Hubert and I- Episode Seven

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

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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.