The rest of the flight is pretty smooth, with only a bit of turbulence here and there. The sun is shining, and I get off the plane smiling, ready to feel the sun on my skin. My bag is one of the last to come out, making me panic for a few seconds that it was lost.
It’s early afternoon, and the dinner with the other conference attendees is optional tonight. I’m not one to sit and make pointless small talk, and I don’t like what I call “fake friends”. Maybe I’m weird to rather go through this conference more or less on my own than to glom onto a group of people I’m never going to see again.
All I want to do tonight is order food from the open-air café by the pool and end my night with a fruity drink before crashing in my bed. Warm, humid air crushes me as soon as I step out of the airport, and given the frigid cold I just came from, the clammy Florida air is most welcome.
It takes a while to go from the airport to the hotel thanks to traffic, but I’m once again mesmerized by my surroundings. I really need to get out of the Midwest more often.
I can smell the ocean as soon as I get out of the Uber, and I excitedly rush into the hotel to check in. My room has an ocean view that I’m dying to see.
Feeling giddy, I take my key card and smile the whole elevator ride up. I’m light on my feet, moving down the hall, looking for my room as I roll my heavy suitcase behind me. I pass by my room and quickly backtrack and stick the keycard in the lock. The little light flashes green and I open my door, expecting to see the curtains pulled back, showing off that gorgeous view.
What I see instead is a middle-aged woman standing by the bed in purple pajamas with curlers in her hair, sporting bright purple eyeshadow and red lipstick.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” I blurt and look at my keycard. “There must have been some sort of mix-up.”
“Are you LeAnn?”
“No, I’m—oh, right,” I say as it clicks in my head. LeAnn was the nurse who was originally going but had to back out when one of her kids made it into some sort of tournament. “I’m Rory. LeAnn couldn’t come.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. We’ve been chatting online for months. I’m JoAnn,” she laughs. “LeAnn and JoAnn!” She slaps her thigh, letting out a howl of laughter. “What a hoot, right?” She doubles over, laughing so hard tears roll down her face. “Come on in, dear!”
I have a roommate.
A roommate I don’t know.
Who looks like she’s ready to go to bed already…at three PM. To be fair, she could have flown a long way on an overnight flight or something.
“Where are you from, dear? I drove all the way from Tampa.”
Okay, so no to the overnight flight.
“Eastwood, Indiana,” I tell her. “The same hospital as LeAnn.”
“Poor dear,” JoAnn clucks her tongue. “She was looking forward to some time away from her kids. Do you have kids. No, you’re much too thin and your breasts are fantastic. Mine looked like that once upon a time. Three kids and twelve years ago!” She laughs at herself again, loud and boisterous.
She likes to laugh, which is good. Maybe she’s fun and I won’t mind being stuck in the room with her.
“I’m about to tuck in for my afternoon nap. Do you like Judge Judy? I keep it recorded on my DVR at home so I’m not sure what’s on here.” She gets into bed and pats the mattress next to her. “I brought corn chips. I’ll share if you promise to be nice.”
I step into the room and the door clicks shut behind me. “That sounds fun, but I was hoping to check out the pool.”
“Ah, good idea. If I had a banging body like that I’d be out there too.” She laughs again and turns on the TV, cranking the volume up. I stand there, rooted to the spot, not sure if this is real life or not.
Shaking myself, I put my suitcase on the bed to open it up.
“You know that thing is covered in germs, right? A girlfriend told me her cousin’s husband’s friend works at an airport in Texas and he said all the suitcases come back covered in urine.”
“Why…why would they be covered in urine?” I shake my head. “Never mind. I’d rather not know.” I pull my suitcase off the bed, shoving it between the bed and the wall. I undo the lock and get out my clothes, not feeling comfortable leaving my personal items out with a stranger in the room. I pull out my cosmetic bag, bikini, my sandals, and a new sundress I caved and bought off Amazon three days ago.