Hubert and I- Episode Seven
Watching Hubert walk past the crowd and into the foggy
night, I tried so hard to be strong but my faint heart gave me away. Sam who
was quick to observe poured more wine into my plastic cup which I held firmly. Alana kept going on and on about how she
admired Hubert, from his manners, humility and stylish presence. He had sat with us for more than three hours but
it appeared like he was only there for half an hour and no one had acknowledged
his presence. He had been as discrete as
not to attract attention. All that was left behind of him was his scent and
the memory of the dance. The scene had played over and over again in my head
and the thought brought tears to my eyes. Why did I have to feel this way about
a man who appeared more like a shadow than reality? I observed with a heavy
heart as people danced in pairs, conversed deeply and moved up and about. I could
not take it anymore and it was at that point that my friends and I decided to
call it a night. We headed back to the hotel where were staying. We had the
night to spend and the following day we were traveling back to our home town,
back to our busy schedules. I knew I had to pack my heavy heart alongside my
luggage.
Arriving back at the hotel, we noticed that it was about
nine thirty in the night. Due to the cold weather, we had much to drink without
realizing it. The girls were in very high spirits and that helped to take my
mind off him. The hotel where we were staying at had a disco club and we could
hear the sound of music from a distance. “I think we should head right there
and dance the night away,” suggested Alex. Without much consideration the
entire group moved towards the music, dancing along to the song that could be
heard from the hallway. There was a
butler dressed in a three piece suit at the disco’s entrance door opened the
door for us and directed us as to where we would go. Down the lit staircase we
walked towards the lounge, observing well dressed up, and countable number of
people. The room was dark and very cozy with dim lights. The lounge had white seats
with black tables. On one side was the black counter bar with red high seats. The dance floor had been occupied by few
guests who appeared to be having a lot of fun, enjoying the music that was
being mixed by the disc jockey. We
spotted a dark corner with cozy seats and opted to take that spot as we did not
want much attention being noisy. A smartly dressed gentleman approached our
table and introduced himself as the waiter for the night. He took our orders
and disappeared behind the counter. Sam had jumped to the dance floor when she
heard her favorite song playing. She danced while urging us to join her. Alana
could not resist the temptation any longer as the disc jockey had mixed two
songs that had moved her to the dance floor. Alex and I remained seated as we
waited for the waiter to bring our orders. There was a buzzing sound coming
from one of our hand bags and Alex spotted the sound to have been coming from
Sam’s bag. We signaled Sam to come and
answer her phone. Sam grabbed the phone and dashed to the washroom where it was
more convenient to receive the call as the music in the room was very loud. She
came back with a smile. “That was my little girl; she wanted to know when I was
coming home.” “I told her tomorrow, maybe.” And we all laughed. Being away from
the normal gave us a relief. It was a time to relax and rejuvenate ourselves.
Sam went back to the dance floor and Alex and I were left behind smiling and chatting
on how much fun we were all having. Sadly, the following day we had to check
out from the hotel and travel back
.
