Waiting For August

Part 12~An unexpected dinner date

I glanced up from my laptop. There was a knock at the door. It was Monday afternoon and I had spent the last two days online searching for an apartment, and I was fairly bored out of my mind. I glanced at the time. It was just before four p.m. Room service wouldn't be bringing my dinner up until six-thirty and I hadn't put in any other requests.

When the knock repeated, I got up to see who it was. Peering through the spyhole, I could see a petite blond woman dressed in business appropriate attire. I released the bolt lock and immediately opened the door.

"Hi, Hannah." I managed, pursing my lips as she pushed her way past me. I still wasn't sure how I felt about her. "Why don't you come in?"

"Good afternoon, August." She said brightly as she went into the sitting room and took a seat opposite from where I had been working at the laptop. "I have some good news and some bad news for you."

"Ah. Okay." I joined her in the sitting room taking my original spot.

She clapped her hands briefly. "The good news is that Denae has finally gone into labour, so you are officially our arcane representative at Taggart and Finch."

I nodded. That was good news. Denae was eager to have those babies and until she did, my position here had felt mediocre at best.

"The bad news is, that the few days off we had allotted for you to find an apartment have been formally revoked as you are now officially on duty."

That too was fine with me. I had just spent Sunday and Monday on my own here and the boredom was about to kill me. "Alright. Give me a moment to get dressed and we can head into the office together." I rose as she wildly shook her head.

"That isn't necessary." She placed a briefcase atop of the coffee table. "I've brought some files for us to go over so we can work from here for today. Mostly we are just going to get you acquainted with a few of the cases Denae has been dealing with."

"Okay, let me throw on some pants and I'll be right back." I was literally still wearing the boxers I'd been sleeping in as I hadn't been expecting company.

She eyed me with a smile and a wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it. You're already wearing more clothing than the last time I was here."

I frowned, remembering. Yeah. It hadn't been cool that time, either. I did my best to smile back as I exited the room. "I'll just be a sec." Seriously though. Had she been joking? She didn't know me that well and she was in my hotel room. That aside, wouldn't most women appreciate their male co-workers to be wearing pants? I know I do, and I'm a guy.

I disappeared into the bedroom, closing the door behind me before heading straight to the bathroom. I took a moment to brush my teeth before scrubbing my face, neck, and pits as well. It would have to work in place of a shower. Back at my suitcase I found a clean shirt and underwear, before throwing on a pair of joggers and some deodorant. It would have to do.

Heading out to the main room I picked up the cordless phone. "Would you like to have dinner with me?" That way I thought we could work right through and maybe end the evening a bit early.

Hannah smiled and nodded brightly at me. "That would be really lovely, August. It'll give us a chance to get to know one another better, especially now that we'll be working together one on one."

She had made a good point. Meeting new people wasn't always easy. Maybe what appeared to be pushiness on her end could have simply been her trying to impress me with a take-charge attitude. "I've ordered the steak frites for myself, should I have them bring a second?"

She nodded her approval, and I dialed room service. After I upgraded my dinner order I headed to the nook just outside the entrance, where there was a tiny coffeemaker and a minifridge. I brewed a pot of coffee with the samples the hotel had supplied.