Newbie (28 page)

“Shall we eat?” Kevin asks as we re-enter town after ten o’clock. Only one café is open and there are a dozen cars parked around it. Most have out-of-state license plates, so they’re probably stranded like us. We race from the car to the restaurant door with icy wind and snow pelting our exposed skin. Since there are no tables available, we sit at the lunch counter and watch the snowstorm increase in fury as we eat.

When we finish our meal, Kevin asks the waitress if she knows about the road conditions to Pueblo.

“They say,” she inclines her head toward two cops sitting in a nearby booth, “that the storm should pass by us about midnight. But the highway department won’t open the road though until they get it cleared off. They can’t clear off the snow until they get all the stranded travelers off it. And they can’t do that until they get more snowplows—and it stops snowing.”

“Did they say when it might open?” I ask.

“Six o’clock tomorrow morning, if it all goes well. If you folks want a hotel, you better hurry. They fill up fast during blizzards.”

I step into the hall by the ladies’ room and call Liam, then Mina, to let them know we’re snowed in. Mina took the news much better than Liam did. I think he was being a little unreasonable—Kevin didn’t plan the snowstorm.

We try several hotels, even some with questionable pasts, but can’t find rooms. At the last motel, we’re again told that they are sold out. “Can we stay in the lobby on the couches?” I ask desperately. The guy behind the counter begins shaking his head immediately, but then stops.

“We have a break room for employees. It’s the same size as one of our small rooms. We have a few storage boxes in there, but it has a bathroom and the door locks. I could rent that to you, I guess.”

“We’ll take it,” I say, passing him a credit card. A weary-looking man in line behind us turns and leaves the lobby.

The desk attendant hands Kevin two blankets and me two towels along with a room key, and we move off to find the break room. Bugs scatter across the vinyl floor as we click on the light. I can’t be sure how many—it seemed like a lot, since they’re very fast and didn’t stick around to be counted. A 1950’s chrome and yellow linoleum table and six mismatched chairs sit in the middle of the room, piled high with cleaning produces. The only other furniture is a television, couch, and desk. The room is very small, and storage boxes fill the floor space.

I’m a little puzzled if the clerk meant for us to sleep on the floor. Kevin begins stacking the chairs on the table and it them under the window. He pulls the pillows off the couch, unfolds a hidden mattress and begins laying the blankets on top. There’s another blanket and two pillows in the closet and he puts them on the bed, too. Thankfully his brain is less tired than mine and he thought to look around for everything we need. Then he sits on the edge and begins removing his shoes.

Yes, I’m standing there watching him, wondering if he thinks he gets the bed just because he had the blankets, and knew the couch was a sleeper, and found the other blanket and pillows. Now he’s removing his shirt. “Stop. What are you doing?”

“Going to sleep. Right here. Right now,” he replies, tossing his shirt over the chairs. Removing his wallet, phone, and belt, he slides his feet under the top two blankets.

Okay there’s no more hint he works out—’cause he does. I find myself thinking about cold winter nights and making hot chocolate. I douse the top of the mug with an equal amount of whipped cream and stir it in. Kevin’s skin is just that color. Snapping out of my fantasy, I ask, “Where am I going to sleep? We don’t have any more blankets.”

Kevin points to the other side of the sofa sleeper, and I just shake my head. “Sophie, we can’t sleep on the floor—did you see the bugs?” That makes me shiver. Ew. With a hint of humor in his voice, he adds, “If you promise not to take advantage of me, I’m going to sleep. You can too. Come on it’s late.”

“Kevin, this is too weird.”

“It’s okay. I have five brothers and sisters. I’m used to staying on my side of the bed.”

“Fine.” I eye the size of the bed, barely a double. “Stay on your side.” I open the towels and roll them into logs, placing them down the middle of the mattress as Kevin laughs.

“Good night, Sophie,” he says as he turns off the lamp. The lights outside the window are barely dimmed by the thin curtain. Kevin is lying on his back, his arms and shoulders out of the blankets with the back of both wrists resting on his forehead, his eyes staring at the ceiling.

“Good night.”

“Sophie, why didn’t you tell me about Liam? It was obvious you told him about me, since he knew my name.”

I pause, remembering our return from the Breckenridge trip last Saturday, meeting Liam on the porch. “I was trying to keep our relationship business and not bring the personal into it.”

“But it’s not just business. You keep saying that, but it’s not.”

“Kevin, it really is.”

“You want to think so, but I don’t agree.” He sits up enough to lean on his left elbow and forearm, bumping the towel roll between us. His shadowed expression is both soft and knowing, and he’s clearly past his side of the bed. Is he trying to see if I’ll move toward him? “What I think is,” he continues, “that you think Liam would be jealous of me …”

No—right now, if he saw this, he’d burst a vein. He is
never
going to know about this.

“… and you didn’t mention him because you didn’t want me to know you were dating someone. I think you’re interested in me. You kissed me back.”

