He was an elderly gentleman, and encountering him reminded me painfully of Victoria for a moment.He was an elderly gentleman, and encountering him reminded me painfully of Victoria for a moment. "What can I do for you?" he asked sleepily. I found myself stifling my amusement at his pajamas. "I need a room for two. Two nights. Until Sunday morning." He smiled that mischievous smile all merchants seem to get when they've got some sort of windfall on their hands. I was willing to be a windfall for this man; after all, it was only money. He said, "Well, sure I can do that. I'm afraid that I only got one room left, and it's a triple with a kitchen." "What does that mean?" I asked. "It means it's got a small second bed, a 'fridge, and a stove. The bed's for children an' all. You got any kids with you?" "Nope," I said. "Just me and Meh." "May, eh?" he said, smiling. "That's a pretty name. She a pretty girl?" "I think so," I said, smiling in kind. He returned my grin by widening his, handed over the keys. "Thirty nine dollars," he announced, punching it up on a small personal computer. Like most Americans, he rather pointedly avoided calling it the "u-dollar." "How you gonna pay for that?" he asked. "Cash do? I can do in advance, if you like." "I'd appreciate that. Let me put the deposit in the bank before the weekend." I thought about that, curious. Most banks had been never-close affairs on Terra for nearly fifty years. It was either his age or an eccentric bank talking. Then again, Clarkesburg was in the middle of rural New Hampshire, as close to the Middle Of Nowhere as you can get; that's why I'd come here. |