I pulled into the lot and parked and as I got out of the car I thought back to the last time Hal told me he was running late and that I should drive to the hotel and meet him there. I had to smile as the events of that night came back to me vividly.
+++++++++++++++++++
I was looking at myself in the full length mirror and thinking, "Not too bad for a thirty-six year old with three kids." Hal would not be ashamed to have me on his arm. I had the perfect 'little black dress' with the perfect sexy strappy high heels to go with it. The outfit was guaranteed to turn Hal on and their bedroom would be noisy tonight. Not that she would need the outfit to get him going. He had been gone for two weeks and if he was feeling half as horny as she did they might not even get out of the house to go to the company dinner.
I was doing my hair when the call came. Terri, my sixteen year old daughter, called up the stairs:
"Mom; its dad."
I picked up the bedside phone, "Hi honey."
"How's my little sexpot?"
"Feeling sexy and horny and expecting you to do something about it."
"I had hoped to be home early enough that we would both have a nice rosy glow when we got to the dinner, but it isn't going to happen. My flight has been delayed."
"Oh shit!"
"Not cancelled baby; just delayed a bit. What I need for you to do is go on to the dinner and I'll meet you there. The hotel is only twenty minutes from the airport, but it would take me an hour to get home and then another half hour to get from the house to the hotel. The dinner would be over before we got there. I'll call Darrel and get him to look after you until I get there. I should be there before the cocktail hour is over and the dinner starts."
"I suppose I could do that, but there will be a price."
"What?"
"A building with rooms to rent, a two week absence, I'm horny as a goat and you have to ask what?"
"Okay, okay; get a room. Can you get a baby sitter on such short notice?"
"No need. Terri is old enough to ride herd on Jimmy and Norm. And we will only be half an hour away."
"Okay baby; see you there. Love you."
"Love you too sweetie. See you soon."
++++++++++++++++
When I got to the hotel I stopped at the reception desk and rented a room for the night. I smilingly told the desk clerk that I didn't expect to be in any condition to drive when the party was over and the clerk smiled and said:
"We get a lot of that."
As I walked into the meeting room where the dinner was being held I heard a voice say:
"Oh my God; would you look at that! Me want!"
I gave no sign that I'd heard, but inside I beamed as I thought "You still got it girl."
I saw Hal's boss Darrel at the same time he saw me and he got up and came over to me.
"Hiya gorgeous. I guess I get to be your pretend date until Hal gets here. Too damned bad it's only pretend. You are looking hot tonight lady."
"Why thank you sir."
He led me over to the table where he was sitting and pulled out a chair for me to sit on.
"Until Hal gets here you get to sit at the bachelor's table."
I looked around and noticed that there were no other women at the table. I was a little nervous knowing that until Hal arrived I was going to be the center of attention. Besides Darrel there were five other men at the table. Three of them, besides Darrel, I knew from other company functions and two of those three were why I would be nervous. Sam and Phil were both a little on the crude side when they were sober. After a few drinks they got worse. Ben wasn't bad, but the take on Ben was that he was gay and just hadn't come out of the closet yet.
Darrel introduced me to the two that I didn't know. Al was a marketing director for Excel and Bill was vice-president of Sales at Apollo. Darrel got me a drink and I sat there and made small talk with the men while I sipped my drink.
I wasn't blind and I wasn't naΓ―ve. I could see the interest in the eyes of Al and Bill and I already knew about Phil and Sam. Both had crudely hit on me several times in the past. I'd never told Hal because he would have gone after them in a heartbeat and the resulting mess would not have done his career any good.
Darrel bought me another drink and while Ben, Sam and Phil talked business Al, Bill and Darrel tried to keep me from becoming bored. I was on my fourth drink when it was time for dinner. I looked at my watch and wondered where Hal was. He'd said he would be there before the end of the cocktail hour.
I had another drink with dinner and then one more during all the speech making that followed. Finally my cell phone rang and when I answered it Hal said:
"By now you have noticed that I'm not there."
"You didn't miss much. Same old rubber chicken and steak like boot soles. The speeches sounded just like last years. In fact they probably just dusted off last years and reused them."
"I'm not going to make it tonight. The delay turned into a mechanical which turned into a cancellation. Soonest I can get out of here will be noon tomorrow. Sorry I got you down there for nothing."
"It got me out of the house, but I'm not looking forward to being alone in a hotel room."
"You don't have to stay. Go on home."
"No thank you. Expecting you and not expecting to have to drive I've had several drinks and with the DUI crackdown that has been going on I'm not going to chance it."
"Try to get plenty of rest because I'm not going to let you have any when I get home."