The memory constricts my stomach, causing me to take a deep breath, which I exhale slowly—I hope silently. In some alternate universe I would have been attracted and willing to pursue the relationship, but not now.

“And just a moment ago, you didn’t take your eyes off me until the light went out.”

I didn’t take my eyes off you then, either. I still haven’t. “Kevin, we have a business relationship, and Liam and I have a personal one. Period.” Then I straighten the towel between us again. I’m going to ignore him now, and fake sleep if I have to, because having a discussion about relationships while lying in bed with him is off the chart for uncomfortable.

Kevin drops from his elbow to lie on his side. His eyes are on level with mine. “Good night, Sophie.”

I’ve already said good night. I turn onto my side away from Kevin, relieved to be looking anywhere else, acutely aware of his breath whispering behind me. Eventually he rolls away and I can close my eyes. My mind goes silent but I don’t sleep well, but only because I imagine the bugs can climb as well as they can crawl.

January 20, 2008

Newbie Blog:

My Life in First-Grade Literature

Maybe Cinderella does her work every day, then more work at night. She finally comes to the notice of a prince or two, both handsome with wealthy kingdoms and the kind of personalities that can sweep a servant off her feet. And if the eye were making the decision, it might be difficult, but there is only one who has Cinderella’s heart.

P.S. Sorry this post is a day late. I was snowed in yesterday. Long story.

F
lu season is here, and it’s spreading faster than fresh gossip. Plug in a humidifier and stock up on tissues with lotion. I have two or three kids absent each day, and it’s the same in the other teachers’ classes. I’m running around with Clorox wipes, obsessively spouting, “Clean your desk,” to my students a couple of times a day while I wash doorknobs, tables and sink fixtures. It’s truly a miracle I’ve made it to Friday without getting sick.

On this past Monday, Lani, a new student, moved in. She’s beautiful with long, thick, wavy brown-black hair and almond-shaped eyes. Although she’s only beginning to get to know the students in our class, she’s very caring toward them.

Lani sits on the same team as Archer. During writing time, I’m talking with a student in the next team over, when I overhear a conversation between Archer and Lani. Archer is frustrated while writing his story and is scratching his pencil hard over a word.

“Are you okay, Archer?” Lani asks. He ignores her and keeps scratching back and forth. I’m pretty sure a hole is worked into his paper and possibly the laminate layer of the desk, but Lani pats him on the back and leans toward him saying, “It’s okay Archer. You have a very nice picture for your story.” She gives him a generous smile and another little pat, then turns back to her own writing.

After school, I hurry home to help Scarlet pack. I haven’t been around much this week to help her load or haul boxes. Our real estate business is crazy—I’ve had one or two appointments every night, and I’ll have two more on Saturday. Tonight Scarlet’s moving her furniture and the remaining boxes. She’s been packing and hauling boxes for a couple of weeks, so very little is left in her room or in the bathroom. She hugs me and Mina, then leaves with the last box. So far, we’ve only had two people interested in renting the room. Mina is showing it to them tomorrow while I’m at my partnership meeting.

As I drive to the meeting, I feel a little bit of flutter. I haven’t talked to Kevin since he dropped me off on Sunday morning. I’ve been extremely busy, for one thing. For another, I don’t know what to say to him, or if I should just ignore his speculation that I want more than a professional relationship. If I’m being truthful, I have to admit I’ve been glad to be busy this week, so I didn’t have to think about it.

The hostess shows us to a table, and our server takes our order right away. “You look beautiful,” Kevin says, staring over the top of the whipped cream on my hot chocolate.

I stare into my mug, wondering what to say. Immediately, I’m reminded of Kevin’s skin in the moonlight. Okay, I can never order hot chocolate in Kevin’s presence again.

I’m going to ignore his compliment.
We, you and I, Kevin, have a business relationship.
“I listed the townhouse downtown last night,” I say.

He nods and tries again. “Turquoise flatters you.”

Or you flatter me.
“Thank you. The paperwork for the other two listings this week is in these folders,” I say, handing them over.

He opens the first. “Just one date.”

“What? We dated them all before initialing at the bottom of each page,” I dutifully reply, looking toward the folder he has open in his hands.

“I mean you and me.” His golden eyes lift to mine and hold my gaze. “Have dinner with me. Just one date. I’ll pick you up and we’ll go out to eat. . .”

“We eat out every Saturday for breakfast.” Keep. It. Light.

“Then maybe a movie.”

“No. Thanks.”

“If it doesn’t go well, then we’ll know, but I think we should find out, one way or the other.”

Except that it would probably go well, and I’m not masochistic. “I’m seeing Liam right now.” My stomach is tight with … maybe anxiety, maybe excitement, maybe curiosity. Kevin is exactly the type of guy I usually go for. He’s gorgeous, successful, driven. We do make a great team. Past experience has taught me that soon, the team is just held together by convenience and shop talk. That’s been safe for me—no chance of losing my heart.

“You’re not married, engaged, or exclusive. Just one date.”