Wishes (Part of Frost: A Rendezvous Collection)

Chapter ONE & TWO

CHAPTER ONE

Michele

Crying would not solve my problem right now.

Frowning in confusion, I looked down on my map for the hundredth time. I was so sure I followed the directions to the hotel to the letter but after scouting establishment windows on every block, checking all the signposts, asking the endless throngs of people walking up and down the street, I still ended up in front of the wrong hotel.

To make matters worse, a wheel popped off one of my suitcases when the bus driver carelessly dropped it on the ground. This was just before he announced he couldn't enter the French Quarter after five o'clock (everyone knew that, why didn't I?) and cheerfully drove away. So, I had been dragging my things up and down five blocks for the past hour with my trusty tote bag slung over my shoulder.

Blinking away tears of frustration, I craned my neck to read the sign above me: Hotel Toujours.

My knowledge of foreign language wasn't very good but that didn't sound like Noveau Hotel to me, which was the hotel I had booked a few weeks ago. Sighing, I looked at my wristwatch and the digits 11:03 blinked back at me. P.M.

I was beyond tired. God only knew how long I'd been sitting in that bus to get here, followed by the shock of having to drag my belongings for several blocks over, but still, I kept going. Now, the voice in my head that had been guiding me throughout this journey whispered: "Even if you're not at the hotel you'd made reservations with, you're where you're meant to be. New Orleans. You've made it!"

A smile crossed my lips. Yes, I made it.

Finally accepting my fate, I hitched up my tote bag higher on my shoulder and prepped myself to pull my heavy bags again. Maybe one more go. I think I missed the sign of my hotel because I had been gawking at the people walking past me. Some of the clothes were very... educational.

Then without any warning, the heavens opened up and poured rain from above. Lots of it.

Shrieking, I hurriedly pulled at the handle bars of my luggage and forced my way into the doorway of the hotel in front of me. Even though both bags announced they were waterproof, I had some precious equipment in my belongings which I didn't want to get wet. Then I found out that forcibly dragging two big suitcases through a doorway wasn't a clever thing to do when one of the handle bars came off... from the one with the good wheels.

"Oh please, no." I cried out to nobody in particular while using the other bag to wedge the door open before hauling the second one in.

Once I was safely out of the rain, feeling my wet clothes sticking to my skin, I finally allowed myself to cry. The tears were not of regret about deciding to make this trip in the first place. No matter what, I would still do this. It's just been a horrible day. My friend, Amanda, would have scolded me several times over if she knew what I've had to do to get here. She would have-

"Are you all right, cher?"

A raspy female voice rang out next to me making me jump. The sight I saw proved just how tired I was when the person who spoke looked like she had solid black eyes with hair flying behind her while she was suspended in the air. Hastily, I wiped the tears from my eyes, blinked, and looked again.

The woman standing in front of me had gray hair which was stylishly swept up behind her head. Her dark eyes were gazing kindly at me and were definitely not like stuff from my nightmares. She towered over me, like most people do, and her expensive looking shoes were undeniably touching the carpeted floor of the hotel lobby. Behind her, the hotel was far more stylish inside than from what it appeared like from the outside. Boy, I was more exhausted than I thought.