After I finished eating, I returned to my room to unpack. Although my work tablet was stored safely in my desk at the Tribune, I still had my personal device that I liked to use on the weekends. The closest I got to a vacation these days was lounging in a bikini on the deck of my townhouse with a book and a mango daiquiri. When Mari and I were still together, we would do this every weekend in the spring and summer.
I sighed as I changed into a cropped band tee and flannel pants. I missed those days when I could just be with someone.
My fingers fluttered over the tablet screen, poised over a link to my work portal. Even when I didn't have access to work, I still had access to work.
At twenty-six, the longest relationship I'd ever had was with my job. That was always the argument, always what had me and Mari going to bed angry.
Until we were going to bed alone.
I flopped against the pillows on the hotel bed and opened up my Kindle app instead to pull up my latest mystery read on missing persons and a cabin in the woods. My eyes scanned over each page as the hours grew later. After getting through four chapters and still not feeling tired, I walked out to my balcony. Chilly winter air danced across my skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. I breathed in the scent of pine.
The sun had long since dipped below the horizon and now the stars were out, dotting the sky with twinkly freckles.
I smiled. This was my paradise for the next three days. 
Back inside the hotel room, I curled up under the blanket and turned on the television. I was halfway through a late episode of Full House when the unmistakable sound of very loud, very offkey singing assaulted my ears from the adjacent room.
"Ugh." I turned up the volume on the television, but the more I did the louder the singing became.
"We'll be running the street...Kiss my ass! Whatever, who cares, still living life like that!" the voice slurred, messing up the words to the classic Avril Lavigne song.
I put a pillow over my ears as the person took to the next verse of the song: "This is who we are, I don't think I'll eeeeeevvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrr change! They say JUST. GROW. UP!  But they don't knowwwwww us! We don't give a fu—eek!"
Clang! Crash!
"Oh my god!" I jumped up from the bed and banged my fist against the adjoining door, doubtful that it would do me much good. "Um, are you okay?"
No answer.
I looked up at the ceiling. Please let them not be hurt. My fingers turned the latch on the door—it opened, thankfully—and I ran into a scene of utter chaos.
Clothes were sprawled all across the room along with an empty bottle of tequila that lay on the floor next to a lingerie-clad woman.
The same woman, I realized as I stepped closer through the minefield of clothing that cost more than my monthly salary, who had argued with me downstairs at the bar only hours earlier.
"Um, Violetta?" I asked, leaning down. Her auburn hair fanned behind her. If she hadn't just fallen off of a bed, I would've said she looked absolutely stunning. But her beauty was the least of my concerns right now.
My fingers shook her shoulders because she had yet to answer me. "Violetta?"
Her eyes snapped open—brown with flecks of green surrounding the irises—and her mouth twitched into a frown. "You! What the hell are you doing in my room?" She sat up. "Bax—"
I clamped my hand over her mouth. "Don't!" I squeaked. "Do you really want him to come in and see you like this?" I winced at how bad that sounded.
But if I were her, I would've called out too. Where was her security detail? It seemed odd that no one had come to check on her.