"This weather looks pretty nasty, Erin", I said turning to her, looking out the window as we were on final approach into Chicago O'Hare airport.
"I know," the 30-year-old sales manager said. She closed her wool coat over her full bosom. "It's cold on this plane already. Not so sure if we're going to make it out of here tomorrow after this presentation."
"We can only hope. At least the company booked us a couple of rooms. Can probably talk them into another night if we need to."
The presentation went well. Erin was as adept as usual. Articulate and well prepared, her disarming Midwest charm and big blue eyes always managed to win over customers. I just played the engineer that needed to have all the technical answers, sometimes in more detail than had been asked. That's probably why the company had paired us 3 times over the last year for these sorts of outings. We were very comfortable together. I would be lying if I hadn't thought about her in more than just a professional sense. While Erin was not the "commercial" beauty, her full, ever so slightly chubby body was just what I liked. She had a full round body, strong legs from what I learned was from playing sports in college which fit perfectly with her "girl-next-door" persona. I had daydreamed if behind that understated, somewhat aloof demeanor lurked the fire of a lioness. I dismissed those thoughts as quickly as they came. This was by far the best and most senior role I had ever had, and there was no way I was going to jeopardize my job for some horny action.
As expected, the snow was only growing in intensity as we made our way to the hotel where the company had booked us. Grabbing our travel bags from the back of the Lyft, I walked in and overheard Erin talking to the front desk clerk.
"Well, I'm sure there's been some mistake, our company should have 2 rooms booked for us."
The clerk, an older Latino woman looked down at the computer screen again and said with a heavy accent, "Oh no, no, Mrs. Breyer. I see only one room, king bed. Third floor, 350. It has king bed. Plenty of room for you and your husband."
"HUSBAND?" Erin and I said in unison. Erin started to blush, "Oh ma'am, I'm sorry, he's not my husband."
The clerk's eyes grew wide. Clearly having worked in the hospitality industry for a long time and working for an extra tip she looked at Erin and then at me and said, "You mean this big handsome man no your husband?" Then she laughed, "S'ok," she whispered leaning in closer to Erin. "I tell nobody..."
Erin grew incredulous, "Now wait a minute. I don't want you to think that..."
Her voice trailed as I interjected. "Alright, alright. Ma'am, are there any available rooms? Doesn't matter which one."
"Oh, no, no. No more rooms." She pointed out the window and the ever-worsening storm. "No one check out in this weather."
I sighed and looked at Erin. "Well, I guess we can make the best of it, eh? Tell you what. This one is a business suite, which means it has a couch. I'll just take the couch and you can have the bed."
Erin relaxed. "You're right. It's just one night. Thank you, Ma'am. Didn't mean to cause you any trouble."
The clerk smiled again broadly. "No problem, Mrs...er, Miss Breyer. The bar is around the corner on the left. Continental breakfast starts at 6am. Have nice night."
Erin took off towards the elevator. The clerk winked at me as I slid her $20.
The room was spartan, but spacious enough. There was indeed a couch that converted into a bed. "Well at least it's better than those in the barracks," I said thinking back to my days in the Army.
"Seems awful small though," she replied? "I'm only 5'2". I can take the couch, so you can stretch out."
I suddenly became aware of the fact that even though I was only barely 6 feet, I did sometimes tower over her. "Stop thinking nasty, you ass," I thought to myself. "I wouldn't think of it!" I said. "Don't worry about it. This beats 120 degrees in Iraq any day. Do you want to go get a drink downstairs?"
"Yes!" We headed down to the bar.
We sat and chit-chatted about work and other things for a while. I didn't dare ask her about her personal life. I knew she had divorced about a year ago, and from the office gossip that was impossible to avoid. Apparently, the guy had been a complete ass, and she was better off without him. As for me, I had little time for anything serious. A fling here and there, but nothing of substance.
As the conversation went on, and we had probably had just enough booze as two people could reasonably expense, I looked at my watch.
"Shit, it's 8:30 already? What time is our flight in the morning?"
"Damn, 9:30am? Who booked this crap?"
"Obviously someone that doesn't travel very much. Oh well, ready to head upstairs?"
"Yea." She finished the last swallow of whatever it was. "Would you mind grabbing a couple of bottles of water? I really have to pee, and I know whatever this bottom shelf liquor was is going to make me SO dehydrated."