Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Elaine opened up her laptop with a gentle sigh.
Outside the window of the hotel room, snowflakes swirled frantically as another arm of the blizzard hit Boston.
She was warm and cozy inside, enjoying a cup of coffee while she got some work done.
Although at first she and Audrey had been terribly disappointed to learn that their flight had been delayed yet again, they had decided to put a brave face on the situation and make the most of it.
The day before, the two of them had experienced a wonderful day exploring the city, and after a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant, they’d gone out to see a movie.
Although she missed The Birchwood House and Michelle and Shep terribly—and she was itching to get back home so that she could spend more time with their new puppy—she’d been having a wonderful time in Boston.
As much as she enjoyed her work, it was still pleasant to have an extended break from her normal responsibilities.
The hotel was beautiful and comfortable, the food had all been to die for, and she liked exploring a thrilling old city that had plenty of fascinating sights to offer.
She opened her email inbox, wondering if there was an update from the airline, and her eyebrows lifted curiously when she saw an email from the business conference that she and Audrey had just attended.
She clicked on the email eagerly and began to mutter under her breath as she read it.
“Since the weather is impacting the vast majority of our guests…pulled together as a team… are happy to announce that we are offering free virtual bonus material, available today.” Elaine clasped her hands together, feeling excited. “Oh! That’s wonderful.”
She read the email again, which explained that the business conference was offering extended material from the conference, such as recordings of all the seminars and video footage of past seminars.
They were offering it to the guests of the conference for free for forty-eight hours, so that they were able to continue learning business tips and tricks while they were stranded in Boston.
“Audrey!” Elaine called, feeling thrilled. “I have great news!”
Audrey stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a fluffy robe and wrapping her hair in a towel. “What is it? Is the flight back on?”
“I’m afraid not.” Elaine shook her head. “But the conference is being very thoughtful. They’re offering bonus material to everyone while we wait for the storm to pass.”
“Bonus material?” Audrey echoed excitedly. “You mean like videos?”
“Yes, exactly.” Elaine smiled. “We can watch the recordings that were taken of all the seminars we didn’t go to, and they’re even throwing in some videos from past business conferences.”
“Amazing.” Audrey peered over Elaine’s shoulder at the email, letting off a fragrant aroma of mango and vanilla. “This is fantastic. You want to start watching these now?”
“I don’t see why not.” Elaine gestured to the snow. “I don’t think this is good weather for exploring. And I do want to watch as many of these as we can.”
“I can just see you itching to take as many notes as possible.” Audrey laughed.
“That sounds great to me. Let’s make a couch on my bed, since it’s closer to the TV.
We’ll put all the pillows on there and make it all cozy.
And I’m going to get dressed into sweatpants and a sweater and fuzzy socks. You should wear sweatpants too, Mom.”
Elaine laughed. “I didn’t bring any. But these clothes I’m wearing are comfy enough. Why don’t I go down to the lobby while you get changed and get us a few snacks from the vending machine? Maybe some bags of chips and some cookies?”
“Oo, I love that. It’ll be like going to a movie, except it’s a business conference. Thanks, Mom.”
“Sure.” Elaine stood up, grinning. “I want to stretch my legs anyway, especially if we’re about to spend most of the day sitting in bed.”
She slipped out of the hotel room and made her way down to the lobby. Christmas music was playing over the loudspeakers, and the lights on the various Christmas trees were twinkling. Through the large old windows, she could see the snow continuing to dust the streets of Boston with white.
She hummed as she made her way over to the vending machine and picked out three bags of chips, a bag of miniature cookies, and some fruit snacks.
She felt a little bit like a teenager getting ready for a day of fun with her friends, and she smiled as she thought about how lucky she was that Audrey had moved back to Coral Sands.
The two of them had always been close, but it was hard to be best friends with someone when they were many miles away.
Now that they got to spend all their days together, she could say with confidence that Audrey and Michelle were her best friends.
She loved spending her time with them, and they made everything seem brighter and more fun.
When she got back to the hotel room, Audrey was dressed in her previously announced sweatpants, soft sweater, and fuzzy socks. She was mixing a couple of apple cider packets into two mugs of hot water, whistling as she did so.
“Welcome back,” Audrey said cheerfully. “I thought we could drink these apple ciders. It’s nice of the hotel to provide them, we might as well take advantage of it.”
“Agreed.” Elaine took one of the steaming mugs from Audrey gratefully. “This will hit just the spot on this chilly day. Do you think we should do something like this for The Birchwood House?”
“I was just thinking that.” Audrey laughed.
“Next month we should have it in the budget for sure to put little coffee makers in every room. Then guests can make themselves coffee, tea, or apple cider from packets like this. I’ve noticed that not all the guests use the coffee makers that we have downstairs.
I think the more introverted guests who are just trying to get away from it all prefer to stay in their rooms most of the time.
It would be nice if they could enjoy beverages like this while they’re in there. ”
“I’ll take a note on it,” Elaine said with a wink. “Sounds like a great idea to me.”
“Speaking of you taking notes,” Audrey teased, “are you ready for this? I got my laptop connected to the TV with the HDMI cable, and I’m ready to start watching whenever you are.”
Audrey and Elaine snuggled down on the bed under some blankets, sipping the hot apple ciders and munching on the snacks that Elaine had brought.
The first seminar they watched—a talk on utilizing surveys as a way of improving business practices—had been one that both women had wanted to go to in person, but which they’d passed up in order to attend other seminars that were happening at the same time.
“This is fantastic,” Elaine said, eagerly jotting down notes in her notebook. “We’re going to learn so much today.” She let out a little squeal of happiness. “Aren’t you excited?”
Audrey laughed. “I am. This is proving to be a very rewarding delay.”
They continued to watch the videos together, chatting and enjoying their snacks while they took notes.
After a couple of hours, Elaine received a text from Shep, which made her smile.
She always loved hearing from him. The sight of his name on her phone screen made her heart leap up with excitement every time.
SHEP: How are things going over there today? I’m sorry to hear that your flight got cancelled again. I’m sure you’ll be home soon.
Elaine thought for a moment before typing out a response.
ELAINE: Things are going well! Thanks for checking in.
It’s definitely not what I expected to happen, but it’s been fabulous, nonetheless.
We got an email from the business conference earlier and they’re giving out free virtual bonus material while we wait for the weather to improve.
They know that most of the people who went to the conference have been stranded here because of the weather.
It’s very kind of them, and so far, we’re learning so much!
It’s like business conference Christmas.
She went back to watching the seminar video for another minute or so until her phone buzzed again.
SHEP: That’s wonderful. Sounds like you’re getting to be productive and slow down at the same time.
Elaine grinned. Shep was exactly right. She snuggled back against the pillows, letting out a contented sigh. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, there was no doubt about that.
“Having fun?” Audrey teased.
Elaine nodded, smiling. “Very much so. Are you?”
“Definitely.” Audrey popped a miniature cookie into her mouth. “We’ll be home before we know it, and then we can start putting all this new knowledge to good use. I think getting stranded is worth it to be able to get all this new information for free, don’t you?”
“I agree. I told Shep it’s like business conference Christmas.”
Audrey and Elaine laughed, and Elaine felt another surge of contentment. It did feel like a kind of Christmas, and before they knew it, they would be home again, celebrating Christmas for real.