*Unedited blejejldhhjk*

Jane

I got inside the room and quickly stripped out of my clothes. My eyes were barely opening and all I needed was the bed and a high intake of caffeine. It was ironic how I would sleep well in the hotel room where thousands of people would be walking around in the lobby outside, rather than sleeping in the comfort of my own house, not mine, though- My aunt's house.  

The softness of the bed made me feel like I was thrown into heaven. A halo-like effect was caused in the room due to the clean white sheets. Something was different today; the mattress gave an ultra-fluffy featherbed-like feeling. Two pillows with feather and down, two down-alternative pillows and a boudoir pillow were aligned on the bed. It seemed almost as if the room was giving me a place to breathe, more like Hawaii was giving me a break from everything which I had left behind. My closet here was not buried with broken hearts, fire, lies, betrayal or my frozen tears. Instead, it was full of emptiness. I no longer needed to keep a lock on my cupboard, after all, it was empty and nothing in it could fuel open my past. 

As I dried my face with a paper towel, a knock was heard on the door.

"Room service. Here is your espresso," said the girl in a double-breasted red jacket with gold buttons, white trousers and shirt, and a gold tie with black stripes. 

"Thankyou, Rebecca," I smiled at her while reading the name on her badge. The smell of my roasted coffee beans, now liquid was utterly fresh.

"Oh, and this too, I completely forgot," she quickly added while handing me the plate which had a medium sized puffy chocolate muffin resting in the middle.

"Umm, looks delicious but I didn't order it."

I kept the plate back on the glass trolley which made an unintentionally chinking sound. I raised my eyebrows as I waited for her to respond but all she did was rub her palms with her nails. Something about her made it seem as if she was nervous; she kept tapping her feet over and over on the ground. It was unusual for someone from the room administration to appear this anxious.

"I know, but a guy named Ashton ordered it for you,"

"Wha-"

Before I could respond, she quickly turned to her heels and pushed the trolley to another room.

Am I that intimidating, huh?

Those thoughts sped away from my mind as I took a chunk of the chocolate filled muffin in my mouth.

"Mhmm. Thanks, Ashton," I whispered to myself.

The entire time, I wondered why Ashton was so good to be true. Perhaps not impeccable but rather simply the right kind of good. The thought itself was confusing for me but I sort of liked this perplexity, it took off my mind from all the disarray whirling in my mind. 

I took a sip of espresso and for a full minute, I felt like I transcended myself to heaven. The warmth traveled down my throat and spread across my entire body. It was functioning like the heart, pumping the strength inside me. With that, I adjusted the pillow at my back and switched on my laptop; I logged into my email and immediately started working on my piled up assignments. It was a long day and a lot had happened.

At this point, my only concern should have been the overloaded work but I was way too calm, dangerously serene; the soothing feeling was one of the best feelings I had encountered in my entire day. From the cozy bed, coffee and the musings of Ashton, everything felt great. It was like a rollercoaster of emotions; first, my heart was crumbled into tiny pieces after watching Emily sob in my arms, second, the disturbing news about Julia burned my already broken heart into ashes and third, the glimpse of Ashton's story blew away those grey pieces and turned them into petals.

The way he introduced me to his life was heartfelt by me, I was the sort of person who would sit by listening to people ramble about their stressful life and not feel even the tiniest amount of sympathy for them but Ashton's story moved me.

He communicated with me like nobody had ever done.

Yes, communicated is the perfect word because it didn't seem like he was talking. I knew what he was doing and so did he, he was digging a place in my soul in a clever manner. He tried to make me understand the importance of communication. Through this, he was challenging me to open up about myself and I would be lying if I said it wasn't working.
  
Was I ready to talk about it?

I sighed at the idea of my sealed thoughts. Today, he cracked a part of me; the shell which was covering me up chipped off from a side but I was not ready to give him this part of me. Not just him, nobody would ever learn about my past.

I yawned and grabbed my phone from the left side of the bed to check the time. Even though the clock was available on the laptop screen, it had become a habit to use the phone for that purpose. 

"Fifteen voicemails!" I screamed. I unlocked the screen and checked who was this desperate to reach me, unfortunately, they were all from my Aunt and I was in no mood to talk to her right now. It has been two weeks and I haven't even dropped her a single message. I don't want to be contacted by anyone from Texas, at least for these two months. 

I placed my phone on the nightstand, my eyes were busy revising the assignment typed on the screen. I took another chomp of the muffin but quickly spit it out of my mouth when I tasted the rough paper on my tongue.

Fortune muffin?

I unrolled the thin, wet, rice paper and read the message out loud.

Pamper yourself with sugar. A treat for bearing me. You need it, I swear. Or for being bitter. Just kidding. Take Care, Hope.

-A

How thoughtful of you, Ashton.

Heat spread up my face as the corners of my lips started pulling away in opposite directions. I could imagine Ashton standing in front of me, light falling on him, making the room seem like a blur. The sight of him was crystal clear, he was smiling at me, showing off those charming dimples. Once again, he may not be beside me but he was still communicating and this note was enough to prove that.

I stashed the note in the drawer of my nightstand and turned off the lamp.

"No nightmares tonight, please," I prayed and covered my face with the comforter. 

***

1) I know this was short but it was a glimpse into Jane's life at the hotel.

2) For the PLL fans, I know the note from Ashton seemed like an 'A' move xD

3) Next update = Tomorrow. I missed you guys. I was way too busy. ❤

4) Do not forget to VOTE & COMMENT. 🙈