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She smiled and her face wrinkled like a raisin. “If only I were fast enough on my feet.”
I laughed.
“And your heart wasn’t already taken.”
I shrugged.
She looked down at my feet and then up at my face. “You in a hurry again this morning?”
“No,” I said. “Just absentminded.”
She opened her large purse like it was full of critters she didn’t want to release and pulled out some hotel shampoo bottles and transferred them to her other hand. Then she dug around some more and pulled out her hotel slippers which were still sealed in plastic and handed them to me.
“You’re welcome,” she said, tossing her smuggled toiletries back in.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes I do,” she said. “I can’t be seen with you like this.”
I rolled my eyes and put the slippers on. They looked absolutely appalling with my black dress socks.
“Much better,” she said as the elevator doors opened.
“I got it,” I said, grabbing her bag.
She nodded and walked onto the elevator, pressing the button and stepping to the side.
“Did you have a pleasant stay?” I asked as the doors closed.
“Very,” she said. “And I already know you did.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I did.”
The doors opened to the lobby and she grabbed the handle of her bag in a way that made it clear my services were no longer needed.
“Have a safe trip home.”
“Thanks,” she said. “And good luck to you.”
I didn’t waste a minute walking over to reception.
“Good morning, Barry,” I said, wondering why it couldn’t have been his day off.
“Good morning, Mr. Briggs.”
Better. “As you can see, I’m not quite ready to be out and about today, but I need an urgent favor.”
He nodded.
“My sister- the bride and her husband- would like to have some of their wedding cake in bed, and I’ve been sent to fetch it for them.” I don’t know what made me say fetch. Perhaps I was trying to compensate for my informal dress with overly affected speech.
“Certainly sir. Will I send it up to their room with some champagne?”
“That won’t be necessary. Two thick slices of cake is all they want,” I said. “I’ll deliver it myself.”
“I’ll be right back,” Barry said, leaving his desk unmanned.
A few wedding guests stepped off the elevator in their breakfast finest, and I turned away so as not to be detected as they made their way to the dining room.
Barry returned with the cake in reasonable time, and I thanked him, slipping the forks in my pocket so I could focus on carrying the plates to the elevator. How anyone ever managed more than two plates at once was beyond me. Thank god I hadn’t been sucked in by his offer of champagne.
Clearly, the old lady with the funny timing was my good luck charm because I made it all the way back to the room without running into anyone, and after putting one of the slices of cake down, I was able to use the key and push the door open.
I slipped one of the slippers off in front of the door so it wouldn’t slam behind me, set the plates down so I could close it properly, and then picked the plates up and put them on the nightstand.
When I turned towards Lucy, I saw that she had changed positions so that she was stretched across the bed like a flying squirrel, her hair and limbs extended in all different directions.
And then my stomach dropped.
There were violent scars on the inside of her arm, so thick and numerous that the sight of them made my eyes burn.
