notebook sitting next to it, as if contemplating his next more, though there were really no other options. Tucking it carefully under his arm, he dashed back out the door, opting for the elevators this time. Quick and as painless as possible, this was his new strategy. Trying his best to muster up a confident expression, he waited nervously for the doors to slide open. Pausing momentarily, hoping it would help him appear calm and collected, he stepped out into the lobby where a familiar face greeted him from a modest armchair.

“Well if it isn’t the aloof author himself,” the man said, riding from his seat, “as both your friend and your editor, I must say that it’s been far too long since we spoke.”

Johnathan extended his hand for a friendly shake. “It’s good to see you too, Devon.”

“You really do choose the quaintest little places to stay, don’t you? Why don’t we head over to the Marriot where Maggie and I are staying? I’m sure there will be an open room in the business centre where we can sit down and lay everything out.”

Johnathan nodded, knowing such a room was completely unnecessary, but not yet ready to let on. “Sure, sounds good.”

The walk began in silence, with Johnathan quietly pleading for it to remain so, while contemplating how Devon could stand to walk around in Florida in a black suit without breaking a sweat or even removing the jacket. The man had always been an enigma for the writer from the day they met. Being essentially polar opposites, the two generally worked exceptionally well together, their styles melding together in perfection, but Johnathan knew that their little meeting today would fall very far from perfect. He also knew, however, that Devon would probably take him out for drinks anyways, and come up with a brilliant solution to the situation Johnathan had put himself in.

“So it looks like you’ve been enjoying the sun.”

Johnathan was startled out of his thoughts. “Oh, yes, I suppose I have.”

“It is rather nice, though Maggie seem to prefer the hotel pool”, he added with a chuckle.

“How is Maggie? I haven’t seen her in ages?”

“Oh, the same as always… well, except that she’s a redhead now. She thinks it goes better with her eyes or something like that. The reason seems to change daily. She’s quite looking forward to seeing you again; she just adored you, you know. If I hadn’t married her before you came along, I think you’d have one high maintenance wife on your hands.”

Johnathan laughed. “You’re pretty high maintenance yourself, Mr. ‘Perrier-water-only’.”

“Can I help it if I have good taste and an eye for quality?”

He just shook his head, holding open the hotel’s glass door for Devon. Taking the lead, the editor strode purposefully through the maze of hallways that all appeared identical to Johnathan.

Eventually they reached another glass door with a sign on the wall denoting their location as the conference centre. Without a moment’s hesitation, Devon marched through with Johnathan on his heels.

The young man at the front counter sprung to life the moment he caught sight of Devon. “The room you requested is ready, sir. Would you like me to escort you there?”

“No need for that, I’m sure we can find it.”

“Of course, sir. It’s the hallway to your left, second door on the right.”

Devon nodded appreciatively and was gone in seconds, leaving Johnathan to jog after him. A true businessman, Devon was never one to waste time. In fact, he was already seated in the room, waiting, when Johnathan entered. Uncomfortably, he eased into the remaining vacant chair across from his friend and colleague.

“Well, let’s get started,” Devon began eagerly, “show me what you’ve got finished so far.”

With a slight grimace, Johnathan opened the red book clutched in his sweaty hands. He pulled the completed paged from a pocket on the inside cover and tossed them haphazardly on the hardwood surface, bracing himself for the response. Minutes passed, though they felt like hours, with no sound save for the rustling of pages while Devon leafed through the work in progress. The room abruptly became deathly silent and Johnathan’s mind began to race; fishing for a plausible explanation for the question about to be asked.

“Johnathan… there’s barely anything new here. Are you sure this is all of it?”

He simply nodded glumly, looking away to avoid the disappointment in the other man’s eyes.

“What’s been going on? You almost never miss a deadline. What happened?”

“I wish I had a good answer for you”, he replied honestly, “I don’t know why, I just stopped.”

“Come on now, Johnathan. You must know what you’ve been doing instead of writing and why. Let’s not beat around the bush here.”

