UNIQUE LOVE (G X G) Completed

CHAPTER: 10

Warm sunlight streaming through the nearby window roused Zeenia from her heavy slumber the next morning. She groaned into her pillow, her body not yet ready to face a new day. Saturday. It was Saturday, she remembered. I have the f*****g day off today she thought. She could sleep a little more. She remembered the night before.

The bed creaked as she jerked up and looked over her shoulder to the other side of the bed. Nothing. No one. At first, Zeenia thought she dreamed up Shanaya's visit to her room the night before. It would not be like her to manifest a young lover to occupy her subconscious? But then she noticed the head indentation on the other pillow, and how tussled the covers were.

Shanaya was gone. Not a shred of her clothing remained behind. Not even her scent remained when Zeenia curled up with the other pillow. So be it. She wouldn't have been the first woman to sneak out before, her partner.

Zeenia lingered in bed for a few more minutes, savoring her morning off. It wasn't until she looked at the time that she felt the urge to jump out of bed. She wondered, had she really slept for twelve hours? She supposed her transfer from another city, and s*x did that to her body.

To celebrate her first morning off in Michigan, she took her time ambling around the hotel room before disappearing into the bathroom. She took a three-minute shower to rinse off the sweat from her skin and hair, before changing into jeans and a sweater. She only got to wear her jeans on the weekends.

The news blared on television as she debated having breakfast delivered. But then decided against it. For one, she wasn't that hungry, secondly, any bell boy would step in, to find the boss's s*x romp residue. Zeenia didn't doubt the room still smelled...intense. And the bedding was torn to shreds. But she decided, she would order a room cleaning. She pitied the person having to clean up that mess.

The sun continued to shine through the window as the hour wore away. Zeenia ordered cleaning for early that afternoon and stared out of the window, thinking that she should take her Saturday off to explore a little. After all, there were restaurants to discover and traditional shops to check out. Zeenia grabbed her key card and headed outside.   

The air was crisp, but bearable for a sunny day. Zeenia ambled around the grounds of the hotel, making her way to the road with its heavy traffic and congestion. The station was around here somewhere. That was an understatement. Michigan Station loomed a few blocks away, surrounded by towers. Zeenia could go anywhere in the city from there.

She decided to stay put when she saw who sat at the bus stop bench. 

Even in the glaring sunlight Zeenia still recognized Shanaya's hair and clothing from the day before. How could she not, when she had rubbed her face all over her face and hair? She froze at the entrance and debated whether or not to go talk to the young woman swinging her legs and waiting for the next bus. Cars zipped by on the road, but Shanaya paid no attention to them.

"I see you are not one for goodbyes," Zeenia said, standing behind the bench. 

Shanaya jumped a little, but the moment she craned her head back she smiled. "I prefer to cut ties cleanly, yes," she said in the same tone she had used at the dinner table. Good. Zeenia would not be able to handle Shanaya's voice from when they made love or whatever that had been. It would only make her mad with the desire to haul Shanaya back to the hotel.

Zeenia rounded to the corner of the bench and sat down on the far side. "Do you always skip out to go home early in the morning?"

The disbelieving look Shanaya shot Zeenia reminded her of the high school student she originally thought the young woman to be. Twenty? Well, she had slept with a younger woman before, but not as young as Shanaya.

"Are you always this needy in the morning? Besides, I am not going home," Shanaya said.

That took Zeenia aback. Needy? She didn't think she was needy. Was it needy to want to be remembered in the morning? "Where are you going?" Zeenia asked her.

"I should tell you that it is none of your business." Shanaya crossed her arms and her legs, short hair blowing in the breeze. That same breeze caused chills to race down Zeenia's skin. She wished she had a jacket. 

"But you don't seem the stalking type to me," Shanaya said.

"Me?" Zeenia touched her nose. "You are the stalker. You are the one who was waiting for me outside my room."

With a dramatic roll of the eyes, Shanaya conceded. "I am going to my friend's place, with whom I am studying. I leave in a couple of days, though."

"Leave?" Zeenia asked her.

"Uh-huh. I have got places to go to. I don't stay in cities for very long. I find them suffocating."

"I see," Zeenia replied.

Shanaya turned towards Zeenia. "It's nothing personal."

Zeenia said nothing. Being defensive would only prove Shanaya's point. But as she sat and watched the cars go by, the distant sound of a bus honking coming down the road, a single thought entered her mind. "How did you know?" she asked.

"What?' Shanaya snorted. "That you like girls?"

Again, Zeenia said nothing.

"You have to ask? I thought it was pretty obvious. You practically broadcasted it to me," Shanaya replied.

"In what way?" Zeenia defensively asked. While Zeenia didn't hide her personality in the closet, she still took certain proprieties to keep any aura she may exude at work in check. She considered dining in the hotel restaurant as being "at work," so anyone who could still see through her professional facade...

The bus rolled down along the sidewalk, as it prepared to pull at the stop. Shanaya got ready to spring up and catch the bus. "Honestly?" she bent down her head towards Zeenia. "I could tell from the way you looked at me that you wanted me."

Zeenia's heart stopped at the same time as the bus. As the doors slid open and people descended the steps, throngs of fashionably dressed women and young men, Shanaya grabbed the hand railing with a flourish.

"If I come back to Michigan sometime soon, I'll keep my eyes out for you," Shanaya said.

"Do you even know my name?" Zeenia asked her. 

Shanaya shrugged. "It is Zeenia."

The bus honked, warning the pedestrians in front of it that it was about to take off again. Shanaya halted halfway up the bus steps. "See you around, Zeenia." She blew a kiss towards her. The bus pulled away as swiftly as it had arrived.

Left alone on the bench, Zeenia wavered between wanting to go inside to beat the cold and wanting to take a long, rambling walk down the sidewalk. She eventually chose the latter. It was a beautiful Saturday, and there were things to contemplate.