“Yeah, your self-control seems pretty out of whack right now.”
“Don’t!” he warned. “Don’t. We cannot do this. It’s not just about us. The hotel has dozens of workers now. The kitchen staff, housekeeping, Stan, Georgia—they’ll all be out of work if things go to shit. We’re making good money! A few years from now, we could have five hotels! Ten hotels!”
“I know, I know,” I agreed.
“But if we pursue this Hallie and she decides to get a lawyer—we’ll lose everything. We’ll be in debt for the rest of our lives and for what?”
“Look, I get it. I seriously do.”
“Do you, Trigg? Do you?” Davis had stopped pacing and now stood, still tense, with hands on his hips. I knew his nervous side was strong but didn’t rule over him entirely. His tone went professorial. “We have to be professional around her. From now on. Forever! We have to hope that she’s so embarrassed about tonight that she just wants to forget it too. Then we go into work tomorrow like it never happened. Understand?”
“I know that’s what we should do,” I responded. The reality of his words forced me to think deeper and bear my soul a little. “But it feels wrong. I’ve been attracted to a lot of women, but never like this. I’m attracted to—not just to her body, but to her... vibe. Her mind. Her inside.”
“It can’t happen,” resisted Davis, shaking his head. “It’s over. We have to keep her on payroll. Fortunately, she seems to be a good EA, thank God for that. We keep her on, she stays a few years and we put this whole thing behind us.”
“What if she wants to quit?”
“I won’t let that happen. We’ll cut our own pay if we must, to keep her happy,” said Davis. “But we don’t touch her. And we definitely don’t buy her drinks or let her drink. I gotta know though. Trigg, can you do this? Can you really do this?”
“I’m going to try,” I said while shaking my head at the odds against me.
“You have to more than try!” yelled Davis. “There’s too much at stake! Say it! You’re not going to touch her. Say it.”
“I’m not going to touch her,” I repeated slowly, remembering her giggles tonight, her look of exhilaration mixed with embarrassment, a dash of self-consciousness that tapped a well of feeling that clearly went deep. God I wanted to find out how deep. “It’s not going to be easy.”
“Then take a cold shower, think of baseball or whatever,” Davis suggested. “We have to make this work. We cannot let tonight destroy all that we’ve built.”
“Okay. I’m with you,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “Done, okay? Now go home and get some sleep.”
“Yeah, right,” said Davis bitterly.
He turned, got inside his car, started it up and took off. I watched him go. He was right, of course, this was going to be a long sleepless night. I’d have to wonder if Hallie would come into the office with her lawyer or merely walk in like nothing happened. Probably the worst option would be that she didn’t show up at all. Complete vanishing act. Then who knows how it all would pan out.
I got into my car and drove around for a bit. Driving sometimes helps me clear my head. I thought about calling Hallie, but decided against it. I’m sure Davis would be furious and whatever emotions drove Hallie into her bedroom were likely still churning. I would have to wait until tomorrow.
Passing my house, I continued to drive. I found myself on the highway, then on a lonely country road and finally, I saw a sign for an all-night diner. I like greasy spoons, so I stopped and went inside. I got a coffee and just stared at it for a bit.
“You okay, hon?” asked the waitress.
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “Weird night.”
“I’ll bet it’s a lady. It always is,” she guessed.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “A co-worker. Not really sure what to do.”
“Ooh, yeah. That’s rough. Sleeping with someone from work, I’ve been there,” she said with weariness. “That’s why I’m in this diner and not the one on the highway.”
“Bad break up?”
“You could say that,” she explained. “Thing about work romances--- Work and romance don’t go together, no matter how you slice it. When you have a thing for someone, it’s special to see them. You kiss, wave, do little things for each other. But when it happens at work, then work gets all mixed into it. It gets complicated real fast.”
“Would you do it again?”
The waitress looked away and thought about it. She started to smile and laugh.
“You got me… ” she admitted. “Yeah I would! Because in the end, even though it screws everything up, everyone needs a little love in their life, you know?”
