Copyright (c) 2002 Bernard Gallagher, all rights reserved
Published on Literotica.com at request of and by permission of author
Andy's job as a network technician for a major corporation based in central New Jersey occasionally sent him across the country. A recent thunderstorm in Atlanta knocked out two major servers in the company's regional headquarters.
The airline gives discounts when passengers fly on weekends, and the company was feeling the crunch from the economic downturn, so Andy's morning flight from Newark touched down at Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta Saturday afternoon. He hailed a cab to the hotel and checked in. Since the company didn't want to pay for overtime, Andy had a day and a half to kill before reporting to the office Monday morning.
He didn't eat on the short flight, so after dropping his luggage off in his room, he stopped in at the hotel restaurant for lunch. He couldn't help noticing that there was a large number of African Americans here in proportion to the whole population. And He must have stood out as a traveler, for a tall black woman sitting alone at an adjacent table kept catching his eye. Feeling awkward, he kept his gaze down and quickly ate his lunch.
After lunch, he noticed that the hotel had an indoor pool and hot tub. The pool was relatively empty, so he went up to his room to change. He always keeps trunks packed in his luggage for just such occasions. He went down to the pool and dove in to the comfortably warm water. He swam for a long while, relaxing and enjoying the water.
About an hour later, he got out to sit for a while. Then something caught his eye. That same black woman from the restaurant was walking along the corridor on the opposite side of the plate glass windows the separated the pool from the corridor.
She was smiling at him, so he smiled back at her. Then she continued walking down the corridor and around a corner to the elevators.
Seeing the hot tub empty, walked over to the alcove that separated the hot tub from the pool, giving it a little privacy, and settled in to enjoy the hot swirling water.
Andy had been relaxing in the hot tub for about a half-hour when he heard footsteps from behind approaching the hot tub. He looked up to see that black woman yet again. She was quite attractive in a black bikini. She smiled at him, and he nodded back and said, "Hello."
She answered, "Hello, I hope you don't mind if I join you."
"Please. Come on in," he answered her. The hot tub was set off in an alcove set away from the pool. It was also smallish -- about the right size for three or four people -- perfect to make a new friend one-on-one.
"Are you here alone? Vacation or business?" she asked.
"Business. I'm from Jersey. My company sent me down here for a few days to fix their computers. I'm Andy, a computer geek."
"I'm Sophia. I'm from Chicago doing market research in Atlanta this week."
"What sort of market research?"
"Interviewing doctors. Finding out what they think of a new drug this pharmaceutical company is putting out. They'll be using the doctors' feedback in their advertising, I suppose."
"How about you?" she asked. "Staying long?"
"Several computer servers were knocked out pretty bad during that storm last week. My manager says that it shouldn't take more than a day to fix. But the way I see it, I'll have to chase all over the place looking for replacement network cards, and then configuring them just to get the hardware working again. Then another couple of days to reset all the defaults and parameters on the server software and making sure it all works together exactly like it did before. So I see at least two or three days, but probably the whole week. My flight home is booked for next Sunday anyway; you know, to get the best deal for the company. So I'll be stuck here for the whole week, regardless."
"Oh, Atlanta isn't so bad a place to be stuck in."
"You've been here before, Sophia?"
"Yeah, I get sent down here a few times a year. I can show you around later if you'd like."
"Uh, yeah! That'd be great!" Andy had got hungry swimming over the past couple of hours since lunch and his stomach chose that moment to growl.
"Say, Sophia -- I'm getting a little hungry? Have you eaten yet?"
She smiled and answered, "Not since lunch."
"Then, uhm, care to join me for dinner?"
"Sure, why not? Just give me a half hour or so to get ready, okay?"
"Sure. Me too."
She stood and stepped out of the tub. Andy stood and was surprised when she held out her hand to help him out.
"Thanks," he said.
He grabbed his towel and room key, and she grabbed her towel and purse and they walked out of the pool area.
They took the elevator up and she got off on her floor, "I'll meet you in the lobby in about a half hour, Andy."
"Sure, see you then, Sophia."
As he continued up in the elevator, Andy could hardly believe that he had made a dinner date with a total stranger he met while on a business trip. He used to think that only happens in stories. But what can happen in less than a week? Besides, he reminded himself, she's black. Still, it was sure nice to make a new friend.
Sophia was waiting in the lobby when Andy got there a half-hour later. She looked good in tight black jeans and a black tank top. Andy chose a more casual, and cooler, attire given the hot Atlanta climate -- khaki cotton trousers and a loose white jersey. Since she's black, this couldn't possibly count as a date, so he decided to go for comfort over style.
"Hi Sophia, what's the plan?"
"I know this great Mexican restaurant. But they also have a lot of regular stuff on the menu. I didn't know what you like in food, so I though that would work for both of us. Okay?"
