They say the best time to visit a college campus town on business is during the holidays when the dorms are closed and the students have all gone home. I used that advice on many occasions to visit my clients in Florida. I don't mind students and I don't mind the seniors in Florida, it just makes it easier to get around when they have all gone north. On my last trip down I ventured into something that I had managed to avoid in all previous visits. In fact, I had never had an experience like it. I made a rule long ago that I would not accept offers of evening entertainment with clients or their female friends. My professional reputation and the network of clients could potentially be at risk if I made any mistakes in the field. Therefore clients, coworkers, and close friends of theirs always were listed as acquaintances and nothing further.
I usually stay at a major hotel chain that has a manager's reception each evening and a cook-to-order breakfast. My lunches frequently include clients and I get my share of eating in when you consider I make good use of the free breakfast each morning. When I return to the hotel each evening I am good for a snack and not able to even think about a big dinner. Therefore the manager's reception works out just great even if I don't drink the free wine or beer.
For all of the same reasons the business travelers are usually thinned out making the available scenery of woman and other people fairly slim pickings. I have spent many a night in the lounges and breakfast areas of these large hotels alone. I don't mind since it is a business trip and I use the downtime to relax and prepare for the following day ahead. It is early in my life and I figure that once I get a little older, a little better off financially, and knock some of the immaturity out of my system I can work less and look to settle down.
It was at the end of the day on a Tuesday and with a little extra time I was able to shower, put on some jeans, thrown on a polo and head down to the hotel lobby. For the first fifteen moments I was alone in the dining area eating some chips and salsa. A couple of woman came in and sat a few tables away from me and further away from the food counter. I watched them as they spoke quietly to each other and after taking a closer look decided their age difference most likely placed them as a mother and daughter with very similar figures and facial features. I also noticed the younger one was dressed very conservatively with a loose thigh length dress that hid her figure.
They made their way up to the counter for beverages and a snack and on their way back the mother and I met each other's gaze and said hello. She momentarily stopped at my table and mentioned that she hoped there would be enough food for the three of us which was funny because there looked to be enough for ten people or more. I promised I wouldn't eat it all on my first or second trip but after that who knew?
She was looking at me rather closely as we talked and I felt like I was being sized up for something. She studied my face then my clothing and then back up to my face. Her daughter looked to be college aged near nineteen or so if I had reason to guess. The mother appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties compared to my twenty five. She took a break from her interrogation of me to go back and sit with her daughter but kept looking at me and saying something that caused her daughter to look back every so often as they talked. I only wished that I knew what was being discussed?
When her daughter got up to refill their soda's I said hi to her as she passed. This caused her to blush and keep walking without ever looking back at me. She didn't know me and I didn't know her but I planned on saying something else to her in an attempt to break the ice. Her mother was staring straight at me smiling when I looked over so the fact that I had even tried to speak to her was OK.
I had to laugh at the ice machine that would make a lot of noise giving you hope that ice would eventually come out if you held your glass long enough and then just when you are about to give up twice as much ice as your glass can hold would come out. It almost buried the young girl's arm who briefly screamed and jumped back a step sending ice all over the counter and floor. I sensed that she was about to turn and see if I was watching so to avoid embarrassing her anymore I looked away quickly catching her mother's smile once again with mine.
"You know that is not fair." I said as she walked back carrying both glasses.
"What, excuse me?"
I am pretty sure I was loud enough for her to have heard me but she responded as if I had caught her off guard.
"I said it is not fair that you and your mother get to sit over there and talk about me and I have no one to talk about you with?"
"Oh no, we didn't think you could hear us. We were being kind. It was nothing bad I promise."
"I couldn't hear you but figured that since you kept looking at me and laughing I must have had salsa on my nose or something."
Caught in a surprise conversation with a stranger brought a blush and caused her to retreat back to her table the moment she got a chance. Their talking and occasional glance back resumed and I sat amused by it all until the mother got up and walked over to my table and sat down.
"Can I ask you a favor?" She started with?
"My daughter is away from home at college for the first time and she is struggling to make friends and specifically is not comfortable around boys. I mean men, I am sorry."
"That's OK."
"Would it be possible for her and me to join you at your table? I would like to get her used to meeting and talking to men."
"Yes of course you can." I replied not knowing why I had just agreed to that?
The young girl was called over and just like that there were the three of us sitting together with plates of chips and salsa. Renee the mother introduced Randi, short for Miranda, to me and we started discussing her first year at school. She had been homeschooled in western Tennessee and spend her first three years at a junior college near her house where she could get accustomed to formal education away from the home. Randi didn't live in an area near boys and only had two younger sisters. Even at twenty-one the whole dorm living and class sizes of over one hundred people in a lecture hall were intimidating. As we talked she eventually started answering questions without being startled every time I spoke to her. Miranda's voice was mesmerizing when she opened up. I liked the sound of it and along with her being very intelligent she was also easy to listen to. Her mother sat there smiling as she went on and on about her childhood.
Miranda had excelled in her studies and even at the Junior College they tried to pair her up with advanced placement classes to push her to new heights. She didn't particularly like it this way especially now when she thought she may be able to meet someone if she didn't have all of the extra coursework that came along with her selection of courses this semester. We sat and talked until the staff informed us they were closing the beverage cabinet and to refill our cokes on last time. It hadn't dawned on us that we had just talked for over two hours. When I learned that her mother had decided to come down to Florida instead of letting her daughter come home for the holiday I knew that I would see her again the next day.
Early the next morning I was back in a suit and tie ready to head out to visit some customers as soon as I had my breakfast. The girls weren't around and suddenly I was disappointed at their absence and didn't know why? The conversation had been lengthy but did I really feel a closeness? All day long my thoughts kept drifting back to her. Well actually the two of them but for different reasons. I wanted to hear more from her and I was still confused as to whether or not I was just providing therapy or was I actually being accepted by her and her mother.
Today's meetings in the afternoon took a little longer than I had anticipated and we had a working lunch complete with pizza in a conference room. The current corporate contacts I was working with insisted on a dinner and fancy bar but I begged off explaining that I had to get more work done that evening. And with that said I was on my way back to the hotel. It was almost six when I got back and I headed straight to the eating area behind the bar hoping to find the two ladies. I was not disappointed.
Renee spotted me and waved me over as I walked in. Randi got up and went and got me a coke as they made me feel like I was being wooed and waited on. Tonight's manager's buffet consisted of cheese and vegetable trays with various types of dipping sauces. Well if listening to Randi the night before was to get to know her, tonight the ladies were full of questions about me.
I sold insurance products to financial institutions which neither of them understood. But they prodded me for as much information about me as possible. I should have been careful when being asked about my finances and future plans but instead I just kept talking while enjoying my time with them. And like the evening before, we were there when the staff closed up. Renee asked if I could join them the following night and inquired about my schedule. With a forced promise I made, we agreed to meet the following evening at four which was earlier than they opened. But I wasn't paying attention to details.
A couple of changes were made to my schedule the next day allowing me to move up some of my visits and end my day as I wanted around two in the afternoon. Knowing only that I was looking forward to seeing them again, I headed back to the hotel. Intrigued by the naiveté of Randi but also intimidated by her intelligence I found my heart beating in anticipation. I could feel my pulse in my fingers as they gripped the steering wheel of my rental. What is this all about I asked myself? Whatever it was caused me to shower, shave again, and actually press my khakis before I headed down to the lobby.
