Chapter One
The revolving door swung open with a flourish. Althea was distracted by the sudden movement and looked in the general direction, only to see another businessman arriving early for the evening. The hotel was full tonight, unexpectedly, though one could certainly understand the reason. The blackout in the northeast had suddenly set everything on its ear, especially here in New York City.
Forty-five minutes into the blackout of the entire North East, Althea Rogers-Jackson, day manager of the relatively small, and independent hotel of just over a hundred rooms, wondered what the rest of the night was to be like. So far, outside of an immediate rush to rent any remaining rooms, there’d been little change from normal, for his hotel had power, at least on the first floor.
Reporters on the TV in the lounge were spreading throughout the city to sample reactions from the citizens, send video of the uncontrolled traffic mess at rush hour in Manhattan, and to position themselves for the coming darkness of night and whatever that might bring. Though everyone had their personal predictions, only time would tell what was in store for the people of the city, and Althea in particular.
The news that hours would pass before the blackout could be remedied, maybe even days, did little to settle nerves in that first hour of sudden helplessness. Traffic lights suddenly showed our dependence on them by simply refusing to work. Elevators also went on strike, some with passengers still aboard and between floors. People fought back the images of 9/11, insisting this was nothing of the sort, just a temporary glitch in some of the comforts of modern life.
For emergency vehicles, it was pretty much the beginning of a normal evening. Though a few extra calls came in to help the stranded elevator riders, those who couldn’t walk down a flight of stairs for food, and the normal fire and heart stoppages, it was the preparatory call upon their services that demanded their full attention. All police were reporting to for overtime to protect property and keep the piece. And just about every other city service employee was somehow involved in the melee of pitching in to overcome yet another adversity in the financial capital of the world.
Just as the streets were suddenly a sea of people deciding what to do to get home, the lobby of Althea’s hotel was jammed with guests or would-be guests, most now being turned away. The last of the available rooms were gone. She looked from the crowd her front desk personnel were attempting to politely push away, back to the more stately gentleman who’d just breezed through the revolving door.
He was about six feet tall, dressed casually, and didn’t bother with the front desk. He walked swiftly by her too, passing within an arm’s length, smiling, and made for the elevator.
“They’re out, I’m afraid,” She said, wondering why she was being apologetic. This was New York. There was an emergency. Most hotels didn’t have ANY power. Many were putting their guests out on the street for one safety excuse or another. She should apologize for not having elevators?
He turned to look at her and hesitated. In New York only for a meeting in the morning, he’d arrived from his small town home in Colorado just a couple hours ago. Having taken a walk to get a look around at his old haunts in the area, he’d quickly tired of the novelty of the blackout, and was once again forced to focus on the gray, dirty old buildings, the people who looked anywhere but right at you, and the noise of horns as traffic tried to unsnarl itself. It was the same as when he’d moved away, just a few more lights, a few more cars and trucks, and a lot more people. He even recalled the first blackout he’d endured in New York when he’d lived here. “Funny,” he thought, “When I am here, I can’t wait to leave. When I’m somewhere else, I can’t wait to get back.” His answer to the dilemma a few years ago had come for him. The company he worked for had moved him to run a new division out west.
In this trip’s rather ominous start, the hotel employee looked quite refreshing in her blue “uniform” suit and white blouse. His alertness was rejuvenated by the button between her breasts, fastened but with the material pulling nicely under just the right amount of strain. Her skirt was short, probably shorter than they liked at the hotel, but her name tag, a bit more elegant than the others, told him she was higher up the food chain. He smiled, trying not to look down at her in a condescending way, but only due to her shorter height. He guessed that to be about 5’2”, though the modest heels brought her up a couple inches. With shoulder length brown hair, the man thought, petite, pretty, and sexy in her confidence and officious pose. “Thanks. Of course. Well, it’s only five floors up so I guess I’ll get some exercise.” He looked around, not really that interested in getting to his room anymore, and asked, “The uh, stairs?”
She took longer than necessary to answer. Her mind was running lickety-split. The image of her husband, a handsome Italian thirty year old with classic short black hair and still a fine young body, flashed through her vision, followed immediately by the stately gentleman before her, old enough to be her father, but attractive all the same. His silver-gray hair was short, but long enough to retain a wave. Some men could carry such a color and still look virulent. His well-trimmed beard was salt and pepper and he was obviously self-confident enough not have to color or transplant hair. He seemed fit, and handsome. Althea also felt a familiar itch as she measured him up.
“Oh!” She said after looking at him for far too long, “Over there, across the lobby.” He started to walk, but from somewhere deep within her, came the words, “Excuse me, Mr….”
“Randolph,” He turned abruptly, pleased with the opportunity. “Friends call me Randy,” He smiled at her, never giving her his first name.
“Uh, well, hmmmm…” She was struggling for the words when she finally just came out with, “My husband is meeting me here to help out tonight. I uh, have to work as you might imagine. Would you like to join us for a drink? In the lounge over there?” She nodded toward the side of the lobby to the left of the front desk. What the hell was she doing! She immediately scolded herself. This was her place of employment! She had no idea who this guy was! She didn’t even know if her husband was still open to the idea. After the flood of self-flagellation subsided, she managed to reason that all she had done or committed to so far was a friendly drink with her husband in the middle of yet another New York City crisis. Feeling better already about her actions, she was prepared to hear his response.
“Why sure. I would love to, uh…” He hesitated more from the surprise of his good fortune, than to make a decision. He too reflected on the unusual chain of events, but accepted the invitation as one might a dinner offer from a Captain aboard ship. He felt lucky..
“Althea Jackson. I’m the day manager here, and I am going to be here probably all night as you can imagine.” She put a hand out in front of her smile.
Taking her delicate, white skin in his considerably larger palm, he said, “My pleasure, Althea. Say, if there is anything I can do to help, please… well, I’m here for a meeting right around the corner and I kind of feel like a resident, having lived here before.” He continued to hold her hand, not shaking it, just feeling it grow hotter and hotter in his.
“Really? You lived here in the city?” She asked, putting pieces together, unable to take her eyes off his friendly and disarming face.
“Well no, on Long Island. But I commuted to my office in the city, just around the corner here. I arrived today, just for the night and a meeting in the morning, and happened to be walking around looking at the city when the power went out. You know, I was your age for the last one of these things.” Ouch! That was a dumb thing to say. Now she would surely think of him as some dinosaur.