Love, Lust 'n Geology (1ST DRAFT)

Chapter 59: BC Motel

This chapter is dedicated to nehagop for her encouragement & support thru her votes & PM's & for sticking with the story :-)! Thank u so much, Neha - I really appreciate it :-)! (I haven't seen her for the last few chapters, but I'm sure she'll be back, won't u, Neha ;-)?

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Hello everyone :-):

In this chapter & the previous one, I've been fiddling around with my writing style & need ur help to know if I'm taking it in the right direction or not. While reading, if something strikes u as positive/negative/confusing about the writing, just post a quick comment on the spot letting me know. U'll have my eternal gratitude - or at least for as long as I'm around ;-) - & get serious consideration for a dedication - which u do, anyway ;-). With readers dropping like flies - it's true :-(! - Samina & Tom could use ur help with their story! Thx :-)!

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Chapter 59: BC Motel

Halfway to Dryden from Ignace, a minor road sign partially hidden by an overhanging branch alerts drivers—if they don't happen to miss it or if the wind doesn't blow the branch right over the sign—to their arrival at Borups Corners. It might as well be signalling their departure too since little except scrub vegetation and woods lie on either side of the road as far as the eye can see. Aside from an intersection immediately ahead—without it Borups Corners would presumably be Borup?—the monotony is broken only by a single dwelling on the opposite side of the highway, the BC Motel. The scene suggests that the entire population of Borups Corners is housed there.

Unlike the road signs for Ignace and Dryden, no population figure appears on the one for Borups. Samina's never noticed this aspect of the sign before but does so now. Two possibilities occur to her. A population of less than ten would undoubtedly be a source of entertainment for passing drivers, but not in a way that locals are likely to appreciate. And the immediate population of Borups probably fluctuates wildly, increasing ten-fold or more during the busy summer tourist season, so that officials might be reluctant to commit to a single number.

The motel consists of a long, single-storey, white building running parallel to the highway with a shallow, black, one-way sloping roof. A row of small windows peer out onto the road. Larger windows face the other side, where the entrance is. Two tiny cabins sit farther in, giving the motel an L-shaped layout. A dirt driveway leads in from the highway and runs past one end of the building, the two cabins and a two-storey house facing them, before coming to a halt.

On the drive in, Samina spots the tail end of a white truck jutting out from behind the house but otherwise, the place is deserted. Not a single person or vehicle is in sight. She's all set to check in but thinks twice when loud barking reaches her from the house. She decides, umm, maybe she'll wait for Tom?

When she arrived at his place from the bus station, she decided she wasn't going to get out of her truck. After the 'assault' at the station, there was no telling where she might end up if she did. Upstairs, in his room? More specifically, on his bed?

Tom pulled in after her and ambled over to her window, still grinning over the events at the station. She looked nonchalantly down at her hands and then off to the other side. He tapped on the glass. She glanced nervously his way and offered a forced smile. He raised a brow. She tipped her chin up as if to say, What?

"The glass," he said. "Can you roll down your window?"

She did, but only half-way, overruling the polite Indian who was scolding her over the half-measure, insisting that it was wholly rude.