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                “Here we are,” Jordan announced.

I was too busy in my revelation to notice he had stopped walking.  I looked up at the big black and yellow sign that read “Motel” before cringing.  Even from the street, I could see the dirty floor and chipping paint.

                “Are you kidding me?”

                “Is there a problem?”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

                “Out of all the hotels in New York City, you pick a sleazy motel with no name?”

                “It’s eighty dollars a night.  Do you know what a bargain that is?” he laughed.

                “Are you forgetting I have money?”

                “And are you forgetting I don’t care?”

Jordan started up the narrow cement stairs and I followed him desperately trying to talk sense into him.

                “Can’t we at least stay at a Holiday Inn?” 

I grabbed his hand, and we both stared at where our skin touched.  I immediately dropped his hand.  Jordan, amused by my frantic attempt to stay somewhere else, looked at the cracks in the floor as he walked inside the motel, and then back at me. 

“Please…”

                “Okay, you win,” he smirked before whispering, “I think I saw a cockroach.”

The thought alone gave me chills as we rushed out of the building.  The cheap motel was even too gross for Mister I Get By On My Good Looks!  We managed to find a well-known and affordable hotel a block down.  Still, the condition of this establishment was well below my usual standard.

                “We’d like a room, please,” Jordan said to the concierge.

He was a wiry old man, who looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. 

I was lucky I didn’t look that disheveled over my insomnia.

His scalp was visible through his greasy silver hair and there was a sheen of sweat above his curled lips.  He started to speak in a creepy monotone voice, but I interrupted him.

   

             “Two rooms, please,” I smiled, as I cast my eyes toward Jordan.

                “Why waste a room, Haley?”

                “I don’t even know you, remember?”

                “Oh, so getting stranded together, and going to dinner doesn’t constitute as knowing each other?” he laughed.  “There are people who instantly feel they’ve known each other all their lives from one day together,” Jordan held up his index finger for emphasis. 

I placed my hand on my hip, and cocked my head to the side, knowing he was just giving me a hard time.  I suppose I was figuring out more about him than I had realized.

                “Well, we aren’t those people…two rooms, please,” I smiled at the concierge, who now looked bored with our banter.

                A few moments later, we were standing in the hallway on the sixth floor.  I immediately slid my key card into the slot and opened the door.  The room was modest, but at least there were no cracks in the foundation, and so far, no sign of infestations.

                “Good night,” Jordan said, and I turned to look at him as he opened the door to his room.

                “First mission tomorrow…shopping.”

                “Excuse me?” he laughed, and turned to me.

                “I have nothing to wear, remember?”  I pulled at the collar of my shirt.  “I’m going to have to sleep in this,” I sighed.

                He just smirked at me, “Sleep naked.”

Jordan’s facial expression was telling me one of two things: he was thinking about me naked or he wanted me to scoff at the suggestion.  I figured he was waiting for a reaction out of me, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction that I was so uptight that I wouldn’t sleep naked, alone, on sheets that I have no idea where they’ve been, or who has been in them…Eww.

                “I think I will sleep naked,” I smiled at him as I held onto the door with one hand, and began to close it ever so slowly.  “Thank you for the suggestion,” I shrugged my shoulder upward before shutting the door.

                If Jordan wasn’t thinking about me naked before, he probably was now.  Oh God, he’s imagining me naked!  These hotel room doors lock automatically, right?