5. Josh
I woke in my hotel room around three in the afternoon feeling incredibly stupid. Finding Annie in that kitchen had been a shock, but not enough to react the way I had. Or it shouldn’t have been. Now that I’d had some decent sleep—the honeymooners must have gone sightseeing for the day—I realized that Annie probably wasn’t my client. There had been two other people in the room, and she had been sitting there drinking her coffee and not engaging.
She’d been an observer, like me.
But I’d gone off the deep end and stormed out, furious at myself for being obsessed over someone I’d only met once, angry at Mt. Olympus for making me a Cupid in the first place, fuming at Ellen for sending me on an assignment I didn’t want, and pissed at the people next door for keeping me up all night.
When I got to the car and remembered how cramped it was in there, I’d lost my cool. I was not going to try and take off the wings in a compact.
It had been a huge, stupid risk, and I was lucky nobody saw me magically pop into existence on a suburban sidewalk in Texas. But an even bigger mistake was how I took them off. In my agitated state, I’d tugged too hard in the wrong direction and the elastic snapped on one side. Now my wings were wrecked. Both wings had to be attached in order for the whole unit to function.
And I still wasn’t sure who my client was.
But sleep and a little free coffee from the one-serving pot in my room helped me realize how much I’d blown things out of proportion. Nobody had seen me appear. I could probably hold the elastic on my wing in place with a safety pin. And tomorrow, I’d go back to that house and see who needed a blow dart in the butt to fix all their problems.
I checked the time. If Annie was working tonight, she’d probably start in another hour or so. My stomach grumbled at me, and I gave it a pat of apology. I wasn’t going down there until there was a chance I’d run into her.
I knew I was an idiot. Jen had moved out the day before. I still couldn’t muster any feeling about that other than a mild sense of relief. But that’s how all my relationships ended. They were okay for awhile, then they played themselves out. Cupid or not, I didn’t believe there was anything more out there than that initial rush.
Maybe a long-distance relationship would make that rush last longer. Who knew? But if I did manage to win over Annie, it still couldn’t last forever. Nothing ever did.
But don’t be sad that’s it’s over—be happy that it happened. That’s what people said, anyway.
I had to admit, it already made me heartsick to think about the inevitable end to my hypothetical relationship with Annie.
But those eyes. Green—true green—was so uncommon. There was something special about her. The way she smiled, her voice, the way she made me feel so welcome when I’d first walked into the lobby. Up until she’d decided I wasn’t worth her time last night at check-in, those eyes had smiled at me and made my blood pump faster. I wasn’t giving up quite yet.
Whatever I’d said or done to make her unhappy had to be something I could undo. I had to try.
~*~
She was there when I exited the elevator, and my face completely betrayed me. I tried to keep a neutral expression, but a goofy smile muscled its way into the situation. I willed it to stop, but it kind of settled in as if it planned to stay awhile.
The guy was at the counter again—Stuart, I think he’d said this morning—as she came through the front door carrying a small bundle of something under her arm and heading for the room behind the counter.
Stuart stopped her. “What did you forget that was so important? Did you find it?”
Her eyes grew wide and startled. “Uh…It’s woman stuff, Stuart. You know…” She gave him a pointed look.
He sputtered and turned red. “Oh. Of course. Sorry.” He ducked his head and straightened something under the counter.
Annie glanced my way, froze for a second, then bolted into the back room.
Apparently, she really didn’t want to see me. It felt like a slap to the face. How could she have formed such a terrible opinion of me in the ten minutes or less it took to check me in last night?
As far as that went, how could I have become so obsessed with her in those same ten minutes?
In an attempt to draw out my time in the lobby while I waited for her to come back, I strolled up to the counter with my hands tucked into the pockets of my jeans. I considered whistling on my way so I’d look casual, but decided that might be too much.
Stuart place one hand flat on the counter and smiled in a practiced way. “Mr. Flynn. How are you this evening?”
I blinked, surprised he knew my name. “Stuart, right?”
