Morning all, time to jump into a brand new writing prompt. Are you ready? Good, timers set for fifteen minutes and let’s see what sort of story lines emerge.
I love the short sentences sometimes. There are fewer expectations and I never have any idea where it is going until I get there.
Tuesday, August 12th: Have we met?
“Have we met?” Luke couldn’t help asking. He didn’t add anything further, afraid it would look like a bad pick up line. Yet the woman looked so familiar he couldn’t help but ask. She slipped her sunglasses off and fixed him with her bright blue eyes. The sense of familiarity grew, but he still couldn’t place her.
She continued to stare at him, one hand on the wooden countertop.
“Terribly sorry,” he said. He shook his head. “For a moment you looked familiar,” he replied. He set his questions aside and fixed his professional smile on his face. He looked at the computer. “We have you in room 328,” he said. He coded her electronic key.
“Will you be needing more than one key?” he asked. He always felt a little rude about asking as though he was invading a guest’s privacy by asking if they planned to entertain while traveling alone. After his earlier question, it felt even more invasive.
“No,” she said.
Luke nodded and slipped the key into the little paper folder, passing it over to her. When her fingers touched the key he pulled his hand back before they could touch his. She lifted an eyebrow slightly. He gave her directions to her room and wished her a happy stay in Happy Valley.
She let her eyebrow drop and then put her sunglasses back on as she turned away. She walked towards the elevator as instructed by his directions. He looked away, turning back to the computer monitor as there were no other guests. He didn’t want to be caught looking if she turned back towards the counter. She was an attractive woman and he didn’t want to be thought ogling.
He heard the elevator ding as he clicked the last few keys to finish registering the guest.
He was certain he had seen her before. When he saw her eyes he was doubly certain. They met before. If asked before he would have said he would never have forgotten meeting a woman like that, but he could not think of any circumstance where he might have come across her before.
He finished the check in and logged out. He made certain all sensitive material was put away. It was late for check in and most of the guests at the Happy Valley Inn were asleep in their beds. “Or enjoying Happy Valley,” he muttered to himself. He wasn’t certain what was even open other than gas stations on this side of town at this time of night but there always seemed to be a few people who found something.” The post dinner crowd had returned already, but he knew that later, well after the restaurants closed, there would likely be another group. ‘Even if it is a Monday.’
Luke decided to put the quiet time to good use. ‘And if I don’t think about the woman I might remember where I saw her,’ he told himself as he pulled the bottom drawer out and picked up the textbook he stashed there earlier. While all of their bags had to be stashed in the lockers in the employee lounge they were allowed to bring one book with them to quietly occupy themselves between guest needs. Management always frowned at his textbooks, their thoughts leaning more towards paperbacks and magazines but it was still within the rules.
Ten til Midnight 