Bess
Geez, that guy was a little bit creepy, but mostly intriguing, if I were completely honest with myself. He sat in his corner booth, never taking his gaze off his morning paper, folding and creasing it with precision.
I served my tables but couldn’t resist keeping an eye on him; there was something about the way he wasn’t looking at the scenery like most people did. Not once did he turn his head toward the scenic windows to take in the large trees that were turning vibrant shades of orange, and the bunnies scampering across the wet grass.
He barely glanced at the menu before I heard him curtly asking Joe, the other waiter on duty, for coffee and eggs with toast. And then after devouring everything on his plate, washing it down with a second cup of coffee, he slipped out of the restaurant without even lifting his eyes to the room.
That was it. He was gone, and I felt some strange draw to this man who was sexy, yet all business, which made absolutely no sense. By lunchtime, I’d forced myself to put the guy way out of my mind.
I was leaving for the day when my supervisor, Maddie, called me into her office. Tripping over my own feet, I stepped over the threshold, but didn’t sit down. “Is everything okay, Maddie?” I asked as I stood behind the enormous dark green club chair opposite her desk.
“Everything is fine, Bess,” Maddie said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Never any problems with you, honey. But today I had a visit from a gentleman staying at the hotel with a very strange request. He wants you to join him for dinner tomorrow. In fact, he extended his stay by one night to make time for you.”
I felt my brow furrow in confusion. “I don’t understand. I didn’t even talk to anyone today. Who would want to have dinner with me?”
Maddie motioned for me to sit and leaned forward. “His name is Lane Wrigley. Apparently he’s some hotel industry big shot here on official business. Do you know who he is? Did you ever meet him before? Hear of him?”
Sliding into the seat, I shook my head. “No. I’ve never heard of him before. Ever. I’ve been living here in this small town since I left college—you know that. How would I know some hotel biz guy?”
Maddie narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t think you did, but I went to upper management with his request, and they want you to go. They want to know what the man wants. Maybe he’s looking into the inside of operations here.”
I blew out a breath and said, “I don’t even know who you’re talking about, Maddie. You know I keep to myself. This is nuts. I’m a waitress, and now the boss guys want me to play corporate espionage?”
Completely ignoring my protests, Maggie rattled off, “Tall guy, black hair, blue eyes, wearing a suit. He ate with us today. Maybe you saw him in the restaurant?”
Surprised, I sat up straighter and said, “Oh, him. Yeah, he was all spooky. At first he stared at me, then he just ignored me. I don’t think so, Maddie.” I stood up, prepared to leave for the day, but Maddie pulled out all the stops.
My supervisor stood up and walked around the desk toward me with wide eyes. “Listen, Bess, just go and see what he wants. It will reflect well on me, with my bosses. The top brass apparently want to hire him, they feel like they need him.” Her tone turned pleading as she added, “I’ll even give you a paid day off the next day.”
I rose out of the chair. “I don’t want a paid day off. I don’t like being off, you know that. But fine, I’ll do it, but it has to be early. Like five o’clock tomorrow, because I will be at work the day after.”
As I walked out of her office, I heard Maddie yelling, “Swing by tomorrow and I’ll confirm the details. Thank you, Bess.”
I didn’t even bother to change as I was leaving. Instead, I went straight home, let Brooks out, ate a lonely dinner for one, and did something I hadn’t done in a long while.
Later that night, I pulled into the mostly vacant church parking lot and sat in the driver’s seat with the car idling. I was early, eager to get somewhere I never wanted to go, and I was sweating. A cold, nervous chill overtook me, sending fine tremors over my entire body. Beads of perspiration dripped down my sides, lined the nape of my neck under my long and heavy hair, and slid uncomfortably down my back and into my ass crack as I watched other cars pull in alongside mine.
Allowing everyone else to exit their cars first, I waited. I wanted to slip into the basement meeting room unobtrusively, to be invisible; I wanted my long absence from the meetings to go unnoticed.
I pulled a ball cap over my hair, tugging the bill of it low, and glanced at my reflection in the rearview mirror before I finally opened the door of my SUV. Then I forced myself to turn and threw my jeans-clad legs out of the vehicle, planted both my feet on the ground, and willed them to walk toward my destination.
Move, Bess.
I did. Slowly at first, before eating up the concrete in my comfy, reassuring Nikes, hurrying to do what I needed to do before I chickened out.
When I tugged the door open, it creaked and clanged loudly, drawing unwanted attention to me as I stood hesitantly in the doorway. My eyes stung and I started to turn back around before I felt a large hand on my arm.
“Stay, Bess. It’s okay. You’ll be okay. No hard feelings,” said a gravelly voice, raspy from cigarettes, warm from coffee, and soothing like a blanket in front of a fire on a cold night.
I nodded my head, unable to form the words, and finally sputtered, “Thanks, AJ.”
My sponsor wrapped his arm around me and guided me to a seat next to him. Big and strong, with his shirt and jeans smelling of the outdoors and his latest construction job, AJ’s comforting presence quieted my jangling nerves.
Sitting on my hands, squelching my need to fidget or pick at my dark red nail polish, I listened intently to the others’ stories of perseverance and strength while wrapped tight in the soft embrace of my sweater.
I didn’t share or talk, only absorbed the stories of others’ struggles, finding some inspiration in their strength. And then I went home to my cabin, crawled into bed still wearing my clothes, and held my dog.