“The stakes are really high with this one,” I said.
“The stakes are always high when it comes to love,” said the waitress. “Just tread lightly, be honest and be a gentlemen. You should do fine.”
“Thanks,” I said, dropping a twenty dollar tip. “Good advice.”
I started to leave.
“Hey, you didn’t drink your coffee,” said the waitress.
“Good advice,” I said. “But the coffee— Not so much.”
I headed back to my house thinking about life. What was it? What was it all for? I’m no philosopher, but if love wasn’t important in this life, then what was the point of it? I had to find some way to make this work with Hallie, but for now I had to be strong. Strong enough to resist her.
It would all happen tomorrow and if I was any judge of character, I knew tomorrow she’d be there. Maybe she wouldn’t be ready to talk yet, but she’d come to work. We’d work it out somehow.
I got home. It was late. My dog, Arfy, was wondering where the Hell I was. Arfy was a friendly mixed dog, mostly German Shepherd. He was kind of dopey, but just the best and happiest guy in the world. I wish I could be that happy. He never seemed to have a care in the world, unless it was me not coming home at the same time.
After grabbing a quick shower, I felt better. I had to shake off today. It was all going to look better tomorrow. As I slid under the covers, I couldn’t help but think of Hallie. Laying in my boxer shorts and no shirt, the covers felt cool, but thinking of Hallie made me hot.
In my mind, I went over every moment I had had with her. Her scent, her looks, her eyes, her lips… She had great lips. I imagined them on my cock. Kissing it, caressing it. I started stroking myself. My erection had already pushed itself out of the fly of my shorts.
Imagining Hallie was easy. For a moment, I was back on her couch, making out with her, touching her. The warmness of her body and the feel of my lips on her skin were inviting. I had never been so turned on by simply touching. The next think I knew, I found myself cumming right in the bed. It was just spurting out of me like a volcano. After the eruption, I felt oddly satisfied.
But I wanted nothing more than to erupt inside of Hallie. If she could make me cum with just her smell and image and touch, having sex with her had to be the ultimate. Somehow, I had to make this happen. And without ruining the hotel.
And I had to accept, that if it ruined the hotel, it would still be worth it. I didn’t want to be in my 80’s looking back on my life and wondering what might have been if I had taken the chance. I had met old, successful hotel operators in my day. Some had wives and children, but a few were solely devoted to their work. Had they played the field too long? The hotel had become their love.
But to love a hotel is a cold and lonely thing. It cannot love you back, no matter how much money you make. I could live with myself if I lost the hotel, but had Hallie, even if it was only for a short time. I think I would be okay with that. I wasn’t sure Davis would be okay, but he wasn’t a romantic like me.
I cleaned myself up as best I could. The intense orgasm had made me sleepy and I soon drifted off. I had a dream about going into work and there, sitting in Hallie’s seat, was a cat. It was licking itself and wanted me to feed it. I’m not sure if it was Hallie’s cat, a cat I had seen before or just the generic cat of dreams. The cat and
I looked at each other. We shared a moment. There was something there, in the connection between us.
Right then, my alarm went off and it was morning. I turned off the alarm and wondered what my dream meant. It was time to go in and face the music. These days, with all of life’s craziness, you had to take chances and let the chips fall where they may. I got ready. I was going to face the day prepared and unafraid.
Chapter 7
Davis
I got in super early. If Hallie was going to bolt on us, I expected her to come in early, clear out her desk and go. Like a mindless zombie, I marched into our office and sat at my desk. I held myself as still as possible until the motion detector light-switch lost awareness of me and let the lights turn off. And because they were on a sensor, the moment someone walked in, I would know it.
Right on cue, ten minutes before starting time, I heard someone enter. Had to be Hallie. From the vantage point at my desk, facing the door, I waited to confirm my suspicion. I heard footsteps approach, then the lights went on a split second later, as Hallie strode through, hurrying to her desk. But she saw me and stopped dead in her tracks.
