Chapter 7

Jeff slowly made his way into his room. Trying not to wake the sleeping Matt in the adjacent bed, he softly made his way towards his bed where he pulled off his shirt and pants and climbed into his bed.

“How’d it go?” Matt mumbled through the darkness, surprising Jeff.

“I thought you were sleeping,” Jeff replied rolling onto his side and looking at his brother on the other bed.

“I was waiting for you to get back,” Matt answered, “so how’d it go.”

“You were right, it was a waste of time,” Jeff said.

“Sorry man,” Matt whispered, knowing how much he wanted to get to know Leila.

“It was just really frustrating,” Jeff groaned, “I felt like she was really opening up, and then she goes and completely knocks me down talking about how she was hurt in the past and how she didn’t want to show emotion in front of me.”

“Bad relationships?” Matt questioned, “lots of hidden secrets?”

“She seems like she’d be really happy,” Jeff said, “She’s like a mirage. She’s beautiful, smart, and has an image people love, but really she’s lonely and scared.”

“You want to find out what she’s hiding,” Matt replied sitting up and looking at his younger brother.

“I will,” Jeff replied, looking over at Matt, “goodnight Matt.”

“Night Jeff,” Matt said, lying back down in his bed.

Minutes later Jeff heard the sound of heavy breathing as his brother fell into sleep. Jeff put his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling, his mind running a mile a minute. Leila was running from something in her past, at least Jeff knew that much, and he wanted to know what it was. What made her close off to him like that? What made her pull away every time they got close?

“Only one way to find out,” Jeff mumbled as he climbed out of his bed and grabbed his clothes. Throwing them on he rushed out of the room in search of Leila, he was going to find out what she was running from.

~~~~~~**~~~~~~~

Jeff knocked on the door to the queen suite as he let out a sigh. He was going to find out what was going on with Leila, he refused to let her close him off this time.

“What are you doing here?” Leila hissed as she opened the door slowly and peered at him, “it’s well past 2!”

“I wanted to talk, can I come in?” Jeff asked as he studied her. Her long dark hair was up in a ponytail and any signs of crying were gone as her face was once again it’s perfect complexion.

“No,” Leila replied as she crossed her arms in front of her.

“I need to talk to you,” Jeff repeated.

She gave him a quick once over, “what about?”

“You know what I need to talk to you about,” Jeff answered, “what happened tonight?”

“Leave,” Leila said coolly, her face expressionless.

“Leila, what are you hiding?”

“Please leave,” she repeated, her voice unwavering.

“What kind of skeletons do you have in your closet?” Jeff questioned his tone become more intense, “Leila…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leila interrupted, “now leave before I call security.”

Jeff opened his mouth, but quickly shut it as he turned around and walked off down the hall without turning back. Leila watched until she saw him disappear completely before going back into her room, shutting the door, and wiping a tear off her cheek.

Chapter 8
Chapter 6