Retiring back to our respective rooms, after a couple of
dances and consuming more wine we did not realize how noisy we had been,
walking past several aisles until one staff mentioned jokingly to us. We tried
to tip toe as a way of not making much noise which only made it worse as some
of us fell causing an outburst of laughter. Alana got into her room first
followed by Sam then Alex and finally I got into mine. I had jumped straight into the shower and hardly
had I turned on the shower when I heard a tap my door. “Sam, please come later
am in the shower,” I shouted on top of my voice. Being under the influence of
alcohol it had never occurred to me that I was actually loud and disrupting
other peoples peace. The tap on the door came again after about three
minutes. Offended at Sam’s nuisance I
stepped out from the shower and walked towards my door cursing at Sam. From the
side of the wall I opened the door and ran back to the shower. “Will you close
the door behind you Sam? Thank you” Sam did not respond back but I heard the
sound of the door being locked. I took my time in the bathroom and tried to
converse Sam but she never responded. The room was big and it was evident that
she had not heard what I had said. I dried myself up in the bathroom, picked
the fresh, clean rob that hanged on the wall and went out to meet Sam. She must
have dozed off on my bed I had thought since she had much to drink. I walked
into the room and my bed had not been occupied. The lights had not been switched
on neither. My heart started racing and my blood froze in my veins. I felt a
cold chill run down my spine as I recalled about opening the door with the
assumption that it was Sam. I then realized that the person I had let into the
room had not spoken from the time they got in. I started to shiver as I turned
from one end of the room to the other trying to make out who was in my room. I
quickly noticed that there was a cold, freezing wind that was blowing in from
the balcony. My legs would not carry me to the switch neither to the door. I
stood there in panic and with a quivering voice I called out “Sam, Sam are you
there?” There was no response from Sam and it was then that I realized I had to
run.
Flipped curtains, revealed man’s shoes and they were walking
passed the drapes that blinded the balcony door towards me. I began to scream
as I ran towards the entrance door. Struggling to open the entrance door I
could hear the foot steps behind me getting closer and closer, whoever it was,
was rushing to get me. My hands trembled as they tried to unlock the hard
wooden door. In that very moment my feet were swung up in the air being grabbed
from behind and my mouth covered. I struggled in the hold of the stranger’s
hands and threw a few elbow punches. “Hanna, would you stop fighting? It is me I don’t want to hurt you.” “I am so
sorry I did not mean to scare you.” Relaxing slowly in his hold I didn’t know
whether to be relieved or be angry. “What
are you doing here?” “How did you find me?” I spoke back trying to catch my breath. Slowly
I turned to face him and found him groaning in pain from the punch I had given
him with my elbow. “Don’t ever do that again, damn you? “ He nodded as he tried
to get upright from curling in pain. I supported him and led him to the nearest
couch and I really apologized for the punches I threw. He busted out in
laughter and as he laughed he held on to his ribs which he claimed were
hurting. “I must have thrown very hard elbow punches.” “Damn Hanna, you are
very strong.” Hubert joked and all this time I was still trembling when he
quickly noticed and thinking it was due to the chilled wind that was coming in
through the balcony door, He quickly stood up to close it and walked back still
holding on to his right ribs. He removed his grey over coat that he had worn
and placed it over my shoulders. I sat next to him in silence not fully
recovered from the incident that had just happened. “Hanna, I must confess that
I had my men follow you and they were the ones who leaked to me where you were.”
“Blankets and wine, did you have them follow me as well?” I asked. “How did you
know I would be there?” “Blankets and Wine, I had not sent any of my guys, I
just happened to be there and actually it was my body guard who had recognized
you?” “Which one?” I asked and we both busted out in laughter. The said
bodyguard was the one who had given me a hard time during my first encounter
with Hubert. “I thought he hated me?” “All those sharp glances he had given me.”
We both laughed as we recapped on our first encounter.
Frightened by the knock on the door, I looked at the door
and then back at Hubert. He assured me that nothing was going to harm me and
that I should just go ahead and get the door. Nervously, I walked towards the
door and as I approached the door I inquired as to who it was from the back of
the door. One of the attendants had come to check on me as he had received some
information regarding the room which I had occupied. “Is everything okay
Ma’am?” “Yes I am, I thought I had seen a rat but it was my imagination” I lied
from behind the door. “Okay Ma’am if you need anything at all do not hesitate
to call the reception desk” “I will do just that, thank you very much” with a
sigh of relief I walked back to the couch that I had occupied with Hubert. “You
are a terrible liar, do you know that?” he teased. I smiled nodding back at him
and we both laughed at my response to the attendant. “When do you travel back?” Hubert had asked
“Today, later in the day, uum at 2pm.” Hubert quickly checked his watch. He had
not realized how much time had flown.
