Chapter 7

After an hour or so of blissful debauchery, she finally allowed for rest--which came in the form of complete collapse.

"Have you ever been in the penthouse?"

"No."

"Do you want to? I have to get out of here; this wet carpet smells awful."

"Okay."

We made short work of getting dressed again. I don't know when or how it happened, but her hat was destroyed. I led the way to the staircase leading up to the penthouse overlooking the forest to the south. The view is impressive, to say the least.

"The Kesslers will be arriving any time now, don't you think? Maybe we should get you back downstairs. We don't want to give the wrong impression."

"I guess you're right, but... meet back here at midnight, Stephen! Say you will."

"Absolutely."

"You go down first. I'll make my way down, and I'll see you here at midnight. Don't keep me waiting."

I didn't see her come down. I only assumed she must have. I stopped by room 413 to make the bed. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I still flipped the mattress. I dropped the dirty linens in the laundry shoot at the end of the hall and decided to see if Tommy Mericle needed any help. With any luck, they'd have everything set up already.

"We've only just began, Mr. G, but I've no reason to believe we won't have everything up and going well in time for the event. Mrs. Teague was lookin' for you earlier. You'd better see what she needs first, and I'll let you know if we need a hand."

"Thanks for letting me know. I don't know that she won't put me to work somewhere else, but if I'm available, I'll be in the foyer or at the registration desk. If you don't see me there, and if it'll wait, just leave a note and I'll get to you as soon as possible."

"Right then. Gut Shabbos."

"Gut Shabbos."

It didn't take but a minute to find Mrs. Teague--more like, she found me.

"You've got a message from Mr. Yarkony. He's expecting your call."

Oh boy. I was expecting this, but not so soon. Word travels fast, I guess. I opted for the mail room to make the call. It's a bit more secluded than most other rooms, and far less likely to result in someone barging in looking for the restroom.

Mrs. Teague was a different matter. She watched me walk until there was nothing left of me to see. To my surprise, Uncle Mordy knew nothing about the fourth floor frolicking. Instead, he wanted me to drive to Albany to pick up supplies for hotel... tonight! It's only about fifty miles to Albany, but I was definitely weirded out by the urgency of the delivery. I wasn't thrilled to have to make the trip, but I was pretty happy that I wasn't apologizing for my behavior over the past hour. I grabbed the key to the pickup truck from the main desk, traded a gut shabbos with Melvin, and got on the road all the while wearing a big goofy grin.

Next chapter -- theprose.com/post/741574