The divorce was finally over. A year after the bitch walked out the door, the court decided I was off the hook for alimony. She was the only woman who paid attention to me as a nerdy graduate student. She gained my trust and I thought we had something. Well, when I finally got my Ph.D and took a Post Doc position which, for those who don't know, paid like shit, I sensed a change in her. Only a couple of months later, she just announced that it was over and she was leaving. Seems she had finally shown her true self and all that she really cared about was money. But I guess living with the same guy she had been cheating on me with didn't work so well for her either because she got nothing in the divorce. Not like I was going to shed a tear.
Emotionally, the last year had been a roller coaster. But it had allowed me one luxury, time to devote to my research work. And it had been a good year there resulting in a major breakthrough that earned me an invitation to speak at a major conference. So here I was at the luxury conference hotel in the middle of nowhere preparing for my speech in a couple of days. Getting away seemed like a good way to celebrate the divorce as well.
I was walking through the lobby returning from a late dinner with colleagues from my University when I saw her. I knew who it was from a long way away. Her name was Lisa and when I was an undergraduate I had a huge crush on her. She was a year older than me and that year made a big difference. She always seemed to have it together. Meanwhile, I was stuck in my nerdiness at the time focusing more on videogames and reading research papers. In the end, I never had the guts to do anything but make small talk with her and steal glances at her tits and ass when I could get away with it without being caught. When she graduated, I heard she went off to some nameless company in a different city and I figured I would never see her again.
But I had socially progressed some since those early undergrad days and today I had to courage to initiate contact.
"Lisa!"
She paused, momentarily stunned that someone had called her name. She looked around trying to find out who was calling to her. My waving hand did the trick and she looked at me. It was apparent I had the upper hand in the recognition game at this point, but that didn't last long. She was sharp as ever.
"Matt? Is that really you? I haven't seen you in years. What have you been up to?"
"Just the usual. Spending way too long in graduate school followed by a post-doc at a major university. You know, making big breakthroughs, getting invitations to speak at conferences. Just everyday things."
"Well, maybe I should actually look at the schedule. I am here to perform some job interviews so I wasn't planning on attending any sessions. But if my schedule allows, maybe I will have to stop in and listen."
"Would you care to stop for a drink?"
"I need to check in first but then I could really use a drink. My first flight was an hour late and the overhead luggage bins were full so I had to check my baggage. Of course, I also missed my connection and finally landed three hours late. And to top it off, the airline lost my luggage. You have to love the airlines."
"Wow. You really do need a drink. Go ahead to the front desk and I will grab a table at the bar."
Lisa trotted off to the front desk while I found a two person table at the lobby bar in view of the front desk. And I waited. I had a feeling something wasn't right as I looked on and Lisa was getting more and more frustrated. Finally, I saw her walk away, without a room key and look around for the bar. Hand waiving worked for the second time today and she saw me.
"Well, that dumb secretary strikes again. She made hotel reservations at the airport hotel an hour away instead of this one I specifically told her to. If she wasn't banging the owner, I would have her ass fired. That plus I just transferred divisions so she no longer makes my travel arrangements. Let someone else deal with her shit."
"Ouch! So didn't the hotel have something else for you?"
"Nope. With the conference in town, all the rooms are booked at this hotel and all the surrounding hotels they tried. My only option seems to be taking a taxi back to the airport hotel."
"Well, I guess my chance for that drink just went out the window."
"No way buster. Now I need that drink more than ever. Besides, having a drink with a handsome man seems to be the only ray of sunshine in my day."
That remark caught me off guard. I wish I could say that I had a witty retort, but I pretty much froze. "Thank you" was all that came out of my mouth.
"Now, tell me about this breakthrough you will be speaking about."
And so we went back to the days of small talk. I talked about my breakthrough keeping it brief to not let the conversation get too slow. And then I asked her to tell what she had been up to. She had worked for a couple years for a guy who she finally figured out wasn't going to be giving her a raise until he got his own raise out of the deal, if you get my drift. Then she changed jobs and was now working at a technology company in charge of hiring researchers for the company. That was why she was here. And of course the subject of my recent divorce made an appearance in the conversation, but I tried to pass over that quickly.
Before we both realized it, we had drained more than just a drink and it was even later than before. The conversation seemed to reach an ending point. And in an alcohol influenced state, my mouth went before my head.
"It's so late you will be dead tired if you try to go back to the airport hotel. My room has two beds. Why don't you just sleep in my room?"
What the fuck had I just said?
"I don't know. That seems like an imposition."
Well, maybe one of us still had some non-alcohol affected brain cells working.
"But that really does help me out for the evening. And you aren't exactly a creepy guy. So I think I will take you up on the offer. Lead the way and show me to your room."
Nope. Alcohol seemed to be in control.
We walked through the hotel to my room. It was your standard hotel room with two full beds, a desk, a closet, and something they called a bathroom but seemed about as big as the closet. No suite for the speakers seemed a little cheap for the conference. She walked into the room and jumped on one bed.
"I call this one. I have a bit of thing about sleeping closest to the door. Please be a gentleman and allay my fears my strong protector."
