Falling Into Place (22 page)

In that moment, Sidney Rosenthal fell in love with his wife all over again. He almost changed back to his own persona but hesitated. Instead, he simply looked in her eyes, matching her intensity with his own rising desire. He decided to stick to his original plan and allowed the Jack Wylde persona to take over completely. After all, the night was just beginning. The experience and charm of the dashing super-spy might be useful, so it was time for Sidney Rosenthal to take a back seat and enjoy the rest of the ride.

“Of course, I feel the connection,” Sidney finally said. “It’s electric.” He took her face in his hands, kissing Helen passionately.

As she let out a long, sustained exhale, he could almost feel the raw emotion coming off her body in waves. She took his hand, slowly guiding it to her inner thigh before thrusting it forcefully into her nether regions. Sidney instantly realized she wasn’t wearing panties, had completely shaven, and was also fully aroused and wet, moaning as his fingers found her swollen clitoris. Instinctively, she moved her feet farther apart, causing her miniskirt to rise just enough for her round, firm buttocks to peek out from beneath. She kissed Sidney harder, probing his mouth with her tongue, panting like an animal in heat. Each time Helen broke her kiss, she’d catch his lower lip in her teeth, biting gently and tugging. She reached down to feel his hardening manhood, loving the way it throbbed in her grasp. Sidney cupped her exquisite backside with both hands, squeezing each cheek roughly as he grinded his engorged member against her body.

“Oh, my God!” a woman shouted as the door opened. Sidney and Helen broke their embrace, turning toward the front of the car to see an elderly couple staring at them in horror. They’d been so enraptured in each other, neither had noticed the elevator slowing as it reached the seventh floor. Helen grabbed Sidney by the hand and hurried past the woman and her husband without bothering to fix her skirt. The man stared long and hard at her rear end moving down the hallway before his wife hit him in the chest with her purse, causing him to enter the now vacant elevator.

Helen laughed hysterically as they got to room 714. “Something tells me we made their night!” she managed to say between chuckles. “This is a story they’ll be telling for years.”

“Imagine if they could see what comes next,” Sidney said as he pulled her close and kissed her again. “Open that door, darling, or I’m afraid I’ll be forced to take you right here.”

“Mmmmm...I’m tempted to let you go for it,” Helen replied before swiping the key card and opening the door. “So tell me, Nathan. What would you like to do first?” Helen said as she backed into the room, unbuttoning her blouse and exposing her firm, oversized breasts. Her dark brown nipples were fully erect and visible through her white lace bra, making Sidney’s blood boil. His erection strained through his pants as he moved toward her. Within seconds, he’d already forced her boobs out of the bra and begun to suck on them. Helen grabbed him by the hair, forcing his head harder into her chest as she moaned loudly over the distinctive sound of the hotel door locking behind them. She turned away from him and slowly began gyrating her exposed ass against his rock hard organ. He massaged her breasts from behind and hungrily kissed the side of her neck. They panted like a pair of dogs on a hot summer day, their passion growing exponentially by the second.

Sidney whispered in her ear, “I want you.”

Helen replied breathlessly, “So, have me.”

Eighty-seven minutes later, Sidney stood, staring out the window, wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist. Helen was still in the shower after their last carnal adventure had taken an unexpected aquatic turn. She’d requested some time alone to actually clean up after their hour plus, non-stop, sweaty and increasingly intense love making. Sidney felt both satisfied and self-satisfied, finally experiencing a sexual encounter that lived up to his every fantasy. Being able to share it with his wife made it all the more intoxicating and special. He’d never felt so close to Helen. He knew now was the time to come clean about everything that happened, but he was scared. He didn’t want to ruin so perfect an evening with his bizarre, hard-to-believe news.

Helen walked out of the bathroom with a towel around her waist and another wrapped around her head. Her amazing breasts and still erect nipples stirred his loins again as she walked over to the mini-bar. Before he could move, she said, “I see that look in your eye, but stay where you are, okay? I need a time out.” She smiled and Sidney’s world lit up once again. “Now that we’re out of champagne, I could use something a little stronger? How ‘bout you, handsome?”

“I’m good,” Sidney said before turning back once more to gaze out at the city lights.

