2. Chapter 2
Ceth approached the desk and nodded to the clerk. “Long day, huh?”
Having weathered this annual conference in its various locations six times during her tenure at FunDaze, Ceth and most of her fellow veteran attendees knew better than to rush the check-in desk right off the bat on registration day.
It was usually utter chaos marked by missing reservations, malfunctioning computers, and finicky corporate credit cards.
She and her regional division colleagues normally hung back and chatted until the line thinned out.
As hotel lobbies went, this resort’s, with its homey rustic décor, massive fireplace, and large windows overlooking the summertime Arkansas foliage outside, hadn’t been a bad place to hang out until the crowds parted.
On hearing Ceth’s question, the clerk looked up from the computer with a grin that belied the stress of the situation. “I’ve seen worse.”
Ceth answered with a grin of her own, and the clerk’s smile widened the slightest bit as their eyes met. Ceth sent a casual glance to the nametag affixed to the clerk’s Middle Waters polo shirt which read, “Maddox D. They/Them.”
Ceth’s own smile widened, and she thought she caught a hint of something flickering through the clerk’s eyes. Awareness? Interest? Or maybe it was only recognition of their mutual queerness.
Maddox D. was hot with their short hair, bright smile, and overall air of effortless competence. It wasn’t difficult to imagine them being enthusiastic and efficient in other ways.
Ceth had been through enough check-ins to do the whole process on autopilot, affording her the brain space to plot a little bit, maybe check for an opening.
“I hope you and your colleagues will find time to check out some of the attractions in and around Blueville this week. We have some beautiful hiking trails, a variety of small artisan shops, and numerous restaurants and bars,” Maddox said while offering a paper map marked with the locations they’d mentioned.
“Sounds great!” Ceth leaned forward on the desk and into Maddox’s space the tiniest bit. Lowering her voice and ensuring she caught Maddox’s eye again, she said, “There’s so much to do, I’d probably need a tour guide. Are you working late tonight?”
Maddox’s eyebrows lifted a little before they reined in their smile a notch and looked down at their computer with a chuckle. “I get off work at seven. Just in time for dinner with my girlfriend.”
“Ah, gotcha.” Ceth chuckled too and backed up. “Well, maybe I’ll find a willing guide or two at one of those bars.”
“I’m sure you will,” Maddox answered with a smirk. “Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy Middle Waters and the conference. Let us know if you need anything and, once again, thanks for your patience with the last-minute switch up with your roommate.”
“No problem,” Ceth said with a sigh, as she took her key and walked off. It wasn’t until she was halfway across the lobby that she replayed Maddox’s words. Last-minute switch up?
She must have tuned out some detail about her assigned roommate in her ill-fated attempt to be smooth with Maddox.
It was probably best she hadn’t been successful after all.
She’d temporarily forgotten about the whole needing-to-share-a-room thing this year.
Not the best idea to take someone back to your room when the coworker you barely know from Missouri or wherever was trying to sleep in the bed four feet away from yours.
Besides, she wasn’t supposed to be thinking about hookups. This year’s conference was going to be the one where she focused on networking and keeping her ears open for new opportunities. Work opportunities.
After six years of driving here and there, making endless phone calls, charming potential corporate clients, and following up on lead after lead, Ceth was done with selling special events and vacation packages.
She wanted something more stable, more consistent.
Hopefully something up the FunDaze chain or even with Farrington Parks, the amusement park company that FunDaze was a subsidiary of. It was time to get serious.
Her ruminations were abruptly cut short by a slap on the back. “Tough luck, O’Malley!”
Rolling her eyes, Ceth turned to her friend Jonas. “Don’t you have anything better to do than spy on my conversations?”
“Hmm, let me see…” He stroked the stubble on his pale chin in faux thoughtfulness. “Nope!”
She shook her head at him while he chortled over his own antics. “Give me a break, Ceth. I’ve been happily married for twenty-three years. The most entertainment I get is watching you tomcat at these conferences every year.”
“Tomcat, Jonas, really?” Their colleague Maria scoffed as she joined them. “Are you fifty-five or eighty-five?”
Jonas was, indeed, in his mid-fifties and Maria in her early forties, and despite Ceth being nearly ten years younger still, their shared work gave the three of them enough common ground.
When Ceth had started at FunDaze, she had worked out of the same office as Jonas and Maria, but when the company had expanded two years later, she’d been moved to another area.
That didn’t stop them all from getting together at each annual conference, though, and sitting beside each other during the sessions.
Then sometimes they’d get tipsy at dinner afterwards.
Once she’d finished dragging Jonas some more, Maria glanced between him and Ceth. “What’d I miss?”
“Oh, Ceth here tried hitting on the desk clerk and struck out,” Jonas announced.
Maria’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Somebody mark this occasion down. It might be a first! What happened? Was she straight?”
Ceth opened her mouth to answer when Maria interrupted. “Wait, since when did that matter?”
Jonas elbowed Maria’s arm. “That’s right! Remember the blonde from two years ago? Called off her wedding the day of her bachelorette party and our Ceth was nice enough to console her! What happens at the con stays at the con, right?”
Now they were both laughing. Ceth chuckled gamely, but her heart wasn’t in it. This trip down memory lane was depressing, if she were being honest.
“No one in this scenario was straight,” Ceth clarified. “I asked and they declined because they have a girlfriend and that’s that. Let’s move on.”
But Maria wasn’t looking at her. Instead, her focus was on something behind Ceth. “Is that the desk clerk that turned Ceth down? Well, no wonder!”
Ceth and Jonas pivoted in time to see Maddox stroll out from behind the counter to greet Denise Farrington.
The Denise Farrington, only daughter and heir to the Farrington Parks empire and technically their boss’s big boss.
But the greeting was a kiss, light at first, before Ms. Farrington pulled Maddox to the side and threaded her fingers through their hair to deepen the kiss.
“Holy crap, Ceth!” Jonas slapped her shoulder again and wheezed through barely contained laughter. “You were hitting on the boss lady’s partner!”
Ceth squeezed her eyes shut.
Great.
Day One of chasing her goal of being more settled and serious, and she may have already burned a bridge with the boss. If Maddox were to tell Ms. Farrington what happened, Ceth’s new “switched up” roommate, whoever she was, might just get the room to herself while Ceth got sent packing.
Why had she ever thought her new goal was viable? She was the last person on earth anyone would trust with something serious.
Leaving Maria and Jonas behind with the promise to catch up later, Ceth shuffled toward the exit of the Sycamore Lodge, the resort’s main building that housed the lobby and restaurant.
Her assigned room was in the Sugar Maple Lodge, one of only two buildings besides the Sycamore that was fully operational.
When the conference had been at this resort the year before, numerous lodges were available, but that was before Farrington Parks had officially purchased it and begun renovations.
Fortunately, the renovation work didn’t disturb the natural beauty surrounding the resort. Tall pines shaded the grounds from the August sunshine, and the air was fragrant with flowers. It was impossible to hold onto her sour mood amidst all this sunlight and fresh air.
By the time Ceth reached the Sugar Maple Lodge, she was reluctant to go inside, but she was also ready to be rid of her luggage.
She shifted her duffel bag from her right hand to her left and gave a gentle warning knock, in case her roommate was already checked in and settling into the room—yet another detail she’d failed to pay attention to while talking to Maddox—then she unlocked the door and stepped inside. “Hello?”
When she stepped into the center of the room, she nearly dropped her bag. A small gasp caught in her throat as she gazed at the figure standing near the window. But the shock that had jolted her system was soon replaced by a flood of warmth.
“Krystal?”