**I write these stories for fun for my wife. This one has a full arc but is still a slight work in progress.. I'm still getting into the hobby and am having fun. Any editing tips would be appreciated!**
The elevator ride was deafeningly quiet, especially compared to the din of the hotel lobby the two well dressed couples had just come from. Their destination was only one floor up, so even without the proverbial elevator music, the awkward silence at least didn't last long. A pleasant ding notified the passengers of their arrival.
John took a step back and motioned for his wife, Audrey, to lead the way. She gave him a curt glance and walked out into the quiet, empty hallway, not breaking stride towards their room. John followed. Behind him was a friend of John's, Tim, and Tim's long time girlfriend Sarah. Tim was taller and broader than John, with Sarah being even more diminutive than Audrey. Their contrasting size was more apparent when they were all standing together.
They had just spent the better part of the evening catching up at a wedding reception downstairs, so Audrey was a little annoyed with her husband for having invited the pair back up to their hotel room for a "night cap". Audrey didn't even drink, what was she supposed to do while hanging out with these three tipsy people?
She stopped a few doors down the hall and turned back. "It's this one here. I cannot wait to take these damn shoes off.." She said, mostly as a hint to her husband about how tired she was. John smiled at her and pulled his key card from his pocket.
"Whiskey? Tequila?" He called back to the trailing Tim and Sarah. Tim had a bit more to drink than Sarah but was managing it fine with his arm around his date. "I think Aud and I are good for at least one more."
"Speak for yourself." Audrey said under her breath.
The door's lock beeped, granting access. Audrey leaned on the door handle and let herself in first, immediately making her way to the first of two beds. She plopped down in a weary pile of her dress and began fiddling with the strap on her shoe. She glanced up at John as he held the door open for Tim and Sarah. She watched him stand there waiting for the other couple to catch up. Her visible annoyance was, in her mind, justified, regardless of how long it had been since her husband had seen this friend. The two had been trying to conceive for a few months now, and she had been tracking her cycle closely. Tonight was supposed to be the night. Sex, during this period, had become more clinical than in their heyday, and she knew as soon as John had invited his long lost buddy up to keep talking, however, that it probably wasn't going to happen. She was going to patiently wait up as the two boys talked about dumb stuff they got up to in college only to have John say he was too tired and tomorrow was a travel day so it wasn't happening then, and then they're back to work and and and....
"Oh wow, this is such a nice room!" Exclaimed Sarah. The sequin covered mini dress was much brighter in the hotel room than in the dimly lit reception hall. Like a shimmering lure, it broke Audrey's concentrated frustration just enough out of her spiraling. "See Tim, I told you we should've just booked a room here instead of blocks away. It's always so nice to be able to just end the evening whenever you want without a long walk in the cold." She said while smiling at Audrey. Audrey smiled back with her eyes widening as she looked back down to her shoes, the irony of Sarah's statement not lost on her.
John pulled out three glasses and poured just a fingers full each. Not wanting to leave his wife out, he offered her a water which she accepted and began gulping down. Tim made eye contact with her as she did.
"Thirsty?" He asked, almost jokingly. Audrey nodded in response, cleared her throat, and exhaled. She leaned back on the bed, her slender figure more easily read through the draped fabric. She caught Tim staring.
"Well, you guys enjoy, I'm going to go take my makeup off." She said as she slowly stood up, making her exhaustion as apparent to her oblivious husband as possible. She grabbed her small travel bag and headed to the restroom. Once inside she could hear the clinking of glasses and banter start back up. She decided it wouldn't be the worst thing to take her time, if John was going to be a little selfish with how he decided to spend their time, then so could she. He can play host.
A few long moments went by and then a voice broke out above the others on the other side of the bathroom door.
"Oh my god, it's beautiful!"
It was Sarah. There was a murmur or two as foot steps shuffled seemingly further away from the bathroom and to the window. Some more clinking of glasses and laughter.
Audrey checked herself again in the mirror and stepped outside the bathroom. Snow. She could make out the huge flakes of it from even as far back as she was. John turned to her with an excited boyish look on his face. "Check it out!" He said as she walked up to him and leaned on him. It really was beautiful.
"Well that's going to suck to walk in." Tim said. "Especially with our coats still in our own room half a mile away."
"Ah don't be silly." John responded. "Just hang out here until it blows over. Worst case, you sleep here. Thankfully the only room they had left here for us had the two queens!"
Tim looked back at him with a contorted look of disapproval. "Oh we wouldn't cramp you guys like that. Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm serious! You can't be out walking in that. Sarah will turn into a popsicle." John retorted.
He glanced at his wife knowing she'd hate that he made the suggestion, but instead she seemed fairly complacent. 'Distracted by the freak snow storm' he though. He pulled out his phone and checked his trusty weather app.
"Oh man.. it's not supposed to stop snowing this hard for another three to four hours."
Tim looked at Sarah. "Do you mind if we hold out here until it stops?" He asked, only slightly slurred.
