The Code of the Road, Part 5

"The Code of the Road"
Part 5

During lunch on Tuesday, Suzie took a drive to smoke a find a phone. She 
called back to the home office to discuss the training situation. She was 
tired from the two previous nights of staying up late. She was not 
regretting her decisions however.

"Margaret, this is Suzie, is Don in?" she asked the receptionist.

"Just a minute Suzie, I'll connect you," the voice said.

Suzie inhaled. The heat was already 90 degrees and the black top of the 
convenience store felt squishy under her weight. In mid-draw Don finally 
picked up the call.

"Suzie, how goes things?" he asked.

She exhaled and began her story. "Not well, Don..."

Suzie hung up the phone, both relieved and a bit excited. Don had agreed to 
call the company and reschedule training for a later date when they were 
better prepared. He assured Suzie that he would not send her back without 
confirmation that they were ready.

She drove back to the company to collect her things and head back to the 
hotel. First, Suzie called Delta to change her flight schedule. She would be 
able to arrive in Missoula on Thursday, at 5:20. She would have a full day 
tomorrow alone, and she planned to use the time to do some shopping in some 
of Scottsdales more hoity-toity malls. Her next call was to the Comfort Inn 
in Missoula. She booked a room under Janice's name and asked the desk clerk 
if paying by cash was OK. She was assured it was fine.

For now, she was content. She turned the air conditioner on MAX and laid on 
the bed, watching Days of our Lives. Her thoughts wandered, thinking about 
what Janice should do with John next. When her mind was satisfied with the 
next step, she drifted off to sleep.


She awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. Groggy, she sat up quickly and 
looked to the clock. 8:05 PM. "Shit," she said as she reached for the phone.

"Hello?" she questioned, rubbing her eyes. The room was dark except for the 
light of the TV. FRASIER was just starting. She pointed the remote towards 
the TV and muted it.

"Hey, its just me... did you forget to call?" John asked. There was some 
worry in his voice, but it was easing.

"No, I was sleeping, didn't know what time it was, whats up?" she said, and 
began to yawn.

"Not much, I really miss you Suz' " he said and sounded sincere.

For a moment, Suzie had forgotten about John and Janice, but now the 
memories returned.

"So how was training today?" he asked. Suzie picked up the slight urgency in 
his voice. She looked again at the clock and remembered he and Janice were 
to meet online in just ten minutes.

"Fine," she lied "Things went lots better today, I'll be staying through 
Friday afterall, I'll be home on the 10:45 flight she told him.

"Good!" he said, and then played down his excitement, "Im glad you can get 
the trip over with and not return."

Suzie smirked, thinking John covered his ass nicely. She fumbled on the 
night stand for her cigarettes. She found them and casually lit one. The 
light from the TV higlighted her exhale and she found it curiously erotic.

"So, any more news on the big poker game?" she pressed.

"No, Im not sure its going to happen, Dirk can't make it and that would only 
leave us with three players. Not much of a poker group." John took a breath 
and continued, "But I think Im going to go back to the school on Thursday 
night and work on my lesson plans for the final quarter. So I might not be 
around... is that cool?" his voice was meek and he crossed his fingers 
waiting for a response.

"I guess so," Suzie replied. His answer threw her a bit, and she scrambled 
for a way to throw a wrench into his plans. "Can't you call when you get 
back, I mean, shit John, I stay up till eleven every night anyway.." she 
pleaded.

John walked in circles in the kitchen trying to think of something to say. 
Suzie relished in his agony and exhaled into the receiver.

"Sure, that sounds good," he finally said. But if it's after eleven, I'll 
just talk to you on Friday, sound good?"

"I guess it'll have to be," Suzie replied. The clock showed it was now time 
that John and Janice should be hooking up online.

"Hey, Mr. Busy," she teased, "I haven't eaten all day, Im going to call for 
some room service, so Im gonna get going. OK?" Suzie was hungry. She had 
kept her hunger at bay with the cigarettes and resigned herself to the fact 
that she'd have to continue this until their chat was completed.

They said goodbye. John and Suzie both went to their computers and logged 
into their Internet Accounts. Suzie quickly logged into her Yahoo Messenger 
and was relieved to see that her Buddy John was not online yet. Thirty 
seconds later, the sleeping smiley woke up and they began to chat.

Suzie again enjoyed being Janice, and told lie after lie about her life. She 
sometimes jotted down a detail or two on the hotel stationary to refer back 
to. She didn't want to send up any red flags. Janice then shared the details 
of the hotel room and told him to be there at 7:30 sharp. Janice began 
teasing John by talking about how much she enjoyed the sites he had shared 
with her.

Quickly the chat turned a bit hotter as the subjects changed to Smokey BJ's 
and Smokey Kisses. Janice assured John she'd be happy to fullfill these 
fantasies for him. Upon his request, Janice sent another picture to John, 
depicting the real Janice naked in the hotel chair, holding yet another 
message. She was holding another VS120 and exhaling towards the camera. Her 
near perfect breasts were perky and her legs revealed a slightly shaved 
bush. The message she was holding said "Cant wait to be with you John..."

John: Oh wow... baby, you look great.
Janice: Thanks, glad you like it... I can't wait for Thursday

Suzie rolled her eyes as she lit a fresh cigarette. She was getting a bit 
turned on again by all of this.

John: Hey... Who's taking your pictures there? Is someone there with you?

She sat upright, confused, and quickly typed...

Janice: What are you talking about?

