Hair wound in a towel atop her head, swaddled in her fluffy purple robe and green bunny slippers, Amelia carries her bathroom bag back to the corner room she shares with Liz.
Too bad Liz couldn’t come along tonight. Some assignment she had to work on with Jake.
Amelia is so glad she could get the night off to see the play. It was exquisite. She smiles to herself as favorite scenes play out in her mind. That actress was an excellent Juliet. And the sword fight was incredible.
There’s just something about Shakespeare.
Amelia is startled when Elsie’s door opens abruptly just as she passes. She’s about to say, ‘hey’ when she realizes it isn’t Elsie — or Eric either — everyone on the floor is accustomed to his occasional illicit presence. But this … this is some total stranger guy. Good looking, in a biker kind of way, but a total stranger.
He grins broadly at Amelia, eying her up and down, then he winks and says, “Nice threads.”
Amelia flushes violently at the ignominious reminder she’s dressed for bed. The guy blows her a kiss then slips out the fire door. She waits a beat and then checks to make sure that the heavy door really did latch behind him. Overcome with fury, she leans against the door, shaking, as the anger washes over her.
§
Liz looks up from her desk with a smile as the dorm room door swings open, but the smile dissolves at the sight of Amelia’s face. Liz asks, “What’s wrong?”
“I just about ran into some strange man in the hall.”
“Well heck, we’ve gotta report this.” Liz is reaching for her cell phone when she sees Amelia’s head shake. “Why not?”
“He was coming out of Elsie’s room.”
“You’re kidding!” says Liz. “She only just dumped Eric.”
Amelia nods, “Guess she’s a fast worker.”
Hanging her bathroom bag on its hook, she shrugs off the purple robe, revealing an equally purple nightgown. Kicking off the clashing slippers, she drapes the robe on her desk chair and climbs into bed, switching on the reading lamp.
“Let’s hope it’s a one time thing.” Liz suggests hopefully.
“You know it wasn’t that bad with Eric slinking around because at least we know him, but I’m not so keen on running into total strangers when I’m wandering around in my jammies.”
Liz nods, “Lets see how it goes.”
“I just hope it doesn’t turn into a parade,” replies Amelia as she picks up her book. Thinking, it was a parade when Elsie was with Eric. It’s only gonna get worse now she’s not.
