Copyright 2014, by author Shayshay. If you wish to reproduce this copy, please contact the author for rights and responsibilities.
Much to everyone's surprise, the home office for their paralegal branch had sprung for the airfare and the tickets to the convention, but they were sparing in the accomodations. The rooms were fine, of course, a mid range hotel attached to a convention center complex, but it paled in comparison to the glistening four star that was on the other side of the center's garden walk. In the beginning, corporate , who of course waited until the last minute to book reservations, got them the only two rooms left in the smaller hotel, complete with a king bed in each. Two women and three men meant only two rooms to corporate, who honestly thought it was enough.
Amy didn't mind sharing with her colleague Gina, there were good friends, but they snickered at the thought of the three guys figuring out the sleeping arrangements in their one king bed room.
"They are going to get a whole lot more comfortable with each other," Gina snickered one day during a coffee break. "I bet it would be hot!"
"Gina!!" Amy laughed and smacked her arm. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Amy honestly didn't really care about two of the guys, but she liked Sean. She had liked him from the moment he started with the company. He was funny, kind of quirky, and he made her laugh. Plus he was really smart. While she was happy being a paralegal and working with the everyday folks who came through the door, he was finishing law school and waiting for the bar exam. Thankfully, before the convention week came up, the two other colleagues balked and backed out, leaving Sean with the room to himself. Which initially sounded like a wonderful proposal, right until he walked down the hall to his room.
Two floors up from the ladies, Sean was listening to the incredibly loud partying of a group that was supposed to be in all week, surrounding him on the floor. It was five o'clock in the afternoon when they checked in, and the walls were already shaking. Not a good sign. He went back down to the front desk, hoping a reprieve of another room was possible. No luck. The convention had them beyond sold out, and this group had booked the whole floor first. What could have been a nice respite was looking like a vacation nightmare.
"If they get too loud, sir, we will send up security," the hotel employee said professionally.
"Get loud?" Sean said horrified. "They are already loud. You should hear it up there."
"The noise ordinance doesn't go into effect until 11 pm. I'm sorry, sir."
Sean had given up then. Nothing else to do.
There were people in his hall when he toted his luggage up and they tried to be friendly, but it was no use. His mind was made up. He wandered into the room with a casual, 'See you later," to their greetings, that garnered no response.
Once in the room he grimaced. He hated that smell. That cheap hotel smell; plastics, glue, and years of foot traffic. After a few provisional settling in tasks, he got ready to head to the welcome banquet, by way of anywhere but here. He slid his key into his pocket and walked out into the hallway to head down to the sports bar. He hoped Amy was having better luck with her room situation. She probably was. Gina was pretty cool. Sean pulled out his phone and tapped the screen until Amy's number came up. He was about to call her, then thought better of it. He'd see her at the dinner later. That would be good enough.
At seven o'clock the cocktail hour started. Sean was there at 7:01. It was a nice open bar before the banquet, but most importantly, he was out of his room. It was business casual, the average cocktail party. He felt comfortable in his jacket and dress shirt, unbuttoned at the neck for comfort. He smiled and nodded to people as they walked by, but his face only lit up when Amy came in the door.
She was wearing a dark blue cocktail dress, demure but not dowdy, hair swept up and make up put on. Gina was by her side for a few moments, but scooted away quickly. Gina was dressed for success as one might say. Her black skin tight dress was showing off every curve she worked for in the gym, and paid for during surgery. She did wave to Sean as she passed him by, and he gave her a knowing wink. Clearly, she was on the hunt, and he wished her all the luck in the world. He turned to see Amy approaching him.
"Hey," she smiled.
"Hey," he smiled back. "You look great."
"You think so?" she said with a wrinkle of her nose. "Gina made me buy it. She said I would never land a rich lawyer if I dressed the way I normally do. I told her I didn't want to land a rich lawyer. She told me I was lying."
"Well, you did by the dress," he said with a calculating glance.
Amy laughed and hit him playfully. "It was on sale!"
"Mmmhmm," he said rolling his eyes. "Come on, huntress. Let's get you sat down at our table."
He politely held out his elbow, and with a fake scowl she took it.
"You seem like a gentleman," she mused, "but I'm not so sure."
"Maybe one day, you'll find out." He winked, and she laughed, and suddenly he felt like the richest man in the world.
The seminars the next day were informative, but long. Amy found herself forcing wakefulness more than a couple of times. She chalked it up to have a few drinks the night before at dinner. She wasn't much of a drinker usually, but with Gina around, the alcohol flowed, along with the revolving door of men.
Amy had noticed that while Sean was polite and stayed engaged in the conversations, he restricted himself to soda and eventually just water. She didn't mention it though. It seemed like one of those things that came up at a later date, certainly not to be handled at a convention banquet.
Despite the few dry panels she was forced to attend, she had to hand it to the convention planners. They knew the material was boring, so they planned a few fun events to help pave the way. Last night was the banquet. Tonight was the open bar social and dance. The thought of watching 1500 stuffy paralegals like herself dancing to the greatest 80's hits tore a chuckle from her lips.
The three of them, she, Gina, and Sean, had decided to meet for dinner that night, but a few moments before they were scheduled to meet, Gina caught Amy in the lobby.
"Hey girlfriend," Gina said quickly, with a little bounce. "I'm not going to make it to dinner."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I met a guy last night, and we are ditching this convention and driving north for a little vacay."
"That fast," Amy said matter of factly. "You just met him last night."
"And?"
Amy opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head and thought better of it. "Ok," she said finally. "I ... wish you luck? What is the proper response to this?"
"Congrats, dork," she teased. "So I've got my stuff packed in the car, but ... I wanted to tell you and give you the key..."
Gina pressed the room key into her hand.
"And ask you, if anyone asks where I am, or where I went, especially if it's corporate.... Tell them I had a family thing. Yeah, a family thing. Like a baby, or a marriage, or I don't know, make something up."
Amy laughed and slipped the key in her purse. "You got it. You be careful."
"I will," Gina said with a cluck of her tongue. By the lobby doors a man walked in and warmly called out.
