College life was fine for me, but after graduation, I didn't find anything in my field. Instead, I continued to work at the hotel in my college town. I've worked there for a couple years, and as someone in my mid-20s, it suits me fine. It isn't a huge city... there are about 8,000 students at the state-run college and about 10,000 other residents in a fairly sleepy, fairly rural environment surrounded by a lot of farmland.
The job isn't bad... I spend some time with management duties and occasionally work the front desk. Being the small town it is, the guests generally fall into three groupings. There are parents of current college students, prospective students, and the occasional businessperson who ends up in town for some reason. Tourism isn't really a thing here.
My eyes scanned the list of incoming guests... a relatively small number on this late September Monday afternoon. I've been busy finishing late check-outs, but only a handful of new folks are arriving. My shift ends at 4pm, in about an hour, so I usually only have to handle a few incoming folks anyway, with most of them being helped by whoever is working in the evening. I have a fun little game I sometimes play in my head and guess the type of person based on their name. In some ways, it's probably stereotyping, but I also knew that I could make some usually-accurate assumptions about a "Brittany" versus a "Sandy." Looking at today's list, I suspect that Edward is probably a businessperson or a parent and that Madisyn has to be a prospective student or someone else much closer to my age.
Things were quiet. The folks leaving today had left, and other than one super-early arrival, the new guests hadn't arrived. I stepped back into the office and put away some supplies delivered earlier in the afternoon. After a couple moments, I heard the "ding" of the front desk bell. I closed the storage cabinet and walked out to the front desk. There stood one of the cutest little women I'd seen in a long time. I say little because her stature at the counter meant she couldn't have been five feet tall; she was easily at least a couple inches shorter than that. She had a chubby face with a cute button nose, green eyes, and wavy light brown hair down a couple inches below her shoulders. I'm not great at guessing ages, but she definitely seemed to be in the student age group.
I greeted her with the usual smile and "Hi there; how can I help?" I noticed she was standing using forearm crutches and my interest was further piqued. Not only was she quite cute in general, but something about a woman on crutches gets me going. It's hard to say where these feelings started. I recall that ever since puberty, when I've seen a woman using crutches, it's stirred up a special feeling. Sadly, I've never been able to date such a girl. There was a classmate who moved to my high school during my senior year who used crutches at times when she wasn't using her wheelchair. My attempts to strike up a friendship (or anything else) were rebuffed at the time.
"I'm here to check in, and can someone give me a hand with my bag? I can wrangle it on my own, but it's an adventure," she said, lifting one of her arms to show the black metal crutch hanging from the cuff around her forearm.
"Sure thing!" I said, wanting to be helpful but not sounding too excited. "I'll get you checked in, and then I can help. What's your name?"
"Last name is Turner. Madisyn." I smiled to myself. I nailed it with my name prediction.
"Got it. I have you here for three nights, leaving on Thursday?"
"That's right," she said. "I'm a grad student at the University of Portland and am here to meet with the college about a partnership between the schools."
"Oh, cool deal," I responded and then went into the usual information for each guest. "Here are your room keys. The elevator is right around the corner to your right. The complimentary breakfast is from 6:30-9:30 in the breakfast area just off the lobby. Gym and pool are open from 8am to 10pm each day." I added "We do have a lift to get into the pool and hot tub; if you'd like to use that, just let me or whoever is here know, and we will unlock it. Any questions for me, or shall we get your bag?"
"I think I'm set," Madisyn said, putting the room keys into the small purse she was wearing and adjusting her crutches to step back from the desk.
I nodded my head and stepped out from behind the desk. "Is this your first time in town?" I asked as we walked across the lobby toward the front door. Madisyn was wearing a cute blue dress with tiny white polka dots, ending mid-thigh and cut just low enough to show off a hint of her ample chest. I walked to the side and slightly behind, observing how she walked. She had knee-high white socks and wore white plastic braces on her lower legs that ended just below her knees. I noticed that her feet weren't pointed forward as someone able-bodied but rather almost 45 degrees outward. She put both crutches forward, swung her legs together through them, then moved them again and repeated the motion. It wasn't so much walking in the traditional sense, but it let her get around supported by the crutches and her clearly-disabled legs.
"Yeah, I've never been here before. Seems like an interesting, if small, place," she commented.
The automatic doors opened, and she crutched over to (unsurprisingly) the nearest disabled parking space, where she opened the trunk of her sporty royal blue Honda Civic.
"Just the one bag?" I asked, gesturing to the hard-side fuschia-colored carry-on in the trunk.
"That suitcase and the black backpack as well, but I can carry that."
"I got it unless you insist..." I said, not wanting to seem pushy, but clearly I would be able to carry it easier than she would.
"I suppose you can take it if you'd like. Thanks for your help... I'm not sure I got your name?"
"I'm Grant" I said, holding out a hand.
"Madisyn... but you already know that, I suppose, from my reservation. Although I usually go by Madi," she replied, shaking my hand with a firm and warm handshake. I suppose that's a side effect of them supporting her with the crutches.
"Well, I'm glad you're here Madi. Need anything else, or shall we head... inside?" I almost ended that remark with "Shall we head back to your room" but realized that despite my desires, that wasn't the best phrasing for the time and place.
"Let's head in. Second floor, if I recall." Madi said and turned and started crutching her way back into the hotel. I followed shortly behind with her luggage and realized as she walked that her short stature and posture made her ass stick out a bit; the curviness was quite noticeable, and her dress flattered it well. I didn't mind the view.
As we waited for the elevator, Madi asked, "So what's your deal? Worked here long or..."
"I worked here when I was in school and then stuck around. I'm just an overeducated 24-year-old single guy trying to figure out what's next, I suppose."
