Changing Him

Chapter 8

Somewhere along the ride, I had fallen asleep. I woke up to city lights and loud car honking. Pulling up to a parking garage below a hotel, we all grabbed our bags from the trunk and gave the key to the man at the desk.

"We should be meeting Raymond and his family in the hotel lobby." I nodded at my mother before exhaling, letting out a sigh. I pushed up the suitcase handle, wheeling it to the hotel entrance.

Walking into the hotel, I noticed Raymond, Jesse, and Marcus all sitting down at the lobby couches. Jesse waved us down, standing up, as we walked over to them.

"We were talking and we figured since work doesn't start until tomorrow, let's go out for dinner tonight. All of us." Jesse smiled at me, moving down to Jax. Jax being the annoying little boy he is, started cheering.

"That sounds great." My mom responded as I just shook my head in agreement. Looking at Marcus, we made eye contact for a split second before I moved my eyes back down to my feet.

It was already 6pm, so the parents decided we would go upstairs, get changed into something fancy, and then meet back in the lobby.

Stepping into the elevator, I stood on the opposite side from Marcus. I didn't care if he was mad at me anymore, because I was mad at him. He kept his eyes glued to his phone as we arrived at our floor. We all piled out of the elevator before walking over to our rooms. They had the room right next door.

✼

I changed into a silk red dress, my brother into a small black suit, and my mom into a fancy black dress.

We headed back down to the lobby, waiting for Marcus' family. When they finally arrived, we all stood up.

"Raymond made reservations. I believe the resteraunt is in walking distance." Jesse smiled at Jax and I once again before locking arms with Raymond.

Walking out of the hotel entrance, I looked at Marcus to see his hands in his pockets and looking at his feet.

I quickly looked away, hoping he wouldn't see me glaring at him. After a quiet 5 minute walk, we arrived at the resteraunt.

✼

Sitting down at our reserved table, I coincidentally sat across from Marcus. He shot me a small smile while he sat down, as I gave him a straight face.

I tried not to talk to Marcus as much as I could.

The waiter was ready to serve us as I ordered a salad, the rest of the table getting huge entrees. Marcus glared at me as I ordered, but I ignored it.

The table chatted about the weather before our food arrived. The waiter placed a bowl of ceaser salad infront of me as I stared at it. Five minutes had passed and I was just poking my food, taking one or two bites.

"You gonna eat?" I looked up to see Marcus holding his fork close to his mouth, staring at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously." I took a couple more bites, mixing the salad so it looked like I had eaten more. As the waiter came around once more, I signaled to allow him to take my plate. "Would you like a box?" He asked me. I shook my head no as he took my plate away. My mom was too busy conversing to notice I had barely eaten.

Minutes passed, and I still hadn't said a word to Marcus. His earlier comment made me even more enraged at him. "I think we should skip dessert. It's getting late and we have to be up super early tomorrow." My mother informed everyone of her idea and we all agreed.

The bill came and Jesse offered to pay for everything. My mother fought for a bit before giving in, stating she would pay for the next meal.

"Thank you Jesse." Jax and I expressed our gratitude.

"Please, call me Jess." She smiled at us before closing the bill.

We all walked back to the hotel, entering the lobby, up the elevator, and into our rooms. I said my goodbye and good nights to Raymond and Jesse, skipping over Marcus. He rolled his eyes at me.

✼

Walking into our hotel room, we had two king beds. My mother slept in one and me and Jax slept in the other. Taking turns using the shower, I got into pajamas and tucked myself under the covers, noticing it was 11pm. My mom was already fast asleep, as she had work in the morning. Jax was laying with his eyes closed, but I was sure he wasn't asleep. I stayed on my phone until I heard Jax start to let out little snores.

An hour or two passed and it was now 1am. I wasn't tired and there was no way I was sleeping if I couldn't. The hotel room was hot and the air conditioning was loud. I got up from the bed and opened the hotel room door, leaving the door stopper in the crack so that I wouldn't be locked out. I walked across the hall, leaning my back on the wall, sitting down, putting my knees up, and resting my arms on them. A couple minutes had passed when I heard a door open. I looked down the hall to realize it was right next to me. I finally thought I had peace and quiet when I see Marcus walk out of his hotel room, freezing at the sight of me.