“Yes, sir.” He beamed. Apparently, guests didn’t usually remember his name. Then again, he did have a name tag on.
“Is the restaurant open for dinner yet?” I kept eye contact with him and didn’t look in the direction of the restaurant where people were obviously going in and out.
“Absolutely. Caffrey’s is open from 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM.”
I knew that from Annie’s check-in spiel and from the menu in the room, but I was stalling.
I leaned closer to him and lowered my voice, as if we were old friends sharing a confidence. “I had breakfast there this morning, but is dinner any good? Dallas is a huge city. Would you recommend I still have at least some of my meals here in the hotel?”
“Oh, yes.” His eyes lit up. “I eat there myself several nights a week.” He lowered his voice as if he, too, had a confidence to share. “The mozzarella sticks are wonderful.” The phone under the counter rang. “Excuse me a moment, please.” He picked up the phone, grunted and said a few yeses and one “I see,” jotted something on a piece of paper, then hung up.
Annie popped out of the back room at that moment, all tension and coldness gone. She gave me a friendly smile and turned to Stuart. “I tried to grab the phone in the back, but I was too slow. What do you have?” She pointed at the slip of paper in his hand.
“416 requested more soap and towels. I was going to call housekeeping.”
“No!” Her outburst caused both of us to stare at her. She snatched the scrap of paper out of Stuart’s hand. “I’ll do it. It’ll be faster.” She glanced back at me. “Will you be going to dinner now, Mr. Flynn?” She flashed an even bigger smile.
I grinned back, feeling the betrayal creeping through my facial muscles. “I believe I am, yes.”
“Good. You enjoy your meal, then.” She reached under the counter and grabbed a lanyard with a keycard in its clear pouch. She straightened and stood looking at me as if waiting for something. “Let me know what’s good tonight when you come back.”
“Oh, sure. Stuart says the mozzarella sticks are good.”
She chuckled. “Of course he did.”
“Do you recommend anything in particular?”
She bit her lip. “The chocolate soufflé is delicious. Takes a little extra time, but it’s worth it.”
“Alright then. I’ll be sure to order it.” I stood looking at her for an awkward moment before realizing she was waiting for me to go before she stepped out from behind the counter. Probably some sort of customer service courtesy thing. I gave them both a little wave and left them for the restaurant.
It could have gone better, but it could have gone worse. At least she didn’t seem to be pissed off at me anymore.
I might have a shot after all.
~*~
When I finished with dinner—I opted out of the cheese sticks, since I didn’t think they’d pair well with salmon—Annie was dealing with a loud family of eight who had, apparently, missed their flight the day before but didn’t want to pay for the night they hadn’t been here, despite not having cancelled the reservation.
I may have been eavesdropping.
I waited for a bit, but they didn’t appear to be calming down, even after she gave them a free night, offsetting the extra one they’d paid for. I went for a walk instead, browsing the windows of the closed shops and considering a drink in some of the noisier bars. I never went in, though. I walked up the street a few blocks, turned right, walked back a few blocks, turned right, strolled, then made a final right until I found myself at the front entrance to the River Rock Hotel again.
Crossing my fingers, I entered the building, hoping Annie wouldn’t be busy. My shoulders slumped in disappointment. A shuttle or something must have come in while I was gone. People were queued eight deep in front of her, and she appeared to be the only one working the desk.
I shoved my hands in my pockets and weaved my way through the line of people to get to the elevator. I wasn’t leaving Dallas anytime soon. I could bide my time, maybe even come back later.
She glanced over at me as I passed, gave me a quick half-smile, then returned her attention to her guest. Despite all the people waiting, she didn’t appear to be flustered. I was impressed. There was so much to like about this woman. Jen would have been frazzled and snappish.
As I rode the empty elevator up to my floor, it occurred to me that maybe my previous problems had more to do with my poor choices in women.