“Suit yourself,” Helen replied, making herself a scotch neat before sitting on the edge of the bed near the nightstand. She took a sip, placed the glass down, unraveled the towel on her head and started to dry her hair. “That last bit in the shower was something else, huh? My legs are still shaking,” she said, dreamily.

“Any regrets?” Sidney asked without turning around.

“Not a one. You?” Helen answered.

“Well, this may come as a surprise, but I don’t do this sort of thing every day,” Sidney said earnestly. “I’m more of a...I don’t know...take it slow, courtship kind of guy, I guess.”

“Hah!” Helen retorted. “Well, I’ll tell you something, cowboy. This sure ain’t my first rodeo.”

“You’ve done this before?” Sidney asked incredulously, turning to look at his wife.

“Well, not this particularly, no,” Helen responded. Sidney exhaled, relieved to know that his wife hadn’t cheated on him. Then she added, “Usually, I make a guy wine and dine me a few times before I give up the goods, y’know? But you, you’re a special case so I made an exception.”

“Give up... the goods?” Sidney asked, shaken.

“Now, now, don’t get all high and mighty on me. Not after what just happened in this room and not after what I saw in the bank today,” Helen said, defiantly. “You’re going to tell me you don’t do this on a regular basis when you’re working for whatever government agency you work for? Like you don’t have a girl in every city around the world?”

“Of course I don’t.” Sidney replied, a little annoyed at the insinuation. His dual personality was making it difficult to process what she’d just admitted, so he added, “Actually, I don’t work for anyone. I..I recently...left my...place of employment.”

“Oh, so some kind of gun-for-hire, then? A mercenary? Do what needs to be done and go “wherever the money is” type deal?” Helen asked.

“No, I – um, forget about me. What about your marriage? Your husband?” Sidney asked, hoping for an answer that would reassure him.

“My husband?” Helen said derisively, her upper lip curling in disgust once more. “You won’t find a more worthless, spineless, useless piece of nothing in the entire universe. So if I take my pleasures where I can get them, who cares? He sure ain’t bringin’ the heat at home if you know what I mean.” She chuckled softly.

“Don’t you even love him?” Sidney asked, the pit in his stomach growing larger with each comment.

“Love?” Helen asked loudly. “What the hell does love have to do with anything? It’s about having the life I deserve, getting all I can out of it.”

“Then why-” Sidney asked before Helen cut him off.

“Why do I stay with him?” she said, still casually drying her hair. “I don’t know. Habit? Convenience, maybe? It’s safe. It’s easy. Why leave when I can pretty much do whatever I want, whenever I want? He’s not going anywhere, that’s for sure.” She gave him another smile, but the world didn’t seem quite as bright for Sidney now.

“How often do you do this kind of thing?” Sidney asked, now petrified of the answer.

“None of your fucking business,” she said sternly. “It’s weird how almost all you guys ask that same question. It’s like you’re staking a claim or something.” She shook out her hair and took another drink of scotch before continuing, “Let me tell you something about me: I do what I want, when I want, and nobody tells me different. No one owns me. Not you, not any man. Certainly not my idiot husband.”

“Didn’t you ever love him?” Sidney said, desperate for something to make this better.

“I suppose I did for a time,” Helen said quietly. She sighed demonstratively before continuing, “Maybe at the beginning, before I even knew what love was.” Suddenly, a forlorn look came over her face. She stared past Sidney, her eyes unfocused before she said softly, “Funny thing is, I almost lost him this week. He almost died in that bus incident that was all over the news. The one with the animal, y’know?”

“Did that scare you?” Sidney asked hopefully.

“Scare me?” Helen responded, throwing the towel on the bed and picking up her bra. She started to put it on. “Hell no. I was more pissed off than anything.”

“Pissed off? Why would you be pissed?” Sidney asked.

“Because it would’ve been perfect! I would’ve been out free and clear!” Helen said, casually adjusting her boobs inside her bra as Sidney’s world shattered. “But that moron couldn’t even do that right!” She finished her drink in one gulp, before adding, “If he’d been killed, I’d have been done with him without all the whining and crying that I know will come if I ever leave him. Not to mention I’d probably have to pay him alimony since he’s been stuck at the same pathetic job for years without the balls to ask for a raise or promotion.” Helen took a deep breath, calmed herself, grinned and winked at Sidney callously before adding, “Plus, I’d have gotten one hell of an insurance payout!”

“A...payout?” Sidney asked weakly.