Facing me with a grave expression, still as a statue, her arms stayed down at her side, but her palms opened tentatively.
“Don’t try and stop me, Davis,” she insisted. “I have to leave.”
“Please don’t leave,” I requested, gently. “We were all drunk last night. Don’t throw away a good job just because of a mistake. We’re all human.” I was on my feet, approaching her, while she began tossing office supplies into an open cardboard box and continued berating our situation.
“I embarrassed you, myself— The company!”
“No one knows that but us,” I said, positioning myself near her so I could keep my voice down. “No one else has to know. We got caught up in a moment. It was just one moment. We can put it aside. Pretend it never happened.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” she said, eyes downcast to her desk. “I don’t know if I want to do that.”
“I feel the same way, but for the sake of our jobs, it’s the right thing to do right now,” I assured her.
“You won’t die of embarrassment,” said Trigg in a chiding yet amused tone, suddenly walking in behind us. “And we won’t die of blue balls.”
“You figured that she’d come in early and clear out her desk too, huh?” I quipped as brightly as I could, given our stressful situation.
“Yeah,” said Trigg with glumness that now turned worried as he looked back at Hallie. “Hey. Have you been crying, Hallie?”
“Yeah, some,” she nodded, looking away from us.
Trigg’s voice went gentle, which didn’t happen often. “We’d never want to make you unhappy. We’ve agreed to back off and put absolutely no pressure on you. Please. You can’t throw away a good job because of one human mistake.”
“We covered that,” I told him.
“Well, okay… I’ve had no sleep, man,” responded Trigg, getting annoyed.
“I’m just trying to get you caught up,” I said.
“We were drunk, Hallie. Anyone can—”
“We covered that too,” I corrected him.
“Ugh. Seriously?” snorted Trigg, now well and truly annoyed. “It’s 8 a.m. I just need some coffee and I’m sure I’ll get up to your standards.”
“Ohmygod,” said Hallie grinning, despite herself. “You two are too funny sometimes.”
“Does that mean you’ll stay?” I asked.
Hallie sighed and looked around plaintively.
“I do like the job and I do like you guys,” she admitted, regaining her certainty under those luxurious eyelashes. She then turned to face me fully for the first time today, eyes finally meeting mine without shame. “We’re adults, right? We should be able to work this out like adults. What am I running for?”
“Awesome!” said Trigg behind me.
Trigg rushed in to give her a hug and then stopped himself. It got awkward for a second. Hallie put out her hand. She laughed and they had a platonic handshake.
“Thank you so much, Hallie,” I told her. “I know I speak for Trigg—”
“He doesn’t.”
“—When I say that we were a little worried. And we greatly appreciate your patience with us.”
“Okay, maybe he does,” admitted Trigg.
Hallie laughed and actually smiled a real, genuine show of happiness. Then the door opened and Stacey walked in.
“What’s up, dickbags?” she proclaimed. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia? Anyone? Anyone?”
Hallie’s smiled evaporated and she promptly sat down at her desk. She mumbled “Good morning” and pretended to look at her computer screen.
“Inappropriate workplace dialogue,” said Trigg, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
“Sorry,” apologized Stacey, though it was clear she was not. “Technically, we haven’t started work yet, so…”
“What can I do for your Stacey?” I asked without joy.
“I’m supposed to be shadowing you today,” she explained. “So I guess I get to see what you do. Hope you don’t go into the men’s room a lot. Or do I? Haha. Another joke. I swear! God, lighten up in here. What is this a funeral?”
Stacey was trying to be funny, but not in the fun, we’re-all-adults way. It was more like a child wanting the attention of the room then getting annoyed when she didn’t getting it. Her attempts at comedy made me cringe. For someone who was in her late 20’s, she didn’t have a much in the maturity department. Most college interns were too inexperienced and too afraid to do much of anything, let alone try to command a room with jokes.
