Although my eyes were getting tired, I wasn’t sleepy. Concentrating on the road dealing with the constant rain had taken its toll. I decided to drive on to Columbia and find a place to stay for the night. I’d been on the road since mid-morning, leaving Cincinnati after the last sales meeting. I spotted a billboard advertising one of the national hotel chains and made a mental note of the exit number off the interstate.
Reaching Columbia, I drove off the interstate onto the exit seeing the multi-floor hotel directly up the road. I pulled into the parking lot and went in hoping to be able to get a room for the night. Luck was with me. I was able to get a room on the fourth floor, very pricey but all the amenities you could think of, including a coffee maker with several packets of coffee. I figured I’d put that to use later on in the evening.
I sat down in one of the chairs, slipping off my shoes. I propped my feet up on the edge of the queen-size bed. I used the remote to skip through the channels trying to find something interesting to watch. Not finding much but news on at this time of the evening. I relaxed in the comfortable chair, dozing off and on occasionally.
I heard someone in the room next to mine. It sounded like two men talking. I noticed a door along the wall between the two rooms, which made the rooms adjoining. I got up and checked to make sure it was locked. It was. I heard the shower running in the room next to mine, thinking that wasn’t a bad idea, but figuring I’d wait till after I’d eaten to get a shower before bed. I watched the rest of the news program and a little bit of a situation comedy, a rerun. I decided I’d go down to the hotel restaurant and get some dinner. I grabbed my shoulder bag and headed for the door.
As I stepped out into the hallway of the hotel, the door at the room next to mine opened. Two young guys stepped from the room, pulling their door shut. They were both wearing black cowboy hats.
“Howdy Ma’am.” They both spoke.
“Hello.” I replied, smiling at them.
I started walking towards the elevators down the hallway, the guys were a following a little behind me. I pushed the button and the elevator doors opened. I stepped in the elevator and the two guys stepped in next to me. One of the guys and I reached to push the lobby floor button at the same time. I jerked my hand back.
“Bet y’all is headin’ the same place as us.” One of the guys stated in his Texas draw. “Supper”
I smiled. “Yes, I haven’t eaten all day. Just been driving.”
I don’t know why I said that much to them, it just came out. They smiled and asked where I was heading.
“Paxico, Kansas, just a little west of Topeka.“ I informed them. There I go again, talking more than I should, I thought. The guys nodded.
“Right off the interstate a little.” One of the men remarked. “Been by there a lot.”
I smiled. “Well, there’s not a whole lot there so you haven’t missed much.” I kidded.
We rode the elevator down to the lobby not saying anything more; the elevator was slow for some reason. When the elevator finally got to the lobby level, the guys stepped back letting me off first. I got out and looked around for the hotel restaurant, not seeing any signs.
“Rick and I are headin’ across the street to our favorite steak place. We always eat there when we’re in town. Beats the hotel restaurant all to heck.” The guy’s Texas draw prominent. “We’d both be pleased if you’d join us.”
I was a little taken by their invitation. Their pleasantness had me almost convinced to take them up on their offer. I hesitated, starting to say “thanks but no”. I shrugged my shoulders and decided to take them up on their offer. It would be nice to have someone to converse with at dinner I thought. We walked out of the hotel and across the parking lot. The steakhouse was directly across the street. We waited till traffic broke and hurried across the busy street. The three of us entered the restaurant. It was busy but we got seated immediately. The smell of steaks cooking filled the entire dining area. The smell made me hungry.
We looked over the menus, it was hard to decide. Everything sounded so good and the prices were reasonable. I picked out a small t-bone steak complete with everything you could possibly want to go with it. We placed our order and the guys ordered a beer each. They ordered one for me. I’m not much of a drinker but a cold beer sounded good with dinner.
The guys apologized for not introducing themselves. Rick and Trey were their names.
“Hi, I’m Michelle.” I introduced myself to them.
The waitress brought the glasses of ice-cold beer. I sipped mine, Rick and Tyler drank theirs down, guess they were really thirsty. They told me they were long-haul truckers, based out of Brownsville, Texas. They were both married with young children. I told them I work for a real estate investment firm in Topeka. They seemed interested in what my work entailed and I explained what I actually did at work. They seemed sincerely interested, asking a lot of questions. I asked them about their truck driving jobs. They were team drivers, constantly on the road. They were rarely home more than a couple of days a month. I thought how hard that must be for them and their families. I figured they were both in their mid-twenties, about ten years younger than me.