Moments That Matter

It seemed like the hallway Jordan was leading me down went on forever; at one point I asked him if he booked a room on the rooftop. With a smile, he told me that he never thought about asking if they had rooms up there as he came to a stop in front of room 820.

Turning towards him, I waited until he placed our bags on the floor and reached into his pocket for the room keycards before I wrapped my arms around his waist. “This is exciting,” I told him with a smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone out of town with a boyfriend before – you’re my first!”

“That’s not quite true,” he informed me. “There was Will.”

Rolling my eyes, I told him that Will didn’t count. “And besides,” I stretched up to plant a kiss on his cheek. “I believe I ended up in your arms that time, so it worked out great for me!”

With a snort, he told me that he hoped this time went a lot better than last. “As much as I enjoyed holding you that night, the tears weren’t really a good thing.” He pressed his lips against my temple. “Neither was the self loathing.”

“Well, I can’t promise there won’t be tears Jordy but I can promise I won’t hate myself at all this weekend.”

He was quite for a moment, his fingers flicking the keycard in this hand. When he spoke, his words came out slowly. “I suppose tears would be ok – as long as they are happy ones!”

“What else would they be?” I asked him. “I mean,” I moved in front of him and gazed up into his eyes. “I’m here with you, why would I be sad?”

He shrugged.

“That’s what I thought!” I chuckled. “So?” I pointed to the door. “Can we go in?”

“Nah,” he wrapped his arms around me and grinned. “I thought we’d stay out here and stare at the door for a while. Romantic, isn’t it?”

“Oh very,” I laughed.

“Oh ok,” he pouted. “If you insist, we’ll go in.”

I couldn’t wait to get into our room. Since the moment I saw that we were at the hotel, all I could think of was being alone with him for the weekend. It was getting later and I was hungry but the idea of curling up with Jordan anywhere almost pushed those other thoughts out of my head.

Jordan swiped the keycard through the slot. Nothing happened. “What the -?” He swiped the card again and once again, nothing happened. I watched him frown at the card slot and turn the card over in his hand, studying it for a moment before trying it again. Again, nothing. “Is this even the right door?” He glanced at the number and then searched his pockets. “Babe, where is the paper the chick gave me at the front desk?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Right,” he nodded his head. “You were talking to Scott.”

His tone was snippy but I was unable to see his expression because he dipped down to riffle through the zippered pocket on his overnight bag. “Are you mad at me?” I could’ve pretended that what he said didn’t bother me but if I did, I knew it would ruin our weekend if I was pouting. I didn’t want anything bad to happen at all.

Jordan took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he turned his head to gaze up at me from his crouching position on the floor. “Babe…”

My heart sunk. I shifted my gaze from him to the floor.

“No, no, no!” He grabbed my pants and tugged gently. When I looked at him, he shook his head. “Babe, you know I’m not mad at you.”

“But you don’t like that I was talking to Scott.”

With a chuckle, he rose to stand in front of me. “If I didn’t like it Anna, I wouldn’t have suggested that we meet with him tomorrow for drinks. You know I trust you.”

I was a little confused. “Then what was with the tone when you said I was talking to Scott?”

“Tone?” He raised a brow. “There was a tone?”

“Yes.” I stared at him. “There was, at least I thought there was. I just –”

“Babe,” he flashed me his trademark smile. “I’m not that guy. I’m not going to flip just because you talk to another man.” He reached out and gripped my arms. “I trust you.”

I don’t know why I needed to hear him say it. I knew he trusted me, you didn’t spend your life being someone’s friend if you don’t trust them with everything you have.

“Ah ha!” He waved a piece of paper in front of my face. “This is the right room!” He flashed me the keycard. “This doesn’t work!”

While he went down the hallway to the guest phone to call down to the front desk about the key, I stood by the door, watching him. I can’t tell you how happy I was at that moment. It had everything to do with being able to be who I am while loving a man who loved me just for that. When I look back on my indecision to start dating, I can’t believe that I even doubted how good we would be together.

“They are sending someone up with another keycard,” Jordan told me when he came back from the phone.

As we waited, Jordan leaned back against the wall and motioned for me to come stand in front of him. When Chelsea appeared with our new keycard, we were wrapped up in each other’s arms just whispering about everything – but the being together was the special part.

“Thanks so much,” Jordan smiled at Chelsea and then turned to me. “Come on Babe, let’s go make out.”