“Look, Mr. Hailey. I understand your situation. I really do. But please try to appreciate mine. I’m a business traveler – a regular customer of this hotel – and I’ve just been told that I not only can’t leave but that I have no place to stay, either. Isn’t there something that you could do?”
He stared at her a moment before saying, “Well, I’m not going to promise anything, but what room did you say you were in again?” She told him and he turned to his computer terminal. Melanie amused herself during the wait by looking around his office, but he interrupted her almost immediately. “Your reservation has you listed under the last name of Masterson.”
“Oh, that.” For some reason, she found herself blushing. “I’ve only recently gotten divorced and I’m going by my maiden name now. But all my ID is still under my married name, so when I travel…”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. It happens all the time. The way security is at the airports now, I’m lucky I don’t get strip-searched.”
“No, I meant that I was sorry to hear about your divorce.”
“Oh.” His stare was back and for the first time she noticed the color of his eyes, deep pools of gray and blue surrounded by flecks of green and gold. She let her gaze trail down to his moustache; it made her think of a thick slab of quartz with veins of silver spider-webbed through it. She blushed again as she fought down a sudden image of those hairs scratching against her swollen labia. “Thank you,” she managed. Get a grip, girl! “It’s been…difficult.”
“I can imagine.” He turned back to his computer and began punching out some rapid keystrokes. Melanie glanced around the room, trying to get a feel for the man on the other side of the desk. Experience had taught her that you could often learn a lot about a person from the way they decorated their office. This one, however, told her very little. The room was clean and almost obsessively tidy. But there were no homey touches, no pictures of loved ones or scribbled notes from children. Are you that private, she wondered, or is it something else?
“What about you?” she asked. “Is there a Mrs. Hailey?”
“No, thank God.” His chuckle was dry. “And no little Haileys, either.” He laughed again, louder this time. He noticed her puzzled stare and said, “I’m sorry. It just occurred to me that if there were any little Haileys running around, they’d be legal adults by now.” When she didn’t respond, he added, “I’m gay.”
Once again, the best she could manage was, “Oh.” And then, a few moments later, “OH! You mean the last time you were with a woman was…”
“Almost twenty years ago, yes.” She laughed with him this time, but inside she felt as if she’d just been sucker-punched. Oh, Christ! He’s gay. She fought the rising bile in her throat. Can this day get any worse? Her spirits perked up a little when he said, “Hey! I may have found you something.”
“Great!”
“We just had a cancellation. It seems two women were coming to Vermont to have a Civil Union ceremony performed and because of the storm they decided to hold off. So we have a vacancy.” He looked up from his terminal. “It’s the Honeymoon Suite.”