For now, Trigg and I seemed to have saved the hotel and whatever remained of our relationship with Hallie, whatever that was. Obviously, it was going to be careful going from here on in, but at least she wasn’t panicking anymore. But she really didn’t like Stacey and I couldn’t blame her. Stacey had a way of instantly sucking the life out of everyone in the room.
Relieved to face only small worries in the grand scheme of things, I turned my attention to the business of the day. Stacey was shadowing me, so I couldn’t get a tremendous amount of work done. I had to keep stopping to explain things to her. This was pretty standard for an intern. Fortunately, we weren’t too busy. With the baseball team gone, the occupancy had return to normal levels for the week.
I showed her our handbook and gave her a copy. She seemed disinterested, but I pressed on, explaining.
“Our handbook lists procedures for all aspects of hospitality at the ME,” I lectured. “If you can’t find it in here, then come straight to me.”
“So… what’s the wildest thing you’ve ever seen in one of the rooms?” she asked salaciously, eager for scandal.
“Uh, not really appropriate talk for an intern,” I said.
“C’mon, I’m 28. I’m not a kid. I took off for a few years before I went to college,” she explained.
What she probably meant was she screwed around for four or five years on her daddy’s dime. Now that she was getting older, her family had pressured her to get a degree in something. She decided to learn the family business. After all, her father was still the owner of ME, a fact that I was loathe to tell Hallie.
“It’s a hotel,” I said. “People have adult relations here. Sometimes they get drunk. It’s pretty easy to do the math.”
“That’s not a very good story,” said Stacey, irked at being so un-entertained.
“I’m not here to dance for you, Stacey. Do you want to learn this business or not? I have work to do,” I said, not hiding that I was growing mildly annoyed.
“Yes,” she said exasperated. “I’m sorry, mother. Please don’t report me.”
“You want some advice?”
“Okay…” said Stacey.
“Change your whole attitude or admit hospitality is not for you,” I explained. “You have to put the customer first, not yourself, in this business.”
“But we get time to ours
elves,” countered Stacey. “It’s not like the customer should rule our lives, right?”
“You’re not getting it,” I re-explained. “The customer is always right and in the hotel business, the customer usually needs your help 24/7. You have to show a level of commitment and interest. Rooms have to be clean, staff has to be knowledgeable and friendly, and you have to be knowledgeable and friendly even to total assholes.”
“So I have to let people walk all over me,” she sneered like a surly teenager. “Got it.”
“You’re not listening. Just because a customer is upset or angry doesn’t mean you get to treat them like shit,” I insisted. “Sometimes the hotel is at fault. Sometimes it’s not. That distinction is usually not important to the customer. People don’t stay in hotels so someone can tell them they’re wrong.”
“I get it, I get it,” Stacey said, yes-manning me. “Hey, you ever get the couples cheating on each other and confronting their spouse here? I’ll bet that’s hilarious!”
Jesus, this chick was vapid. Here she was on an internship, supposedly learning, and her skull was like an impenetrable fortress of ignorance. Even trying to train her in this business, all she could think about was being entertained. I wasn’t sure how to reach her or whether her father would blame me for not doing so.
“I’ll know what we’ll do,” I suggested. “We’ll clean a room.”
“Why? Isn’t that the maid’s job?” she asked.
“Yeah, but there’s a certain way to do it. You have to know how to do it in order to be able to supervise someone properly,” I explained. “Let’s go.”
I could tell this wasn’t something she was expecting. Immediately, the smirk disappeared from her face. Exactly what I wanted. Well, not exactly. What I wanted exactly was for her to disappear. Finally, Stacey was going to get serious.
I located a floor where the housekeeping staff were still cleaning rooms, found Marissa, one of our housekeepers. She had just opened a room to clean and was about to go inside.
“Marissa,” I called, as we approached her. “Sorry to interrupt. This is Stacey. She’s on an internship. I’d like to show her how to clean a room. Stacey, Marissa is one of our best.”
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