Chapter 10
“Good afternoon, sir. What can I do for you?” The clerk asked from behind the hotel’s registration desk. It had been a long couple of days of travel. While time with Bri was irreplaceable, the sleepless night hadn’t prepared them for a more difficult day.
“We need two rooms, please.” He tried to find the energy to be kind and polite.
They had thought the flight out of Seattle was bumpy, but it was nothing compared to the pilot threading the needle between two major snowstorm systems that were not supposed to come near Washington, DC, but had instead given it a one-two punch, shutting the city down.
“Excellent, sir. You’re in luck. We have one available.”
“Are you okay with this?” he asked Bri, who had returned from the hotel’s convenience shop with snacks. They had distracted each other to get through the nail-biting flight as it hit air pockets that took them down hundreds of feet each time.
“I don’t see that we have a choice,” she responded.
“If you’re not gonna take it, I will. Move out of the way,” a businessman in a disheveled suit tried to push past them.
“I never said we weren’t taking it. I’m making sure she has a say in this.”
“Thank you, Ethan, but there isn’t really a choice.”
“Okay, sir. I’ll confirm your reservation. And for how many days will you be staying with us?”
“Just the duration of the storm.” They had caught the last shuttle bus to the hotel after searching and failing to find any transportation away from the airport that was closer to the mountains than it was to downtown DC.
“I understand. I will make that for three days then, since it’s started snowing again, and we don’t know how long it’s going to last.” Ethan laid his credit card in the clerk’s extended hand.
“For your dining options, there is a cafe that serves breakfast and happy hour drinks. You were just in the Pantry, and The Captain’s Table serves lunch and dinner, including special meals for the holidays”.
“Do you still have room service?” Bri asked, looking even more exhausted than last night. The intention had been to sleep on the plane, but the turbulence had been against them.
“Yes, but it is a limited menu.” The clerk replied politely, as if there wasn’t a line or weary travelers behind them that he was going to have to turn away.
“Here are your keys. Please have a wonderful rest of your day, and let us know if there’s anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable. ”
“Thank you for your help.” Bri had apparently noticed that he had zoned out and replied for them both. With her arm looped through his, she led them away from the desk, listening to the suit berate the clerk for giving away his room.
They walked quietly, their bags trailing behind them to the elevator, and pressed the button to the third floor.
He watched her bite her lip, once again, lost in her thoughts.
He was tempted to taste her lips and see if they were as soft as they looked, and if they tasted as sweet as her favorite drink.
The doors opened to an endlessly long beige hallway.
“Bri, are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? We need a place to stay. It’s better than sleeping on the benches in the airport. Not that I’m complaining, but it wasn’t very restful.”
“We need to decide how we’re going to play this out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Am I sleeping on the floor? Are we doing the pillow wall? Am I sleeping in a bathtub, if there even is one?”
“Oh, I hadn’t considered that. Can’t we just see how it goes?”
“Not if you keep biting your lip like that.” Her smirk in response told him that she secretly liked him talking to her like that. And maybe with some time, he could persuade her to see where this went, instead of constantly saying this couldn’t become anything.
“Aren’t we there yet?” she asked after they turned too many corners, with every hallway and door identical. The dark pattern rug from the ‘70s was the only variation from beige.
“Crap, it’s cold in here!” He exclaimed, finding the thermostat and raising the temperature from 57 degrees.
The room was at the furthest point from the lobby and was so small that they had to squeeze past the king-sized bed to get around the room.
The bed would serve as a second seat to the small table with one chair, and the massive TV across from the bed would feel like a movie screen.
“You want to take a shower first?” He offered.
“Oh, that would feel so good after being in the airport for so long. The paper towel bath only got me so far.” She said over her shoulder, digging through her suitcase, which she had put at the bottom of the closet.
“How about I call down for room service? Anything in particular you want?” He asked, throwing his own bag in the corner next to the dresser.
“I’m good with whatever.” She clutched her clothes to her chest and headed to the bathroom. He was a little disappointed that he wasn’t going to get to see her wrapped in a towel. Though it was for the best, if she was still convinced that there couldn’t be anything between them.
“Room service should be here soon,” he announced when she came out in her flannel pajamas, the steam of her shower filling the room, bringing the fresh, clean vanilla scent of her with it. He groaned and headed to the bathroom before he could do anything rash.