Page 91 of Crash
As the elevator moved up, I curled my fingers around the handle of my suitcase, my stomach churning and my heart beating with excitement. It was near to bursting as I arrived on my floor and found my room. I hadn’t felt this determined or alive in my entire life.
I loved Lincoln.
As I unlocked my room and pulled my case inside, I made a vow that the first thing I was going to do when I saw him was to tell him exactly how I felt.
I had a quick shower and got changed into a fresh set of clothes. I’d brought along the purple dress I’d worn to the opening party at Pulse and wondered if Lincoln would remember. Things sure had done a total one-eighty since then. Zipping up the back, I smoothed down the fabric and gave myself the once over in the mirror.Not bad, Fuller, I thought to myself.
Slipping my feet into a pair of three-inch black heels, I grabbed my lipstick and gave my lips a coat of color. Perfect.
Shoving my phone and room key into my bag, I slung it over my shoulder and clutched onto Lincoln’s keycard with trembling fingers. He’d be back any minute, so I had to get a move on if I was going to be there to surprise him.
His room was two floors down, so I took the elevator and made my way along the hall, my skin tingling the entire way. Finding the right door, I slid the keycard into the lock until the little light flashed green, and then I turned the handle and pushed inward.
The room within was laid out exactly like mine with a little hallway and the bathroom to the side. A warm glow emanated from the bedroom, and I wondered if he’d beaten me here. Walking forward, I paused at the end of the hall, and everything I’d accomplished up until now came crashing down.
A woman was lying in his bed, completely naked and spread-eagled. Not just any woman, it wasAndrea.
“Shit,” she exclaimed, closing her legs. “This is unexpected, but I guess it cuts out the middle man.”
I stumbled backward and crashed into the wall.
She smiled sweetly at me and said, “I told you so.”
Lost for words as my life shattered around me, I fled. Wrenching open the door, I gasped as I came face-to-face with a startled Lincoln.
“Vee?”
“Get out of my way,” I cried, shoving past him.
The walls were closing in on me and darkness was coming back. I couldn’t escape.I couldn’t breathe…
I bolted down the hall toward the elevators, weaving around a startled looking elderly couple, but I couldn’t see them through the tears that had spilled over. Sobbing as I crashed into the wall by the bank of elevators, I thumped my fist onto the button. Immediately, there was a ding, and a set of doors opened.Thank fucking god.
“Violet!” Lincoln shouted after me.
I heard his footsteps as he chased me, but all it did was slice deeper as the darkness began to choke the life from me.
I loved him. I loved him and how did he repay me the moment he left?Asshole. It was all a lie.
Rounding the corner, he came into sight, and just as he was about to put his hand into the gap, the elevator doors slid closed. Collapsing back against the wall, I sucked in deep breaths, trying to keep the panic attack from overwhelming me. My throat was constricting and I was becoming dizzy as the doors opened on my floor. Bolting down the hallway to my room, I fumbled with the keycard, sliding it in and out a couple of times before it worked.
Shoving inside, the door slammed closed, and I darted into the bathroom. Tossing my bag and falling to my knees, I lifted the lid on the toilet and heaved into the bowl. My phone started to ring from someplace far away, but I couldn’t hear it. My ears buzzed as I slumped to the floor, pressing my burning forehead against the cool tiles.
Breathing through my nose and letting my breath out of my mouth, I tried to calm myself down, my vision prickling with stars. As the weight on my chest began to lighten, reality came crashing back in, and a sob burst forth.Then another and another.I curled up on the floor and cried, my heart aching so much I wished I could tear it out and never see it again.
I didn’t know how long I’d been on the bathroom floor before I realized I was shivering. Grabbing my bag, I practically crawled through the room, my shoes falling off as I went, and dragged myself into bed. This place wasn’t in the least bit familiar, and the overwhelming need to go home threaded itself into the empty places in my heart.
Fumbling in my bag, I pulled out my phone, instantly seeing all the notifications on the screen. Missed call times twenty. Voicemail. Texts.All from Lincoln.
Resisting the urge to hurl the phone across the room, I unlocked the screen and brought up the contacts. Pressing Ash’s name, I held it to my ear, curling my body into a tight ball underneath the scratchy, starched within an inch of their lives, hotel sheets.
He answered on the third ring. “Vee?”
“Ash.” His name came out strangled, full of fear and pain.
“Fuck. Vee, what happened? Are you okay?”
“No. I’m not okay.” I sobbed.
