As she approaches my car, I’m startled by the stark contrast of Ellie now versus how she was this morning. She actually looks alive and functioning. When she gets closer, the bags under her eyes are still prominent, but at least those eyes are fully open. Her face lights up with a smile when she notices me, and I feel it deep in my chest. This is the first time I’ve seen her genuinely smile this week, and I missed it. Getting out to help her put her bags in the back, I take caution in hanging the garment bag on the hook behind the driver’s side door.
“You better be careful with that. It’s my favorite dress.”
“Wow, El. Bringing out the big guns.” Now that I know the sentiment attached to my nickname for her, I find myself wanting to use it more. “I’m excited to see you all spruced up.”
“Same goes for you. Please, tell me you rented a tux for this?” She jokes, but her tired brown eyes look so hopeful.
I laugh. “Nope. Just a regular old suit.”
She pouts while sliding into my passenger seat. Her half-empty iced cup leaks condensation into the cup holder, and I suddenly understand why she is so animated. There must be a lethal amount of caffeine rushing through her veins right now. She slips off her shoes and tucks one foot under her thigh as if wehave done this a million times, and I watch as she shakes her hair out of the bun she had been wearing all morning. One of my favorite things about her is that she makes herself comfortable in my presence.
“Okay, so this is what I’m thinking. We have a long drive ahead of us, and there’s no reason we both should be suffering the whole time,” she states loudly, staring at me with an odd intensity, and I’m a bit terrified of what she might say. “So, I was thinking we should switch off every other song, but if absolutely necessary, a song can be vetoed with a good argument.”
There is no humor on her face as she waits for me to answer.
Despite her seriousness, I can’t help but crack a smile. “That sounds doable.”
Her face lights up when I tell her she can go first. Ellie enthusiastically scrolls through her playlist as I type in the address. As we pull out of the parking lot, the GPS reads that there’s three hours and seventeen minutes until we reach our destination.
During our interrogation dinner, we talked about music a little bit, but didn’t go any deeper than sharing our favorite genres. Based on what she shared that night, I knew she was going to have good taste. When she chooses “Ain't it Fun” by Paramore and starts dancing along to the beat, I have to focus hard to keep my eyes on the road.
We go back and forth like we promise, and I’m surprised at how many of my songs she knows. I almost died when she sang along to every word of “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” by Cake.It was impressive that she got all of the timings right, including the trumpet part.
We keep the vibes upbeat for the first forty-five minutes, but the mood shifts right before the hour mark. I thought that being stuck in such a small space together was going to be more stressful, but it’s making me hopeful that this weekend won’t be awkward. Sharing a room with Ellie has been on my mind since she agreed to come with me, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. While I know I won’t jeopardize anything, I still want to do everything in my power to make sure she feels safe.
Her energy has somehow persisted this far into our drive; although, I suspect a crash any minute now. I haven’t spent a lot of time with Ellie, but she has obvious tells for when she is nearing slumber. She is not very talkative to begin with, but when she starts mumbling excessively and only responding to parts of what I say, I know what’s about to happen. There’s also this adorable thing where she closes her eyes and promises ‘on her life’ that she’s not sleeping.
When I look over not even thirty seconds later, she is asleep.
The tiniest bit of drool collects on the corner of Ellie’s mouth as she sleeps in my passenger seat.
It pains me to wake her up, but I have to.
We actually got to the hotel about an hour ago, but she’s been looking so tired, I wanted her to sleep as long as possible. While waiting in the car, I noticed that Greg and the companyspared no expense this weekend because this is a nice-ass hotel. It’s nowhere near the most expensive one in this area, but it is upscale without a doubt. I looked through the website when I made the reservation, and it appears to be the whole package: three restaurants, two pools, multiple conference/meeting rooms, a private park—and that’s not even all of the amenities.
Being here for the weekend with everyone seems a little weird. Don’t get me wrong, I already spend a lot of time with my coworkers, and I’ve always gone to the ERI hosted events before Greg was the boss. But, those were day trips and happy hours. No more than a few hours here or there. Not to mention, I like to keep to myself and my team when it comes to social gatherings, but that doesn’t stop people, specifically Rebecca, from trying to pull me out of my comfort zone. After all of these years, she really cannot catch a hint. I wish I could be more straightforward, but it’s easier to ignore than to create tension in the workplace. At least Rebecca isn’t crazy enough to flirt with me in front of my girlfriend, right?
Ellie stirs, pulling me from my thoughts. She lets out a big yawn and stretches her legs out straight. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she smiles up at me.“How long was I out?”
“Not long. Only about two and a half hours.”
“What? That doesn’t make sense.” She looks at me, questioning her sanity. “The drive here was barely that long, and I was awake for most of it!”
“Yeah, that was until I decided to not wake you up when we got here.” I watch her features as understanding takes over. “Don’t lie to me, El. Youneededthat sleep. You’re doing a lot, and you need to make sure you take care of yourself.”
Since there’s no way she can argue back at my truth, she huffs and sits silently in the passenger seat, but she follows suit when I get out of the car, grabbing both of our bags from the back seat. When Ellie offers to carry her garment bag, I let her, appreciating that she has already given up on giving me the silent treatment.
As we walk into the hotel lobby, it is relatively quiet. Our footsteps on the marble floors echo through the high ceiling. Making our way through the vast room full of elegant couches, tables, and chairs, I notice a giant sign with the company’s events listed and a map of the grounds. It is basically a ghost town, and there is no one waiting for the front desk as we walk up.
Peering over the desk, I see the receptionist typing on the computer with a phone propped between her shoulder and ear. When she spots us, she says her goodbye’s and hangs up, greeting us with an energetic smile. “Welcome! How can I help you two?”
“Hi, I’m Patrick Murphy. We should have a room reserved for two nights.”
“Hello, Patrick!” Her fingers move lightning fast on the keyboard in front of her. “Alright. I have your reservation right here. I’m just going to need your ID and a credit card to keep on file.”
It doesn’t take long to check-in and head towards the elevator. I texted with Wes when we first got here, and he said he was already checked in and set up in his room. Because of Ellie's snooze in the car and the nearly empty lobby, we are definitely one of the last ones checking in.
With both of our bags still in my hands, we get in the elevator. Other than our room, this elevator is probably the most alone we will be all weekend, so I decide that this is the best place to make sure Ellie knows exactly where we stand. “El, I don’t want there to be any confusion going into this weekend. You aremyguest. If at any time you don’t want to do something, just let me know, and I’ll make an excuse. These people are my coworkers, and while I like most of them, you are here withme.You get to decide what happens, and I don’t want you to feel anxious or nervous speaking up if there is something that makes you feel uneasy.”
