The night was still cool from the drizzle of rain that had occurred only a few hours earlier, although the previous days were warm the moisture stained the concrete a darker hue than would be normal. Pulling up to the hotel he parked in the drop-off zone and started begrudgingly unpacking his car. Tired and sore from the work day, he would rather be at home on the couch than out hosting a murder mystery but his craving for success was greater than his desire to be lazy, so here he was, following that goal.
When he knocked on the door of the hotel room he was greeted by three women standing around the small room. The room was dominated by two queen size beds while a dresser took up the opposite wall, leaving little space to move around. Sitting on each bed was a young woman while a third woman stood near him after having answered the door. He greeted the women while starting to unpack the game from his case in what could be considered the entrance way, when there was a knock at the door. One of the girls squeezed by him and answered the door, another woman had joined them for the game and he had to flatten himself against the wall to allow them back into what little space remained.
While unpacking the game, he asked them questions about where they were visiting from and how long they would be in the small tourist town he calls home.
Another knock at the door and the final player for the game, a young man, had arrived. With all the players now present the game host was about ready to get started. He introduced himself as Leon before explaining how to play a murder mystery.
After introducing the game, he handed out the characters to each of the players. The players took a moment to learn who they would become before descending into the bins stuffed with costumes. After a few of them had chosen their outfits, a young woman with dark hair, a slim figure, wearing no socks that exposed the white nail point accenting her toes, made her way over and chose a light brunette wig. When she put it on, she transformed and Leon was transfixed. The fake hair cascaded along the side of her face, accentuating her cheek bones and brought attention to her smile. When he returned to reality he noticed she was wearing a leather jacket that still had a name tag from a previous game on it.
'Hold on there's still a name tag from my last game on there.' Leon said while leaning in and removing the name tag from the jacket. The name tag was attached over her breast but she made no attempt to back away as he removed it, and only after he had taken it off did he realize where his hand was.
She examined herself in the mirror before taking off the leather jacket and selecting another jacket from the bin. She put it on, looked in the mirror and turned to Leon.
'How do I look?' She said with a smile.
'That works.' Leon responded nonchalantly, despite wanting to tell her that she looked stunning.
She smiled at Leon, adjusted the wig and walked over to the bed, grabbing her character sheet. Satisfied that the players were now in character, Leon explained the game's setting and introduced the victim. The players went in a circle introducing their characters before Leon revealed the first round of evidence. Then the game began.
As the night went along the players, now in character, worked to complete the goal of the game. Some were more adept than others while others played up their character personality to an extreme. During all of this, Leon noticed that the girl in the brunette wig, who was playing the character of Seline, kept sneaking glances at him and the cutest smile showed on her lips whenever he looked in her direction. Leon also had a character to play in the game, a young woman by the name of Stacey, and although he let the other players play the game as they chose, whenever his character was brought into the game Seline couldn't help but smile at his attempts to impersonate a woman.
The game continued on like this all while Leon stole the occasional glance at Seline while she played with her hair, or rather the hair on the wig, coiling it around her fingers or brushing it onto her shoulders. He could hardly focus on the game while watching her but his sense of professionalism always had a way of bringing him back to the moment.
When the game ended, he packed up while making small talk with the players still in the room. He found out that this was their last night in the tourist town and that the tour bus they arrived in would be leaving the next day.
As Leon went to leave, the girl playing Seline rushed over to hold open the door to the hotel room for him. She thanked him for a fun night while holding the door, her eyes locked onto his and there was a moment of silence between them. A nervous energy coursed between the two and that's when Leon decided to take a chance.
'Would you want to grab a drink while you're still in town.' He asked casually, not overly concerned with her answer but still hoping for a yes.
'Absolutely.' She responded excitedly, 'Just let me put on my shoes.'
She went back into the hotel room, closing the door behind her, while Leon waited in the hallway. She must have been talking with the girls in the room as it took her longer than one would expect to put on shoes.
When she came back out, his suspicions were confirmed when he saw her wearing a different shirt and, what he suspected, was a subtle enhancement of her makeup.
'Ok, ready.' She said with a smile.
They made their way down the hallway towards the elevators while Leon asked her what bar she would like to go to, she responded indifferently, stating that she doesn't really know the area so he can choose. Which he did.
When they got to his car, Leon realized he still didn't know her name.
'Uh so hey, sorry, what was your name again?' He asked, in a vain attempt to not be awkward.