She quickly opened Paint Shop and browsed the pictures until she found the 
one she had just sent. Clear as day, Suzies shadow was crossing Janice's 
torso. A body and two arms held up were clearly visible. "Fuck!" Suzie 
shouted "How could I have missed that?" Suzie thought quickly, groping for 
something to type.

John: ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?

Suzie nervously drew and typed. She could blow the whole thing if she didn't 
type just the right thing.

Janice: Damn, your smart John, but dont freak. I can explain.
John: Then explain.
Janice: The person is my husband. He's encouraging me to have this affair. 
He wont be there and wants nothing to do with it. He just wants to hear all 
the details later.
John: Sounds Fucked Up to me.. I dont know. How do I know that he wont come 
and Kill me? He's obviously been there watching you type this...
Janice: I dont know, I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.
John: No, not good enough, I think we should all talk on the phone and 
straighten this out, or just call it off all together.

Sweating now, Suzie agreed and typed.

Janice: If it'll make you feel better, we'll call you in a few minutes, 
sound good?

After a long pause, John finally typed.

John: OK, my number is 555-5555, call me in about 10 minutes. Im going to 
grab a beer and think about this.
Janice: Im sorry If I've ruined this for you. Its harmless really. Its the 
first time we've done this...

And Johns messenger smiley went back to sleep.


Suzie quickly logged off and sat, still trying to figure out how she'd get 
out of this one. The thought came  to her and she quickly bolted out the 
door into the hall. She had noticed a middle aged business man entering his 
room the previous night across the hall. She quickly rapped on his door, 
hoping to god that he was in and willing to help her out.

The door swung open halfway and the man peered out, standing behind the door 
for safetly.

"Can you help me for 10 minutes?" she pleaded. Suzie looked frantic and out 
of sorts, her eyes were a bit wild. "Come on, just 10 minutes, its life or 
death!" she again begged.

He opened the door a bit more and Suzie grabbed his arm and pulled him 
across the hall and into her room. He was small in stature and balding. He 
wore a baggy pair of gym shorts and a smelly T-shirt. Karrie pushed him into 
the chair and started spewing directions and writing things down on the 
notepad. He just stared and tried to keep up. His only thought was that this 
was a story one that would go down in the history books of bathroom fixture 
salesmen everywhere.


"Hello, John? It's Janice." Suzie asked and octove lower than normal.

John looked to the CallerID, it read UNAVAILABLE.

"If you're in Missoula, why won't your name come up on the Caller ID?" he 
asked sternly.

"I'm calling from our cell phone, they wont come up on those," she lied. She 
had anticipated this question well. The stranger from across the hall 
listened intently as Suzie sold her story to John.

"Listen, I think I should talk to your husband, whats his name?"

"Frank, his name is Frank, here he is..." Frank stood and cleared his 
throat.

His voice broke as he spoke. "This is Frank, John, right?" Suzie took this 
opportunity to light a fresh Marlboro red. She triple pumped and then began 
to nervously chew at her fingernails as she listened.

"Hey, I appreciate you doing this favor for..." he looked at the notepad, 
forgetting Suzies name, "... Janice and I. Dont be too freaked out."

Frank nodded as he listened to John ask questions.

"Describe her?" Frank said, turning to Suzie, shrugging his shoulders.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Suzie said under her breath. She quickly flipped open 
the laptop and opened Paint Shop Pro.

Frank coughed a few times to stall as Suzie opened up the picture of Janice 
nude, holding the latest sign, and turned it towards Frank so he could see 
better.

"Wow!" Frank said, his eyes opening wide. Suzie slapped at his shoulder and 
he regained his thoughts.

"Sorry, she smokes like a stack. Janice is a knockout," he continued. "Her 
hair is light brown, but she's dyed it reddish. Looks kind of like Jennifer 
Love Hewitt, but with some meat on her bones..." Suzie stiffled a laugh and 
smoke blew through the hand that covered her mouth.

"Uh huh, ya huh..." Frank agreed to the questions John was posing. "Nope, 
Nope, not going to be anything like that, I promise. Just enjoy yourself," 
he continued, winking towards Suzie. She rolled her eyes and made a rolling 
motion with her hands, trying to get Frank off the phone. He nodded and 
finished with "so, anyway, heres Janice again..."

Frank handed the phone back to "Janice" and she spoke, trying to remeber the 
tone she had used before.

"So are we cool, John?" she asked meekly. As she spoke with John, Frank 
helped himself to the laptop and the other pictures that were displayed. 
When Suzie noticed this she slapped at his hands and closed the display lid, 
giving him a stern look. He just looked at Suzie in disbelief.

"Yeah, I guess so, you're into some weird shit Janice. Just dont show up 
with whips and chains, OK?"

"Not this time..." she replied playfully.

Satisfied that he wasn't being conned, John agreed to meet Janice at the 
comfort in at the designated time. They said good bye and hung up.

Frank stood shaking his head, giggling. When Suzie hung up he simply waved 
and turned around, opening the door.

"Thanks Frank," she called after him. "You saved me. How can I thank you?"

"Send me a cheese burger from room service, and dont tell me what it's all 
about, cuz I dont want to know." They smiled and he shut the door. Through 
the peep hole, she watched Frank try his locked door. He searched for his 
key card in his shorts, and just shook his head as he walked towards the 
lobby. Suzie laughed aloud as she headed to the phone.

"Room Service? This is 215. I need a Cobb Salad and a Miller Light, uh 
huh... And can you send the gentleman in 216 a cheeseburger deluxe and three 
beers? Yes, thats right, put it on my room. Ok, thanks..."

Suzie hung up and reached for her cigarettes, smiling.

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