“Yeah, at least for once in his miserable life, he’d be worth something to me,” Helen said, laughing.

She came over and put her arms around him, nestling her head on his shoulder. Sidney felt the world start to spin out of control, unable to regain his bearings or say anything. Helen kissed his neck softly, but he barely noticed until she said, “You know, this has been so good, the two of us together. I was thinking that with him out of the way and with all that money, we could do anything, go anywhere we want. Maybe you know somebody who could do the job for me? For us? Maybe you’d be willing –”

“You bitch!” Sidney shouted, suddenly shifting back to his real body, his face twisted in anger. He pushed her away as hard as he could. Helen fell onto her back, the towel around her waist unfastening. Sidney looked down at her screaming, “How could you? How could you?!”

“Sidney? How? What? What’s going on here?!” Helen said staring up at him.

“You heartless bitch! I wanted to share all this with you and you...you...you...want me dead?” His voice cracked and caught in his throat as he said those last words. Tears filled his eyes as he looked down at the supposed love of his life. It was all so clear to him now. She never cared about him. She never loved him at all. He felt so betrayed, so used, so unbelievably stupid for falling for all her lies, for not seeing her for who she really was.

“How did you –” she stopped mid-sentence, staring up in disbelief. Suddenly, her face transformed into a mask of anger. “Who the fuck do you think you are?!” she said with pure hatred in her eyes. “You’re going to spy on me! That’s what this is, isn’t it? You think you can trick me, make me believe you’re something you’re not and then sit here and judge me?!” She stood up and Sidney took a step back. “No fucking way am I going to let you make a fool of me, Sidney!”

“Make a fool of you?” he shouted back. “I’m not the one lying and running around behind your back like...like...a two-bit whore!”

“Fuck you! Aaaaaaaaaah!” Helen screamed, pushing him against the window. She punched him square in the nose before pummeling his face and upper body. Sidney was rattled as blood began to stream down his face from her initial blow, but he managed to push her back a few steps. A second later, Helen was all over him again, scratching at his eyes and screaming like a crazy woman. “You won’t do this to me, Sidney! You’re nothing, do you hear me! Nothing! A nobody! You’re useless, utterly useless! You’re less than a man! You’re nothing but a pathetic sack of shit!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Sidney raged as he changed back to his Jack Wylde persona, his perfect features filled with loathing for her. He grabbed Helen around the throat and forced her back to the middle of the room. Sidney’s eyes narrowed as she clawed at his forearms in desperation. He increased his chokehold, screaming unintelligibly through gritted teeth, his saliva cascading all over her face. They both fell to the floor with Helen taking the brunt of the fall, the wind knocked out of her. Sidney landed on top, still strangling her. Her eyes grew wide with fear and confusion as his fingers dug harder into her neck, blocking her airway. She scratched and hit him to no avail until eventually she grew too weak, her limbs inevitably becoming slack. He continued the pressure on her trachea until he saw her eyes roll back into her head. For a moment, he smiled approvingly before realizing what he was doing.

“No!” he yelled, releasing his grip on her throat and backing away until he reached the wall, his face panicked and fearful. “No, no, no!” he repeated as he sat on the floor in an upright fetal position. He rocked back and forth, his mouth open, his eyes closed tightly. “Don’t be dead, don’t be dead, please, please don’t be dead.” He opened his eyes and looked at the prone body of his wife on the floor. He didn’t see her breathing.

Suddenly, the room was filled with a light so intense Sidney had to shield his eyes with both forearms. He recognized it as the same kind of light he’d experienced on the bus days before, so he knew better than to try to open his eyes. Something was different about this time though. He felt a warmth along with the light and it somehow began to calm him down. His breathing steadied and his mind cleared. The panic, fear and turmoil were all gone, replaced with a sense of peace. He changed from Jack Wylde to his normal persona without even realizing it.

“It’s all right, Sidney. You can open your eyes now,” came a voice from within the light.

“Who’s there? What’s happening?” Sidney said as he slowly raised his head, opening his eyes ever so slightly before realizing the light didn’t hurt them at all. Strangely, it illuminated the entire room yet seemed to come from everywhere simultaneously. Sidney looked toward the door and there he saw two silhouetted figures. As the light began to ebb, he could make out their faces. It was Father Dodson from the movie theatre and the strange, Scandinavian man from the bank.