Jameson Hotel - the Dark Suite Series: Parts One, Two & Three Read Online Free PDF Page A

necessary with my own two
hands.
    Some people are pussies.
    I take a slow walk around the outer edge of
the pool, inhaling the heady scent of the mountain pines. Slow and calm.
Breathe steadily, Mark. Take a moment to think and chill out.
    The sky is clear, full of stars, and the
moon’s reflection dances on top of the water; it’s beautiful, unlike life.
    My outdoor pool is heated year round and has
blue lights shining upward from the bottom. Guests can enjoy a relaxing swim
even in the dead of winter. The lone swimmer this evening disappears in the
rising steam from the water’s surface then reappears in the shallow end by the
stairs. At this time of the night people swim at their own risk, but during the
day when the pool is full of bobbing heads, my pool boys keep a watchful eye
out for safety.
    I need to figure this shit out. Either I step
up to the plate and start a real relationship with this woman or I walk away,
and I know I can’t do that. I’d be like the last piece of shit in her life that
said he didn’t need the drama. Well, fuck that. Life without drama isn’t
living. It’s like spending your days in a fucking coma. And it’s amusing that
earlier she said someone needed to help me when she’s been wrestling with her past as well.
    “Mark?” Her soft voice glides to my ears.
“I’m not all that hungry, I think I’m just gonna go,
but thanks, it was nice.”
    I can tell she hasn’t calmed down. I haven’t
known her for long, but from some of the shit I’ve put her through, I do know
she’s not a crybaby or a weak woman. She’ll bitch me out before she cries, so
the tears a few minutes ago were an eye opener.
    “I’m worried about you, Jules, stay and talk
to me. I want to know more about this situation. Tell me about the guy. What’s
his name?”
    She watches the guest step out of the pool,
wrap a towel around her waist then walk away, giving us some privacy.
    “It was over a year ago and I shouldn’t have
brought it up, forget it. I feel like I threw it in your face to punish you...”
She starts to leave and my heart sinks to the bottom of the pool. My mouth
won’t open to call her back, and at this moment it’s very clear that this woman
weakens my soul. I’m obsessed with her every word, movement, and breath. She
can’t disappear.
    “Wait.” I walk up to her and place my hand on
the curve of her hip, looking into her eyes with an apologetic expression on my
face. Something inside of me wants to hold her, and another part can’t wait for
her to leave so I can find this guy and rip his head off. I hide that
conflicting split and try to get the information I need. “I blew up in there,
as usual, you know that about me, but I’m dead serious when I say I want you to
stay. I’ll keep my cool.”
    “Another time,” she says.
    I exhale and ask a final question. “Tell me
where you met this guy.”
    She pulls a set of car keys from her purse
and stands before me with a straight face. “He was my boss at Mountain Bread in
town. I worked the morning shift with him until that crap happened. Then I
quit. And if I were smart, I would’ve learned from that mistake... I shouldn’t
fall in love with the man I work for.” She turns away and walks along the
pool’s edge to the side gate and disappears around the building, on her way to
the employee parking lot.
    I take one last leisurely walk around the
pool and look up at the dark windows of my suite, then at the fully lit private
suite on the opposite end of the hotel. There aren’t supposed to be any lights
on and I’m bothered that my instructions are being ignored. A silhouette
appears for a brief moment, then the lights go out and the figure dissolves
into the darkness. It better stay that way.
    I’m a protector. Most people think I’m an
uncaring, self-centered man, but the reality is I live my life as a guardian
over my family and friends. I took on that role at a young age because neither
one of my parents ever did.
    I was