How to even begin explaining his relationship with Abby and Naomi was a puzzle.

“My God,” Devon said incredulously, “it’s a woman, isn’t it?”

“It’s not like that.”

“It’s a woman! I never thought I’d see the day when another woman would have you acting like a lovesick puppy!”

“Hey, I’m not a puppy, okay?”

“What’s her name?”

Johnathan sighed. There would be no stopping the interrogation now. “Naomi.”

“Hmm, very pretty. So tell me about her. Is it serious?”

“It’s nonexistent: she’s married.”

“Johnathan, you’re killing me here. You fell for a married woman?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Does she know? Is she interested in you?”

“I don’t know, really. I think she suspects me, but I don’t think she reciprocates at all. She seems very concerned that her husband remains unaware of me.”

Devon’s face grew serious. “You don’t think there’s something going on there, do you?”

“Again, no idea. She’s very guarded. She seems fine; I’ve never seen anything on her or Abby to make me think there is. I’ve never seen him though, they don’t talk about him, and her coworker let it slip to me that they don’t have a great marriage.”

“Wait, who’s Abby?”

“Oh, that’s her daughter. Sweet little thing, she is.”

“Listen, you need to find out what’s going on here and either get in, or get the hell out. If they’re in trouble, they need help, and if they’re not, you have to back out like a gentleman and leave them be before something happens between the two of you.”

“I know, but how can I get her to tell me if there’s something wrong? Obviously she won’t want me to know.” Johnathan had already been over this frustrating predicament numerous times, and didn’t see the benefit in doing so again.

“Well you’re never going to finish the best seller you promised your publisher until you find out, so we’ll have to think of something. Is she close to this coworker of hers? Maybe she’d confess to her. Does she like having a bubbly little group of girlfriends? I could send Maggie in to befriend her. Maggie’s friends tell her everything; I don’t know how she does it.”

“She not really close to anyone that I know of, except for Abby. I’ve never seen them with anyone else. She seems to prefer being on her own. She didn’t even want us to be friends. Actually, I’m not certain that we really are. I just assume so since she lets me talk to her when she’s not working now.”

“Any chance the kid will tell you?”

“Doubt it. You can tell just from watching her that she worships her mother.”

“Then I guess there’s really only one other option: you’ll have to take me to meet her.

Johnathan burst into laughter. “You’re not serious?” The silent response abruptly halted his chuckling. “You are serious?”

“Why not?”

“What makes you think she’ll tell you anything?”

“She doesn’t have to; I’m an intuitive man, Johnathan.”

“You’re telling me that you can know, the first time you meet a person, without even asking them, if they have trouble at home?”

“Watch me.”

Johnathan held his friend’s gaze steadily for nearly three full minutes before he finally conceded and accepted that he had little choice left in the matter. His curiosity cried to seek the truth about her, and the logical centre of his brain that he usually ignored was telling him that it was the only way he would be able to do his job: with a clear, empty mind.

“Fine. I’ll take you down there, but you better not rat me out or scare her off. It’s already slow work getting her to trust me.”

Devon put his hands up in surrender. “You have my word; I’ll be a perfect gentleman, as always, and I won’t breathe a work you’ve told me.”

“Now when do you want this to happen? I already told her not to expect me today, so we’re not marching down there right this moment.”

“How about tomorrow, late afternoon? In the paper this morning it said there’s going to be a free concert on the beach tomorrow on the same street as your hotel. Then we could check out the festivities once we’ve spoken to your lady love.”

“Right by my hotel, you say?”

“Yes, why?”

“She works in a café just minutes away.”

“Excellent,” Devon clapped his hands together, “it’s decided then. Perhaps they’ll even close early, and then we can all talk without interruption.”

“I don’t know about that. She usually jets as soon as her shift is over.”

Devon put a hand on Johnathan’s shoulder; “leave it to me, I’ll take care of everything.”

For some reason that only made the knot in Johnathan’s stomach twist tighter with anxiety. If only he had as much faith in Devon as Devon had in himself.