Page 30 of Real Forever
“We love you.”
“Yes!” Tammy cheered, clapping her hands, and sending the crowd into another frenzied round of applause.
Madison gawked at Jake, wide-eyed but attempting to keep a neutral expression in front of her tablemates. He raised an eyebrow in subtle agreement to their mutual, unspoken appall.
16
Madison
“Shit. It’s snowing again,”Jake said, nodding toward the wall of tall windows on the opposite side of the banquet room. He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked his weather app. “Looks like the storm is going to hit us now.”
“Uh, oh. Should we hit the road early? Get ahead of it?”
“We should, I guess. It’s disappointing, though. We haven’t even seen Tammy since she left the stage.”
Madison scanned the banquet room, but she couldn’t spot Tammy. It would suck to have come all the way here and get nothing. But she knew better than to mess around with Manitoba roads and winter storms.
“I think we’re better safe than sorry,” she said.
“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, let’s go.” Jake stood and pulled Madison’s chair out for her.
When they opened the lobby doors to leave, they both stopped in their tracks. A thick blanket of snow covered the parking lot, but the real problem was the wind, which was plowing the snow into high, crusty drifts and whipping the falling snow into a dense white fog.
“Oh my god.”
Jake was gobsmacked. “How long were we in there?”
They turned to each other and burst into laughter.
“Well, I guess we aren’t getting home. Are you okay if we stay over and drive home tomorrow once the plows have the highways cleared?”
“Definitely,” Madison nodded. “This is ridiculous.”
They headed back into the lobby and up to the front desk.
“Good evening,” the clerk greeted them. “How can I help you?”
“We need two rooms for tonight, please,” Jake replied, digging his credit card out of his wallet.
The clerk frowned. “Hmm, let me see.” He tapped away at the keyboard of his computer, occasionally shaking his head. Madison and Jake exchanged confused glances. “I’m very sorry, sir, but we are all booked up for tonight. With the NorAsana convention tonight, I’m afraid we’ve been booked up for weeks.”
“What?” Jake glanced from the clerk to Madison and back to the clerk again. “You don’t have anything available? It’s storming like crazy out there. We can’t leave in this.”
“I’m so sorry, sir. I’m afraid—” he stopped and squinted at the screen. “One moment…” More keyboard clacking. He picked up the phone and turned his back to them, speaking in a hushed voice to whomever was on the receiving end. After a brief conversation, he hung up. “Ok. Good news, I can get you into our Regal Suite tonight, but you’ll need to check out early as we have a VIP guest checking in tomorrow and the room will require additional preparations before his arrival.”
Jake and Madison both exhaled in relief and smiled at each other.
The clerk clickety-clacked a few more times. “So, staying one night in the Regal Suite, your total will be… seven hundred and eighty-four dollars.”
Madison’s jaw fell to the shining, polished marble floor. “Seven fucking hundred and eighty fucking four dollars?”
Jake laughed and handed his credit card to the clerk. “It’s fine. Thank you so much for accommodating us.”
Madison reached for his arm. “No. You don’t have to pay for this. This is crazy.”
“It’s not a problem.” He smiled warmly at her. “I don’t mind. It’s better than heading out and getting into an accident on the highway.”
After Jake had paid and the clerk had given them their key cards and explained the early check out requirement for the morning, they looked at one another.
