Panthea moaned, unwillingly opened her eyes, and then squinted against the early morning sunlight that had crept through the slats in the window’s wooden blinds. She snapped her eyes shut and rolled over on to her side in the king-sized bed. After being unable to reclaim sleep, Panthea opened her eyes for good and looked around the room.
It was the picture of modern elegance, everything she didn’t see the night before. Decorated in gold and yellow tones, the room was quiet and simple, but classic. The layout was spacious. Panthea glanced at the desk and an armchair in a corner.
She yawned and eased herself into an upright position then stretched. She reached for her cell phone to check for missed calls. When she left the house the night before, Scott called her so many times that she finally turned the ringer off. As she expected, Scott had been calling her all night long. When she checked her messages, there were several from Scott. They were all pretty much the same; him accusing Panthea of killing Abril Arrington and swearing he’d see her pay for it.
Panthea pressed end, turned off her phone so she wouldn’t be annoyed with Scott’s calls and tried to put all of his angry words behind her. She swung her feet onto the floor and paddled her way into the bathroom. She smiled at the deep marble bath, separate glass shower, and then noticed the wonderful toiletries and plentiful towels.
After a long and refreshing shower, Panthea emerged energized and excited about the day ahead. Wrapped in one of the hotel’s thick and luxurious robes, she sat at the edge of the bed and dialed Marcus’s number.
“H—hello?” his groggy voice answered.
“Rise and shine sleepy head,” she sang into the phone like it was mid-afternoon, instead of early morning.
“Wwwhat time is it?”
“Oh, it’s already seven-thirty. I figured I’d let you sleep in a bit. You can thank me later. But now it’s time to rise and shine,” she sang again, far too enthusiastically for Marcus’s taste, but he wasn’t about to complain. He rose from his slumber and shook the sleepy sound from his voice.
Before Marcus could fully get his bearings, Panthea began to speak again. “It’s going to be a gorgeous day. I’ve already checked the weather channel. And I really don’t feel up to spending it cooped up in this room alone.”
Marcus could hear her pouting through the phone, and he found himself weakening at the sound of her voice. She already knew how to get to him, he thought.
“Okay, Mrs. Daniels. What’s your pleasure today? What do you feel like doing on this gorgeous day?”
“I don’t know really. I just know I don’t want to spend the day all locked up in this room. It’s a nice room, very nice actually, but I just want to go out and enjoy the day,” she admitted.
“Okay, so you want to go out and do something,” Marcus said.
“Yes, maybe we could go to a park, go for a carriage ride downtown, or have lunch somewhere and just enjoy this gorgeous day,” she offered.
“Well, let’s see. Lunch and a carriage ride? That actually sounds pretty good to me,” Marcus said.
“Oh, Marcus, I know what I would really like for us to do?”
“What’s that, Panthea?”
“I wanna go to the beach,” Panthea said and visions of them playing in the water danced in her head. “But I had to surrender my passport, so I guess we can’t jet away to the islands.”
“No, Panthea, I’m afraid we can’t.”
“I know,” she said sadly. “But I’ve always wanted to have a picnic on the beach,” she said with excitement suddenly returning to her voice. “I mean think about it. We could pack a basket, go select some fine wine, take a blanket and just enjoy this wonderful day. Do you like being near the water? I find it really relaxes me.”
“I love the water, Panthea. I think I like saying your name.”
“I like hearing you say it,” Panthea cooed. “Anyway,” she said quickly before she said what else she’d like. “I’m sure we can find something to do here in town.”
“No. A picnic on the beach it is,” Marcus announced.
“Really?”
“Yes, really,” Marcus confirmed.
“How are you going to arrange that? You have a private plane or something like that?”
“No,” Marcus said briefly giving some thought to chartering a plane for her. He wanted to be with her and wondered just how far he would go to have her. “I was thinking more about us driving to Tybee Island.”
“Savannah! I’ve never been there. How long will it take to get there?” Panthea asked, aroused by the possibilities.
“We could be there in four hours, and since it’ so early—”