Bax awoke on the morning of November 6th, 2004 to a knock on his door. At first, he thought he was dreaming again, but then the knock came a second time and he rolled over onto his elbow and stared at the door.

"Who is it?" He asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Breakfast, sir, it's complementary." said the muffled voice from out in the hallway.

Bax jumped up and started for the door then realized he was naked and grabbed his jeans from the end of the bed.

"Just a second!"

He pulled the jeans on without underwear, carefully zipped them making sure not to catch his balls in the teeth and opened the door.

She was standing a few feet away. By candlelight, Sara Massie looked almost angelic. She was holding a tray, upon which was a plate of eggs and bacon, a tall tumbler or orange juice, a cup of tea in a proper teacup and a silver knife and fork.

Bax stepped back as she came into the room.

"Th – Thanks," he said, the word catching in his throat. "I didn't know you did a breakfast..."

Sara smiled at him and winked – this time it was definitely a wink. "We don't usually, but you're our only guest and I wanted to make sure you were treated just right." She said, her voice rising high at the end of the statement in wide-eyed innocence. She was almost cartoonishly sexy and Bax was mesmerized.

Sara Massie was like Marilyn, Betty Boop and Jessica Rabbit all rolled into one. She was wearing another knee-length dress, this time of forest green, with white stockings and green high heels. The dress was tight at her narrow waist and hugged the curves of her breasts and hips in a perfect figure eight. The square collar was modestly low but still hinted at the deep crevasse of her cleavage.

She walked slowly across the room and placed the tray on top of the little writing table next to the bureau. Bax watched her stupidly, wanted to say something. The roll of her hips and sway of her bum reminded him of a ship on the ocean. Her stockings look as if they were made of silk and had those seams running down the back again, perfectly straight and accentuating the curve of her calfs.

She turned back and caught him staring at her legs. She smiled knowingly and Bax swallowed hard.

"Is there anything else I can get you... sir?" She asked. Her eyes were huge and innocent but he was sure the question held a sexual overtone. Was she offering something more? No, it was wishful thinking. Women didn't come on to Jeffery Baxter. He had always had to chase them, even Norma had seemed uninterested when they first met and it had taken him weeks just to get her to agree to a first date. No, Sara was probably like this with everyone, or maybe she was angling for a tip.

"Oh – uh – no that's great thanks. Please call me Jeff..." Bax fumbled for money but his jeans were empty and his wallet was on the bureau next to the tray. Sara smiled heading for the door, then paused to touch his arm with her hand very lightly. Her sweet flowery perfume seemed to envelop him making his head spin.

She looked up at him her face close to his own. Her tongue poked out for just a second moistening her red lips before she spoke and he almost leaned in as if they were going to kiss, catching himself at the last moment.

"Okay, I will. Have a wonderful day... Jeff." She said in her little girl's voice and was gone.

Bax was staring at the door again. It had closed behind her almost a minute ago, but he hadn't moved. He could still feel her warm hand on his arm. His mind was racing. She must be interested. The way she had touched him, how close she had stood to him. Had she wanted him to kiss her? Maybe he had missed his shot! Bax was kicking himself. He'd never been good at picking up signs from women, Norma had told him so. She had told him she'd had been interested from the moment they met and he just hadn't seen the signs. Bullshit, if there had been signs with Norma, then the signs with Sara were like flashing neon billboards and he still wasn't sure.

He sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he would probably never know the truth. He would pick up his car this afternoon, check out of the White Birch Hotel and never see Sara Massie again. Fuck!

He sat down at the writing desk and ate the breakfast. It was probably the best breakfast he'd ever eaten. Everything was perfect. His eggs were over-easy just the way he liked them. The yolks not runny but not over-cooked either. The bacon was crisp and smokey and the orange juice was sweet with just a little pulp. Even the tea had exactly the right balance of milk and sugar a combination which Norma had never been able to get right all during their twenty years of marriage.

Norma's face sprang into his brain unbidden at the thought. Her wiry black hair and slightly hooked nose. The way her mascara caked in the corners of her eyes and the tiny frown lines around her mouth. What had he ever seen in her? The ridiculous thought that she had messed up his tea for all those years out of spite brought a resigned smile to his lips as he put the cup down and headed for the bathroom to shower and shave.

An hour later he walked down the hall and through the lobby. He had hoped that Sara would be behind the desk but again the place was empty. He pushed the double doors open and stepped out onto the street. It was ten-fifteen. He figured he would check out the town as he had nothing better to do. The car certainly wouldn't ready until this afternoon. He had tried his cell phone only to find he had no signal which didn't come as much of a surprise. His battery was down to ten percent and with no electricity, it would be dead soon. No matter, he could charge it in his car and the fact was he had no one to call.

His friends had been Norma's friends first and with the divorce, they had all lined up on her side. He'd long since lost contact with all of his old school chums and his father had died two years ago. His sainted mother had lost her battle with cancer when he was a teenager and he had no brothers or sisters. The fact was no one was expecting a call from Bax... he was alone.

Bax turned right and walked down the cracked sidewalk headed east. Black lampposts stretched skyward on his left staggered about one every ninety feet, but without power, they were nothing more than supports for the decorative flower pots that hung above his head. He passed a boarded-up building. Plywood had been nailed to the windows and the doors beneath the sign that read Town Hall were chained shut with a big brass padlock.

Further down he passed what once might have been a hardware store and then a defunct bakery. Bax tried to see inside through the whitewashed window but could only make out the shapes of vague silver and chrome blocks with no definition. Next up was the bookstore – Paige Turners – the name was horrible but the little shop was open and looked inviting. The smell of fresh coffee was in the air so he stepped inside.

As the door opened a little bell tinkled and a head came up from behind the service counter. The girl looked to be about thirty. She was small and bookish, with straight brown hair and large glasses that made her look like a barn owl. 

She smiled warmly. "Hi, Bax!"