Walter couldn't take the boredom anymore. It was the last day of the RTS convention at the Horizon Hotel in Washington, D.C., and he couldn't believe that the network had planned another lineup of lousy reality TV and even lousier sitcoms. He couldn't understand why people said TV was where the action was in the entertainment industry.
He didn't want to watch any more television in his room; like Bruce Springsteen said, there were fifty-seven channels and nothing on. In frustration, he threw the remote at the flat-screen TV, almost breaking it in the process. Real smart, he thought to himself; if I broke it, how much would that cost RTS?
He stood up, loosened his tie and stared out the window overlooking the hotel pool. He saw families swimming in that pool, all of them white; Walter found himself wishing he had learned to swim growing up in New York, but his parents didn't have the money for lessons. Swimming, his dad told him, was something white people did.
Walter looked at the happy families and almost wanted to cry. They were enjoying the water. Why couldn't he?
Just then, he noticed a young woman wearing sunglasses and a blue bikini lying down on a lounge chair. She was very beautiful, with long, flowing blonde hair and flawless legs. Walter couldn't stop staring at this gorgeous white girl.
Apparently, she noticed, because she pulled her sunglasses down to reveal warm hazel eyes. She waved directly at Walter, motioning for him to come down.
Walter looked up and down. She had to be looking at someone else, right?, he reasoned.
The blonde began to wave more aggressively at him, pointing to the empty lounge chair next to her. She meant him.
Walter nodded his head no, and made a swimming gesture with his arms.
She mouthed, "Don't worry."
Five minutes later, Walterβstill in his blue suitβwalked to the patio and sat next to the blonde beauty.
"Hello," she said in a strong Irish accent.
"Hi," said Walter.
She then leaned in close to him.
"I guess you like what you see!"
"Uh, uh..."
"Oh, don't worry," the blonde beauty replied, slapping his thigh. "Nice to meet you. My name's Claire."
"Hi, I'm Walter."
"So, how's things? In town for a visit?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm an executive for RTS, the TV network."
"Oh, that's awesome!" she exclaimed, her eyes brightening. "That must be a cool job!"
"Not as cool as it looks."
"Oh, well," she noted.
"Uh, I assume you're in town for a visit as well?"
"Right," she responded. "I'm here for a wedding. My cousin moved here a few years ago, and she's getting married to an American guy, a doctor."
"Wow," Walter replied. "Uh, may I ask where you're from?"
"I'm from Cork in Ireland."
Walter smiled. "I guessed it was an Irish accent, but I wanted to be sure!"
They both laughed.
"The wedding's still going on, but I decided to leave the reception. I don't drink, and, well...a number of other people are doing so."
Walter raised an eyebrow.
"I know, I know...I'm the only Irish person who doesn't drink, right?"