The 17th floor suite I had taken at the Intercontinental Presidente in Mexico City had two very special and distinctive features. The first was a unique glass walled bathroom. I had learned that there were only four of these suites, but with Maribeth along, I had become quite enamored with this innovative feature.
The second, was a huge single pane window that was about 15' wide and 4' high, and offered a fantastic view of Chapultepec Castle and the seventeen hundred acre park across the Paseo de Reforma. At night, vertical blinds that were recessed into both ends of this fantastic window could be closed using a control on the bed stand.
I awakened early, as has been my custom ever since my Army days 25 years ago. I like to be up with the dawn, and for most of my adult life, my day usually begins with a five mile run. Over the years this run has turned into more of a trot, but I keep that little item to myself.
I find the beds at the Intercontinental to be exceedingly comfortable and made even more so by the naked woman now gently breathing in sleep by my side.
My morning routine is predictable. Rub eyes, take a piss, drink a glass of water, put on running gear, run five miles, be back in forty minutes. I had completed the first three steps of this task list when I decided to check the weather. A flip of the window control engaged the mechanism that opens the blinds and when they began to part I got a shock.
Whereas yesterday morning, the blinds opened to reveal a crisp spring day with visibility to the horizon, this morning it looked like someone had snuck in during the night and spray painted the window gray. It appeared that today's visibility was essentially zero.
While I'm not adverse to exercising in suboptimal weather (I've run in both rain and snow storms) It certainly isn't something I seek out. I did however remember a certain Drill Sergeant in Ranger School that pointed out that after you got so wet, the only direction you could go was toward dry. DI's have a knack for taking complex things and making them simple.
However, those lessons were learned in a time and place that didn't have a world class gym 17 floors away. So donning my normal running gear, I headed toward the stairs. It always stuck me as odd, when people used elevators to go exercise.
There were a number of treadmills available and each faced a TV. I didn't see any English channels, but it didn't matter much to me, I wasn't there for the TV anyway. It so happened however, that as soon as I'd picked a treadmill the screen in front of me switched to a weather forecast.
My Spanish is pedestrian. I can grasp simple phrases and I'm much better at listening than speaking the language, but weather forecasts always have helpful little pictures. I was generally following the dialogue when I heard the words, "inversiΓ³n de temperatura." That was close enough to English that I immediately understood what was happening outside.
Normally, in the atmosphere, the air temperature is warmest close to the ground and decreases the higher you go. A temperature inversion is an anomaly where just the opposite occurs. Warm air stacks on top of cold air. When this happens, it creates dense fog. Exactly the scene I witnessed in the room.
I've never particularly liked running indoors on treadmills. It makes me feel like one of those gerbils running in a wheel. I much prefer roads. Even when I'm running the same road every day, I notice new things that to my surprise have always been there.
After five miles I got off the treadmill and doffed my now soggy T-shirt. I decided to top off the morning with a run up those 17 floors worth of steps.That, combined with Mexico City's altitude, had sweat pouring off me like a mini Niagara by the time I was finished.
Maribeth is a sleepyhead, but not a serious one. She doesn't arise when I do, but she's always awake and usually up by the time my sweaty body hits the door.
This morning, she was not only up, but even kind of dressed. She'd put on a pair of skimpy pink panties and covered herself with a multicolored silk robe that I had bought her in Japan, but the belt was so loosely tied that she was showing plenty of delicious female skin.
Many times I've experienced her embrace when I get back from my run. And today was no exception. Maribeth has explained on numerous occasions how the aroma is like catnip to her and somewhere she even has one of my sweaty t-shirts tucked away for those times when she feels sexually aroused but I'm unavailable.
As we embraced, the movement of her body against my bare chest loosened the silk belt of her robe and it hung uselessly from the two belt loops on either side. For all practical purposes she was as naked above the waist as I was, and her upper body and arms were soon covered with my sweat. Her kisses had that early morning musk taste to them, but I've never found that objectionable. I love every flavor of Maribeth and so, perhaps I'm as addled by her as she seemed to be by me.
A two person shower is a given. The number of times we've haven't done this are outnumbered by the times we have by a factor of at least a hundred. Sometimes we succeed in using all the available hot water, but that was unlikely to happen in a five hundred room hotel. But, with a busy day ahead of us, we only tarried a little bit.
When I'm with Maribeth there is a small alteration in my morning routine. For some reason she preferred the rugged look and that meant that I wouldn't be shaving in the morning. Up until now we hadn't been together for more than three days consecutively since our surprise "reunion" two and a half years ago, so I was wondering what her opinion would be on the shaving issue later in the week.
We were running a little late, so no hanky panky before breakfast. We had taken enough opportunity in the shower to confirm the maleness and femaleness of the two occupants, that additional data was not required, at least until later.
The Atrium Cafe not only had table service, but also a breakfast buffet, which Maribeth and I found suited our taste this morning. She filled a small plate with a bunch of fruit and a cinnamon bun. I opted for a couple of crepes and a yogurt. Coffee for me, hot tea for her.
As we hurried to consume our light breakfast my eyes were drawn to the large aluminum monolith that occupied the center of the atrium. It was new, I think, since I didn't remember it being there the last time I stayed at the Intercontinental. It consisted of irregular stacked blocks that rested in an obsidian base. There was no information regarding what it represented nor any recognition of the artist. The employees referred to it as "la torre de bloques," and I agreed that it was a good description.
After breakfast, Maribeth didn't even bother accompanying me to the meeting room where two Mexican accountants, Manuel and Pepe, were waiting. I would be spending the day reviewing information about a Mexican company we were considering acquiring. Maribeth had stayed for awhile yesterday, but I could see it wasn't her cup of tea. Not exactly mine either, but there was no sense telling her that.