Pondering this idea, I let myself into my room and climbed on the bed to watch some television. In an hour or so, I’d head downstairs again and see if Annie’s evening had slowed down enough to talk. Maybe I’d buy her dessert from the restaurant and bring it to her.
No, that was probably a stupid idea. She was probably sick of the food in the hotel’s restaurant.
I thought about going somewhere else to bring her some dinner, but by the time I figured it out, I fell asleep.
I didn’t wake up again until early the next morning, and Annie was long gone.
The sun came in through the windows and blasted me in the face, since I hadn’t even taken my clothes off last night, let alone closed the drapes.
Ah, well. Maybe it was for the best. Annie seemed friendlier last night, which was an improvement. I’d already made some progress. Still no clue why she was mad in the first place, or why she’d changed her mind, but I’d take it.
I showered and dressed for the day. I wasn’t in a huge hurry to complete my assignment and go home, but I probably should be doing something to move the situation forward. I’d head to the client’s house right after breakfast and get started solving whatever the problem was. Once I set myself to it, I was sure it wouldn’t take long.
The only problem was, I couldn’t find my blowgun and wings.
I patted myself down like an old man looking for his glasses. “Where the hell?” I spun in a circle and looked at the floor. I checked my cargo shorts from yesterday, the bottom of my suitcase, and even the tiny safe under the sink, in case I forgot I’d put it there.
Panic welled and threatened to explode from my head until I thought back. I’d left my wings in the car. I snorted at my own idiocy. Of course everything was in the car. I did that all the time back home.
As much as I tried to reassure myself that everything would be fine, I wolfed down my breakfast, then jogged out the front door. The sooner I could get to my rental car, the sooner I could put my mind at ease. I barely acknowledged the tall, dark-haired woman behind the counter in place of Annie.
I’d worked myself up enough that I was out of breath by the time I reached the rental car. The closer I got, the clearer the memory became of my moment of stupidity, tearing the wings off and throwing them in the tiny backseat where anybody looking in could see them. And try as I might, I couldn’t remember leaving the blowgun in the car, but it hadn’t been upstairs. It must’ve fallen out of my pocket in the car.
Oh, please, let that be true.
I pressed the unlock button on my keys, and the dull thud it made caused my stomach to drop. That was not the sound of a door unlocking. I’d left it unlocked. My stupidity and carelessness was appalling, even to myself.
I flung the door open and peered into the shadowed interior. A trickle of sweat dripped from my temple. The wings weren’t there. A frantic search of every inch of the car—under the seats, in the glove compartment, in the seat pouches and foot spaces—left no doubt that my wings were gone. The blowgun wasn’t there, either.
Ellen was going to kill me. Aphrodite was going to reassign me to the Underworld to be used as a test subject for new torture techniques. And that was if they let me live.
I dropped onto the seat on the driver’s side, facing out, and bent forward, scrubbing my face with my hands. What should I do? I couldn’t exactly file a police report. I couldn’t even ask at the front desk.
Even in my desperate state, Annie’s green eyes haunted me behind my closed lids. I took a deep breath and used her face to calm myself. Annie scowling at me at check-in. Annie holding her mug in her hands in the client’s kitchen. Annie appearing last night with a package in her hands that she told Stuart was women’s stuff. Annie smiling at me as if she hadn’t been angry anymore.
I dropped my hands and opened my eyes. Annie’s package of women’s stuff had been white and approximately the size of a hamburger. I’d actually seen her come inside with my wings, but my mind had glossed over what my eyes had caught. Now that I replayed the memory, there was no question. She’d been carrying my wings.
No wonder she’d been acting so oddly. Annie had broken into my car. I was sure I’d left the blowgun in my cargo shorts. Had she been in my room, too?
My breath caught in my chest. When I went to dinner, she’d waited for me to leave before going upstairs. She’d even suggested I order the soufflé so I’d be gone longer.
I groaned. I’d totally been played. She must’ve seen me at the house, and I’d fallen right into her hands.
Damn. Looked like I still had lousy taste in women.